Incoming ideas

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Imported Western ideas do not find a response in the societies to which they are transferred unless their transmitters succeed in adapting them to the local environment. These ideas remain strange in these societies, and seem alien to them. This is the case with the liberal and Marxist ideas that were transferred to Egyptian society, and other Arab societies, at different times in the last century.

In addition to the alienation that these ideas continued to suffer from, and perhaps also because of it, they were subjected to widespread distortion campaigns on the part of their opponents. But what is important is that some of its supporters, and perhaps many of them, contributed to distorting and demonizing it, because they were not keen on harmonizing it with national cultures, but rather spoke out against what contradicted these cultures. Many of those who consider themselves liberals, Marxists, and socialists in general, did not take into account the powerful influence of these cultures, nor did they realize the nature of religious Eastern societies. Their speeches and practices were filled with evidence of contempt for cultural heritage, religious values, and social traditions.

It is not surprising that, in this case, those who despise their societies fail to communicate with them, especially in conservative and religious circles. Perhaps the opponents of incoming ideas would not have succeeded in demonizing and distorting them had it not been for the fact that many of those who consider themselves liberals, Marxists, and socialists as well, lacked the ability to adapt to local environments and national cultures.

The adoption of the most extreme version of secularism by some of them had a tangible effect in alienating the majority of citizens of the countries to which Western ideas were transferred. This secular version contradicts the lifestyles of religious Eastern societies. Perhaps if the transmitters of incoming ideas had been more humble and inspired by moderate versions of secularism, such as the German and British versions, and not the extreme French version, they would have found some response to them.

But what happened is that the transmitters of the imported ideas remained in their upper towers, in which they were entrenched, far from the social groups to which they addressed their meta-speech, so these ideas remained strange in the societies to which they were transmitted.