26.6.09

[Defined] The Muslim Situationist

You know how it is, one day you are an activist, then you find yourself in an Egyptian jail being offered the opportunity to sellout. After a period of isolation you land yourself a great deal of british government attention and funding to publicly recant your views as vice-director of some dodgy foundation.

That's a particularly smelly example, but the essential point is that, its not right. Its the situation, its non-transferable experiences.

Attitude defining/changing stimuli and events can include: personal loss, money, the spurning of old friends, and attention from powerful sources.

Its hard to mitigate the harm of the Muslim Situationist. To mitigate the creation of such individuals and adapt to their present existence is a priority.


3 comments:

some random bloke said...

i know this is about majid nawaz.

however...

i don't get what you mean by this

"To mitigate the creation of such individuals and adapt to their present existence is a priority."

What do you mean by adapting?

I can relate to a changing of attitudes, it can be very decentering for the ego. people don't convert out, because they are too afraid of the consequences. More so when religion becomes not just about religion, but also social closure, shame and guilt (e.g. muslim pakistani, armenian orthodoxy etc.). Families break up and friends split. The person is left alone, because that person is no longer convinced, it's takes a lot of bravery to do it, regardless if the reasons for converting out are right or not. Instead of engage with people 'losing their faith' or becoming 'lapsed', they are usually stigmatized and ostracised. After all, it's the HAQQ, only a weak person lapses or even worse was never devout, but a hypocrite.

Hence we find many becoming 'liberal Muslims' or just hiding that they are lapsed, too afraid of the consequences but in public the cultural label remains, as a social mask and role.

Taboo, shame and guilt are profound, and will destroy mental health. I can tell you this, the number of cultural muslims is very high, they don't tell you, but it is clear from their attitudes and so on.

No one should be afraid to ask difficult questions and if a person leaves, then so be it. However, if left in limbo and treated like a disease, then ... is that what you meant by "adapt to their present existence is a priority."?

Fugstar said...

I don't know what cultural muslim means. I have a germ of an idea about what I want to be though, and the social technique we could evolve and refine in the name of the most Merciful and Knower of subtleties.

People's frustration at the sluggishness of refreshing the Path can lead to their ionisation. Whether that is externally declared or behaved upon is a different question.

Fugstar said...

Its about more than the individual that i amateurly try to comprehend. ( How comes you only write to me when i write about this?)