April 2011

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Islam and West - The Progress of West and The Downfall of Muslim World

The contemporary historians commit a grave mistake while referring to the medieval period as the dark period of human civilization. It was during this period from 800 CE to 1500 CE that Muslim scientists, philosophers, theologians and scholars actually laid down the foundation of a developed Muslim empire in terms of scientific knowledge, cultural heterogeneity, religious diversity, economic supremacy, trade and commerce. The West should be thankful to us because it is the intellectual heritage of our Muslim scientists and thinkers of medieval period upon which the basis of their Western renaissance and current progress is laid.
Pervaiz Hoodhbhoy in his book Muslims and Science: Religious orthodoxy and the struggle for rationality1 portrayed a clear picture of factors responsible for the downfall of Muslims. My paper will focus on Iqbal’s famous theory of “Reconstruction of religious thought in Islam” which according to Mustansir Mir2demands for a scientific knowledge of Islamic theology also stated in detail by Pervaiz Hoodhbhoy. The fact that I chose this thesis is because in my opinion Islamic Orthodox theology is the main cause of Muslim backwardness. In addition to this my main thesis will also shed some light on the two most important movements in the history of West and Islam: Protestantism and
Mutazillites movement as the key players in shaping the future of science in these civilizations. Further I will point out all the factors, their direct and indirect relationship with Islamic theology and their role in restricting Muslims from accepting the modern science and technology.
Mustansir Mir in Iqbal writes that every religion has two parts: Faith and theology. Faith is constant, permanent, divine, and unchangeable and in most of cases revealed while theology is a discipline developed by theologians of that particular faith to establish a particular world view which legitimizes that faith and allows timely innovations in religion. This world view mostly depends upon the particular mind set and prevailing customs and traditions of that era and changes with the changing circumstances of each era. Modern man has a mind that nourishes on the food of rationality, logic and critique of traditional superstitions. My opinion which is mainly based on the research I conducted I think that the main cause of Muslim backwardness in the field of science and the fact that they were outshined by West in every field is that Muslims theology failed to satisfy the needs and answer the questions of Modern mind. Islamic theology was unable to change itself and provide a new world view that could rationalize Muslim faith and face the challenges of logic and modern critique. This eventually led to a number of developments within the Muslims culture which led to their ultimate destruction such anti-West sentiments, establishment of clergy (Molvi) as an institution, colonialization and the most important of all the superiority complex. Each of the above mentioned factors will now be further elaborated with proper arguments:
First of all let’s bring to spotlight the two anti-orthodox movements that have a profound impact on the development of rationality in Islam and West. We can say that both the civilizations were given a chance by fate to revive the spirit of rationalism in their respective cultures. West accepted it in the form of Protestantism and Islam rejected it in the form of Mutazilla movement. It was these two movements that challenged orthodoxy, uphold the doctrine of rationality and demanded a logical explanation of all the Truths of religion. The fact that Protestantism succeeded in West was a permit to promote intellectual freedom, accept diversity and modernity and materialize the nature to study through the lens of natural sciences. Michael H.Hart in his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History3 states that most of the individuals in this book that greatly influenced the world in fields of science and technology belong to protestant countries. It was this intellectual freedom offered to these influential persons that brought about renaissance in the western world. The invention of printing press by Johan Guttenberg in 1450’s revolutionized science and gave birth to individual’s such as Newton, Einstein, Galileo, Kepler and many more. A new world view was established and science was redefined. In short one can say that people had now access to books and they were no more dependent on the dictation of traditional church authorities. People could now search for the Truth themselves.
On the other hand Muslims practiced a different approach. The rise of Mutazillites during the time of Al-Mamun and Haroon-ur-Rasheed was suppressed by orthodoxy latter on, shunning logic and reason on the basis of purely absolutist traditional knowledge. The orthodox Muslim theologians claimed that introduction of science in
Muslim world meant an innovation which was strictly forbidden in Islam. For reference they quoted the following saying of Bibi Ayesha:
Ayesha report that the messenger of Allah said “Whoever introduces a new innovation into this thing of ours (Islam) which is not of it, he is cursed.” Muslim Bukhari.
Now that’s one side of the story. The inner reality was that Muslim orthodox scholars created a protective shell around them and considered themselves an institutions just like the church priests who considered there authority as the final authority. The fact that Muslims failed to question these authorities just like Martin Luther did was because Muslim orthodox scholars through their preaching and writings made it literally impossible for a common man to question them and accept their authority as final on matters related to religion. Al- Gazali in his book “Deliverance from error4 says that no one is allowed to question an authority mere on the basis of doubt. If anyone wants to critique someone he or she must actually first achieve the level of that authority or even surpass it. This stops the process of questioning and criticizing what is not rational, the fundamental process of modern science.
Now coming over to the second most important factor. The superior complex from which the medieval Muslims suffered. Bernard Lewis in his book what went wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response? 5 draw a clear picture of this complex. According to Lewis for centuries Islam was at forefront of human civilization and thought that beyond its borders were only barbarians and infidels and this perception of self and other was not only enjoyed by Muslims but all other civilizations of the world such as China, Greek, Roman and Indian. Muslims were totally unaware of what was
happening in the West as they were not considering the West as potential rivals. What happened there during renaissance was only limited to West only. Yes, indeed there were trade links between the Muslim world and the West but there was no flow of ideas and then all of a sudden the relationship changed. The West which had remained a pupil of the East in term of scientific ideas had now begun to transform rapidly. With the advent of “New learning” the Europeans advanced rapidly, leaving the scientific and technological and eventually the cultural heritage of the Islamic world far behind them. Apart from renaissance this technological reformation remained unnoticed in the Muslim world as they were still suffering from the disease of superiority complex and considered the others as barbarians. Bernard Lewis says:
       “But as European civilization was rising, Islamic civilization was declining. Or rather, it was proving incapable of keeping up with its European rivals. Europeans explored the world, developed a scientific method, established legal, economic and political systems derived from enlightened philosophy. Modernism, however, was a European invention for which Islam had no answer. Why not?” (Review: What went wrong? By Pierre Tristam) 6
In my opinion the stability and progress of a civilization depends upon the militarily strength of that civilization. Once a particular civilization feels no more threatened from its rivals then it can focus more on its scientific, cultural, political and social progress and these are the vital elements that make a civilization great. For hundred of years the sense of security enjoyed by the Muslims aided them to concentrate more on their internal issues as was evident during the time of Abdur Rehman III. His regime is considered as the golden age of Islamic prosperity especially of Al-Andulus (Spain). For the first time the minorities (Jews, Christian) enjoyed a status of equal
citizenship with the Muslim invaders and that was due to this relaxation that the Jews fought for the Muslims during their conquest in Africa. Robert Gardner in the documentary “The rise and fall of Islamic Spain: Cities of light PBS 7says that these minorities were given the status of “Protected people” according to the Islamic law. A lot of scientific development that occurred in the Islamic world can be traced back to the Jews and Christians. Maimonides the greatest philosopher of Jewish tradition was a product of Muslim philosophical heritage.
“Most notable Arab scientists and Iranian scientists lived and practiced during the Islamic Golden Age, though not all scientists in Islamic civilization were Arab or Muslim. Some argue that the term "Arab-Islamic" does not appreciate the rich diversity of eastern scholars who have contributed to science in that era” (Behrooz Broumand, The contribution of Iranian scientists to world civilization, 2006; 288–290)
This proves my third factor responsible for the downfall of Muslim empire. The loopholes of Muslims military strategies were evident when Napoleon easily defeated the Muslim Army in Egypt in 1798 and during recon Questa of Spain. The downfall of Ottoman Empire is an example. As for as minorities are concerned Muslims of Medieval period failed to uphold their tradition of treating the minorities with respect. Robert Gardner peeps inside into the political conflicts that arose within the Muslim empire due to mistreatment of the minorities and second class citizens. Gardner says that the Muslim civilization born in AL-Andulus was rich in terms of musical arts, trade, science and technology, secular studies, scholars and theologians. The Muslims maintained a sort of balance among the diverse cultural and religious groups and each one contributed a lot in the total welfare of the Islamic civilization. Jews who were persecuted by the Visigoths before the conquering of Spain by Muslims welcomed the advent of Tariq bin Ziad. He
further adds that the downfall of Muslim empire was not due to the outside invaders but because of the internal conflicts that were initiated by the local Al- Mohads and North African Orthodox Muslims. They were considered as second class citizens and revolted against the Arab aristocrats. These orthodox Muslims persecuted the local religious minorities and demanded for an infidel free empire. The even attacked Seville because the governor of Servile had an ideology similar to Mutazillites, was in favor of a diverse society and provided patronage to the scholars who searched for a logical interpretation of Islam. The Orthodox Muslims attacked the city, burnt down approximately 700 libraries and all the books in them as they considered them heretic. This was the beginning of a civil war on the horizon of which the Orthodox ideology dominated. Greed, intolerance and Absolutism destroyed the passion for learning.     
Ottoman Empire which supported the decline of Muslim civilization was aware of the technological gap between Muslims and West. After Recon Questa Ottoman Empire focused more on gaining militarily strength, and technological growth but this too was a temporary shift in perception. Still suffering from the superiority complex Bernard Lewis writes that the Ottomans even aware of the advanced and skillful weaponry of the West never actually tried to achieve it themselves. Yes, it was true that they hired western mercenaries and engineers for building modern fortifications and sophisticated weapons but they never tried to learn the skill themselves. The curiosity for achieving skills and knowledge which is the essence of survival according to Carl Sagan and Brownski never developed in them ever. They still considered themselves superior to the European
infidels and recruiting European experts was a business for them, what is now days known as “Constructive engagement”. Bernard Lewis writes:
   “As early as sixteenth century, an Ottoman Grand Vizier in his retirement observed that while the Muslims forces were supreme on the land, the infidels were getting stronger on the sea. “We must overcome them”. His message received little attention
(Lewis, what went wrong? 2002, p.no 13)   
The Muslim civilization was now on the verge of collapse. Muslim Orthodoxy was still dominant ideology. Before First World War a wave of revolts by young Turks and Community of Union and progress (CUP) in Ottoman Empire demanded for a secular stated challenging the Orthodoxy and traditional authority. It is worth mentioning here that the Young Turks movement was initiated by a number of military officers, mostly educated in European institutions who were worried about the technological growth of the West and the decreasing military strength of the Ottoman Empire. Inspired by their glorious past they revolted against the Caliph, succeeded and established a scientific society. Educational reforms were conducted with emphasis on Science and technology but the continuous intervention of Orthodox Muslims made the progress slow.
William.L.Cleveland writes:
      “The first years of CUP were marked by intellectual freedom unparallel in Ottoman history. With the lifting of Abdul Hamid’s censorship, the periodical press underwent resurgence in the major cities of Empire. It was an exhilarating period, as ideas so long denied public expression poured forth in exuberant torrent. The government when I was not distracted by wars and the struggle to stay simply in Power, concentrated on the expansion of primary and secondary education system and the improvement of military, which had been badly neglected during the Abdul Hamid’s last years. The public debate was focused on achieving the proper mix between European and Indigenous ideas and institutions9 (Cleveland, A history of Modern Middle East 1999, p.no 133)
He further writes about the Orthodoxy that interrupted the process of reformation.
“In spring of 1909 a counterrevolution broke out against the new government. It was les by common soldiers and theological students in Istanbul who voiced their resentment against the influence of Europeanized army officers by chanting slogans calling for the restoration the Sharaih” (Cleveland, A history of Modern Middle East 1999, p.no 132)   
At this movement of history when the Muslim all over the world were under the influence of Orthodoxy, time was ripe for the scientifically developed and militarily well established Western colonials to colonize the weaker Muslim countries. Once again the Muslim armies failed to defeat their European rivals in the battle field due to poor military strategies and pathetic war equipments. This proves my fourth factor responsible for decline of Science in Muslim Civilization but this is one side of the picture. Let’s see in detail what actually happened, and why the Masters turned in to slaves?
During the renaissance Europeans that were once following the Islamic sciences which were based on the spiritual aspect of Nature. Renaissance was the birth and rise of Rationality. The Orthodox theologians were unable to withstand the attack of logic and rationality and gradually vanished. Syed Hossain Nasr in his response to Bernard Lewis what went wrong: responds as follow:
“The freedom of reason from revelation and intellectual institution, combined with emphasis upon humanism, rationalism, empiricism and naturalism led to many new developments including a new science based on power and made it possible for Europe to expand over the globe and become dominant over other civilizations. It led to the Industrial revolution, modern technology and modern medicine” 10 (Nasr, Heart of Islam: 2004, p.no 310)
The fact that Muslims didn’t respond to the changing demands of science and West did was the vital point that shaped the future prospects of Science in Islam and West. Muslim
theology that once changed with the changing era failed to detect such a change, and remain attached to its old theology of pre-modern era. One argument in this favor is that we don’t see many Muslim intellectual born after 1500 CE that did a remarkable work in the field of physics, Astronomy, medicine chemistry, mathematics or Geometry. This was because they now considered these fields of science as impure based on material growth and attached to them the label of Western science. It was here that the distinction between Islamic and western Science was made by Islamic orthodox philosophers. Al- Gazali in deliverance from error severely criticized Mathematics and all other natural sciences.
Going down the list there are several other factors that played a role in the downfall of Muslims and the rise of west. Most important of them are Colonization, Neo colonization, dictatorship in the Muslim countries, and luxurious life style of the Muslim Emperors and misinterpretation of the term jihad by Islamic Orthodox theologians. We are all well aware of the impact of Western civilization on our culture. Orthodox Muslims still processing a narrow world view demanded for pre modern scientific culture and rejected the advance science of West. It was at this period of time when the Reconstructionist movement originated, led by Sir Sayed Ahmad khan, Syed Ameer Ali and followed by Allama Iqbal which tried to change the orthodox ideology. It is worth mentioning here that it were the Islamic fanatics who always supported the dictatorship in Islamic countries as they considered dictatorship close to Islamic form of government. We are well aware what the menace of dictatorship did to Islamic countries. Stephen Cohen in Army’s Pakistan 11says that during the regime of Gen Zia-ul-Haq it was the Islamic Orthodox theology that was the states official ideology. The sacred term of Jihad
was reduced to physical jihad only and intolerance was on the peak in the society. Religious sectarianism was born during this era. It was this intolerance that was responsible for the downfall of great Muslim empires and other civilizations. Muhammad Amir Rana in his book Jihadi print Media in Pakistan: An Overview12 writes that during the times of dictators religious and Jihadi publication paved the way for Islamic Orthodox theologians to implement their ideology on the society. These publications include anti-west material which asks the Muslims to abandon Western scientific education and modernity as they are the tools of evil and wage war on the west. The verse of Quran which says that one Muslim is equal to 10 non-Muslims is misinterpreted and provided as a justification for their Jihad against the West. Much to our disappointment according to Stephen Cohen this verse was repeatedly recited during the time of Zia-ul-Haq while formatting Pakistan’s foreign policy for Afghanistan and India.
The last but not the least, the luxurious life style of Muslim empowers was one of the several reasons responsible for the economic down fall of Islamic civilizations. With the economic downfall, less attention was paid to other sectors of development including a well skilled army which is equipped with the military strategies of modern warfare. William Cleveland while referring to the period of Iranian Constitutional revolution writes.
“ The income from the loan, rather than being deployed in economic development or militarily improvements was used to meet payments on earlier loans or was squandered on Muzaffar-ud-Din expensive trips to Europe between 1900 and 1905” (Cleveland, A history of Modern Middle East 1999, p.no 141)
I will close my case with the famous quote of Carl Sagan which Brownski also mentioned in his documentary “The Ascent of Man” that “Curiosity and passion for knowledge is the tool for survival. Till the time we are unable to throw out the extremism and intolerance from our societies and compete with the west on equal grounds as the West did in medieval period, we will never be able to match them in any field. The main secret of West was that it never rejected Muslim knowledge when Muslims were the masters but laid down the foundation of their progress on the works of Muslim philosophers like ibne Rushd and Ibne Sina. Today our orthodox theologians still suffering from superiority complex are causing a conflict and distinction unnecessary between Islamic science and Western Science.

Author Profile:  Shahzad Mehboob is a current student of Political Science at Lahore University Of Management Sciences. Besides his interests in studies he is also a very good boxer.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Computer Organization And Architecture by Stallings [Solution Manual]


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Cost Accounting by Kinney [Slides PowerPoint]


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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Hippies - Informative

           In the 1960's, young people questioned America's materialism and cultural and political norms, much as they've always done.  Seeking a better world, some used music, politics, and alternative lifestyles to create what came to be known as the hippies’ counterculture. The hippies’ solutions to the problems of institutionalized American society were to either participate in mass protests with their alternative lifestyles and radical beliefs or drop out of society completely. Americans in that era faced many controversial issues-from civil rights, the Vietnam War, nuclear arms, and the environment to drug use, sexual freedom, and nonconformity.(lisa law,pp1)

The origin of hippies ‘ history can be traced back to period of beat generation and the invention of a psychedelic drug known to be LSD(Lysergic acid diethylamide) which played an important role in the birth and growth of hippies movement across the states. Beat generation represented a group of American writers who did experimentation with drugs and alternative forms of sexuality. They were inspired by the love of the eastern religions and spirituality and hatred for materialism. Their writings were mostly focused on obscenity and liberation of the youth from the conventional way of living which ultimately made them into youth cultural heroes.

The second major influential element that caused the arousal of hippies was LSD which was first synthesized on November 16, 1938 by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland as part of a large research program searching for medically useful ergot alkaloid derivatives. First when it was created its use was restricted to laboratory tests for its hidden potentials. Doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and CIA officials took special interest in its ability to alter the human mind which they thought if used smartly could have positive consequences on their work while dealing with patients or suspects. But unfortunately it was triggered in the wrong hands and flourished among the general public. This powerful drug when used by the public they were surprised and heavily endorsed by the pleasure that it gives. LSD is considered an entheogen because it can catalyze intense spiritual experiences, during which users may feel they have come into contact with a greater spiritual or cosmic order. This new experience led them to the utopian world which consequently alienated them from the rest of the society and stuffed them with hatred for the capitalist way of living.

Enchanted by the beatniks’ philosophy of life and endorsed with the drug propagated spirituality, the youth between the age of 15-25 found its new way of living. But it wasn’t until January 21st 1966 that the hippie movement was launched in Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco where the Trip festival was organized ensuring the LSD for its consumers and some hippie musical concerts. Where tens of thousands of young people participated with their colorful dresses. This established them as a new counter culture because not only their dressing style, music, dance and behavior were very different from the general American people but they were the strong opposition of the authority.

Hippies’ dressed up in colorful clothes. They wore bell-bottomed pants and brightly colored t-shirts. They didn’t care about the fashion at all and had long loose hair on both men and women. They wore used clothes and mostly were bare footed. They wander naked in public usually and specially in musical concerts. Their hatred for the rest of the society compelled them to leave urban areas and settle in less populated places to be close to the nature. They loved gathering and preferred living in communal. they shared almost every material things that they had like money, home and even life partners. Together they used to dance, sing and sleep. But sooner some of them left their communal as if they didn’t give up the American style of living. They came to the streets and started protesting the authoritative style of governance. They strongly opposed the World War II and Vietnam war. In that decade the assassinations of john F. Kennedy and the martin Luther king Jr stirred the hippie’s hatred for the authority. But their mode of protestation was very peaceful. Their love for nature made them celebrate the earth day which is still celebrated up till now.

Banning drugs in San Francisco, negative consequences of overdose LSD and deaths of many hippies’ celebrities slowed down its propagation in the US but majority of them flew eastwards to central Asia and Europe where they are still practicing their norms. Although short lived the hippies counter culture was the most influential culture that history has ever witnessed. In less than two and a half decade it shook the most powerful nation on earth to its roots. For better or for worse the influence of the hippies’ was pervasive. As the hippies influence on the world wasn’t cultural, it was technological. In April 1977 Steve Jobs introduced the apple tool, the first personal computer. He was a hippie. Later internet and Google has been facilitated by the hippies’.

            At the heart of American experiment is the quest for utopian world. A place where individuals can live together in harmony while enjoying the freedom to fulfill their personal destiny. The hippies’ sought that utopia through music, through drugs, through communion with nature, through love and peace. Failure was perhaps inevitable but their brash rejection of the status quo reset the priorities of a generation , open the door to whole universe of innovative products and businesses and reminded a nation obsessed with regimentation and conformity that the pursuit of happiness was and always will be a vital part of the American dream.

Globalization And Its Impact On The Contemporary Social Movements - Research


Introduction:

With its growing and frequent usage the word ‘Globalization’ has now become quite a buzzword in our contemporary socio-political and academic debate. But this word was not familiar two or three decades ago as it is now. Although the process of globalization can be traced back to many centuries but the speed at which it started to spread can be attributed to advancement in global economy and interconnectivity across and within countries: which is very recent. The boom of the financial institutions (IMF, World Bank etc.) and monetary and market system together with technological rise (internet, cell phones etc.) has created a paradigm shift throughout the course of every individual’s life. It has affected almost every realm of human understanding of the world. Furthermore, transnational social-activisms have taken a new turn conceiving the contemporary world view. Collective actions have now become more systematic than ever before. Keeping the affects of globalization in mind, this discussion mainly focuses on the transformation of contemporary social movements to new dimensions and to give a possible explanation for this shift. It proceeds with giving a general overview of major theories of globalization in order to fully grasp the very commonly used word ‘globalization’ and later on its relation with social movements.

  1. Globalization theories:

            Globalization is the growth and enactment of world culture. Since at least the middle of the nineteenth century, a rationalized world institutional and cultural order has crystallized that consists of universally applicable models that shape states, organizations, and individual identities (J. Meyer. 1997)1.  The twentieth century has unfolded the new version of human society which has neither existed nor perceived before. Technological advancement and industrial revolution has created opportunities to rethink old and traditional approaches of domination.   A huge growth in different disciplines of knowledge together with the population and systems of control have brought human beings very close together and created an urge for a new holistic understanding of the human society at macro level. This accumulated understanding then manifested different possible scopes for social well being each in its own peculiar aspect. Four of which are discussed below

1.1        the world economy theory:
            This theory explains the proliferation of capitalist’s way of economical up-gradation of human society by ensuring competitive environment to enable economic efficiency. In which human beings are viewed as economically rational individuals who make cost-benefit analysis and make rational decisions. The power of the state over the economic institution is rather diluted by the global economy. There is one huge global economy where the core countries have higher skills and capital intensive mood of production to enjoy high standard of lives and then there are these periphery countries which are labor intensive and have to depend on international financial institutions for their development.

1.2  the regional bloc theory:
Again this theory tries to explain economical well being of individuals by eliminating regional barriers. Unions are the end product of this type of understanding (European Union, etc.).

1.3  The third way theory :
It tries to reconcile the two major sociological approaches of human understanding by presenting a third way of mutual non-competitive environment for the two schools of thoughts which are capitalism and socialism.

1.4  the world culture theory:
Different from the above mentioned theories it talks about cultural homogeneity as a desirable product of recent massive interconnectivity.
‘The claims of the theory of globalization centre on the relationship between social and cultural organization and territoriality’ (Malcolm waters.2001: p18)2. Keeping in mind all the above mentioned theoretical explanation it is now quite reasonable to draw an association between social movements and globalization.

2. SMs and globalization:

Social movements can be viewed as collective enterprises seeking to establish a new order of life. They have their inception in a condition of unrest, and derive their motive power on one hand from dissatisfaction with the current form of life, and on the other hand, from wishes and hopes for a new system of living. The career of a social movement depicts the emergence of a new order of life. (Blumer. 1969: 99)3. Emergence of social activism clearly depicts the demand for an environment where the actors can enjoy their well being without interfering or devastating powerless fellow human beings. And with the growing tools of interconnectivity social movements have taken rather an organized form which were absent in pre-industrialized times. Easiness to communicate with the outside world and to draw world’s attention is now fairly achievable. We have seen such demonstration in recent Tunisian and Egyptian up rise. Furthermore, the time span for the success of social movements has declined. Movements which took decades and even centuries, such movements are now taking days and months to color their successes. Technological advancement and mass-media have clearly served social movements in this respect. Although, a lot of social movements have taken advantage of globalization phenomena in terms of mass-gathering to protest and to convey their messages abroad but at the same time many social movements have arisen in response to globalization. Movements like anti-globalization movement and zeitgeist movement are some of the social activisms that arose in reaction to global mood of economic domination in order to preserve the very nature and essence of human expression that we call culture. It is quite ironic that the means of protest and social mobilization that these movements use are the benefits of massive technological advancement brought about by globalization.

2.1 anti-globalization movement:
‘The anti-globalization movement is not primarily composed of Luddites who would take away telephone and e-mail, and in fact many of these groups make use of this technology themselves.’ (David barbers.)4 Resource mobilization theory (RMT) explains this kind of organization very well. Unlike NSM theory, Resource mobilization theory explains anti-globalization movement in a more sophisticated manner. This movement circles around the problem faced by the developing countries and even the developed countries due to economic proliferation. To accomplish its goals and to gather mob behind its cause it is well organized and structured and has activists all around the world who manage and organize seminars, sponsor movies, write columns and speak in public to create awareness about their cause. One of its decisive resources is intellectual circle of people who are continuously indulged in bringing an order in this order-less world.

2.3 zeitgeist movement:
This movement is explained quite deliberately by RMT and POS theory. Just like anti-globalization movement, this movement too is well organized and its activists include majority of students from all over the world. On the other hand unlike anti-globalization movement this movement is more into solutions then problems. ‘Although many people, publications, and multi-media presentations portray various aspects of the future and paint spectacular pictures of the developments to come in such areas as transportation, housing, and medicine, they ignore the fact that in a monetary-based economy the full benefits of these developments continue to be available to a relative few’5 (Jacque Fresco.p1) It argues that the current Monetary and Market system are obsolete forms of control which needs to be upgraded by introducing resource system (replacing monetary and banking system) by a system of control called Venus project. As POS suggests that the success and failure of a system is quantified by its relation with the political agents. Zeitgeist movement is traced back to 1974 when Jacque Fresco (the initiator of this movement) openly criticized the monetary system as flawed and needed correction live on national TV of the USA. But his voice was kept suppressed for decades and now this movement has again gained momentum after being affiliated to different political circle of intellectuals.

In short, although the universality of the scientific and technological development together with the financial expansion have brought humanity very close to each other but this repertoire of neo-liberalization is still facing a rather growing upheaval of masses who ask for a more flexible but sustainable system of control, a system that can ensure the dignity of self identity and release humanity from the diverging and alluding gigantism of current world order.

A Critique on " The God Delusion"



God delusion is a documentary recently presented by “Clinton Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) who is a British Ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author1. Dawkins has given up Religion and belief in supernatural creator in his early childhood. At the same time he is so influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection that he has dedicated his life to convert all human beings to atheism. Because he thinks “Evolution is a fact”2 and in order spread this fact he has written many books and this documentary is also based on his book entitled “the God delusion”.
This documentary depicts Dawkins’ everlasting hatred about religion. Dawkins’ hatred is strange because most of the scientists are agnostic i.e. who are skeptic about god, considering the limitations of science but Dawkins goes one step further and denies  the existence of God and tries his best to make use of logos. In his opinion science and religion are completely different schools of thought and most probably opposite of each other. According to him science is a well established knowledge and follows some logical physical laws that human mind can accept without arguing while religion is a mixture of unverified myths of Bronze Age which is strengthened by the sheer course of time.
Let’s not forget the topic in the hand and begin with the analysis of his work. This documentary mainly focuses two different people. Those who are atheist but their fear of being different from the rest of the world keep them silent and those who are religious but still are skeptical. And here Dawkins comes in. He tries to remove fear out of the hearts of atheists and make religious people skeptical.  He does so by communicating with the believers, and asking them questions.. He makes them assure of a friendly environment by his intelligent art of speech during the course of dialogue. And he then goes on swiftly from gentle skepticism to harsh punch line of criticism.
Analyzing his documentary right from the start gives a feeling of a typical Hollywood movie. And the background music is highly symphonious. “In documentaries, music often plays a very important role on the emotional side of the discourse”3 and its absence tends to create boredom in viewers. This documentary has very melodious background music which resonates with the oral representation quite harmoniously. Especially right in the start of the documentary the sound of flute and drums create a good combination to attract serious attention. And the music doesn’t stop till the end though it changes many dimensions from soft classical instruments to guitar and piano. Good combination of music in this documentary represents a brilliant professional excellence in creating dynamical sound effects. Its coherence with scenes gives an impressionable affect and drives mind to concentrate on the issues that Dawkins discusses in his course of speaking.
            Together with the music Dawkins’ beautiful verbal discussion also adds to the beauty of the documentary. Most of the “scientists are generally poor speakers that we like to reassure one another”4 but Dawkins seems to be very professional speaker and debater. He speaks with highly poetic and metaphorical manner which is hardly expected from a science author. He starts with a pathos and calls religion the biggest threat for our society but so eloquently that no viewer seems hearted by his frankness. It really seems hard to argue religion in such a divisive behavior at least in the current point of time when there is hatred everywhere and religious speakers are burning the masses with their spiritual speeches. But Dawkins seems not afraid of being against the religion and traditional doctrines. He stays very straight forward throughout his presentation and he faces many powerful arguments when he talks with the people who believe in the creator “the God”.
            Talking with the believers and arguing with them needs a lot of courage and some important facts and statistics which Dawkins seems to be fully aware of. He doesn’t remain confined to science laboratories rather he gears up and travels around the world asking people about their intense belief in god, which he calls a failed system of faith. He goes to central France, America, and Jerusalem where the world three biggest religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) have groomed and still are flowing out all over the world. He argues with the preachers and puts forward the Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to be the rational and factual system of human understanding which they don’t like at all. On the other hand Dawkins is not convinced by any of their altercations because Dawkins believes in Darwinism from the core of his heart and no powerful blow of thought leaves a single scratch on his faith of having no faith in God.
            The other beauty of Dawkins’ influential words is his use of practical examples.
He gives relevant yet simple examples to make his points clear. He makes practical gestures by visiting different places. He goes to some hilly area to give the example of Darwin’s theory of natural selection and gradual modification in the phenotype of living organisms where he stands up in front of a huge cliff and says that human kind may seem very different from one perspective like the difference in the height level of the cliff and the ground but this difference is not abrupt. It took a long time for the gradual modification of animals especially human beings to attain their current phenotype. To show this gradual change he moves to the back of the cliff where a gentle slope leads up to the top. And after climbing to the top he says that human kind may seem different from microscopic organisms but there is only one force that caused this complexity and that is the force of natural selection which took millions of years.
            Prolific Examples, verbal eloquence, superb background music and simple logical evidences made Dawkins’ documentary very effective and heart touching, from the start till the end. And in the end Dawkins use pathos with skepticism. He hopes that the world may change in the future. The ending words reveal the theme of the documentary when he continues, “we are all atheists about most of the gods that society ever believed in but some of us go one step further”5.

By: Shah Fahad