Disrespect for the past, disharmony for the future

In the tumult of the Arab Spring, a fear pressed itself repeatedly into the minds of those who wished to see liberal, secular democracies emerge.  The object of their horror was the Muslim Brotherhood, who it was thought would set up a theocracy in all but name.  But the fright was misplaced.  Though it is early days, the Brotherhood are acting as a force for stability in the region in general and are open to dialogue with coalition partners in Egypt.  It is the Salafists, who garnered a quarter of the Egyptian vote, that are the ones of whom we should terrified of ever attaining power.

A dangerous mix of Lutheranism and the Khmer Rouge, with an Islamic twist, they make Rick Santorum look like a beacon of open-mindedness.  In their quest for religious and cultural purity of an austere kind, they are quite prepared to institute a Year Zero in their domains.  In Saudi Arabia, their Wahhabi sect dominates the policy of the government, imbuing the kings of Saud with religious imprimatur as long as social norms do not deviate from their prescription, otherwise proscription will be enacted.  In the last ninety years, they are responsible for the destruction of all but a handful of historic buildings in Mecca, many that had been more than a thousand years old, all because they ‘distract from the true message of Islam’.  The Taliban were condemned for the destruction of the Buddhist statues at Bamiyan but the architectural assault on Mecca receives little prominence, probably because non-Muslims are forbidden from entering and those Muslims from western countries are on Hajj, not investigation. If the Salafists ever came to dominance in Egypt, they would probably tear down the pyramids and the Sphinx and blow up the Valley of the Kings and Abu Simbel.

Salafists were believed to be behind the recent attack on a western military cemetery in Benghazi, most likely in ‘revenge’ for the unfortunate and accidental committing of Korans to the flames at a US detention centre in Afghanistan.  Their closed and padlocked mindsets and resultant inflammatory intolerance cannot conceive of respect for other ‘Peoples of the Book’ i.e. Jews and Christians, hence the gleeful desecration of graves belonging to followers of each faith who had fallen in Libya in World War Two.  Such are the fruits when ignorance is not tackled.

Yet, boorish iconoclasm and contempt for the dead exists in Britain.  Let him who is without sin cast the first stone, except they don’t care that they are doing wrong.  While some steal metal plaques from war memorials and remembrance gardens for scrap metal money, youthful hooligans delight in exercising the power to hurt by breaking grave stones and tombs with a vigour that might be applauded in eastern Libya.  At my local church, one tomb has had its covering stone slab levered off and smashed.  The body had long been removed and it may be the council that picks up the tab for maintenance (these kids don’t pay taxes yet) rather than the church’s PCC, but it is senseless vandalism.  It’s not as if the church hasn’t tried to embrace them, with allowing use every Tuesday night of a side chapel for recreation of their choice (within bounds), though a small minority has forced its abandonment by using it as a means to steal items from other parts of the church.  The parents of these children are either overwhelmed by the cares thrust upon them or are wilful in their neglect.  It is indicative of the fragmentation of social cohesion as the kids seek familial loyalty and fellowship in gangs that can be little more than mini-dictatorships.