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Looking to the Middle East for Inspiration Armstrong Williams As tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate, the world watches nervously and hopes the hostility that has mounted for the past fifty years does not erupt into an Armageddon. The all too familiar images of violence in the Middle East have distorted our understanding of the millions of people who reside in this part of the world. Anxious to remove the spectacles of the media and view the Arab world with my own eyes, I recently took a trip to Cairo, Egypt. What I found were God-fearing people struggling to develop a society with laws and institutions that reflected their deeply held religious beliefs. The struggle between government and religion is a common theme throughout the Islamic world, which helps produce the violence that we witness every day on our televisions and that we were painfully victims of on 9/11. However, these violent Middle Eastern political groups that dominate news coverage blind us to the many positive aspects of this society. In stark contrast to the U.S., Egypt has very low rates of out-of-wedlock births and rape, relatively little divorce, very few violent crimes, and they achieve all of this despite abject poverty. They have been able to create such a society because they have strong communities that are built around religious belief. While we often view nations such as Egypt with a condescending eye, the fact of the matter is we can learn a great deal from their devotion to a higher power. We can do all that we can along secular lines to create programs to end drug addiction, combat homelessness, or bring men out of jail, yet all of these programs are equivalent to pouring water on concrete if we have not nurtured the spiritual soil in which we invest our energy. Cairo has 25 million people, most of them living in poverty that is far worse than anything we experience here in America. Yet their crime rates are extraordinarily low, far lower than most major American cities. This suggests – beyond any shadow of a doubt – that poverty does not lead to crime. We often associate poverty with crime in America, yet the relationship is one of correlation rather than causation. Communities that are rife with poverty today are often communities that are rife with great spiritual despair and hopelessness. We fool ourselves if we think that we can solve these problems by secular means alone. Often the people most in need are most in need of spiritual bread, the bread of friendship, community, and love, that is often most effectively delivered by those inspired with faith. Story Continues Below
The free market democracy that we have constructed in America is the source of our great strength, but it can be – and often is – a double-edged sword. America is truly a land of opportunity, providing its citizens with the freedom to create wealth and attain material goods. However, many Americans have lost sight of the fact that wealth is merely a means to an end and not the end itself. Such an outlook is dangerous. When pleasing God is no longer the end, a man loses his internal compass and becomes lost in a sea of despair. Many Americans have achieved the so-called "American dream," yet they still find themselves depressed and dejected, hoping drugs and alcohol will numb them to the emptiness they feel. And sadly, many of those who are without wealth in this nation also fall into the trap of believing that wealth is the end they should seek, but striving toward such an end only creates a sense of nihilism in them as well. This feeling of worthlessness helps to create a society in which violent crime, drug addiction, promiscuity and divorce are prevalent. It never ceases to amaze me how interacting with someone unlike yourself will actually teach you more about yourself. The Egyptians' faith in God is a source of strength that shields them from the many problems of despair that we face here in America. If we are to ever have any chance at eradicating the aforementioned problems, those among us inspired by faith must step forward and help the countless Americans who have lost hope find their way. Though America is the most powerful nation on earth, we will never reach our potential without men and women of faith playing an active role in society. And no American will truly reach his or her potential until they heed the Middle Eastern example and look to God for inspiration, purpose, and power.
www.armstrongwilliams.com Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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