Posted on 06/27/2014 2:06:17 AM PDT by Seeing More Clearly Now
By ignoring the honor-shame dynamic in Arab political culture, is the West keeping itself from making headway toward peace?
Your prediction has become mainstream.
The intrersting aspect unveiled by these jewish social anthropologists is actually unspoken but clearly understood. The Nakba and their “honor” will cause the Arab sects to fight each other, hopefullyto mutual distruction.
Yes, we need to keep them nose to nakba...as long as possible.
Till muslims renounce violence in the name of their allah they deserve NO respect or understanding, period!
Interesting philosophical inquiry... since the gospel of Jesus Christ solves the problem of being unable to endure a humiliating ordeal, even one that is undeserved, in order to effect a change to the good. No other faith speaks to that directly, though the karma concepts of Hinduism and Buddhism attempt to approach it.
Which attitude is basically a Westernized “honor trap.”
Shhhh...this is as allah wills it.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Honor? In the Arab world? You might as well ask a tuna about sunstroke.
You are not familiar with pre/non Christian forms of honor. It basically revolves around self, if something makes you look good, it is honorable. If something makes you look bad it is not honorable.
If you can kill the thing that makes you look bad, you can reclaim your honor.
No my FRiend, they are well versed in old world honor, and it can get you killed if you travel where it holds sway.
Nobody is keeping them from making headway. If the West understood the honor and shame and its pathologies perfectly, they would still make no headway towards peace or anything else. To do that, they’d have to cast off their Arabness.
Christianity is an offense to the concept of honor. Our God, the very God that spoke the world into existence, took on the form of man, lived in that form with all the indignities of flesh then allowed himself to be stripped, beat, mocked then killed hanging on a cross with criminals.
So we’re not talking about “honor” in the chivalric sense, but the childish obsession with “saving face” that is a hallmark of stunted cultures.
This should be a “must read.” It explains things very well.
“You are not familiar with pre/non Christian forms of honor. “
Hate to break it to you, but what you are calling “Christian honor” predates Christianity by 1500-2000 years or so.
Started with a guy name Abe.
Chivalry, developed in a small part of the world and is a relatively modern invention.
The concept of honor that you refer to as saving face, is much older and more common. I would refer to it as non Christian rather than stunted culture. Those stunted cultures were thriving when the ancestors of those who invented Chivalry were still running through the woods naked and eating raw meat. I’m not trying to say they are better, they are not, but they are the norm for humanity, and exaggerated by the moon god religion.
Point taken, I ask your forgiveness.
Now that you mention it, you’re probably right about the history of “honor.” The concept of saving face certainly goes back as far as the Trojan War, which was Menelaus’ way of avenging his humiliation by Paris.
Still, that vengeance marks cultures more tribal than civilized. Although I suppose you could describe nationalism (and even imperialism) as saving face writ large.
Christianity is an offense to the concept of honor. Our God, the very God that spoke the world into existence, took on the form of man, lived in that form with all the indignities of flesh then allowed himself to be stripped, beat, mocked then killed hanging on a cross with criminals.
Exactly. J.P. Holding points out that you really can't understand the Bible unless you understand the honor/shame paradigm. However, it is through the Messiah that God ultimately works the process of breaking down human pride (the craving for worldly honor) and the fear of shame. He did so by taking the same that we rightly feel and placing it all on Yeshua (Jesus) on the Cross, while taking Yeshua's proper honor as the unique Son of God and gifting it to us.
In addition, I would argue that the giving of the Spirit has transformed society gradually away from honor/shame and to an inner awareness (conscience) of right and wrong. One of the challenges we face today is that we've come to take conscience for granted and don't realize how little a role it plays in most cultures, whether you're talking about Arab culture, Asian culture, or black street culture.
Shalom
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