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Rating: 
Summary: If ever I forget thee, O Jerusalem
Review: Gilles Kepel, professor at the Institute of Political Studies of Paris is one of the world's foremost experts on the modern Middle East. In "The Revenge of God" he discusses the resurgence of the three monotheisms that each claims Jerusalem as its own holy city. This book was first published in 1994, but Professor Kepel's chapters on the Islamic revival can be profitably read with post-9/11 hindsight. Just a glance at this week's 'NY Times' headlines such as "Syria, Long Ruthlessly Secular, Sees Fervent Islamic Resurgence" and "Bush Says He Disagrees With General [Boykin's] Remarks on Religion" are an indication that Professor Kepel's comparative essay is still very topical. From my viewpoint, the most frightening chapters were not on the revival of Islamic extremism, but the battle for the re-Judaization of Israel by groups such as the Gush Emunim. Intellectually, the concept of 'sacred ground' is easily understood, but the viewpoint that non-Jews have no right to the land that had been promised to the Chosen People is harder to grasp by someone like myself who was raised in a secular state--especially when that viewpoint was carried to its logical extreme via a plot to blow up the mosques on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. If you think it is going to be easy for the Israeli Government to disband the West Bank settlements of its fundamentalist citizens, you need to read this book. The title of this book might even give an atheist cause to fear when examined in the light of extremist groups such as Gush Emunium or the followers of Sayyid Qutb, the father of modern Islamist fundamentalism. According to Professor Kepel, the radical pessimism of Sayyid Qutb's message did not take root until social conditions in Egypt fell into disarray in the 1970s. Modernism and secularism were profoundly rejected by Qutb's followers, just as they had been by members of Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic fundamentalist groups. The author contends that the 'simultaniety' of this rejection of modernism by all of these religious groups was the "loss of assurance born of scientific and technological progress since the 1950s." Another factor was the death of "the great atheist messianic ideology of the twentieth century, communism." In his concluding chapter, "Reconquering the World," Professor Kepel writes that the danger (although he does not use the word 'danger') posed by the fundamentalist groups is that in their rejection of the philosophy of the Enlightenment, they also reject the legitimacy of secular governments. "The successes of the Islamists are the clearest indication of the political, economic, and social bankruptcy of the post-independence ruling elites." How will the social breakdown of the Muslim Mediterranean countries affect the rest of the world? We are just beginning to realize what a quagmire we've gotten ourselves into in Iraq. Even if you don't agree with Professor Kepel's thesis, read this book for a French professor's view of American evangelists Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts, and Jim Bakker. He doesn't take any cheap shots, but he'll still make you smile (or say 'ouch').
Rating:
Summary: If ever I forget thee, O Jerusalem
Review: Gilles Kepel, professor at the Institute of Political Studies of Paris is one of the world's foremost experts on the modern Middle East. In "The Revenge of God" he discusses the resurgence of the three monotheisms that each claims Jerusalem as its own holy city. This book was first published in 1994, but Professor Kepel's chapters on the Islamic revival can be profitably read with post-9/11 hindsight. Just a glance at this week's 'NY Times' headlines such as "Syria, Long Ruthlessly Secular, Sees Fervent Islamic Resurgence" and "Bush Says He Disagrees With General [Boykin's] Remarks on Religion" are an indication that Professor Kepel's comparative essay is still very topical. From my viewpoint, the most frightening chapters were not on the revival of Islamic extremism, but the battle for the re-Judaization of Israel by groups such as the Gush Emunim. Intellectually, the concept of 'sacred ground' is easily understood, but the viewpoint that non-Jews have no right to the land that had been promised to the Chosen People is harder to grasp by someone like myself who was raised in a secular state--especially when that viewpoint was carried to its logical extreme via a plot to blow up the mosques on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. If you think it is going to be easy for the Israeli Government to disband the West Bank settlements of its fundamentalist citizens, you need to read this book. The title of this book might even give an atheist cause to fear when examined in the light of extremist groups such as Gush Emunium or the followers of Sayyid Qutb, the father of modern Islamist fundamentalism. According to Professor Kepel, the radical pessimism of Sayyid Qutb's message did not take root until social conditions in Egypt fell into disarray in the 1970s. Modernism and secularism were profoundly rejected by Qutb's followers, just as they had been by members of Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic fundamentalist groups. The author contends that the 'simultaniety' of this rejection of modernism by all of these religious groups was the "loss of assurance born of scientific and technological progress since the 1950s." Another factor was the death of "the great atheist messianic ideology of the twentieth century, communism." In his concluding chapter, "Reconquering the World," Professor Kepel writes that the danger (although he does not use the word 'danger') posed by the fundamentalist groups is that in their rejection of the philosophy of the Enlightenment, they also reject the legitimacy of secular governments. "The successes of the Islamists are the clearest indication of the political, economic, and social bankruptcy of the post-independence ruling elites." How will the social breakdown of the Muslim Mediterranean countries affect the rest of the world? We are just beginning to realize what a quagmire we've gotten ourselves into in Iraq. Even if you don't agree with Professor Kepel's thesis, read this book for a French professor's view of American evangelists Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts, and Jim Bakker. He doesn't take any cheap shots, but he'll still make you smile (or say 'ouch').
Rating:
Summary: A thorough study of the rise of modern religious militants
Review: Islamic fundamentalists murdered nuns in Algeria, Menachem Goldstein opened fire on praying Muslims at the Tomb of the Patriarch, physicians and patients were gunned down at family planning clinics for performing legal abortions. The list of terror acts in the name of God is growing. What is the origin of this violence, and is there a common denominator between these different religious fundamentalists? Dr. Kepel describes in this very well written book how the three major Abrahamitic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam - four, if you like Dr. Kepel in this study, separate Protestantism and Catholicism) have gone through a notable transformation since the seventies, from adapting their doctrines to the surrounding secular world, to demanding that the secular world adapt to their doctrines. He shows how, as a consequence of this shift, the tolerance towards other religions as well as to secular society has been dramatically reduced. In turn, this has caused an increased willingness amongst religious extremists to use violence to ensure that the surrounding world follows and obeys the demands and customs of the religious communities. One of the central theses, and maybe the most interesting, in Kepel's book is how these tendencies are common to all four religions and how their origins also are similar. Partly because of his viewpoint - Kepel is a islamist at the French research agency CNRS - the book very effectively shows how also modern Christianity and Judaism show tendencies that many probably associate with only militant Islam. Kepel shows how for all three religions the transformation is a more or less explicit rebellion against the enlightenment and rationalism, mostly founded in a desperation about the social end economic conditions in the wake of the recession of the 70:ties. In all cases the "grass roots" movement that arouse around that time has since risen to power and it's in its fringes that the violence flourishes. There is a tendency to accept a certain amount of extremism in the name of cultural and religious freedom, but the question arises: how much do we accept that the freedom of expression and choice is limited in order to meet religious standards and norms? "The Revenge of God" won't answer these questions, but it's an excellent introduction to the background and the context in which they must be answered.
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