Seems to me that a lot of westerners are fundamentally disconnected from reality, in part because in spite of the imperfections of western society, it's the freest, safest, most equal society there is and possibly has ever been, and again while imperfect it also has things like relative legal consistency giving a modicum of fairness. As a result, people can get the mistaken impression that this state is normal when it's highly unusual and extremely fragile, and most societies today and throughout history have been brutal, tyrannical, strongly hierarchical, and unfair.
Two other factors contribute to this. First, western society in general has become extremely insular and doesn't know about other cultures except through its own narrow lens, so a lot of people might only know messages tailored for western audiences that sand over the fundamental value differences between cultures. Second, the boomer ethic says that the worst thing you can possibly do is judge someone so there's a reflex against judging things we ought to consider evil in spite of the glaring evil of the thing.
Most people don't know, for example, that muslims were unrepentant slavers, and the only reason the descendants of those slaves aren't around is their practice of castrating slaves. The only reason the slave trade ended was European imperialism imposing that behavior upon the entire world. Modern Muslim scholars saying slavery is wrong are likely engaging in an ex post facto rationalization of something that now is the norm. It is not clear that slavery wouldn't return once western political influence fades.
Another issue is the nature of the family structure of Islamic society. It is a true patriarchy with the eldest father having overwhelming control over the clan including all the sons, and it is also a society that allows cousin marriage, something that Christianity by contrast prohibited. This family structure puts women at the very bottom of the hierarchy since the sons who are dominated by the father need someone to dominate in turn, and the only saving grace for women in the Islamic world is that wives are often already closely related by blood. For western or westernized women who go to isis territory, they'll have the one downside without the other upside.
To be clear, I am not stuck in traffic in any of these regards, I am traffic. A little bit of study here and there doesn't mean I'm not still seeing the world through a western Christian liberal democratic lens, and it's only through the Herculean efforts of some truly gifted individuals that I have the slightest understanding that all I'm seeing are shadows on the wall and that there's a real world outside that's much different.
Two other factors contribute to this. First, western society in general has become extremely insular and doesn't know about other cultures except through its own narrow lens, so a lot of people might only know messages tailored for western audiences that sand over the fundamental value differences between cultures. Second, the boomer ethic says that the worst thing you can possibly do is judge someone so there's a reflex against judging things we ought to consider evil in spite of the glaring evil of the thing.
Most people don't know, for example, that muslims were unrepentant slavers, and the only reason the descendants of those slaves aren't around is their practice of castrating slaves. The only reason the slave trade ended was European imperialism imposing that behavior upon the entire world. Modern Muslim scholars saying slavery is wrong are likely engaging in an ex post facto rationalization of something that now is the norm. It is not clear that slavery wouldn't return once western political influence fades.
Another issue is the nature of the family structure of Islamic society. It is a true patriarchy with the eldest father having overwhelming control over the clan including all the sons, and it is also a society that allows cousin marriage, something that Christianity by contrast prohibited. This family structure puts women at the very bottom of the hierarchy since the sons who are dominated by the father need someone to dominate in turn, and the only saving grace for women in the Islamic world is that wives are often already closely related by blood. For western or westernized women who go to isis territory, they'll have the one downside without the other upside.
To be clear, I am not stuck in traffic in any of these regards, I am traffic. A little bit of study here and there doesn't mean I'm not still seeing the world through a western Christian liberal democratic lens, and it's only through the Herculean efforts of some truly gifted individuals that I have the slightest understanding that all I'm seeing are shadows on the wall and that there's a real world outside that's much different.
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