May (Web-only) 2002

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I have been reading Sandra Mackey's dated but still informative book The Saudis, about Saudi Arabia's oil boom in the seventies and eighties. Despite Mackey's sympathetic voice, her reporting revealed an extreme xenophobic culture trying to enjoy the fruits of modern technology and wealth while preserving their Bedouin culture. Especially troubling was Mackey's description of Saudi women, who existed in a cloistered world of gender-specific stores, banks, and portions of homes. They could not hold jobs, drive, or be out in the world without a male family escort. Many were educated in order to be more valuable in the mate market, but they could not do anything with their education.

And so it was with genuine excitement I picked up the May/June issue of Mother Jones and saw a picture of a veiled Muslim woman on the cover. Under the banner "False Prophets," I expected an updated report on the plight of these women. I even felt admiration at the idea that the politically liberal, underdog-loving folks at Mother Jones having the courage to apply their modern notions of gender justice to Muslim cultures.

But these thoughts were fleeting. After the striking photo and arresting words, my eyes took in the cover's full title: "False Prophets: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Aims to Eliminate Islam." What? Did they unearth a secret plot by extreme Christian fundamentalists to declare an evangelical jihad? Who on earth wants to "eliminate Islam"?

Missionaries, that's who. Writer Barry Yeoman does uncover a plot, all right, but one that shouldn't have shocked any educated person today. Yeoman sat in on a short, intensive class at Columbia International University—a conservative Christian school in South Carolina that has a missions ...