More on Muslims in New York Public Schools
Previous posts here and here. Updated website here. Muslims in the West, NYC
Day: December 28, 2008
The Muslim “Catcher in the Rye”
I have the utmost respect and admiration for Carl Ernst, and I think it’s hilarious that he compares Taqwacores to Catcher in the Rye. One, I would be saddened if Taqwacores became a classic of Muslim American literature. I think MMK is a good writer, I’m really enjoying his book The Five Percenters, but Taqwacores is not great literature. Of course, I don’t like Catcher in the Rye either, so I’m a bit of a philistine. Anyway, isn’t Catcher the conspiracy nut’s handbook? Exactly what we need, more paranoid conspiracy-focused Muslims. As no one seen Mel Gibson’s Conspiracy Theory? Imagine…
Gaza and Obama
Haroon says Obama is silent, and that’s bad. MJ Rosenberg says Obama is silent, and that’s good. As a matter of political principle, as painful as it is for me to say it, Obama must be silent. He is absolutely correct; with three weeks before his inauguration the US cannot be seen as speaking with a forked tongue. Bush is absolutely, 100% wrong now, as he has been on most of his Israel policy. It’s been bad for Israel, it’s been bad for Palestinians, and it’s been bad for the US. However, we must respect the Office of the President,…
Peter Murphy is Muslim
Peter Murphy, of Bauhaus (the band, not the architectural movement), is Muslim. Shahed told me on Twitter, but I didn’t believe. I am so sorry Shahed. You speak the truth. My entire anti-religious, rebellious adolescence was spent listening to a Muslim musician. Go figure. Music
Prince of Persia and Orientalism
This New York Time’s commentary ties Edward Said’s classic opus, Orientalism, to the game Prince of Persia. Then it stops. Good idea. Lousy implementation. “C” at best. We do not see the rest of the world except as a mythologized “us.” To see the world as being composed of difference, means we have to acknowledge difference at home, and perhaps internalize the challenge to our uniqueness. It is far easier to control and encourage emulation of “us,” than to deal with difference. Orientalism, Prince of Persia
NYT on Bosnian Islam
Islamic Revival Tests Bosnia’s Secular Cast – NYTimes.com It seems that there are several issues at stake here. 1. In a republic where one can exercise religion more freely than one has been able to do so in almost two generations, what is the line between expressing religion and reactionary religion? Or, more critically, what is the relationship between the state and religion? 2. There is the the usual undercurrent that devout Muslims are dangerous Muslims. Bars are the signifiers of a truly open society. I think as a metric, it’s a bit bizarre, but it’s the lens of the…
NYT on Turkey’s New Riches
Newfound Riches Come With Spiritual Costs for Turkey’s Religious Merchants – NYTimes.com. There are some choice examples in this article of the rich religious. My favorite is the sofa that lifts up off of the ground during prayer time. I wonder how far they had to dig to find people who saw a strong dichotomy between being wealthy and being religious. I think this quote "The businessmen describe themselves as Muslims with a Protestant work ethic, and say hard work deepens faith," is rather telling. How many Turks are thinking of the Protestant work ethic? The class differentials in Turkish society seem to be the real story. The conflict between the material and the spiritual world seems to be a reach that they shoe-horned into the article.