seemslikeadream » Tue Aug 20, 2013 5:05 pm wrote:Alice I have always wanted you to comment on this old article...maybe if you have the time?
I think it's a very good overview, with no inaccuracies as far as I can tell. My only slight quibble is with the author's naivete here:
Qutb's hostility toward the West, in general, and the United States, in particular, was born during two years of study at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in the late 1940's. He returned to Egypt mortified by decadent, sex-crazed America, which he likened to a brothel. The Muslim Brotherhood underwent a significant shift with the radicalization of Qutb in prison. What had been essentially a reformist organization in its formative phase veered off in a dangerous new direction. In addition to intro ducting a harsh anti-American perspective to the Brethren,
The pattern is repeated too often to be random: an innocuous, unremarkable, mediocre man suddenly is granted a scholarship to study in the US. He returns transformed into a rabid fanatic and rapidly acquires power and influence in Islamist circles. Sayed Qutb was already 40 years old when he was inexplicably granted this "scholarship", too old to be eligible. A failed novelist and literary reviewer, he had never distinguished himself in any way, other than writing a regular column for a Masonic publication; oh, yeah, Qutb was an enthusiastic Mason.
Mohamed Morsy fits the same pattern, except for the Masonism: another obscure, mediocre person with no major accomplishments to his name, he also was granted a scholarship in the US; it was only after his return that he became very active in Islamist circles. Incidentally, Morsy is a follower of Sayed Qutb, and indeed has memorized Qutb's book "Milestones", in which he explains that Egyptian society is a society of Infidels who must be manipulated and lied to, until it can be transformed into a society that complies with what he considers "real" Islam. The irony is that Morsy has memorized Qutb's book but requires crib notes to quote from the Quran, even common quotes that most Egyptians have memorized, even Christians. The vast majority of Egyptians no longer believe the Muslim Brothers' or other Islamists' claim to be Muslim; most Egyptians, Muslim and Christian, are devout. Whatever the Muslim Brotherhood's real faith is, it has nothing to do with Islam, other than in the way a parasite has to do with a host.
coffin_dodger: thank you. I was feeling pretty fed up last night, ready to stop wasting my time trying to explain things to people who keep posting worthless bullshit from people who are either lying or lying or deluded. Not even any facts or any sort of evidence, just nonsense. It's the same nonsense being disseminated elsewhere, so I don't understand what there is to gain by posting it here. The only thing that brought me back was remembering that there are others who are interested in hearing not what I, but what almost all Egyptians are experiencing and seeing. Unfortunately, few Egyptians can communicate clearly and effectively in English or other foreign languages, and when they try, they sound incoherent . So sometimes it feels like Egypt is surrounded by a massive wall, and the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies are the gate-keepers.
It's a suffocating feeling, making it very tempting to just close ranks with other Egyptians and let whoever say whatever. The outcome won't be decided by the likes of me anyway, nor by Western public opinion, for that matter, which is far more relevant over there than it is over here. But I appreciate that there are people here who genuinely want to know what there is behind that wall, just as I would if the positions were reversed, and that's why I'm still here, for now.
