The Growing Clash Between Western and Islamic Values By Sawraj Singh, MD FICS

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Historically, there has been more than a thousand years of struggle to control Jerusalem. The memory of the crusades has not been forgotten. Even President Bush appeared to evoke the memory of the crusades.

The economic reasons are obvious. Islam is the major religion of the third world. The western countries are the industrialized and developed countries that control the capitalist institutions of present globalization. The Islamic countries are developing countries whose national resources are used by the western countries. Oil is a very good example. The western countries are dependent upon the oil of the middle-Eastern Muslim countries. There is a growing conflict over the control of oil. The developing countries want more control of their oil, which is under the control of the western corporations.

The third reason for this conflict is the demographic trend. The Islamic countries are experiencing a rapid growth of population, but most of the western countries are facing a decline in population or aging of the population. Islam is the fastest growing religion. It looks almost certain that in the twenty first century, Islam is going to become the largest religion of the world. In many western countries, particularly in the western European countries, because of decline or aging of the population, many young Muslims are migrating there to meet the shortages of labor.

France experienced a major crisis because these young migrants felt that they were not being treated well by the French society. Their simmering grievances burst into flames when many thousand cars were burnt by these people after two young men were shot by the French police. The French had a very difficult time in controlling the riots leading some to ask the question: Is Paris burning?

The Danish paper published a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. This has enraged Muslims in many countries of the world leading to violent demonstrations and in some countries, burning of the Danish embassies. The Danish Prime minister refused to apologize, stating that it is a question of the freedom of the press. An apology could have cooled the passions and probably would have avoided the violence. For the western society, the main issue is the freedom of the press while for the Islamic countries, it is the question of religious sentiments. Does freedom of press mean that the press is free to hurt people's religious sentiments? Does anybody have the right to hurt other people's religious sentiments? There is a clash of cultural values here.

The traditional globalization differs from classical capitalism in two ways. First, along with economic domination, there is cultural invasion also. Second, technology is also used as an instrument in subjugation. The technology is used both in economic and military sectors.

We are now seeing growing opposition to the policies of traditional globalization. Russia, China, non-aligned countries, and the left-leaning countries are opposing established economic policies. Countries like Japan and South Korea are challenging the western imperialists in technology, primarily in the economic field. Russia is developing technologies in the military field. President Putin just announced the development of a new missile system that can penetrate the defenses of any country.

When it comes to the cultural field, Islam is the main opponent of imposition of the western culture on the other cultures. We are watching a situation in Iraq and Afghanistan where the western concept of democracy is being rejected by the Islamic countries. Now, the publication of cartoons that are offensive to the Muslims has stirred up the entire Islamic world. The other non-Islamic and non-western cultures have also felt their values eroded by the western cultural invasion, but Islam has become the most vocal opponent of the cultural invasion.