Mortaine’s Blog

Comments (2) left to “Nigeria”

1. satanstoystore wrote:

   how about this…

   It’s not really surprising militant/fanatical-islam would react that way. We also know that fragile / volatile countries do not always count free press as a stable, supportive element.

   It’s great later but not in the beginning. Err from the point of controlling people, you get my drift I think…

   And I think that the newspaper and pageant staff must be somewhat educated. You’d think the pageant officials and the reporter’s editor would have better sense. who knows!

   Anyhow, either people *are* really that stupid or they are incredibly smart. Tradition and capitalism (”progress”) do not often coexist peacefully. Capitalism gets a higher return on “progress,” which can clash with “tradition.”

   Islam has very traditional roots. And fanatical / militant islam has little to no tolerance. So in essence they are eventually at war with the world’s non-believers.

   It’s only a matter of time between stabilazation, consolidation and expansion. Someone’s gonna have to give.

   Therefore I think, perhaps even in some sort of mass subconscious effort, that this was just a maneuver to sway public opinion. Because they’ll need it for drastic and widespread change. Yah, I should try writing sci-fi…

   Posted on 28-Nov-02 at 3:35 pm | Permalink

2. anonymous wrote:

   Ok, far be it from me to offer ANY kind of defense of fundamentalist Islam (Steph, I think you can vouch for me on this…). BUT, I think we have to be very careful not to slip into the neo-colonial mentality of “virtuous, civilized, progressive ‘Us’ versus “backwards, savage, barbaric ‘Them’.” The rise of fundamentalist Islam is as much a phenomenon of the “modern world” as is U.S. (or global) capitalism. It has little to do with “tradition” or with what Mohammad said in the 7th century…and lots to do with contemporary trends like globalization, the decline of the nation-state, and a search for new types of identity (like that provided by fascist religious movements.) “Tradition” is a very modern thing…

   Anyway, this is meant neither as a defense of fundamentalist Islam, nor as an alternative suggestion “let’s put all the blame on the West and on capitalism” (Remember, though, that Osama bin Laden was our “brave freedom fighter” when he was fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s)

   It’s just an argument that–”modern” or “traditional”– we’re all living in the same moment in history, and we’re all part of the same fucked-up old world.

   Andy

   Posted on 29-Nov-02 at 12:07 am | Permalink

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