Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Psychology of Muslims

Echo asks in an email: "What happens to the psychology of the Muslim-born person who was born & raised in the US, and who visits his parents homeland? Does seeing the difference between the hygiene and the dynamism of the US, and the filth and decay and backwardness of dar al Islam drive them away from Islam or towards it?"

I think there are four possible outcomes when Muslims from the Islamic world go back and forth between the West and their home.

1. Utter Indifference

Some people simply live in a cocoon. The move to wherever there is leisure and comfort. That's it. Either they don't care or don't notice the fact that the Islamic world is backwards because of retrograde policies and ideologies. They're not interested in politics, economics, history or news that doesn't affect them. To them, Hamas is an exotic version of humus.

This attitude is not limited to Muslims. I know a non-Muslim guy who was absolutely shocked when I showed him 9/11 in 2003. His jaw dropped when he saw a passenger airliner crash into the World Trade Center.

"I thought that a cargo jet, or something, hit the towers."

Enuff said.

2. Unnatural Thoughts

Muslims in this category are usually mentally stressed. They've been taught all their life that Islam is oh-so-superior, yet in their personal dealings they almost always choose the non-Muslim side of things.


Read the whole thing.

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