thanks paul,
i am struggling, to be sure, with all the contradictory information and
characterizations -
a mosque here in montreal just released a statement expressing a
difference between muslim practice and the ideology of the "jihad" - a
holy war - saying that this is not a position shared by most muslims in
the world,
but is one shared by a minority of powerful Islamic forces, especially the
Taliban gov't in Afghanistan -
it's naive (of me) to hope that peace has greater support globally than
wars, holy or otherwise,
but from what i've read about muslim faith,
it is about self-control, and pacifism.
diane,
really rather mostly confused - but
i would like to express gratitude to those of who are posting from various
sources, bringing the discussion towards discussion, and not argument - :)
thanks
>diane,
>
>I know very little about Islamic/Arabic countries but a little and your
>characterization, the characterization of behavior as proscribed in the
>Q'uran is an ideal much the way the American ideals of liberty, justice ,
>equality, faith, hope, and charity are ideals. Furthermore these are
>ideals
>for Islamic people amongst themselves, I read a book once on Islamic law
>in
>which the rather successful cohabitation of the different religious
>communities (Islamic, Jewish, Christian, Hindu) within the framework of
>shari'a law was described. Islam did not persecute or proscribe the
>practice
>of other religions within the framework of recognizing that here and now,
>shari'a law was god's law on earth. But the idea that Islam is grounded
>in "peace, community, tolerance, and mutual respect." is certainly partial
>since we all know that Islam also has the central notion of "jihad" in
>which
>the religious and the political are likewise indeterminate. As I
>understand
>it the code you refer to refers to Muslims behavior amongst themselves
>while the jihad refers to behavior toward infidels (at one time as
>political
>conquest) and defintely toward idolaters of Islam itself, great Satans
>(khomeini) who profane sacred places (McDonalds in Saudi Arabia). And if
>you die in the Holy War it's straight to a wonderfully sensual and
>definitely not ethereal heaven. So I wouldn't go so far as to call Islam a
>pacifist order.
>
>It's important to recognize that an anthropologist wrote this. As I read
>it he is describing how bin Laden figures within a certain sentiment,
>maybe
>borrowing from Bourdieu I could call it a certain "historical
>predisposition" that exists among the Islamic world stretching from
>Indonesia to Morocco. A historical predisposition that affects some of
>the
>people all of the time and all (well make that most) of the people some of
>the time. I read the quote as saying that bin Laden rides that historic
>metatheme in the way Khomeini did and that members of Islam do understand
>his behavior that way. He is not a Charly Manson of Islam. He is a hero
>for many Muslims throughout North Africa and the rest of the Islamic world
>from what I've read in USIA reports and other materials. The percentage
>that join that historical predisposition in the coming decades seems to me
>to be a function of the way the U.S. responds to this situation and I'm
>afraid that the Bush government, riding the prevailing climate of blood
>lust, will increase that percentage. Maybe that won't be an inignificant
>factor if those supporters tip the scales of political power in their own
>countries and stage fundamentalist revolutions. If that happens I think
>it
>will just be one surprise after another for everyone. As one of my
>friends
>said, the leaders will dial 911 and no one will answer. 9/11.
>
>
>Paul H. Dillon
************************************************************************************
"Waves of hands, hesitations at street corners, someone dropping a
cigarette in a gutter - all are stories. But which is the true story? That
I do not know. Hence I keep my phrases hung like clothes in a cupboard,
waiting for someone to wear them. Thus waiting, thus speculating, making
this note and then another, I do not cling to life."
Virginia Woolf, The Waves, 1931.
(...life clings to me...)
*************************************************************************************
diane celia hodges
university of british columbia, centre for the study of curriculum and
instruction
vancouver, bc
mailing address: 46 broadview avenue, montreal, qc, H9R 3Z2
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