Two days in Osh

From the look of it, you wouldn't know that Osh is more than 3,000 years old. Like most places in Central Asia, the most recent marks were left by the Soviets, and Lenin's statue with his arm extended pointing the way to a future that no longer exists, still overlooks the downtown. Osh is a predominantly Uzbek city in Kyrgyzstan and in recent years was the sight of ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that left more than 1,000 dead.

The Fergana Valley has long been the population center, ethnic mixing ground and hotbed of Islam and intellectualism in the region. Today, existing outside the grasp of the forcibly secularized Uzbek police state, Osh is a deeply muslim city and the main mosque was only about a block away from the stinking Osh Guesthouse, where the attendant, Kabuljon awakes early every morning for prayer and keeps a screensaver on the guesthouse computer that reads, "Allahhu Akbar!" or "God is great!"

Adjacent to the mosque, there is an internet cafe, which independently censors the New York Times using its software firewall. The administrator, who spoke passable English took the initiative to discuss "politics" with me. He complained that people in the West believe that Muslims are "ignorant," but it is not necessarily Muslim ignorance but the conflict of Muslim beliefs with oppressive modern constructs that are the problem. For example, he told me that his sister had intended to attend university, but was prevented from doing so do to the rule against wearing her hijab on campus. He was a predictable fundamentalist, who expressed his belief that everything written in the Koran is true now and for all times.

He also explained his belief in morality and its immutability over time. "Can you understand?" he asked rhetorically to punctuate his every idea. I responded that I believe that religious "morality" is simply a code that was written to keep society in tact given the circumstances at the time of its writing, and that with new circumstances, such rules can be relaxed. "Then, you are an atheist!" he shot back. He also expressed his disbelief that George W. Bush remains POTUS, to which I had neither an answer nor objection.