Why Orwell Still Matters – De-radicalization Example
2015/01/22 2 Comments
On the enduring importance of Orwell:
Maajid Nawaz, however, claims a different Orwell novel – Animal Farm – led him away from radical Islam:
It was while in prison, surrounded by several prominent jihadist leaders, that Nawaz realized he wanted to take a different path. He was reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm and came to a new understanding of “what happens when somebody tries to create a utopia.”
“I began to join the dots and think, ‘My god, if these guys that I’m here with ever came to power, they would be the Islamist equivalent of Animal Farm,” Nawaz says. He says he began to see that it’s “impossible to create a utopia.”
“I’m living up close and seeing [the radicals’] everyday habits and lifestyle, I thought, ‘My god, I wouldn’t trust these guys in power,’ because when I called it, back then, and said, ‘If this caliphate, this theocratic caliphate, was ever established, it would be a nightmare on earth,’” Nawaz says.
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 
So interesting, and thank you for bringing this article to my attention. Certainly justifies the importance of literature, starting with children, in this age of electronics, gadgets and the ever-increasing busy-ness of our lives.
I would also suggest Bertrand Russell’s “Why I’m not a Christian” which makes the case for skepticism towards religious claims and Eric Hoffer’s “The True Believer” which analyses fanaticism, mostly of a secular kind, but relevant to any forms of radical conversion to violent and apocalyptic ideas. Doubt and skepticism – theory building and testing theories – are central to scientific and also, I would argue, to social progress. Fanaticism and dogmatism are the enemies of intelligence and of humanity. Curiosity, openness, and respect for other people are their friends.