Islam as a cultural flow - Research Paper Example

Topic:  Islam as a cultural Flow Here Here Here Here Islam is both a religion and a culture with deephistorical roots. It is impossible to differentiate as to where religion stops and culture begins as the two are intrinsically intertwined. Therefore, to be Islam, is to be culturally shaped and also to be religiously educated. Middle Eastern citizens share the religious education methods and information, but do not experience the identical cultural context. Within Islam are basic precedents and affirmations of faith.

These truths are universal. The informing question for this paper isn’t actually, “Is Islam the same everywhere,” but in reality, is, “Is the experience of Islam the same everywhere?” The answer, therefore, is no. In some Middle-Eastern countries the culture shaping dialogue is between Orthodox Christianity and Muslim, in some it is between Roman Christianity and Muslim, and for some it is between Muslim and Muslim. The cultural factors make a marked difference in the perception of Islam and the perceived threat to the dominant culture.

As Schaebler (5) states, the “interplay of global and local cultural forces is not a top-down form of domination, not a one-way street… [but] a process that has to be interpretive as being in itself creative…” and flowing. Because ideas and change are liquid, people, decisions, and information are altered by daily cultural influences. A case for this point is the attack on America’s Twin Towers, Sept 11, 2001. On the day before the air strike, September 10, American was a melting pot of cultures with a fairly open policy towards immigration from the Middle East.

Since the attack on the Twin Towers, the United States has been enveloped with the mindset that “Islam is a conquering religion threatening the American way of life.” (Gerges 106) This perceived threat has brought about America’s borders to be closed, Homeland Security to be created, and American freedoms have been compromised by our own Intelligence agencies. The American media has capitalized on the fear and distrust of Islam, failing to acknowledge the “negative perception of Islam is a cultural divide between two competing value systems,” and not a specific attack to destroy the United States.

(Gerges 106) The attack on the World Trade Center was orchestrated by radical Muslims wishing to make a global impact statement. Western critics of Islam seem to believe “there is a central, conspiratorial, directing force in Islam mobilizing it and coordinating its actions against the West and others. If the critics believe this they are wrong.” (Huntington 264) President Bill Clinton stated after the event, “Experience suggests to us that political Islamic movements are to an important degree rooted in worsening socio-economic conditions individual countries.

” (Gerges 107) He continued, “If violence is caused by the rise of extremist forces due to disillusionment, poverty and alienation, then we are in a violent world.” We are in an increasingly violent world, but it is due to individual extremists and not because of one dominating force is threatening to take over the world. Islam cultural assimilation is not a threat to the security of the American way of life, but American culture is a threat to the practice of Islam by a devout believer.

The American constitution discourages the dedicated practice of any believer of any religion, giving exception to no persons in the separation of church and state. Bibliography Gerges, Fawaz A. America and Political Islam: Clash of Culture or Clash of Interests? Cambridge University Press, 1999. Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. NY: Simon and Schuster paperbacks, 2003. Schaebler, Birgit and Leif Stenberg, editors. Globalization and the Muslim World: Culture, Religion and Modernity.

Syracuse NY: Syracuse University Press, 2004.