clash of civilizations

June 5, 2006 at · Filed under books, politics, religion

took me a long time but i am finally done with the "clash of civilizations".

it was one of the best and thought provoking books i have ever read. i should have read it long ago.
had to stop many times to debate (mostly with myself) its assertions, many of them contradictory to what i believe.

while i think it is a must-read book i disagree with some of its basic assumptions and summary conclusions (plus i think it makes a very self-serving and shallow use of statistics and anecdotal evidence to prove its point).

the analysis of post cold-war international relations is eye opening. drawing the relationship between different cultures and future conflicts proved to be prescient. specifically the escalation between Islam and the West, and the growing tensions between China and the US.

the main points where i disagree with him are around the values of the West and their applicability to the rest of the world, and related to it the simplistic (in my opinion) and too static view of the differences between civilizations (and the people that make them up).

Huntingtion identifies several values as being Western Values among them democracy, human rights, individualism. he claims towards the end of the book that anyone who have read this book so far, and still believes that Western values have universal appeal is living in a different reality. well i guess i qualify as one of these people.

i don't think all Western values are universal (e.g. individualism), but others (e.g. human rights) are. with the benefit of hindsight i think that the improved communication and information sharing capabilities are proving that people from all civilizations are aspiring to Western freedoms. it does not mean adopting all Western values, but it may be the case that it is impossible to adopt just some of these values. in which case we'll see all civilizations not just modernize, but also westernize (this goes against the main theme of the book). 

the differences between civilizations will still exist, and nations (in some cases civilizations) will still want to assert themselves and grow their influence, so that part of Huntington's theory still stands.  the West superiority will not last forever, but whomever takes over will most likely do it using western "tools".

a book which makes it to my must-read list, but in my opinion should not be taken as the bible on international relations, and a crystal ball for where the world is headed. 

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a grave wound

May 4, 2006 at · Filed under politics, religion

it is interesting to follow the growing rift between the vatican and china.

the latest clash is over the consecration of two new bishops without first clearing it with the vatican, which apparently is a serious offense and a "grave wound" to the unity of the church (according to the vatican). 

all the chinese are trying to do is to control the church in china, so it does not become a source for civil unrest, like the falun gong. this is pretty reasonable approach from a totalitarian state that is looking to minimize any threat to its power.

i think i am on the side of the chinese on this one. since it is a state-run religion, why should they be taking orders from some old german conservative, sitting in rome? what does he know about the qualification of these guys to become bishops?. the most important qualification for this position should be their support of the government and its policies, the value of obedience, and only then the minor issue of their knowledge of the catholic principles, the bible and all that. 

the vatican position is that these bishops are now by definition ex-communicated (it's an automatic feature, also applied to women who go through abortion), since it was done without the vatican consent, and not according to due process. the vatican is really concerned that the new bishops have not gone through the required "spiritual preparation" for the job.

i assume "spiritual preparation" includes guidelines on how to collect money from the masses, bank account numbers for where to send the money, standard procedure for when you get caught with choir-boys, etc.

btw, this pope is really scary looking. at least john paul looked like a friendly grandpa. this one looks like he came out of the latest exorcist movie (playing the demon that needs to be exorcised..)

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