Why Americans and Europeans can’t understand other cultures
Jackson Smith
9/27/22
Ernst argues throughout his article that Americans are extremely inconsiderate when understanding the culture of different parts of the world. The western and european worlds cannot accept that their world and the world of the middle east are in fact not that separated.
One assertion that the author makes is, “By excluding Muslims from Western Civilization, Europeans and Americans are claiming a questionable identity.”(Another claim that the author makes is, “Although globalization has been seen as the defining process of our time, we seem to be uneasy and confused about whatkind of world we actually live in.”. A third claim that the author makes is, “Why it might be conceded that most religions originated in Asia, Christian Europe had managed to cut itself clear of those origins”.
The author claims that, “By excluding Muslims from Western Civilization, Europeans and Americans are claiming a questionable identity.”(Ernst 7). This quote is saying that people from America and people from Europe do not accept the fact that the Muslim world has permeated into the development of the Western world and America respectively. Ersnt provides evidence building up to this claim. He says that Western civilization derives from Israelite Prophecy and Greek philosophy as well as reason. However, Islamic traditon also claims to be based on the same two sources. The Quran actually mentions a long series of prophets that are included in the Bible: Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. He states that when the ruled Constantinople in 1453, the Arab subjects in the east were known as “the Romans”. This evidence supports the overall claim made in the article because it shows that Europeans and Americans have excluded the reality of another culture.
