Then of course you get 9-11, and everyone worried about radical Islam. As for me, I read some of the more right wing anti-Islamic blogs, but (as with Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs) it became clear that some of the push back was becoming far too Tea Party right wing nutty and racist, and a less hyperbolic approach to the issue was appropriate. I even read one of Karen Armstrong's books on the religion, and it did (even though I was aware of her excuse making tendencies) make me more sympathetic to the idea that Islam did not have to be viewed as always being nutty and reactionary, and in fact originally had a social philosophy which was (in today's terms) progressive.
But come to the present day, and man, is Islam having a massive PR crisis again, or what?
I mean, where ever you look now, its influence just seems to be disastrous, and if it's not the centuries old branches having it out with massive death and destruction on the battlefield (Syria) or streets (Iraq, Egypt), it's the influence it has on maintaining a positively anti-modernist system of education and social structures.
On Syria, a conflict about which I have not exactly been bothering to understand in detail, Reuters had an article last week on the influence of the apocalyptic prophecies in attracting combatants:
The power of those prophecies for many fighters on the ground means that the three-year-old conflict is more deeply rooted - and far tougher to resolve - than a simple power struggle between President Bashar al-Assad and his rebel foes.
Syria's war has killed more than 140,000 people, driven millions from their homes and left many more dependent on aid. Diplomatic efforts, focused on the political rather than religious factors driving the conflict, have made no headway.
"If you think all these mujahideen came from across the world to fight Assad, you're mistaken," said a Sunni Muslim jihadi who uses the name Abu Omar and fights in one of the many anti-Assad Islamist brigades in Aleppo.
"They are all here as promised by the Prophet. This is the war he promised - it is the Grand Battle," he told Reuters, using a word which can also be translated as slaughter.
On the other side, many Shi'ites from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran are drawn to the war because they believe it paves the way for the return of Imam Mahdi - a descendent of the Prophet who vanished 1,000 years ago and who will re-emerge at a time of war to establish global Islamic rule before the end of the world.
Well that's great. Some people used to worry about fundamentalist Christian "End Times" views leading an American President into some Middle East nuclear war scenario, but fortunately, the American system always seems to work as a filter so that we only end up with Presidents who have a faith that is strongly kept in control by pragmatism. (The extent to which they are genuinely, deeply religious, rather than doing it for show, is always a matter of speculation as well.)
But in Islam, you really do have apocalyptic views directly involved in war and mayhem.
What's more, the anti modernism streak in Islam just makes for some really rotten countries. As I noted last week, Afghanistan looks completely hopeless, with a primarily rural based population that barely gets educated and whose only concession to modernity seems to be in wanting modern weapons. (And the freedom to export drug addiction around the world as a way of making a living.) Saudi Arabia still executes people for using black magic. Here's a 2013 article in The Atlantic about that country's "war on witchcraft".
That country's list of scientific innovations - despite having squillons of dollars that could be put into science - seems limited to intensive studies of what camel's milk (and urine!) is good for, yet it turns out that camels are probably spreading the deadly MERS virus.
And as for sexual politics - well, apart from the general plight of women, last night's Four Corners looked at the extensive problem of male child sexual abuse in Pakistan. Not only that, but I liked [/sarc] the irony of how many homeless kids are also addicted to heroin from the Taliban in the country next door.
And then, of course, you have Nigeria and the kidnapping of girls, but apparently that is just part of their plan for creating an Islamic State.
And while one might think that modern communications means that there should be a natural tide towards vaguely modern ideas of how communities can successfully live - Sharia law is coming to Brunei, and strengthening in those parts of Indonesia where it is allowed.
So, as I say, it is extremely difficult to find positive things to say about Islam at the moment. Sure, Christianity has its centuries of conflict, witch burning, attempted social control and sexual abuse to point the finger at as well, but any social problems it causes have (by and large - still tidying up going on in the sex abuse and homosexuality side) been sorted.
The thing that's depressing about Islam is that you can't really see how it is going to improve. I guess a resolution to Israel/Palestine matter would help - and Israel's present leadership is not helping there - but at a more fundamental level and long term scale, Islamist TV still telling its kids (as it has for years) that its good to shoot the Jews is actually the bigger problem.
The only good thing you can really say (and, in a way, the only grounds on which to still not too deeply regret the way the West got into the Iraq and Afghani wars) from "our" point of view is that while ever Islam is fighting itself, it's not concentrating on fighting the West. Yet, I want to feel better about the world as a whole - to see progress towards peace everywhere and better and fairer societies.
So, someone who can tell me why I should revert to a more optimistic view for how Islam will improve, please let me know.
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