Reader "Richard" emailed me with a recommendation to check out the pseudonymous columnist for Asia Times, Spengler. I'd never heard of him before, so I surfed over and read a couple of pieces. Looks interesting and worth keeping an eye on.

His latest, Why Islam baffles America got me thinking a little bit. His thesis distilled is basically that Americans have trouble with understanding just how deeply Islamic practice is entwined with a Muslim's daily life. For many, even non-fundamentalist Muslims, Islam is truly a "Way of Life" in the way that Christianity has not been in the West for some centuries - if it ever was to the same degree. Spengler uses as an example Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's prescriptions for Muslim anal hygiene (seriously) among other similar, mundane, minute and private issues. Although Spengler sets this in contrast to Christianity and Judaism - that is, Islam's emphasis on even the minutest aspects of individual behavior against Judeo-Christianity's emphasis on belief and interaction with the Godhead - I can't help but picture Sistani as very similar to a Jewish Orthodox Rebbe. In fact, traditional Judaism is far closer to Islam in this respect as I understand it. There is far more emphasis on orthodoxy of acts and behavior, and far less on orthodoxy of belief. To be a good Jew, it's merely necessary to keep the 613 Commandments (What? You thought there were only 10?) and you can keep your beliefs to yourself. It's hard to imagine a Jew stretching someone on the rack until they confess their faith. Just don't flick a light switch on a Saturday and you're OK. (For a wonderful glimpse into the Hasidic World, take a gander at the Hasidic Rebel's blog. Sadly, he no longer seems to update the site, but his page is still up and a trip through his archives is worth it. His writing's a treat.)

Of course, outside of the modern Jewish Ghetto, Judaism has a long history of adapting to its host culture, so the threat as faced by Muslim traditionalists like Sistani is widely unfamiliar and unsympathetic. Religious Jews simply haven't been in the majority in any particular polity for some time now - nor are they even in modern Israel. You'd have to try to imagine the entire northeastern United States populated by a majority of Hasidic Jews who all look up to Rabbi Sistani for direction to get a sense of the landscape Grand Ayatollah Sistani surveys.

Into this realm, as we get from Spengler, strides the United States. The Great Modernizer. The Pusher of Change. Is it any wonder that we find ourselves at odds with a man like Sistani, who doesn't even want to meet with Coalition officials - they're superfluous (and short lived in comparison) to the Koran, after all.

It's not just the war that causes the friction. Our cultural reach, a factor out of our control, has preceded long before our military's coming, after all. Remember? It's one of the reasons they "hate" us. It's just that now Americans are getting a close-up look. In this context, we need to be mindful of the fact that we threaten Mr. Sistani's (and other men like him, and their followers) Way of Life. Despite America's best intentions, and they are the best, we will have trouble with these folks. America and the West generally will always have trouble when we come into contact with a culture where individual behavior is dictated top-down. Even if we're not blowing each other up, friction on some level is inevitable. It pays to keep that in mind as we go forward, as we watch what's happening and as we judge our leaders' decisions.

None of this means Sistani is a "bad man," or the enemy, nor does it dictate, nor have I gotten into my thoughts of how we should handle him, etc...that's fodder for another post.

All of this is just by way of recommending you check out the Spengler piece. I really like the graphic that accompanies the article. Heh.

In other news...

Spring Cleaning continues. I spent several hours in the basement this afternoon finally going through a bunch of boxes of crap we brought with us from our move over a year ago. The basement's in pretty good shape (unfinished) but it's still not a good storage space. I found an old leather glove under a box that had...well, let's just say I didn't know greenish-yellow mold could get so thick - like layers of pollen so when you pick it up a yellow sort of smoke slowly rises from it. Yikes. Maybe I should have put it in a culture tray or something.

Anyway, we took loads of boxes and junk outside to be left for the trash guy in a couple of days. The place was almost cleaned out after that. Then I put on a surgical mask, got out the broom and started knocking down spider webs and sweeping dust. Shovel-fulls of accumulated dust, dirt and bits of cement. Took a few hours. Oh, and also sprayed a bunch of spider-killer spray.

Then I gave the same treatment to our little sun-porch. I really love that feeling when I finally get all my junk organized and put into its proper place. Aaaahhhh.

But that's not all! The wife had me pull out several windows' screens and storm windows, then it was out to the backyard (it was a lovely day out today) to hose them down, wipe them off and then replace them. Same treatment for a bunch of old baby stuff that came out of the basement (booster-seat, infant bath tub) and the cage inhabited by the two rabbits I share my office with. I'm sure they appreciated it.

Bonus Work!: Swept our driveways (we have two, sort of) and outdoor patio - multiple trips with the wheelbarrow full of road crud to dump out in the woods.

Done! I even managed to work in pushing my daughter on the swing for a bit in there somewhere. I'll be able to do without seeing a broom for some time. At least I missed the Sox taking a loss while I was about this all. I'll be watching the morning game tomorrow, though. Patriot's Day, the Sox game and the Boston Marathon is always a good day, and it's supposed to be in the 80's tomorrow, as well. Whoa.