Every candidate worth voting for, or commentator worth listening to, should be able to answer at least 4 of these questions without a second thought, without a call out or teleprompter or ear piece.
If they can't- they don't deserve to be voted for or listened to.
(Yes, I do think we'd be better off as a country were all Americans to know these... I think most of the rest of the world knows at least this much about us after all... but lets start with the people who send our money to foreign despots, our troops to foreign lands.)
The answers are linked. (Yes, I know, this was a short sabbatical, but its the longest I've gone without blogging in months probably, and I did a lot of Spanish study today, so this is my reward.)
- Who was Averroes?
- Describe the difference between Shiite Islam & Sunni Islam.
- When and why did the schism occur?
- What are the major theological differences?
- What are the major practical differences?
- What is the most populace Moslem country (in terms of sheer numbers?)
- The Kabaah:
- What is it?
- Where is it?
- What is its significance?
- What is the official English translation of the Qur'an for most Muslims?
- Who are the People of the Book?
Only one of those requires an answer of more than a few words, and one other could be construed as a trick question, but all deal with the most BASIC of matters regarding Islam. To be involved with the Middle East without at least this much knowledge is as foolhardy and dangerous as walking out on a frozen lake without knowing how thick the ice is.
But we've been doing so as a nation for years, haven't we?
- We go charging off into countries whose names we can barely pronounce,
- whose history we do not know,
- whose culture and people we do not respect.
6 comments:
Actually I had a great history teacher, we actually learned the difference between the groups, when it happened and how. Although I was unfortunetly absent that whole week so I only know the bare bones.
I dare say that's more than most people know, laddie.
How insulted would we be if people in other parts of the world couldn't distinguish us from Mexico or Canada (a couple of our current presidential contenders demonstrated that level of ignorance regarding Afghanistan and Pakistan), or if they thought all Christians were like the "God hates F-gs" ones?
People in Iran... the pivot point of the "Axis of Evil" these days... know EXPONENTIALLY more about us than we do about them.
There were many Irainians who--against the wishes of their own government--marched in the streets of Tehran after 911 to show support for the United States and to disavow that cowardly act of terrorism. What are the chances you'd see Americans in the street were the same to hapen to Iran? Also, it wasn't in the administration's interest to allow the American people to see that there are actually many in Iran who like the U.S., so you'll never hear much official recognition of that march.
Aber natürlich ~ por supuesto ~ naturally!
If we know about our enemies and think of them as human beings, its a lot harder to demonize them, isn't it?
I think this is why during WWII, though we had all sorts of slanderous names for both Germans and Japanese, it was the Japanese Americans who got put into camps, not my families. Germans were the largest ethnic group in the US at the time, and they looked indistinguishable the English, French, and Scandinavians (to whom they are, after all, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically closely related.) But it was easy to isolate out and persecute the Japanese, and we did. German Americans did live under constant FBI scrutiny though... I'm sure ostensibly "for their own protection" just as many Mosques and Islamic organizations here do today. (I often wonder if the main purpose of the "traffic control" people for the I-center @ B-way and R-mont isn't so much parking as protection) My family's home town of Frankenmuth, Michigan must have had more Feds in town than residents during WWII, especially since they stubbornly kept their German language and ways there... even though they came over as missionaries, and to make beer and brats (both of which they do EXCEPTIONALLY well... the brats, summer sausage, etc., are the best to be had there.)
I'm not for a second saying we shouldn't be keeping an eye on terrorists and terrorist organizations, or pretending that... say... a little old lady from Sweden is as much a threat as a young unmarried man who flew in from a city with a radical madras, but there's a huge difference between being intelligent surveilance and illegal and immoral persecution!
Go after the bad guys... oh yeh, no holds barred, but... have some sense, know a bit about the culture... oh, and maybe the US Constitution, just for kicks and grins.
I wonder what the war on terror would look like were it run by a Japanese American who went to one of those "protection camps" or someone of my father's generation whose mail got opened and house searched just because he spoke and acted German?
I trust and respect NOONE who says they are better then anyone else because of what they believe and who they worship.
JC- Yeh, kinda back assward, isn't it? The inverse of He who would be first let him put himself last...
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