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In reply to the discussion: CNN: Mohammed Morsi (Muslim Brotherhood) declared Egyptian Presidential winner [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)I'd say to find an equivalent in the US (not exact, not with the same degree of "clout," but on the same lines), we'd have to elect a public servant active in politics who was also a lay leader at a Catholic church, "in" with all the cardinals, and with a position of supreme importance in, say, the Vincent de Paul society.
MB has two arms--a political arm, and a "social services" arm. The political arm does all the agitating and demanding that the Jews be pushed into the sea; the social services arm provides pensions for widows, education for orphans and the children of "martyrs," food and shelter for the poor, medical care for the poor, that kind of thing. No widow goes homeless and her children will not go hungry if the husband was a member--it's like an insurance policy. People willingly give to the organization--not much, it's not onerous, just a bit from everyone--and in return they know that their family will not starve. The Brethren do serve a purpose in a country that doesn't 'step up' when it comes to serving the destitute. They step in and provide real, ongoing help that can be relied upon for the long term where the government does not. This is a big part of the reason why people who don't necessarily give a shit about drowning all the Jews or taking back Israel for the Palestinian people will back them with enthusiasm.
Of course, all that anti-Jew blather is as much as part of the fabric of life as Christmas carols are a part of American life, even if one doesn't celebrate the holidays. It's like segregation used to be in the south back in the old days--it was "expected" and no one thought a thing of it until the black guy or the white guy turned up in the "wrong" place (with more consequences for the black guy, natch...!). Every Ramadan, to great fanfare, they play Elders of Zion on the tee vee and it's greeted like a Christmas Story or It's a Wonderful Life--'must-see TV. It's pretty ghastly, too, down to the Jews baking bread with baby blood and all those kinds of hateful fictions that have gained currency in the Arab world down the years. But ghastly or not, it's...accepted. No one points at the television and says "OH, that's just AWFUL! Why are we perpetuating these falsehoods for religious glorification?" Naaah, they all say pass the snacks, this is the event of the holiday season.
That's a bit of a simplistic explanation, but it's pretty accurate.