Each year, some two million Muslims from around the world make a pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca. For some in the West, nothing could be scarier than two million Muslims, all dressed in white, touching their heads to the ground and shouting "Allahu Akbar." Reading the usual pundits, you get the idea that Mecca is a breeding ground of Islamic radicalism.
To figure out if this is true, a group of American researchers surveyed more than 1500 Pakistanis who went on the pilgrimage to Mecca in 2006. They discovered that these men had overcome great obstacles to make the trip. It costs arond $2500 to go to Mecca, and that's three times the annual salary of a typical Pakistani. Still, nearly 140,000 Pakistanis applied to go in 2006. Only 80,000 visas were granted by the Saudi government.
Since the Saudis granted their visas based on lottery, the researchers had the clever idea of comparing the attitudes of those who returned from Mecca to those who didn't get to go. They wanted to see if the pilgrimage to Mecca strengthened or undermined Islamic radicalism. Incredibly, the researchers found that the Pakistanis who went to Mecca returned with attitudes more moderate and less sympathetic to Islamic fanaticism and terrorism.
But isn't Mecca dominated by radical clerics who, when they aren't eating or sleeping, lead chants of "Death to America"? This is the propaganda you hear from groups like memri.org that selectively publish material intended to give an exaggerated picture of the influence of the Muslim radicals. In reality, the overriding theme of the visit to Mecca is the traditional theme of universal Muslim brotherhood.
No surprise: pilgrims returning fro Mecca were 25 percent less likely to hold that different tribes or ethnicities could not live in harmony. Remarkably, pilgrims were also more likely to believe that all religions can co-exist. Moreover, the Pakistanis who went to Mecca were less approving of suicide bombings and other such tactics as the Pakistanis who stayed back.
Call this the Mecca effect. I predicted it in my book The Enemy at Home, in which I argued that America can find common ground with traditional believers and not just anti-Muslim activists like Hirsi Ali. The results of the Mecca effet, and the study cited here, are beautifully outlined in a recent article in the online magazine Slate written by Professor Ray Fisman of Columbia University. You can read the article here.
Yes, I know that the Islamophobes will come back with their regularly-recyled quotations from the Koran about "killing all the infidels" and so on. But equally alarming quotations can also be found in the Old Testament. The important thing is to see how those texts have been interpreted and how people have acted upon them. Muslims have had many empires through the centuries: the Ummayad, the Abassid, the Mughal, the Ottoman, and so on. Tens of millions of Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians have lived under Muslim rule. In any Muslim empire was it either policy or practice to systematically kill all the non-Muslims? No.
So we have to learn to think afresh and to take into account real evidence. Prejudice against practicing Muslims and against religious believers in general is rife in certain segments of Western society. But such prejudices should not be the basis of making public policy.
Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 19)
91. ****Oneblood***
Thanks, buddy, for those kind words a few blogs back. Sorry for the belated reply.
Your generous heart and gentle spirit uplifted me as I read your post.
Much appreciated and well, 'right back atcha' :D
"Legion" at 8:30PM on May 30th 2008
92. Dinesh,
I almost always agree with you, but.....
Please refrain from using the term "Islamophbia," which suggests an IRRATIONAL fear of radical Muslims.
Time and time again, seemingly moderate, normal Muslims have been radicalized (or pretended not to be):
Father in Texas, who has lived here for years, shoots daughters in the head and leaves them to die in his taxi. His coworkers, "Oh,he wasn't a radical. He was a nice Muslim man." He killed them for ISLAM!
The Jersey 6, that the media swept away pretty quickly were described by neighbors as "so nice., kept their grass cut. Shared their tomatos." But in their spare time they were studying jihad manuals and planning to kill as many soldiers as possible at Fort Dix.
How about the nice young Floridian Muslim students who has explosive in their car and bomb-making manuals?
TOO, TOO many examples of supposed "good" Muslims gone bad.
Know ISLAM No PEACE
Know ISLAM No PEACE
Know ISLAM No PEACE
Know ISLAM No PEACE
Know ISLAM No PEACE
Know ISLAM No PEACE
Know ISLAM No PEACE
Know ISLAM No PEACE
www.thereligionofpeace.com
www.jihadwatch.org
mary at 7:05PM on May 30th 2008
93. Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
mary at 7:05PM on May 30th 2008
94. Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
Read "While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
Read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn
mary at 7:07PM on May 30th 2008
95. Mary; so I'm sure you think your examples are of "true muslims" while at the same time, all the various examples of christians killing their children are "not true christians", right?
Ryan Anderson at 8:50PM on May 30th 2008
96. Observant sentinal of the Lord
Whose tongue is a double-edged sword
Think you that you've cut me deep
When blood from out your side doth seep?
The more you cast your stones at me
The more that other eyes can see
that you're no gently godly soul
and you can't even play the role
The more you stomp and shake your fist
The more you look the hypochrist
So please don't stop, we all enjoy
Your anti-Jesus christian ploy
Saying you follow the Son of Man
Then talking all the trash you can
You think you are a Poster Child
For Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild
But sadly all we see is you
A man with little else to do
But tell us of his favorite book
(As if we never take a look)
How it alone is Truth and Light
And all the rest is blackest night
But we can see quite otherwise
Your book is filled with nasty lies
Oh, it contains a grain of truth
But most of it is quite uncouth
It seems to offer truth and hope
Then makes of you a misanthrope
To live by that is not our way
We much prefer the light of day
The light of science, logic, love
With zero faith in God above
Our faith is in ourselves, you see
To be the best that we can be
Yours is all misplaced, at best
You really fail to pass the test
To be like Christ is not your way
Although that's what you like to say
You wear your faith like a suit of mail
and think that you can never fail
But to our eyes, it's not quite that
It’s so much more like a tinfoil hat
So judge away, and call me names
And tell me how I'll rot in flames
(Because I'm sure, you know it's true
That that's what Jesus Christ would do)
And all the while I'll wear a smile
'Cause I know better by a mile.
Godless Heathen Brian at 9:08PM on May 30th 2008
97. My name is Legion, that's my name
I am many, all the same
I'm the hydra Jason slew
Cut off one head, out pops two
I am the One that you despise
In all my thoughts and words are lies
I love conflict, yes I do
But I thrive on confusion too
I've many names upon my shelf
So I can talk amongst myself
And act as if I disagree
With someone else, but both are me
This game I play is really great
To play both sides of each debate
The more confusion I create
The more I need to masturbate...
Godless Heathen Brian at 9:09PM on May 30th 2008
98. Ryan,
First, hello again. Second, I wouldn't bother with Mary. She is mentally not capable right now of handling a discussion of what a Muslim (Person of personal faith) is.
It would serve Mary well, to go to Mecca herself and experience the spirituality present in such a beautiful place where God's footpritns are evident.
I have had the priviledge to experience Mecca. It is one of a kind. As a Christian, it was an honor to sit, experience, and pray to God with our Muslim Brothers.
Botts at 9:11PM on May 30th 2008
99. It is perhaps interesting to note that it was in Mecca, worshiping with Muslims from all over the world, that Malcolm X overcame his anti-white racism.
emelpe at 9:21PM on May 30th 2008
100. Legion says someone has copied his /// slash. He( she?) wishes to convince tohers that he purposefully put the slash in his name. He( she?) is so proud of himself as to think someone would copy his goofball // style.
The slash is an anomaly, a quirk of AOL, if you will. If you put an apostrophe in the user name section of the comment command box, it turn's into slashes. The more you post with the name, the more slashes you get....try it.
Disingenuine and conceited...are these good christian traits? Not in my bible, the one bible.
I wonder what else he( she?) is lying about?
Legion's a liar at 9:40PM on May 30th 2008
101. Hey Botts; Lucky dog! I would love to go to Mecca. Are you back in the states or just in a city in Nigeria? I hope you are doing well and keeping safe.
Ryan Anderson at 9:38PM on May 30th 2008
102. time two
Legion\\\'s a liar at 9:41PM on May 30th 2008
103. three
Legion\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s a liar at 9:42PM on May 30th 2008
104.
See how it works now?
Outta here!
Legion\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ at 9:43PM on May 30th 2008
105. Hey Ryan,
I'm home for a couple weeks. I missed the wife and kids. We've made tremendous progress in a short time. This has gone smoother than any other project we've done. I didn't expect that. I wanted to spend some time with the family before the home stretch.
Pictures of Mecca and videos of Mecca will do you no justice. This is a place where you have to go to get it. I hope one day you get to.
Botts at 9:44PM on May 30th 2008