I've said for a long time, particularly after watching news clips showing rioting mobs in Muslim countries, "Those people just don't think right." A like comment yesterday on my blog from PT Dilloway, referring to the violence in Libya, said, "In what freaking universe does that make any freaking sense?"
This brought to mind an article I once read that pointed out that in the Muslim world marriage between cousins (known as "consanguinity"), and even brothers and sisters, is common. A little online research found many credible sources confirming this and offering these statistics:
Thirty-three percent of all marriages in Egypt are consanguine, as are 48 percent in Libya, 60 percent in Iraq, 70 percent in Pakistan, 67 percent in Saudi Arabia, 40 percent in Syria, 34 percent in Algeria, 63 percent in Sudan, 46 percent in Bahrain, 64 percent in Jordan, 42 percent in Lebanon, 54 percent in Qatar, 45 percent in Yemen, and 54 percent in the UAE.
This has been going on for 1,400 years in the Mideast, and is done in order to keep wealth (?) and power "within the family". This is why it's so hard for sovereign countries to command the loyalty of their citizens. People's loyalty goes to their "clan", not their arbitrarily cobbled together "country".
Not surprisingly, research has shown that children of consanguineous marriages have 10-16% lower IQ's. Can you imagine the consequences of this generation after generation after generation? Well, they might be able to keep all the camels in the family, but they also have a mighty polluted gene pool!
We (the West) keep trying to lead the Mideast towards our version of how things should be....democratic, governed by rule of law, peaceful, respectful to all, including women, etc. I'm wondering if their average citizen can even comprehend those concepts?
Thousands of years of tradition and ignorance and inbreeding are hard to overcome. IMO we're beating our heads against a brick (or in their case mud) wall.
S
EDIT: Oh, the insanity....now they're burning the KFC in Cairo! Is nothing sacred?
Those are some pretty sad statistics. Of course they used to do that in royal families in Europe because they thought that would make the bloodline "pure."
ReplyDeleteThe news today is even worse than it was a couple days ago. Now that their imams have told them all to run out and burn shit down, they set fire to the German embassy in the Sudan. The GERMANS? What the hell do they have to do with a Coptic Christian with ties to Egypt who lives in California and loaded a video to YouTube?
You'd have to be a bunch of inbred brain-dead morons to think that makes any sense at all.
That explains a lot. Not sure I would post anything on those stupid backward decapitating ignorant camel jockeying towel headed asswipes though. Have to be careful not to piss them off!
ReplyDeleteOh I think they are always angry so...
Cranky
Inbreeding and burning the KFC, you can't deal with this type of insanity.
ReplyDeleteSeriously we need to concentrate on what goes on in our own country, let them fight and breed amongst themselves, protect our own borders and stop occupying other countries.
You cant fight an enemy that is not afraid to die much less convince them that our way of living is proper.
NOT the KFC! How will life go on? *heads to local KFC for crispy chicken goodness...* Seriously, my colleague, the political scientist, says you can't democratize people who have no concept of the kinds of compromises democracy demands. Heck, I'm not even sure we in the U.S. of A. have a clear concept anymore of how to compromise! Anyway, thought-provoking and so accurate regarding the clannishness of much of that region. I don't know what's coming over there, and that scares me, because when I'm not picking hay from between my teeth, I am a very smart man! Thanks, S...good stuff to ponder.
ReplyDeleteThe burning of the German embassy had nothing to do with the video. The imans reacted to actions of a German right-wing party; the German Embassy had been preparing for acts of violence since early this week.
ReplyDeleteNone of this makes any sense to me.
Muslims are certainly entitled to think what they want, and the US has a habit of backing oppressive dictators in this part of the world, but I do wish they weren't so easily led astray by those who would use Islam as a device to spread violence and hatred.
ReplyDeleteSteve....I agree. They're very easy to manipulate.
ReplyDeletePeeper....I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for setting the record straight.
Linthead...You're right: compromise isn't one of their strong suits. And it's becoming a lost art here, too.
Jimmy....We do get ourselves into some awful messes, don't we?
Cranky....I think they wake up pissed, and it's downhill from there.
PT....It is a crazy world we live in.
a people that is held by repressive regimes which the US has supported...they are not rioting about a stupid film, that's just the excuse. they are rioting against the very nature of their lives, repression. repressed by their government, repressed by their religion. what else do they have left open to them to express their misery? The US needs to stop meddling in the affairs of other countries.
ReplyDelete