Christian in Name Only; A Clash of Civilizations?

[Freedom_from_Chains]

An interesting article I found that outlines some of the history of our oil involvement in the Middle East and puts perspective on why we are in the mess we are in today.

Oh, and it also, by default, explains why Ward Churchill is right.

May 22, 2003


Christian in Name Only
A Clash of Civilizations?
By MARK GAFFNEY

During the last few years there has been an endless stream of windy rhetoric in U.S. journalism about the so-called "clash of civilizations." And the tone became much more shrill after 911. The clash--we are told--is the inevitable fault-line that runs between we in the civilized West and the fanatical followers of Islam. This is usually the way it is portrayed.

The phrase "clash of civilizations" was coined by Samuel P. Huntington, a Harvard professor whose original paper by that name appeared in the journal Foreign Affairs in the summer of 1993. The article has been described as a prescient description of our world. Those who have read it know that Huntington offered some valuable insights. The professor argued that the ideological Cold War that raged between the Communist East and the Capitalist West during the 20th century was not the norm when viewed in the sweep of history. On the contrary, it was anomalous and transient. Huntington's paper, published after the collapse of the Soviet Union, predicted that the East-West rivalry would soon fade, and be replaced by a clash of cultures. Many babyboomers probably found his prediction surprising. Most of us, after all, grew up in a world dominated by anti-Communist and anti-Capitalist propaganda. But Huntington argued that the Cold War itself was but a temporary departure from the deep cultural and religious clash between the Christian West and Islam that--he argued--had dominated world affairs for more than a thousand years. According to Huntington the differences between Islam and Christianity did not disappear during the Cold War. They were merely overshadowed by the intense U.S.-U.S.S.R ideological rivalry. When the Cold War fizzled, however, the world reverted back. The clash of civilizations reemerged as the dominant factor. Huntington offered no solutions. His paper merely described the world as he saw it.

(con't) http://www.counterpunch.org/gaffney05222003.html

[Skidmore]

1. CINOs? Works for me.