Posted by Sadie from ? (160.129.27.22) on Thursday, March 13, 2003 at 11:25AM :
In Reply to: Re: "Time to unite Islam and science" posted by Sadie from ? (129.59.4.40) on Thursday, March 13, 2003 at 1:22AM :
: I read that article with mixed emotions... the only form of change that is healthy is one that comes from the inside.
xxx I mean, how many people would blame *Islam* for the inability of Iraqi or Palestinian intellectuals & academics to contribute significantly to the global arenas of science or technology? Furthermore, I think that this article has given too much credit to the "West," when it has been & still is direct or indirect "Western" (esp. the U.S. government's) manipulation of the governing elite in the "Muslim world" that has fostered this oppressive "Muslim culture." Merely simplifying the argument to terms of religion or religious culture may help to clarify a few popular grievances in those societies, but it does not, in any significant way, address the true root of the problem when the manipulations of these populations are being carried out by reactionary militants against or oppressive governments supported by the world's sole super-power. How much of this "problem" would be solved if the economics behind this situation were fully addressed? The article also doesn't seem to mention brain-drain, which is, again, more of a consequence of economic inequality than of the culture fostered by a religion. Am I making sense? Words are hard for me to come by in the morning...
-- Sadie
-- signature .