PS to sobering

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Speechless or no, I keep thinking about this and decided it deserved more than just comment-responding... He went on a little saying that they were learning about the Quran and how it's full of directives that non-Muslims must be killed, which is I guess what he meant about its being understandable... What got me was the tone of almost compassionate patronization, kind of like "they don't know any better." So much ickiness based on an incredibly subjective view in the first place. I'm certainly no expert and have never read the Quran but the two or three documentaries I've watched and articles here and there I've read on Islam which mention fundamentalist interpretations of the Quran say that it, like the Bible, can be read various ways, to various degrees of literality, etc. I'd hate for some class in the Middle East somewhere to start looking at a narrow fundamentalist reading of the Bible and decide what our whole society (i.e. including those not under the umbrella of Christianity) was like or liable to do... (The fact notwithstanding that I in fact cannot speak for what evils the current administration has committed or may have yet up their sleeves... Scary to think that maybe such a view wouldn't be that far off?)

Anyway the course is 3 hrs/wk and from the way he talked they had a few weeks left. Sounds like the job's already done to me, at least if exacerbated ignorance and misguided feelings of pity and superiority were the goals.

I'm thinking maybe George Bush designed this class. Seriously I'm nearing a point where I wouldn't be surprised to find out that local propaganda cells had been sanctioned by his government. If this is any indication, they obviously would find welcome enough.

sobering

So one of my students in office hours the other day mentioned that he and his wife attend a weekly course at their church about Islam and the Muslim world. I had just had time to be really quite impressed on several levels when he continued, "Yeah, it's really informative. In fact, the more we learn about them, it's really not surprising they all want to come over here and kill us." (My italics.)

Sounds like they have found quite the objective course.