-
today's problem on the global scale
-
is the coexistence between our occidental renunciation of religion
-
and the societies which have yet to recognize such renunciation
-
islam is posited as a particular problem because they're our neighbors
-
they carry a particular familiarity with our culture
-
all the while holding a trauma from the occidental presence
-
which poses a menace to their collective identity
-
which led to the resurgence of fundamentalism we see today
-
we're talking about roughly one billion person who abandoned religion around the globe
-
whilst there is another seven billion person whom
-
in some sort, are coerced to live with our abandonment of religion
-
by the means of cultural products which it has led to
-
science, techniques, economic reasoning
-
while living in an essencially different culture
-
we, to a great extent, can't understand their societies
-
those which we named "third world"
-
and refer to it today as the "south"
-
without understanding
-
the phenomenon of hierarchy
-
yes! they are hierarchal socities
-
similiar to our aristocratic societies
-
during the 17th and 18th century
-
whereby the patronage system
-
between the superior and his subordinates who depend on him
-
is still omnipresent
-
westerns have a hard time understanding it
-
despite its necessity
-
we also have to understand the rest of the world
-
based on the history from which we departed
-
and it's no easy task
-
because it leads to a future rife with conflicts
-
are these societies that still haven't detached from religion
-
also undergoing an anthropological dynamic
-
which will lead them to leave religion
-
like us or are they going to remain stagnant
-
i believe that it is has in fact embarked on such transition
-
amid very conflicitve conditions
-
because such change is reaching them from the outside
-
this took us... some centuries
-
and a history filled with conflicts
-
but we did it internally
-
relying on our own means
-
whereas they've received the product of our own abandonment of religion
-
from the outside
-
and they're obliged to adopt it
-
some people could tell us:" you are who you are, and we are who we are"
-
we're not interested in the manner of your thinking
-
and how you manage
-
figure it out on your own
-
no! occidental modernity is a proposition that can't be refused
-
rather, such change is imposed externally
-
leading to a collision with their profoundly inherent cultural and civilizational identitites
-
in other words, it suggests another process of leaving religion
-
a very difficult one
-
more difficult than the one we underwent
-
some societies appear to have prevailed in doing so
-
until this very moment
-
take for example : japan
-
an extraordinary case
-
an ultra-modern society
-
economically and scientifically speaking
-
at the same time, extremely traditional
-
where apparently, buddhist and shinto religiosity remains alive
-
so there has been a japanese miracle
-
where it hasn't taken a dramatic turn
-
unlike for many socities, particularly muslim ones, the process proves to be very dramatic