tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post2240298910822057847..comments2023-06-27T16:51:05.805+02:00Comments on The Pangrammaticon: Anti-IslamismThomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post-32169522606226211702008-03-29T22:11:00.000+01:002008-03-29T22:11:00.000+01:00The article mentioned that Magdi Allam had been "e...The article mentioned that Magdi Allam had been "educated in a Catholic school run by Italian nuns" in Cairo.<BR/><BR/>So perhaps this was not a wholesale leap for him from one faith to another.<BR/><BR/>Although we have a lot of those in the US: particularly Jewish and Christian to Buddhist. But in those cases the person generally lights an incense candle now and then and says om.<BR/><BR/>They don't really join a Buddhist temple society, and truly take part in it.<BR/><BR/>A lot of Hollywood types fascinated by Buddhism. But it's a pretty thin veneer which basically means they think the DL is kind of cool.<BR/><BR/>I think he's kind of cool, too.Kirby Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05952289700191142943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post-51077107042475732782008-03-29T21:02:00.000+01:002008-03-29T21:02:00.000+01:00One more thing. I think fundamental conversions ar...One more thing. I think fundamental conversions are strange. I can imagine converting from Lutheranism to Catholicism or vice versa as part of one's developing relationship with Christ (if you will). But I'd be very surprised if there is not an interpretation of Christianity that comes close enough in practice to whatever I might get out of becoming a Muslim qua "respect for life and freedom".Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post-65809013837966978102008-03-29T20:57:00.000+01:002008-03-29T20:57:00.000+01:00So what I mean is that there is really no such thi...So what I mean is that there is really no such thing as a perfetly harmless religion, but there are perferctly harmless applications of religious dogma to the art of the living. And there are perfectly vile applications of the same dogmas. No faith, I suspect, is free of either kind of application.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post-59572123879810862682008-03-29T20:54:00.000+01:002008-03-29T20:54:00.000+01:00I don't think cultural formations as a big as Chri...I don't think cultural formations as a big as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam can ever have a simple set of objective group characteristics. That's what's disturbing about Le Guin's "some Muslim societies today". Oldfashioned views about women travel under all faiths.<BR/><BR/>The Amish spring to mind as somewhat oldfashioned about many things in a Christian sort of way. Haredi Judaism would offer another sort of oldfashionedness. I don't know exactly which communities Le Guin means, but there are of course Muslim examples.<BR/><BR/>I don't know what Mr Allam means by Islam. I just read in the paper today that an scholar at Harvard sees Islam as more amenable to democracy than any other religion. On it goes.<BR/><BR/>My view is that there are are icky and innocuous corners of all religions. I think perfectly harmless religions are pointless, actually. I go to religion for a serious concept of sin (the notion that one's soul can be lost). And I think Islam's got a lot of good ideas there.<BR/><BR/>That is, I don't tolerate or object religions as such. I look at particular practices and try to understand them.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post-87414722303382715542008-03-29T20:22:00.000+01:002008-03-29T20:22:00.000+01:00Thomas, what if there is something objectively fas...Thomas, what if there is something objectively fascist or evil about a group? Could you address it?<BR/><BR/>In the Wall Street Journal yesterday they had an article about a moderate Muslim in Italy named Magdi Allam who renounced Islam "and declared himself a Christian."<BR/><BR/>"I realized that Islam is not compatible with core values such as respect for life and freedom of choice," said Mr. Allam.<BR/><BR/>Here's a link:<BR/><BR/>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120667020675970743.html?mod=googlenews_wsj<BR/><BR/>I don't know very much about Islam.<BR/><BR/>But I find it interesting to think that at least some inside of the religion find it icky.<BR/><BR/>I wonder if there is any way you'd find it icky, or whether you have a policy of total tolerance toward all religions no matter what they think or do.Kirby Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05952289700191142943noreply@blogger.com