Political Medicine
It used to be quite hip for medical schools to discuss the cultural aspects of medicine, but that fad has passed - there are just too many facts to learn, and young doctors don't have patience with the soft stuff. But the subject comes up after reading about Dr. Adel Sadeq, an Egyptian psychiatrist who puts suicide bombers in this context:
When the [suicide bomber] dies a martyr's death, he attains the height of bliss. As a professional psychiatrist, I say that the height of bliss comes with the end of the countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. And then, you press the button to blow yourself up. When the martyr reaches 'one,' and then 'boom,' he explodes, and senses himself flying, because he knows for certain that he is not dead. It is a transition to another, more beautiful world, because he knows very well that within seconds he will see the light of the Creator...
Puts Prozac to shame. He goes on to argue the necessity of driving the Jews into the sea. If you are a Jew in Egypt, and need a psychiatrist, I suggest avoiding Dr. Sadeq. Sometimes cultural differences are underestimated because people seem so much the same in so many ways, but when you read something like this, you realize that many Moslems, inclduing prosperous, professional Egyptians, are living in a different reality entirely. They have modern medicine, embedded in 7th century ideas. Entire piece here, on neo neo-con.
