comments on Islam, the West and Empathy

Elsa's reply to Vince Lombardo's comment, July 5, 2009:

My views in a nutshell: The evidence is that the roots of empathy come from our innate empathic abilities. [Examples given of even animals showing empathy.] These innate empathic abilities do not assure empathy development. But if they are encouraged to flourish, then the power of empathy is enough to change the world....

Vince's reply, July 5, 2009:

Your interesting observation about the nurturing instinct of your pets (nature versus nurture) is well-known to those who study the brain, such as Joseph Ledoux, Ph.D. The amygdalae appear to house the "feeling" memories and survival instincts, including the instinct to nurture. (I agree with you that the instincts and behaviors of our animals are sometimes remarkably thoughtful.)

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Mohammed appears to have been against many things in an OCD manner. He is quoted in the Hadiths (the chronicles of the life of the prophet of Islam written 200 years after his death) as demanding the killing of all dogs. My surmisal is that if he was not epileptic (easily disturbed by noise…he hated music), his idea may have been a strategic one allowing easy movement in a town during the night without dogs giving movements away… But that is guesswork. Mohammed said that seeing a dog or a woman during prayer erased the effectiveness of a prayer. He was a man particularly without empathy. His child-wife said, "His eye wept for no one." Chilling.

You seem to be offering a chicken versus the egg argument about empathy, suggesting it is natural to humans. With respect, it seems to me that we need to be taught that and taught it repeatedly.

By saying that empathy comes first is partly right if one is talking about nurture, but human history shows that tribalism is a far more powerful force... and a very compelling, ugly and cruel force it is... tribalism... the notion of us-versus-them.

Human history reveals a determined resistance to empathy and a reliance on the fear that inspires tribal reactions to "the Other". In The Selfish Gene, author Richard Dawkins argues that selfishness is normal. Tribalism is "group selfishness", imho.

But every world religion, save Islam, expresses the Golden Rule.

The earliest written reference to the Golden Rule is found in the book of Leviticus dated to about 1400 B.C. The Golden Rule pops up later in various religions. It is first seen in religious law as a unitary, universal principle that transcends the narrowness of tribalism.

Nonetheless it took until the 19th century to apply the Golden Rule to slavery and another hundred years to create the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I question whether the Golden Rule is native to our thinking.

I appreciate your perception of the complexity of speaking intelligently about Islam. Indeed, it takes years to work through the confusing mountain of contradictory information and create an internal framework that fits with the external shape of Islam. I believe I am arriving at that.

The main confusion and difficulty I found in Islam is the fact that it is exceedingly dualistic, containing more than three dozen important opposing dualisms or paradoxes. (Allah was often ambiguous.)

Al-Walaa wal-Baraa is a major example of Islamic duality. It is a dualistic tribal law commanding Muslims to treat "the Other" differently from members of the tribe.

The Golden Rule is unitary and universal and applies to all of humanity.

Islam has three fundamental teachings (usul ud deen) each of which is dualistic:

1) the single unity of Allah + the singularity of his final prophet

2) Al-Walaa wal-Baraa… the dualistic code of ethics… one for the tribe and one for “the Other”

3) Jihad and hijrah (i.e. expansionism and strategic retreat…to fight jihad another day).

Elsa's reply to Vince's comment, July 17, 2009:

I've never looked at religions in this way - do they include the Golden Rule or not? Is this a Golden Rule religion of not? So, Golden Rule religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism.

It's clear that, from the evidence you've given, Muslim beliefs, the Muslim faith do not include the Golden Rule. In fact, ancient Islam and also modern Islam, from all your evidence, show a distinct aversion to having one ethical standard for Muslims and non-Muslims.

This is something, by the way, the Muslim faith has in common with traditional Christianity, as far as I can make out: Christians have massacred (as in the Crusades) and sought to forcibly convert outsiders. So the Golden Rule was far from universally applied.

My hope: that the development of empathic abilities keeps increasing, until we reach a tipping point - and empathy becomes the norm.

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