Picking on Tom F. “Every student was required to read it!”
Excited by my report that I’d finally started Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat,
my friend mentioned his wife’s experience while she was dean of a college. That
was years ago; maybe, as the flow of information goes, an eon ago.
What I didn’t tell my friend was that my initial impression
left me wishing I had the Readers’ Digest version or, better yet, a synopsis of
that. Now that it’s done, I’ve revised even that; I would have preferred a
two-page outline.
Maybe that’s just me reacting to a middle aged guy who is so
hooked on an overarching vision that I’m reminded of a Boy Scout working on his
lariat making merit badge. Only someone who has made a fortune investing in
Indian call centers would feel goose bumps while perusing Flat.
Harsh words? Hardly that. Try this: I don’t think Tom Friedman knows
what he thinks he knows. Although his book was copyrighted seven years ago, its
message, to any retailer, was stale even then. For bloggers like me who (for
years) had watched their words sail around the world in less time than it takes
to yawn, Tom’s book was less fun than finding a four leafed clover.
Much less. When he attributed Islamic terrorism to the
humiliation felt by (young) Muslims, I cringed. When he suggested that, by
making their Islamic world more flat, such unsportmanlike [my term] behavior
would cease, I gagged. When he ended his book as if he were a cheerleader
infused with expresso, I wanted to snatch his pom-pom.
“Cool it, Tom!” I screamed at Flat. “Do your homework!” I
added. “The bad guys don’t think they’re bad! They think they’re righteous!
They think we have it all wrong!”
We, by the way, includes Tom. Islamists don’t want us to
apologize; they really don’t care if we do tricks or share cigarettes. There is
one bottom line: they want us to submit.
After we’ve thrown Israel under a bombed out bus. In sum,
that’s it. “Consider this,” I’d remind Tom, since I’m betting he already knows
it. “Central to Judaism, Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran. When
Muslims pray, their butts face the Western Wall; they prostrate themselves
toward Mecca.
“In a flat world, Tom,” I might say, “a world that’s truly
flat, truth reigns.” How could he argue? “Here’s the truth,” I’d tell him; “Mohammad
rode a flying horse to the what was regarded as the farthest mosque. We’re told
that was in or near Jerusalem.” [please see: | Victory News Magazine | The Ascension of Prophet
Muhammad ...
Mohammad) by night from the Holy Mosque (of
the Ka'ba) to the Farthest Mosque, which We ... and harnessed for him the Buraq,
And did make him ascend towards Your heavens..."
www.victorynewsmagazine.com/4TheAscensionProphetMuhammad.htm -]
I’d continue:
“But the Koran never mentions Jerusalem. That’s why al Aqsa mosque is
important.” I might add, “For all the wrong reasons.” Or I might just show Tom
this (http://www.mythsandfacts.org/article_view.asp?articleID=241):
To
enhance the prestige of the 'substitute Mecca,' the Jerusalem mosque was
named al-Aqsa. It means 'the furthest mosque' in Arabic, but has
far broader implications, since it is the same phrase used in a key passage of
the Quran called "The Night Journey." In that passage, Mohammed
arrives at 'al-Aqsa' on a winged steed accompanied by the Archangel
Gabriel; from there they ascend into heaven for a divine meeting with Allah,
after which Mohammed returns to Mecca. Naming the Jerusalem mosque al-Aqsa was
an attempt to say the Dome of the Rock was the very spot from which Mohammed
ascended to heaven, thus tying Jerusalem to divine revelation in Islamic
belief. The problem however, is that Mohammed died in the year 632, nearly 50
years before the first construction of the al-Aqsa Mosque was completed.
Maybe it’s time for the revision of Flat.
B.
Koplen 8/15/12
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