New Age in the Middle East

For all their crackdowns on religions other than Sunni Islam, it seems to me like the Saudis have a huge blind spot toward one: New Age.

So while Bibles are illegal, I can run down to Jarir bookstore and pick up a copy of "The Secret" any old time I want. They put people to death for witchcraft, but always ask you about your astrological sign. It's not weird to find out people practice new-age-tinged yoga or meditation (focusing on emptying one's mind, as opposed to a monotheistic view of meditation that focuses on filling one's mind with the Word of God).

I find it creeping into the conversation here and there. People telling you to look inside your heart and do what seems right to you. A leaning toward the subjective and universalism. People who are mostly seeking self-actualization, not submission.

So, the odd thing is obviously that this is in contradiction to what I know of Islam--but it's totally socially acceptable, while other things in contradiction to Islam are completely unacceptable.

I blame this partially on the phenomenon I call "Sounds True." Telling a Muslim there are more than 3,000 gods is going to be rejected pretty quickly. But New Age beliefs are way more subtle than something like that. They don't slap Islam in the face. They just quietly nudge it in the ribs 'til it moves over.

The other thing, I think, is a propensity for the education system in the Middle East not to teach people to think and analyze, but to memorize and believe. For example, young people have been taught for ages that the Qu'ran is true, while the Bible is riddled with errors. And in these school systems, you are absolutely trained just to accept whatever your teachers tell you as truth--as opposed to how I was trained in the West to think, analyze, and compare with criticism. When an old religion like Christianity comes 'round, they slap it down fast. But when New Age pops up, I don't think people have been given the tools for critiquing it and judging whether it's true.

And it "sounds true."

Oh Saudi. You never fail to surprise me.