Download Behrman movie recommendation

Homeland Security & Civil Liberties
Islam
Behrman movie recommendation!! “Gods must be crazy”
Separation of powers & federalism
- multiple arenas in which policy is made
o getting it enacted in Congress doesn’t end it
o ex: discrimination in employment – Congress wouldn’t act, went to
state legislatures. By WWII companies making equipment for the UK
 A. Philip Randolph wanted a ban on discrimination in govt.
contract companies; Roosevelt issues executive order making it
so when threatened with the March on Washington
Implementation: (Behrman lead-in: “DHS still not fingerprinting their mandate
completely”)
- Getting it adopted vs. Getting it implemented
- Much of what Congress does is oversight
o The function of “checking the administration” or to “shine a bright
light” on them
“In a democracy, nothing is ever settled” – RW Behrman
think of slavery, the New Deal, Social Security, abortion
National Security Act of 1947
- one of the most important piece of legislation
- created DoD (Army & Navy combo) to quell infighting
- hasn’t always worked
o Grenada invasion of 1983: platoon gunned down by pillbox; called in
artillery & it was all naval
 Had to use a payphone to call them
o Bush 41 policy to require generals etc. to have served in joint
command
- Creation of CIA
o Didn’t replace military intelligence, nor state intelligence
o Established one single head for intelligence community
 Sounds like National Intelligence Director
o NIE ~ daily briefs
- President makes the decisions, ultimately
o Office of Special Plans (OSP) generated a lot of the Iraq intelligence
Al-Qaeda – “the base”
Home base for global war
Not a country; not an army
But is it new?
It’s a network
- networks are hard to fight
- (the market is the world’s biggest network; govt’s haven’t been able to
control it very well)
In policy analysis, there is a need to step back from the problem
- it doesn’t exist in a vacuum
- is part of a larger sociopolitical/economic system
- tinkering with one thing can disrupt another related thing
o like his story about the spread of AIDS
- we must make an effort to anticipate these consequences
- change part of the system to affect your problem
- must identify the causes of the unsatisfactory situation
Islam
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means “submission”
in the 7th century, a stone or meteorite crashes to Earth and people come from
all over to touch it
2 Jewish tribes who worshipped an invisible god called “the god” (or “Allah”)
Mohammed troubled by idolatry/jahiliya
In 612 he begins speaking out
o Goes to Yathrim after persecution
o Forms first Muslim community (Ummah)
630: he retook Mecca
o Main principle: tawhid (or “oneness of god”)
 the 1st & most important of the five pillars
 “There is no (g)od but (G)od and Mohammed is his prophet”
 shirk = polytheism
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Who will be the leader after Mohammed? (the new Caliph/kalif/khalif)
o Abu Bakr (father-in-law) *****632-634
o Or Ali (cousin & son-in-law)
o G
o Many thought Ali should have been picked
From the quizzes:
Caliphate – a religious-political organization; the institutional framework
for the (esp. Sunni) Muslim community. Goes back to the original split over
Abu Bakr (the first Caliph [sunni] and Ali [shia]). The sultan Osborne took
the Caliph title later after kicking the Greeks out of Byzantium and ruled
over the territory of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Eastern Europe, Egypt,
North Africa, the Persian Gulf, etc.). As ruler he was also the spiritual leader
of Muslims outside his political control. The Ottoman Empire’s end also
ended the Caliphate, and Bin Laden wants to establish a new international
Caliphate.
Abu, Umar, Ulhman, and Ali (?)
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There are contradictions in the Bible—written by men—and we can reconcile
them
o you can’t do that with the Koran; it’s God’s word
 plus there aren’t a lot of numbers to deal with
-
Abu Bakr ~ Sunni
Ali ~ Shi’ah
-
A governor rebels against the Imam; this was like rebelling against God
o a dissident group in Ali’s army is upset that he negotiated with the
governor; they rebel against him and eventually assassinate him (the
Kharijites)
o The Governor, through force, becomes the new Caliph (beginning of
Umayyad Dynasty – centered in Damascus)
By 750, Arab Armies has taken Arabia, Palestine, Spain, North Africa
o A BIG empire!
 That was from western Europe to Continental Asia in just over
100 years
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But what happens to all big empires?
- It became corrupt
- In a new town called Baghdad, a movement begins here in response
o Overthrew Mu’awiya’s successor (damn this is interesting!)
o Beginning of the Abbasid Dynasty (Islam’s “Golden Age”)
o Lasts until 1258, when the last Caliphs died without successors
-
Pope sends the Crusades
Osborne, leader of the Turks in Asia
o Kicks the greeks out of Byzantium
o The Ottoman Empire
o Sultan took the title of Caliph, til 1924
o WWI end; powers dismember the Ottoman empire
o Civil war in Turkey, no more worldwide Ummah leader now
- Ibm Tamiyah (1268-1328) is inspired by the Kharijites
o Thinks Islam is about more than just belief, it is a faith of practice
 Faith without works is nothing
o Day-to-day operations is about following law
 Five Pillars:
 Sharia (path to water): body of Islamic practice;
comprised of:
o Koran (words)
o Hadith (deeds & sayings of prophet)
o Ijma (consensus of Ummah)
o Qiyas (reasoning by Islamic legal scholars)
 Five daily prayers, facing mecca
 Giving to Zakaah (charity)
 Fasting dawn-dusk during month of Ramadan
 Once-per-lifetime pilgrimages for those who can do it
to Mecca; there are alternate pilgrimages
Taqlid – the idea that sharia is set
- once a religion “mainstreams” you get corruption, revivals, corruption,
revivals
- there are 3 different types of Islamic revival movements
o traditionalist – sharia is set; we need to look back to Damascus,
Baghdad, etc. “ijtihad” – (only one interpretation) (sounds familiar
enough)
o fundamentalist – i.e. Al Wahhab; Southsiders (Ammerman)
o Islamic modernist – a more liberal interpretation
Mohammed M. Saud embraced Al-Wahhab’s doctrine
- extreme interpretation leads to things like: claiming that anyone who says
they’re “doing” something is polytheistic, b/c only God “does things”
A popular acclimation of certain people as saints
Built shrines to these saints
Prayer for saints to intercede with god for them
This is shirk according to Wahabbism
(like being a secular Christian is “atheism” or “devil worship” to Southsiders)
The Wahabbis destroy the Ali Shrine and the prophet’s shrine
Aziz established the Saudi Kingdom based on Wahabbism
Two 20th-century leaders in Wahabbism
- Hassan Al-Bhana (founded the Muslim Brotherhood)
- Wadudi (i.e. Gama’at Islamya)
They had Six points:
1. Islam is a total (24/7) way of life
2. Koran/Sunna/Early Ummah is the foundation
3. Sharia is the ideal blueprint for modern society
4. Departure from Islam by Ummah (backsliding) & reliance on the West have
led to modern decline
5. Science & tech ok, must be used in Islamic context
6. Personal/communal jihad is means to Islamicize society and world
From the Quizzes:
Sayyid Qutb – the apostle of present-day Islamic extremism. Was devout and
pro-western originally; visited the US in late 40’s (mostly Colorado) and
became extremely disillusioned w/America. Joined the Muslim Brotherhood,
supported overthrow of Egypt’s King Farooq. Wrote lots of books about Islam
providing answers and the need for personal/communal struggle against
Islam’s enemies and jahiliyah (ignorance or unbelief). Bin Laden was his
student.