At this stage in our study of the three ancient philosophies that explain the world, I think it should be pretty apparent why America and Europe struggle big-time when it comes to integrating Muslims into their societies.
The reason is that their culture is based on a shame-and-honor social platform, while Western culture is based on a guilt-and-innocence framework.
Western democracies govern their societies based on the rule of law.
The Muslim world operates based on shame or honor.
Conflict arises when these two social codes clash with each other.
For instance, this is an extreme example, but consider the father of a muslim family whose daughter has married someone he considers an infidel.
To restore honor, he decides he has no choice but to kill his daughter, as heartbreaking as that is to him.
Now, in the world he grew up in, his actions would be acceptable.
But in the West, he would be considered a murderer.
Can you see how conflict arises from the differing philosophical platforms undergirding each society’s value system?
On top of that, any law that would force a Muslim to forsake his honor and/or accept shame would right off the bat be unacceptable.
That’s why I shudder when I hear about Muslims achieving the highest levels of position in our government institutions.
The philosophical foundation that undergirds their culture and mindset is fundamentally different from the ideals upon which Western civilization was founded.
So how in the world did these 3 social platforms originate in the first place?
To answer that, again, I’m gonna be referring to Tom Bradford’s awesome Torah Class.
The deep insights his research uncovered are nothing short of amazing.
So using Bradford’s work as the basis for what I’m about to say, let’s get back to the key question.
How did these social platforms emerge in the first place?
Well, according to Bradford, it all started with the fall in the Garden of Eden.
God gave Adam and Eve what we might call a very basic form of Torah consisting of just ONE command:
Don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
They disobeyed that command, and by doing so, they committed a wrong and became guilty.
Think about the name of the forbidden tree for a moment.
It’s called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
In other words, right and wrong.
That’s a guilty-and-innocent platform right there, homies.
Before Adam and Eve sank their teeth into the forbidden fruit, they lived in a world where the whole concept of innocence and guilt didn’t exist.
Why?
Because they had no awareness or understanding of good versus evil, or right versus wrong.
They enjoyed complete freedom and lived in perfect harmony with their Creator.
But notice what happened after they disobeyed.
They became afraid.
First, they were afraid of God.
Then that fear spread to…
Other people…
Certain animals…
And then to imagined spirits and gods.
Can you see the horrific consequences of what happens when we’re separated from our Creator?
But that’s just the beginning.
Look at how Adam responded when the Lord confronted him for his sin:
“I heard you in the garden,
and I was afraid
because I was naked;
so I hid.”
– Genesis 3:10
See that reference to nakedness?
That’s referring to shame and a loss of honor.
In the ancient Eastern way of thinking, nakedness wasn’t just about physical exposure.
It’s a way of describing a person’s loss of honor or social standing.
Bradford uncovers an important distinction here.
In Western thinking, being ashamed generally describes an internal emotional experience.
In the ancient Eastern way of thinking, being shamed describes a diminished status in the eyes of others.
So Adam and Eve didn’t merely develop a feeling of embarrassment.
Their standing before God had changed.
They had gone from a position of honor to a position of shame.
So there you have it.
The 3 social platforms that undergird every society ever since mankind began originated at the fall in Eden.
Now here’s a million-dollar question.
Was mankind ever meant to organize society around ANY of these three systems?
The answer is no.
Think about it.
If Adam and Eve had remained in harmony with God, there’d be no need for some extensive system of do’s and don’ts that would eventually be handed down at Sinai.
There’d be no reason for mankind to live in fear, either.
And people wouldn’t have started turning natural phenomena like storms, the stars, and other forces of nature into objects of worship…
Nor turning them into imaginary gods and supernatural spirits either.
All they had to do was exercise their free will to trust God and take Him at His word.
Had they done that, they would have continued enjoying their privileged position of honor:
Tragically, that’s not what happened.
Adam and Eve’s rebellion cost them that position of honor and brought them into a condition of shame, separated from the close relationship they had once enjoyed with God.
And there’s another important consequence of the Fall.
Mankind began creating its own distorted ways of defining shame and preserving honor within families, clans, and tribes.
In other words, we didn’t just lose our original standing with God.
We also started inventing our own systems for dealing with the consequences.
I find all of the myriad consequences of being separated from our Creator to be truly amazing.
It really all goes back to the fall in the beginning.
Alrighty, that’s enough for today.
But we ain’t done with this study series yet.
The next time we meet, I’m gonna be showing you how to interpret certain scenes in Scripture using the knowledge about these 3 platforms we’ve absorbed over the past couple of days.
This is gonna change how you interpret Scripture for all time and forever.
Later!
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