Lectures on Humanism
James W. Gustafson, PhD
I want to center these lectures on humanism on the autobiography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, "Infidel", published in 2007 by Free Press.
I find her story both fascinating and compelling. Fascinating because in a single lifetime she has recapitulated the historical development of humanity from ignorant tribalism to sophisticated enlightenment humanism. Compelling, because her story puts a vivid face on the implications of various worldviews. Negatively it shows the repression of the human mind and spirit by unenlightened dogmatism. Positively it shows how the human spirit can flourish when blessed by the light of reason guiding the warmth of selfless love.
Ali grew up in Somalia in a tribal setting that Europeans began to outgrow over a thousand years ago. Her worldview centered on the interaction of clans, fostering feelings of "us" versus "them." One tribe is superior to another, or inferior as the case may be, due to ancestry and their place in the pecking order of society. Its values centered on honor—everyone must act in ways that preserve the honor of the clan. Since tribalism is usually male-dominated, this meant that women and girls had no life they could call their own.
There may be tribal societies that are matriarchal. But Somali tribalism is embedded in the Islamic worldview, where women are subservient to males. A wife or daughter must be protected by her husband, her father, her brother, or a male relative within the clan, no matter how distant the relationship may be.
One of the values of tribalism is a sense that one belongs. There is a strong organic connection. As Somalis relate their ancestry back ten or more generations, they find a connection that makes them cousins and therefore qualified for care and protection. This is a significant benefit when disaster or displacement uproots someone. If they can find a clan connection, one is taken care of. It’s matter of honor.
On the other hand, such Islamic women must stay at home unless accompanied by a male. Daughters are expected to marry a person selected by the father, though some refuse. To go off on one’s own, especially into non-Islamic relations, is to disgrace the family and the clan.
Since Islam is fixated on sexual sins, Somali clans blame females for lustful responses in males. Thus women must cover their skin and not even look men in the eye as this can inflame desire. This also explains the common African practice of excision of female genitals. Females are thought to be wanton and unable to control their sexuality. By cutting off either the clitoris or in some cases the entire gentalia, then sewing up what remains into a kind of tissue-based chastity belt, husbands can have proof a bride is a virgin.
Ali and her sister and cousins, in fact all Somali girls, suffered this mutilation and were supposed to be proud of it as an honored tribal custom. When the adolescent Ali asked an ma’alim (teacher of the Koran) why men didn’t have to cover up since they can arouse passion in females, she was basically told to shut up and not challenge Islamic dogma.
This is standard for tribal cultures. And religions often take a long time to emerge from the cocoon of dogmatism, wriggling out into the light of reason. Judaism and Christianity began to become self-analytical millennia ago and its mainstream branches are comfortable with self-criticism. This is due to the influence of Greek philosophy as it is has influenced European thought since the renaissance. But this is not yet true for Islam. Islam is still in a tribal stage of development in that it accepts its worldview and Koranic dogma without question. In fact, it is usually antagonistic to any challenge to the truth of its claims.
In tribal cultures, questioners simply are told: It’s the ancient way of our ancestors. Dogmatic religions likewise appeal to authority. “God punishes those who doubt and who persist in asking skeptical questions.”
Now while this still persists at some level in Christianity and Judaism, scholars in these traditions have largely come to examine the foundations of their respective worldviews in term of rational criteria. Is the Bible the Word of God? Did the events foundational to faith (such the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt or the life, teaching, and resurrection of Jesus actually take place? What is fact and what is fiction? What is coherent and what is incoherent? These are questions getting major attention in religions that have evolved beyond tribalism and dogmatism. But Islamic tribalism has not yet attained to this level of maturity.
When Ali found herself in Europe in the 1990s, she found herself in a world beyond her comprehension. She was shocked by it; she was enthralled by it.
People In Holland, where she applied for asylum as a refugee from the bloodshed going on in Somalia, were helpful to her. She was not of their clan. She was not of their religion. There was no tribal precedent for their treating other than as dirt—such as she had encountered in Kenya and Saudi Arabia where her family had briefly been located. The tribal mindset had no explanation for this in its worldview.
Ali was later to understand that this came from the influence of enlightenment ideas and the example and teaching of Jesus Christ. All people were created by God and should liove one another, even enemies. She found that police were not enemies out to hurt you if you did not give bribes. She was given housing, food, and even cash pocket money while she awaited her interviews. Government workers were solicitous of her feelings and showed genuine concern for her as an individual. When she dared to wear western clothes, showing her neck, arms and ankles, no one took notice. Men did not ogle her and pounce upon her with uncontrollable lust as she expected from her religious training and from the way unprotected girls were treated in Somalian culture.
Ali did not know it at the time, but she was enjoying the benefits of humanism. What humanism is and where it came from will the subject of our next lecture.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Friday, March 2, 2007
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
