From: glevy@pratt.edu
Date: Mon Jun 16 2008 - 19:47:47 EDT
> The odd thing there BTW is that most people haven't much of a clue about > what Islam is, other than headscarfs, a conspiracy of people talking a > language you don't understand, and an alleged bad treatment of women as > inferior. Hi Jurriaan: That is a consequence, I think, in large part of the global spread of Christianity. While it's by no means a scholarly treatment, if someone you know genuinely wants to kinow something about the early history of the religion, you could recommend watching "The Message" which is available in its entirety (2 hours, 55 minutes) on 'youtube' http://www.youtube.com. This 1976 film originally titled "Mohammed, Messanger of God" was produced and directed by Moustapha Akkad - the same person who produced and directed the epic film "The Lion of the Desert". Both films, in fact, have two common actors: Anthony Quinn and Irene Pappas. "The Message" is not without its faults, however: it is very uncritical - in fact, the script was first approved by Islamic religious authorities. >>From my observations, settler societies such as in North America and >> Australasia are generally more tolerant and understanding about >> immigrants, because they are historically immigrant societies. At least insofar as NA, especially the US, is concerned I think that's a common misperception. There is a _long_ hiustorical tradition of religious, ethnic, and racial intollerance here, often directed at new immigrants who - as in some European countries - are scapegoated for economic and social problems. A telling example is the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Acts at the end of the 19th Century. In more recent years, there has been growing intollerance towards immigrants from Mexico, Haiti, etc. But, new immigrants from Poland and Russia are treated differently. It 's clear that racism plays a significant role in terms of which groups are targeted for persecution. The demonization of Islamic people in ther US has, as you are aware, escalated since 2001. "Moral Majority" Christian fundamentalist types have helped to fan the flames of this hatred. The current administration is, of course, not without guilt either (nor is the cowardly Democratic Party). In solidarity, Jerry _______________________________________________ ope mailing list ope@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/ope
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