On Veiling and Hair and Paul

I have a relatively new Facebook friend and she's Jewish - my first Jewish friend! I met her on a HuffPo link. I liked one of her comments, and she requested me as a friend just like that!  I'm not sure how she'd label herself (if she would), but she told me that as a married woman she doesn't wear "trousers," but wears skirts that cover her knees, blouses that cover the elbows and she covers her hair in public.  She said single women don't cover their hair, but married women do in her community.  She also pointed out that her husband does modest things for her like not swimming in gender-mixed places.

I say all that because I was reading Paul Among the People by Sarah Ruden. She said she really did not like Paul because he sounded so misogynistic and homophobic, but as a scholar in classical languages, she started reading Paul in light of his contemporaries.  The book is "the apostle reinterpreted and reimagined in his own time."  She quotes Bible passages attributed to Paul, and compares them to other literature and known historical contexts of Paul's time.

One thing that really took my attention was about hair. It made me think, "Oh wow, the Middle East really hasn't evolved much from this thinking," and I don't mean that in a derogatory way because, likely, they have evolved, but they just still hold onto the traditions. That's more what I mean. I recall hearing people talk how in some places in, say, the Levant tribes do what they have done for centuries. And in many ways, I find that wonderful because there is something to be said for holding onto your culture and not letting social media or all this dang stuff available in the world make you lose something precious.

(I'm probably not saying that right, but I know what I mean in my own mind.)

So the subject was women's hair. More specifically she was talking about that passage concerning women in church covering their heads. From time to time I see a Christian group that practices this here, but despite my rather strict upbringing, it's one thing we never did in the Baptist churches I'm familiar with.  (Women didn't even have to have particularly long hair thankfully, since mine really doesn't grow long without growing into a shrub).  I have heard Muslims declare "See, you all are supposed to do what our women do...you just cherrypick that out and don't obey. You should be wearing hijab as well."  (Have you heard this, too?)

So I was going to write what she said about the veil, but figured first I'd ask for interpretations that you have heard regarding this passage. The main one I recall is that it was cultural and that our hair is our natural covering so we don't have to worry about veiling in the 20th century.

Instead of writing her thoughts on the veil, here is what she said about hair:

"Paul does not write of 'nature' (verse 14) by accident. The ancients believed that it was female hair's nature to inflame men, almost like breasts or genitals: men experienced women's hair as powerfully, inescapably erotic, in a way that makes our hair-care product companies look like an accounting textbook."  (pg. 88)

Then she quotes erotic passages from Ovid and Apuleius about hair and continues, "Notice the implicit association between hair on display and actual nakedness. This wouldn't make much sense unless both signaled sexual availability and both were thought of as automatically bringing on male desire."  (pg. 91)

What are your thoughts on hair, veiling, Paul's words on the subject, interpretations you've heard, what your church teaches on this matter, the fact that I added a new friend on Facebook based on a HuffPo link comment?  Anything?

Changing the Culture

I was reading a book the other day about women in Afghanistan.  So much of what happened, many Muslims would argue is not true Islam. Among other things, these women were denied inheritance, made to marry men they didn't meet until their wedding ceremonies, traded for gambling debts or because their fathers wanted second wives, beaten and so forth.  Often I read blogs about things happening in Saudi Arabia with the disclaimer that those are tribal practices, not Islam.  Female circumcision, again, cultural. Even Christians do such things, I've heard.

I understand in pre-Islamic Arabia that little girls were often killed, and Islam put a stop to that.  Additionally men and women were able to practice polygamy, and Islam did away with women marrying multiple men while limiting Muslim men (except Muhammad) to only four at a time.  So some good stuff, some bad (if you were a woman wanting more than one husband anyway.)

I was wondering how good is it for religion to influence and change native cultures.  Where is the balance? Do we seek to bring "correct" scriptural teachings to these people so their cultures will value girls, honor women and just be nicer? Or do we live and let live, and allow people to do what is traditionally best for them and stop caring what they do to each other as long as it doesn't hurt us?

Thoughts?

The Bible as a Mirror

"Every war needs killers and they can always be found. We always put ourselves in the skin of the victims and not of their killers - we never put ourselves in the skin of a Nazi or Khmer Rouge.  Yet between them and us there is very little difference, no more than between the victim and us."  (from this post)


Thanks to those who took the time to comment on my last post about those yucky Bible passages. I was nodding my head at times as I read each of them. They are things I've either encountered in this book, The Human Faces of God by Thom Stark, or not so long ago in other books.  It was kind of neat seeing them restated by all of you!

So what does the author suggest we do about those disturbing passages in the Bible?  Instead of glossing over them, ignoring them, or cutting them out of our text, we should retain and condemn them!

His argument throughout the book is that while the Bible may be inspired by God, it is not inerrant. It argues with itself and he believes God wants us to wrestle with the text, with what is stated and then come to just solutions for our societies.

Why acknowledge these texts are there? Why not cut them out completely? Because they are there.  And they shape many of our backgrounds more than we realize. He suggests the Bible is a mirror. It shows the good and bad of human nature.  It shows what we are capable of. What we are capable of justifying in God's name!  How many of us are appalled at radical Muslims who strap bombs to themselves and say "God is greater" right before blowing themselves up and often killing fellow Muslims?  How many of us are stunned that the Crusaders and people today of their same mindset can kill others because they believe God would have it that way?  And Jews who believe the land is theirs and if people are in the way they've got to go. Either they need to leave or face unpleasant consequences.  All because God - the scapegoat - said so. 

The Bible shows not perfect people, but imperfect prophets, kings, patriarchs and ordinary folks. Yes, even amongst the "chosen people."  You want to destroy your enemies? You want to keep virgin women as your own after conquering their people?  OK, write the history and say God commanded it.  Simple as that.

"The Bible reflects our doubt and our mediocrity.  It mirrors our best and worst possible selves. It shows us who we can be, both good and evil, and everything in between."  (pg. 218)

The author quotes John Collins who states, "There is no reason in principle why a text that is shocking might not be inspired. Such a text can raise our moral consciousness by forcing us to confront the fact that immoral actions are often carried out in the name of religion ... Rather than ask whether a text is revealed (and by what criteria could we possibly decide?), it is better to ask whether a text is revelatory, whether we learn something from it about human nature or about the way the world works. A text that is neither historically reliable nor morally edifying...may be all too revelatory about human nature."  (pg. 219)



You may recall this post from the American who was hosting a book club in Kosovo.  I remembered her words this morning as I thought about what to write in this post. 

...Is their bitterness, their fear so great that they could do to Serbs what Serbs did to them?  Could soft-spoken Veton burn a Serb village because his own was burned by Serbs? Would sweet, wide-eyed Enver, who loves basketball and never misses a class, stand by and watch while atrocities were committed?  Could any of these bright, kindhearted young people kill Serbs because they are Serbs?

And if I were in their shoes, what would I be capable of? Have I come to grips with the darkness in my own heart?


Thom Stark in The Human Faces of God believes God can speak to us through the texts. Whether they are passages that inspire us, make us feel the love or shock or disgust us. They mirror humanity, and show us what we are capable of doing to each other.


Feel free to share the texts that inspire or disgust you the most. What do you think of the author's idea that "their status as condemned is exactly their scriptural value"?  Do you think people are capable of all sorts of evil or just the rare few?  Any other thoughts?

What's land got to do with it?

The importance of land is a recurring theme in God Is Red by Vine Deloria, Jr.  You would have thought the name of the book would have given me a clue and it did in a way, but I thought more in broader terms like Mother Earth rather than specific parcels of land. Yet, what is Mother Earth made of than pieces of land and lots of water? 

I recall times when I've been irritated how people have fought for land.  Palestinians and Israelis.  That conflict readily comes to mind as both sides seek to keep what they say is theirs. The Israelis wanting their old homeland despite the fact they'd been driven from it centuries ago. And Palestinians who had been living there until Zionists drove them out.

Frustrated at the conflict, I remember "why are people fighting over dirt?!" coming out of my mouth.

Yes, really.

I've honestly been conflicted, too, because it seems in the history of the world "to the victor goes the spoils" is how it works. So if you fight and win it, you keep it.  I wasn't sure if Zionists fighting for Israel and their ability thus far to keep it, meant it "should" be theirs. Just as Mecca now belongs to Muslims and the United States belongs to former Europeans for the most part***.

But after reading this book, I think I understand better.  Vine Deloria speaks of lands having sacredness and certain properties so that even our lack of religious unity can be blamed on the land in which we reside!

With the movement of Christianity to the North American continent, and the subsequent freedom to develop religious expressions offered by the land, the possibility of constituting a Christian culture or unity vanished. Christianity shattered on the shores of this continent, producing hundreds of sects in the same manner that the tribes continually subdivided in an effort to relate to the rhythms of the land.  It is probably in the nature of this continent that divisiveness is one of its greatest characteristics, a virtually uncontrollable freedom of the spirit. (pg. 143)

See? We cannot help ourselves from splitting!  I wonder if this helps explain our political divisiveness as well ...

Tribal religions place more importance on land and sacred mountains or rivers.  Judaism is a tribal religion and you read often in the Bible about setting up stones to remember places.  Also the importance of land is a strong theme throughout the Tanakh.  So I understand why Jews desire their land (or what they consider their God-given land.) It also better explains why Muslims want Mecca and Medina only for themselves. It's not for those outside the "tribe" (i.e., faith).   Deloria explained that there were Native religious ceremonies done privately and not open to outsiders. This may explain why certain mosques do not welcome nonMuslims as well as why certain Mormon religious experiences are not open for nonMormons. 

Membership has its privileges.

What are your thoughts on land and sacred spaces? Do you think certain lands have certain properties that transfer to the quality of life? Do we have freedoms in the United States because the land oozes freedom?


*** This book shows how Natives view the land that we Europeans took. I now wonder how the Canaanites felt about the land before the children of Israel came through. And how the pre-Islamic Arabs thought of Mecca and other parts of Arabia. Are lands made for all or for whoever can keep them?  Are lands something to be possessed and, er, hoarded?

December Books

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi -- "a memoir in books"; see previous post

At a café run by an Armenian in Iran -- "...forever I shall see on the glass door next to the name of the restaurant, which was in small letters, the compulsory sign in the large black letters: RELIGIOUS MINORITY.  All restaurants run by non-Muslims had to carry this sign on their doors so that good Muslims, who considered all non-Muslims dirty and did not eat from the same dishes, would be forewarned."  (pg. 180)

"'Both Yassi and I know that we have been losing our faith. We have been questioning it with every move. During the Shah's time, it was different. I felt I was in the minority and I had to guard my faith against all odds.  Now that my religion is in power, I feel more helpless than ever before, and more alienated.' She wrote about how ever since she could remember, she had been told that life in the land of infidels was pure hell. She had been promised that all would be different under a just Islamic rule. Islamic rule! It was a pageant of hypocrisy and shame. She wrote about how at work her male supervisors never look her in the eye, about how in movies even a six-year-old girl must wear a scarf and cannot play with boys. Although she wore the veil, she described the pain of being required to wear it, calling it a mask behind which women were forced to hide. She talked about all this coldly, furiously, always with a question mark after each point."  (pg. 328)



The Global Soul by Pico Iyer -- The author discusses our world of globalism and multiculturalism by visiting and reporting from airports (focus LAX), the "global marketplace" (Hong Kong), "multiculture" (Toronto), the Olympics (focus Atlanta), the Empire (focus on England) and "the alien home" (his life as a guy with Indian heritage who was born in England and grew up some there and California living in Japan with his longtime girlfriend and her two children. Oh, and his first name is after an Italian guy....so there.)

"To many I know from the New World, the Japanese response to every setback, from terrorists to burning houses to long hours, crowded trains, and sudden deaths - Shikataganai, or 'It can't be helped' - sounds fatalistic and too ready to surrender power to the heavens. But to me, coming from a California where it sometimes seems as if everyone is restlessly in search of perfection in his life, his job, his partner, and himself, it feels bracing to hear of limits that imply a sense of past as well as of future. A republic founded on the 'pursuit of happiness' seems a culture destined for disappointment, if only because it's pursuing something that, by definition, doesn't come from being sought: a culture founded, however inadvertently or subconsciously, on the First Noble Truth of Buddhism - the reality of suffering - seems better placed to deal with sorrow, and be pleasantly surprised by joy.  In a world that's overheating with the drug of choice and seeming freedom, Japan, for all its consumerist madness, suggests, in its deeper self, a postglobal order that knows what things can really be perfected (streets, habits, surfaces) and what cannot."  (pg. 284)



Two Birthdays in Baghdad by Anna Prouse -- The author is an Italian journalist and emergency medic and this book was translated from Italian. I liked reading her thoughts on people she met in Iraq - both natives and foreigners. Her thoughts on Iraqi inbreeding (pg. 38) and Iraqis' thoughts of Americans jogging for the fun of it (or health benefits pg. 48) were interesting.  Also she told how the nursing profession was looked down upon for women (pg. 90) and I questioned again why the Americans allowed the people to ransack everything. Even IVs were ripped out of people's arms! How could (1) the Americans allow this and (2) the Iraqis do this?  (pg. 94)  The story of Saba being assassinated was sad. I enjoyed her trip to visit Iranian resisters who were given sanctuary in Iraq. These were people Saddam supported because they were against their leaders. The Americans didn't send them back because they would be imprisoned or killed.  I didn't know they existed inside Iraq. I also liked the trip to Kurdish Iraq to celebrate the Persian new year festival.



My Prison, My Home by Haleh Esfandiari -- A rather interesting account of a sixty-seven year old grandmother's time in solitary confinement after the Iranian government decided she was working to overthrow the Islamic Republic.  Years prior to the revolution, she had married a Jewish man. She admitted this was an oddity even then, but not criminal as it was under the new leadership. It was interesting to me how her interrogators brought up this fact and her thoughts on this being equivalent to adultery and would she then be stoned?  This book made me see how evil the Iranian regime is.




Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi -- Oddly enough this lady was the lawyer of the lady in the previous book. I didn't realize that when I checked out both books. This book was great. I really really enjoyed reading of this Nobel Peace Prize winner who has fought for human rights in Iran from Iran (she didn't leave her country to fight from abroad).  I was dismayed as she reported of how she was stripped of so many rights and even her job as a judge once the Islamic Republic was founded. She was no shah-lover and was fine with his removal, but she quickly found out that the Islamists taking over was not good for women.  She has some great thoughts throughout the book. It's one of the best I've read lately.; see previous post for more on this book


Words to Live By; has no author listed just from Bethany House Publishers -- this is a book with 60 words: "reflections and insights on the most life-changing and thought-provoking words in the Bible" - I must say the one on worry was excellent and really spoke to me; I read this one to Samer - one word per day but not every day as we started this book back in May and only finished it this month!



Unveiled: Nuns Talking by Mary Louden -- the author interviews a few nuns from several different orders talking about their growing-up years, their reasons for becoming nuns, their outlooks on life and more; see previous post for a few quotes


A German Jewish lady speaks of leaving Germany for England at age 12 to escape the horrors of Hitler.  In England she learns and speaks only English because being German is suspect there during the war years. She observes later in life: "I didn't belong anywhere, and also, in terms of language, I stopped learning German by the time I was twelve and so never developed an adult vocabulary, and yet I don't feel that English is my own language."  (pg. 66)



My Guantanamo Diary: the Detainees and the Stories They Told Me by Mahvish Rukhsana Khan -- I've had this library book on my list for a few months now and I finally decided to read it. I had always thought the Gitmo prisoners were hard-core bad guys, but now I come away thinking maybe most of them are guys who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time - like at a time when turning in political enemies would give you a handsome reward!  When Mahvish told, for instance, that the per capita income of Afghanistan in 2006 was $300 or 82 cents a day and a US bounty was $5,000 to $25,000 - she said in US dollars that was like the average American household (which made in 2006 $26,036) getting a $2.17 million reward!  And she points out that tribal alliances and religious conflicts make for easy enemies in that part of the world.  One Gitmo prisoner was turned in by his own cousin because the two had been fighting the night before. So yeah, I came away wondering how many innocent folks are being kept there. Such a horrible situation and bad thing for the US to be doing.


Walking to Vermont by Christopher S. Wren - Upon retiring from the New York Times at age 65 Mr. Wren walks from Times Square in New York City to the Green Mountains of Vermont much of it along the Appalachian Trail. He has a dry sense of humor, tells tales of the people he meets - complete with trail names like Storyteller, Knute, Flash, Seven States, introduces me to trail magic and more. A good, easy, end-of-the-year read.

I also liked reading this because last year when we went to Damascus, Virginia, we saw some of those hard-core trail people getting supplies and also we stood on the Appalachian Trail as it passed through a playground near where we were staying.

I found the picture of me on the App Trail!

Tomorrow is the last day of 2011. I wish you all a joyful 2012!

Iran

Last night I finished reading Iran Awakening by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. She had lots of really interesting things to say dealing with both Iran and the United States and our history together and apart. These are just a few of the many things that took my attention.   You'll just have to read the rest for yourself when you buy the book (or borrow it from the library as I did!)


"Ever since that day, the twenty-second of Bahman has been celebrated as the date of the revolution's victory.  In Persian, we do not say the revolution was born, that it happened or came to pass; we require an oversize verb, and so we say the revolution was victorious.  That day, a feeling of pride washed over me that in hindsight makes me laugh. I felt that I too had won, alongside this victorious revolution. It took scarcely a month for me to realize that, in fact,I had willingly and enthusiastically participated in my own demise. I was a woman, and this revolution's victory demanded my defeat."  (pg.38)

A former judge, Shirin was now relegated to a secretary in the same court in which she used to preside.  Because women couldn't be judges apparently.


Shirin enjoyed reading several newspapers every day.  As the Islamic Republic started printing their new penal code, she felt she was "hallucinating" as she read how her value had just been cut in half and women's rights were stripped. She said it seemed they "had apparently consulted the seventh century for legal advice."  (pg. 51)  She felt so unsettled about these laws where her husband remained a person and she "became chattel"  that she talked with her husband about how he'd been "promoted above" her.  He agreed to a postnuptial agreement where she had the right to divorce him and primary custody of the children if they divorced.  The notary looked at her husband like he'd gone mad.

Once when the family went on a skiing trip, Javad (her husband) rode the men's bus while Shirin and their daughters got on the women's bus.  Unfortunately something about their vacation plans roused the suspicion of the bus driver so she was questioned.  Her husband's bus had already left so he couldn't vouch for her. 

'I'm sorry,' he said obstinately. 'I can't let the bus depart.'

... 'This is absurd,' I said, 'It's not fair to the other people on that bus.'

'There's only one solution,' ... 'I have to call your mother and see if you have permission to go skiing.'
...

And that is how I was forced, at the age of forty-five, to dial up my mother and say, 'Maman, can you please tell this man that I'm allowed to go skiing?'''  (pg. 101)

She said her mother teased her about this later saying next time she might not give permission.



"The suicide rate among women rose after the Islamic Revolution, commonly taking the form of self-immolation.  This tragic exhibitionism, I'm convinced, is women's way of forcing their community to confront the cruelty of oppression. Otherwise, would it not simply be easier to overdose on pills in a dark room?"  (pg. 109)


I think we all remember a year ago when a young fruit vendor in Tunisia did the same thing. Many believe his act paved the way for 2011's Arab Spring.

On a somewhat related note, I heard on the news a bit ago that THE PROTESTER is Time magazine's person of the year.

That "Piece of Cloth"

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Mr. Bahri could not understand why we were making such a fuss over a piece of cloth. Did we not see that there were more important issues to think about, that the whole life of the revolution was at stake? What was more important, to fight against the satanic influence of Western imperialists or to obstinately hold on to a personal preference that created division among the ranks of the revolutionaries?  These might not have been his exact words, but they were the gist of his language. In those days, people really talked that way. One had a feeling, in revolutionary and intellectual circles, that they spoke from a script, playing characters from an Islamized version of a Soviet novel.


It was ironic that Mr. Bahri, the defender of the faith, described the veil as a piece of cloth. I had to remind him that we had to have more respect for that 'piece of cloth' than to force it on reluctant people.  ...

What could he think? A stern ayatollah, a blind and improbable philosopher-king, had decided to impose his dream on a country and a people and to re-create us in his own myopic vision.  So he had formulated an ideal of me as a Muslim woman, as a Muslim woman teacher, and wanted me to look, act and in short live according to that ideal.  Laleh and I, in refusing to accept that ideal, were taking not a political stance but an existential one.  No, I could tell Mr. Bahri, it was not that piece of cloth that I rejected, it was the transformation being imposed upon me that made me look in the mirror and hate the stranger I had become.  (pgs. 164-165)

"The Islamic Revolution, as it turned out, did more damage to Islam by using it as an instrument of oppression than any alien ever could have done." (pg. 109)

As I've read this book so far, I've thought of the elections coming up in 2012 in the United States.  And, of course, just recently Tunisia and Egypt held their own first post-Ali/Mubarak elections.   I like to learn from books and what I've learned from this book about a lady living through the Iranian revolution is this:  beware voting for people who would seek to oppress others in order to re-create their dreams of an ideal nation or appeal to a voting bloc with those dreams.  Beware of politicians who agree to sell the country to the devil in order to keep their power in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.  Let's truly have freedom and justice and the pursuit of happiness for all.  Let's allow God to be God and not seek to be Him as we impose our visions of a perfect world on others.  Let's live Micah 6:8.

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

I think that's more than enough to keep us busy without meddling in others' affairs, don't you?

November Books

Another month has come and gone. Thanksgiving last week was great!  I love that the weather has been on the warm side.

Here are the books I finished reading this month.  The last one I finished just about an hour ago. I wasn't sure if I'd finish it or not, but I did! 

Hope you all are doing well!


Lipstick Jihad by  Azadeh Moaveni   -- I remembered seeing this review by Muslimah Media Watch back when I used to follow that blog, so when I saw this book in the library,I decided to read it. It's a memoir of a lady who grew up in California and later went to Iran where she found she was too American for some.  Here is an interview you may find interesting.; see previous post for excerpts from this book that I found interesting


The Miracle of Freedom: 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World by Chris and Ted Stewart -- I found this on the new book shelf at my local library and found it rather interesting. The authors claim freedom is not the norm and have chosen 7 historical events that they say were major "what if" moments.  Their choices range from Jerusalem not being destroyed by Assyria to the Mongols and Muslim armies not getting farther into western Europe to the Battle for Britain to the conversion of Constantine.  I enjoyed the history that I learned from this book.


Looking for Lovedu: Days and Nights in Africa by Ann Jones -- another interesting traveling story this one focusing on the author's mission to find Lovedu and the queen who rules her people. Along the way, the reader is informed of problems with the vehicle, border crossings, corrupt officials, cranky co-travelers as well as the depths of mud, mud and more mud in Zaire!  Quite a good book. I really enjoy learning more about other areas of the world through these types of books!




Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World by Fatima Mernissi -- Overall I think I liked this book although some things perplexed me.  This was written soon after the first Gulf War so it was a bit strange reading about Iraq and the Arab world's reaction back then having now gone through this other war concerning Iraq that we are trying to get out of none too soon!  The author scolded the West, the Arabs, the men. She gave me much to consider and at times I wasn't sure if she were writing tongue-in-cheek or if she were serious.  I had more than this to share, but I will refrain. But since I shared this bit on Facebook, I'll just leave it here.


"The supremacy of the West is not so much due to its military hardware as to the fact that its military bases are laboratories and its troops are brains, armies of researchers and engineers. ... The arms industry provides an enormous number of jobs in other sectors, such as electronics and communications. ... The West creates its power through military research, which forces underdeveloped countries to become passive consumers. The weakness of the Arab nations stems from the fact that they buy weapons instead of choosing to do their own research. .. The Arab states prefer to import finished technological products, especially arms, rather than train a powerful corps of scientists, which would risk destabilizing their authority from within."  -- (pgs. 43, 50)



The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel -- "A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ" - actually the book is a bit old (published in 2007) so it's not current current, but I appreciated it just the same.  The author talked to experts about such things as other ancient documents being found that are just as credible as the four gospels, Christianity borrowing from pagan teachings and myths, the resurrection, the Church tampering with the texts and so forth. See my earlier post for more on this book





The Rapture Exposed by Barbara R. Rossing provides "The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation" as the author picks apart the theology of dispensationalists and those believing the End Times arrive with an escape plans for all true Christians and a blood bath and utter destruction for planet Earth.  The author makes her case by talking quite a bit about the Left Behind series and the dangerous way it shapes American thinking about the rest of the world and foreign policy.  She ultimately believes in the saving power of the "wonder working blood of the Lamb" which left me remembering Paul's words about overcoming evil with good.  She tells us the true message of Revelation is that God is with us through all life's tribulations and that was personified as Jesus - God in the flesh come down to dwell among humans to be with them through storms and life's trials. 


The Red Tent by Anita Diamant -- this book is like a Jewish Midrash with Dinah, the daughter of Jacob (Israel) telling her story of growing up with four mothers and eleven brothers (she never knew Benjamin in this book until much later).  I remember when Amber posted on this book ages ago and recently when someone else mentioned it,I remembered to look for it that day at the library. (It just so happened I was headed there to get new books!  For the record, Amber, at the library I went to, they had this book in Christian Fiction...haha.) 


Dudes of War by Benjamin Tupper -- curious about what soldiers do when they aren't out on a combat mission?  This book has short chapters featuring people such as Shrapnel, The Greek, Lancelot, Deathwish, Casanova,  Mr. OCD and so forth as the author tells about his experiences in Afghanistan. Read how the digital age has made it possible for our soldiers to enjoy women when there are very few women around (Afghanistan is not like Vietnam with prostitutes waiting for our soldiers' attentions; the author admits how he develops a "foot fetish" of sorts looking for pretty nail polish and high heels in a country where women are completely covered), how the soldiers compete for having the best gear, how alcohol is technically forbidden to them there, yet it's often available anyway. He briefly discusses blogging, humanitarian assistance (in winning the hearts and minds of the Afghans), loving the Hazara (which made the Pashtun interpreters angry), PTSD, religion and so forth.

"The soldier does not operate in a black-and-white world, so to romanticize or demonize both miss the target.  The soldier is the fusion of Christ and Judas, the wolf and the sheep, and the aggressor and the victim. We are capable of altruism and moral failure at any given moment on any given day.   Soldiers recognize this fact perhaps better than anyone, but that doesn't mean they agree on what constitutes altruism and moral failures.  Soldiers who serve in the same army, under the same flag, and in the same uniform, will interpret their actions and justifications in starkly different ways."  (pg. 105)



Eclipse of the Sunnis by Deborah Amos -- see previous post for more information on Iraq refugees in neighboring countries

Also I found this of interest:

"Without waging war, Iran had skillfully expanded its political influence in places that before 2003 had been under Arab sway, including Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine.  The Arabs - above all the Sunni powers - had lost ground everywhere. Even the radical Sunni movements, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, were increasingly dependent on Tehran. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah were furious about Iran's growing reach into the Arab heartland but what could they do about it? The American invasion that had removed Iraq from the balance-of-power equations on the Sunni side had tilted the region towards Tehran. The Sunni powers shuddered to think of living under the embrace of Shiite mullahs with nuclear arms."   (pg. 178)


Sandstorms: Days and Nights in Arabia by Peter Theroux -- see previous post about Saudi Arabia in the 1980s for excerpts from this book


Fortunate Sons by Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller -- see previous post

Interesting fact: After the building of the Transcontinental Railroad groups of Chinese men dug in the Sierra Nevada. They "would come on pilgrimages to search for the graves of their fellow workers. Beneath simple wooden stakes lay bodies buried with wax-sealed bottles holding pieces of cloth inscribed with the deceased's name and native village.  These remains, thus discovered, would be exhumed and shipped back to China; in all, twenty thousand pounds of bones would make this final journey."  (pg. 102)



Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman -- Faced with a struggling marriage and a trial separation, the author heads to Mexico to live among indigenous people. Rita wasn't content to stay in the touristy spots, but went to the villages where not many - if any - foreigners travel.  She connects with people this way in Mexico and Nicaragua, later travels to Israel hoping to find some connection with "her" people (fellow Jews).  Her travels take her to the Galapagos Islands and Indonesia where she spends parts of 8 years living in Bali and traveling to the Indonesian side of New Guinea.  She also talks about her life in New Zealand, Thailand and the United States. Unlike most of the travel books I've read this year where people talked with natives for short times, this book was different in that the author often lived with native people for weeks, months or years at a time. It was a great way for me to learn more about Balinese culture and other parts of the world.  Learn more about Rita at her website.





The Early Arrival of Dreams by Rosemary Mahoney tells the story of an American woman who lived in China for a year as an English teacher back in the 1980s. It was good reading her impressions of the Chinese people, cities, food, university and so forth. Also I enjoyed reading how they interacted with her.




Naked in Baghdad by Anne Garrels -- This book is about "the Iraq war as seen by NPR's correspondent" and it includes a few months before the war started and the couple of months after. At first I was a bit bored thinking I'd heard most of this before, but I grew to really enjoy the book as the author shared about what happened on the ground once the war started, the people's reactions and such things.  Interesting tidbit:  Russian was useful to her as a second language since she didn't know Arabic and many of the Iraqis she met didn't know English.  I liked that she tried to verify which civilian neighborhoods the US bombs hit and which other reported stories were true (or not).  I was saddened to read how the US troops didn't stop the looting (except for the oil ministry *ahem*) saying they were not a police force.  Yet they had just destroyed things and left the looters to wreak havoc.  The author said the bombs were really accurate for the most part, but the ground war once the troops came to Baghdad showed how ill prepared our military was for the pandemonium of a people recently freed. She said many Iraqis feared themselves and I see why after reading of the looting plus seeing how things have turned out the last several years with the sectarian fighting.  I enjoyed the reporting on how the Iraqi people reacted to Saddam's statue coming down. 

Hijabs, Beards, Queues: outward ways we identify and submit

It's rather interesting how we do things to either identify with others or perhaps show our submission. 


Many Muslim women will choose to wear head scarves in order to do one or the other or both. I've heard some argue that they don't believe God requires them to cover their hair, however, they want to wear scarves in order to identify themselves as Muslims.

Probably the same with Amish and Mennonite women who cover their hair.


I think the Taliban required a fist-length beard for Afghani men in order to identify with proper Islamic standards.



And, if memory serves, there are Old Testament rules about how Israelite men were to keep their beards as well as the requirement for circumcision.


I'm currently reading Fortunate Sons by Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller. It's about "the 120 Chinese boys who came to America, went to school, and revolutionized an ancient civilization."  The plan was that these 12-14 year old boys would be educated in American high schools and universities such as Yale and possibly study at military academies so that China could learn about technology and military might so they wouldn't always be dependent on western imports and could grow and defend themselves properly.  (This was 1872, by the way.)  These boys were to remain stateside for 15 years before heading home.  (I've not read far enough in the book to see if they stayed that long.  Presently the first high school graduates, who'd been in the US for about five years, are beginning studies at Yale.)


Reading some of the cultural differences made me smile especially since one lady, in a display of motherly affection I suppose, kissed the boy who was staying in her house.  This boy had only bowed his head four times to his own mother as a way of saying goodbye for his fifteen year travel and he later wrote that he had not been kissed since infancy prior to this New England lady kissing his cheek!   Of course the other Chinese boys giggled at this public display of affection.


Anyway, I digress. The reason this book reminded me of hijabs and Jewish beards, ways we identify with others and/or submit was talk of the queue, the hairstyle that Chinese men at this time were forced to wear in order to show their submission to the Qing Dynasty.  I remember the boys wanted to blend in more with their American peers as their Chinese robes and long braids were cause for teasing.  Their Chinese sponsor was able to get permission for them to wear western clothes, but they could not cut their hair. They were allowed to hide the braids in hats or under their clothes, however.

I like this book because I have also learned some about Confucian teachings. Did you realize before they were made to submit to Qing queues, most Han Chinese wore long hair because Confucius said we inherit our hair from our ancestors so we should not damage it?

Can you think of other ways (e.g., hairstyles, clothes, circumcision) that we show outward identification and/or submission?

Observations on Saudi Arabia in the 1980s

If you've read any of my posts this year, you may know I've enjoyed a number of books by Westerners traveling through Arabia and other parts of the world. I find it such an interesting way to learn more about the variety of cultures, the religions, the people, the foods, the animals, everything. Of course they are told from specific people's eyes where the natives' habits may seem curious or strange, but that's part of what I love about reading books or blog posts of those visiting the United States. I like to see what stands out to people, what they find noteworthy, what they find worth sharing.

This book Sandstorms: Days and Nights in Arabia by Peter Theroux tells of the author's adventures in Egypt and Saudi Arabia during the 1980s as he was searching for information on what happened to Moussa Sadr. He wrote a book about that, but this one is about other stuff that happened during his time in the Middle East. 

Peter learned Arabic, made friends with Arabs and did his best to explain Arab culture to visitors so the visitors would have a better understanding of the Arabian ways.  Please keep this in mind as you read the following excerpts because I don't want you to get the wrong impression that his book was only about this stuff I noted.  I guess these are just the funny and odd things that stand out the most to me. Actually there is so much more - like the man who wanted to convert Peter to Islam and then asked if he had any girls (American? British? Filipino?) available so he could have a good time.  When one day Peter decided to say yes that he has available girls and they are Saudis, the man got extremely angry and never spoke to him again!  Must be one of those cultural things about MEN that I will never understand!

Since this book's information is quite old, I do wonder as I'm reading how much has changed since Peter lived in Arabia.



THIS ONE JUST MADE ME LITERALLY LAUGH OUT LOUD


Peter was driving in Saudi Arabia when his car slid into a ditch. A police car arrived and the officer checked his driver's license which was issued in Peter's home state, Massachusetts.

Officer:  "Just wait a minute - what's this?"

"That's my American license. I don't have a Saudi one yet, but -- "

"What do you mean, 'American license'? Show me where it says 'America.'"

Alas, it doesn't since it was issued by Massachusetts - a state - and not the federal government.  So the officer calls another officer over and they talk. The second officer comes over with the pleasant "salaamu aleikum" greeting declaring that he knows Massachusetts: "It's the best state!"

We chatted - he was friendly and extremely religious and demanded to know why I had not converted to Islam, since I knew Arabic and could presumably see, in the Koran, the perfect fulfillment of Judaism and Christianity. Surely I rejected the infamous sacrilege that God had a mother and a son?  ... I tried to pump him about his visit to Massachusetts.

"I never visited there - I know it from history. America is full of good people but bad things - sex and crime, and some people are so backward - they worship the devil and follow the tower" - he meant al-bourj, the zodiac - "but Massachusetts is the only place they know how to deal with witches - by hanging them!  Good night, my friend."  (pgs. 20-22)

Not sure why this struck me so funny. Must have been the matter-of-fact way the guy declared MA the "best state" because they hung witches there.  In the past. Not that that is funny at all ... moving on.

ON CONVERSIONS OBSERVED IN KSA

It involved in his opinion "a cultural rather than spiritual transformation. I never knew a Christian whose values changed radically after adopting Islam, but the outward changes - especially in name and wardrobe - were always striking."  [Insert examples of American converts who adopted "very specifically, the clothes and habits of the desert Arabs."]  "It was as if a Russian Jewish convert to Christianity in Oklahoma made it an article of faith to dress as a cowboy every day, down to the chaps, spurs, and lasso. ... It was a one-way street, of course, since apostatizing from Islam to any other faith was a capital crime."  (pg. 139-140)


Haha...I can understand adopting the head scarf if you thought God wanted you to cover your hair, but I have puzzled over the complete transformations and changed names. Hey, I guess if you don't like the name your parents gave you, it's a good excuse to find one you like better!  Too bad your selection is limited to Arabic ones, however.




ON SHIITES


He told of an Islamic University which "used a textbook, which debated, among other questions, whether or not Shiites have tails." (pg. 127)

"The ugliness of the Arab world's hostility toward its own Shiites was remarkable, and I felt that Saudi Arabia was abusing its prestige as guardian of Mecca and Medina by hinting that the Shia were 'deviants' and ridiculing their clergy. I had to take my stand, and I took it by being part of this friendly Shiite underground."  (pg. 128)

If I were a Shiite, I think I'd show them my tail so their mystery would be solved!  ;-)


WHY NO CHURCHES ALLOWED?

"Surely the Saudi bigotry against other religions revealed a deep insecurity in the face of other cultures and faiths and was a sop to empty nationalism and phony clerics. Even the least observant Muslim in Saudi Arabia measured power and influence in religious terms. ... It was a subtle and informal way of marking territory. When the city of Rome decided, in 1984, to grant a building permit for a mosque near the Holy See, the reaction of the Riyadh press was anything but uplifting: jeering articles applauded this tanazul, relinquishing or surrender, on the part of Rome and the Vatican. They did not rule out that tolerance or political opportunism may have played a role, as they surely must have, but that was beside the point: Europe and all Christendom were gloatingly shown to be demoralized and weak for having caved to Islamic machismo. It was also portrayed as a crushing blow to 'world Zionism.'"


I wonder if this is similar to those folks in Tennessee who didn't want a mosque in their town. Were they also marking territory or desiring to not show weakness by surrendering?  Were they trying to deliver a "crushing blow" to "world Islamism"?  Hmmmm...


When Peter was talking to his friend about allowing a church for all the Christians in Riyadh (foreigners of course since all Saudis are Muslim by birth), he asked, "Wouldn't you respect them more if they went to church, if they had a church to go to?"

"'Having no churches prevents them from learning wrong things,' shrugged Hamdan. 'They should be grateful. It's their chance to learn something about Islam.'"  (pg. 172-173)


So have things changed much in these 25-30 years? I don't know. But it sure is interesting to read some impressions about this part of the world from the pre-9/11 days. Sometimes it's hard for me to recall what I thought of or knew about Arabs or Muslims before then.   Actually all these things described above sound nothing like the Arabs and Muslims I've had the pleasure of getting to know.  Maybe I should be more clear from time to time about that.  Samer asks me sometimes why I am reading books about his people (and finding faulty things such as I mentioned above) and I tell him if he were some Jewish Israeli guy who found me online, invited me to his country and became one of my best friends, I'd be reading books on Israel and Zionism and doing the same thing.  So I blame Samer. He started it!  ;)

Iraqi Refugees in Syria and Lebanon

I'm reading Eclipse of the Sunnis by Deborah Amos.  She is talking mostly about the Iraqi "surge" -- no, not the American soldiers surging into that country, but the "surge" of Iraqis fleeing their country into neighboring regions. This book tells the story of many people the author met during interviews with Iraqi refugees - millions who have been displaced mostly due to the American invasion and subsequent rising of a more sectarian government and society.  The first few chapters take place in Damascus and surrounding areas. One chapter deals with the women forced to work as prostitutes in order to provide for their children.

That's extremely heartbreaking enough, but then reading this just made me want to throw up my hands in disgust at the hypocrisy and unjustness!

"In another story, I had heard about an Iraqi woman in the sex trade whose clients were young Shiite men from the Mahdi militia who came to Syria in the summer for vacation. They paid her for sex, enjoyed her company, but threatened that if she ever came back to Baghdad they would cut her head off."  (pg. 84)

This is such an interesting book so far, and although it was published just last year, I am already wishing for an update due to how much Syria has changed in 2011.  I am left wondering about all those Iraqi refugees who fled there. Syria was one of the only countries who accepted Iraqis as the Jordanians quickly closed their border.  How have things changed for the refugees now that Syria is in an upheaval? Has it made more of them go back home? Have they joined either cause: those with Assad's regime or those who want more freedom?

In the section about Lebanon the author mentions Palestinians - particularly "young, third-generation refugees [who] had lost hope in liberating Palestine and found a more promising cause in the mujahedeen in Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, and then Iraq - all places they had gone to fight."  (pg. 100)

"The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq fanned the long-burning flame, giving the angry young men of Tripoli an outlet for venting their rage. When they came home from the anti-U.S. jihad in Iraq, the Lebanese fighters brought comrades with them and found refuge in Lebanon's Palestinian camps, which remained off-limits to the police and the army.  In this way, the unintended consequences of a generation of exiles that began in 1948 contributed to the ongoing destabilization of the region and the creation of a newly displaced people. It was the perfect example of the cost of doing nothing to solve an earlier refugee crisis: Ignore it for long enough and it will fan the next crisis and seed future ones."  (pg. 102)

"Lipstick Jihad"

Excerpts from Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni


Note: The author was born in 1976 to Iranian parents who came to America and ended up staying after the Islamic revolution. As an adult she lived in Tehran for several months as a journalist. She tried to remember the Iran she visited as a child and fit in with her people.  Here are a few observations that I noted from this book.



I wanted to pinpoint precisely what it was that gave me away as a foreigner. After watching me for several weeks as we rode in taxis and shopped and had coffee, Celine concluded that it was nothing so obvious. She leaned forward in her chair, as if to make a serious pronouncement. One, you laugh whenever you want.  And two, you smile too much. This is very American of you. It doesn't really occur to you, to alter yourself in public. So I should smile less? I asked. I should be less nice?  No, she replied, you need to be more selective about who you're nice to.  (pg. 69)

I just found that funny because I think I would be guilty of the same if I were in one of those societies where it's odd to smile at any ol' person walking down the street.


The major social aim of the revolution had been to impose Islamic faith on Iranian society.  But the catalog of restrictions - on dress, behavior, speech - meant to instill a solemn decency instead inflamed people's carnal instincts. Made neurotic by the innate oppressiveness of restriction, Iranians were preoccupied with sex in the manner of dieters constantly thinking about food. The subject meant to be unmentionable - to which end women were forced to wear veils, sit in the back of the bus, and order hamburgers from the special "women's line" at fast food joints - had somehow become the most mentioned of all.  The constant exposure to covered flesh - whether it was covered hideously, artfully, or plainly - brought to mind, well, flesh.  (pg. 71)

Makes sense really.  And I read stuff like this often on Muslim blogs about how preoccupied the people are with sex!  To me, covering women doesn't really make the men stop fantasizing about what's hidden under the veil.




Her thoughts on temporary marriages, the Shiite practice of sigheh -- "It is a form of prostitution, which enables a patriarchal culture to cement the imbalanced gender relations in the guise of empowering women with a temporary and flimsy legal status that rarely works to their benefit."  (pg. 74)


It amuses me somewhat when people try to defend this as some gift from God.


It was only over time, after repeated exposure to womanizing clerics, clerics who stole from the state and built financial empires, who ordered assassinations like gangsters, who gave Friday sermons attacking poodles, that I came to understand the virulence of my father and my uncle's hate for the Iranian clergy. Perhaps their flaws were no greater than those of ordinary mortals, but ordinary mortals did not claim divine right to rule, ineptly, over seventy million people. (pg. 101)

Yessssss!  And that is the problem! You are corrupt like the rest of us, yet you believe God allows you to tell us what to do!  And poodles are so awful just because some Westerners own them?  Get outta here!


Thoughts on the veil -- "It was the symbol of how everything had gone horribly wrong. How in the early days of the revolution, secular women wore the veil as a protest symbol against the West and its client state policies, and then had it imposed on them by the fundamentalist mullahs who hijacked the revolution and instituted religious law. My generation, Iranians who learned about 1979 at kitchen tables in the United States, absorbed this version of history as truth.  Though most women in modern-day Iran might not consider the veil their highest grievance, they knew it symbolized the system's disregard for women's legal status in general. Mandatory veiling crushed women's ability to express themselves, therefore denying them a basic human right."  (pg. 170)


Nanny governments and mandatory veiling stinks! What happened to it being between a woman and God?


On how some women from conservative families were more free after the Shah's removal from power -- "Under the Shah's regime, traditional parents like hers would never have let their daughters stray out into society. They preferred to keep them uneducated and housebound rather than exposing them to corrupt, Westernized Iranians who drank, smoke, wore miniskirts, and slept around. The revolution erased all those sins from the surface of society (tucking them under wraps, along with women).  In the process, it made possible for young women like Fatimeh to venture out of the home sphere. They were given the opportunity to do something with their lives besides washing dishes and birthing."  (pg. 181)


This reminded me of the arguments of those who oppose the burqa bans in some European countries. They claim women will just have to stay home since they won't be allowed to go out in public with their faces showing.  In that sense France, in their opinions, actually oppressed Muslim women (more).


I really enjoyed this book because I was able to learn some about the Iranian revolution and life in Tehran from an Iranian woman.  I do realize she is a secular Muslim* woman who grew up in California and that colors her views of some things in Iran that others may have no problem with.



*Some would probably not even consider her Muslim, but I believe she culturally considers herself this way.

July Books

Islam & Christianity: A Revealing Contrast by James F. Gauss -- I recall this being an Amazon.com recommendation.   I ordered it back in 2009, but it didn't really interest me once I received it.  It sat on my bookshelf for a year and a half before I decided I should read the books I'd bought before checking out new ones from the library. Thus, it got read finally.  The author had some good points. I enjoyed many of the biblical passages. But overall the theme of the book was one that didn't encourage me to be more like Jesus.  I felt the author misrepresented Islam on many points and I found myself arguing against what he wrote in defensive of a fuller context.  I even marked a few pages with my arguments!  So I'm glad I finished it and can move on. 



In Ishmael's House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands by Martin Gilbert -- This was another Amazon.com recommendation which I got for my birthday. I learned quite a lot from this book and it inspired four posts because I really wanted to make notes on some topics discussed. ; see previous posts for more details




The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark. -- mentioned it here  and in my post about Christianity in the ancient world




Abraham's Children: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People by Jon Entine  -- see some things that took my attention from this book in my Jews, Hispanics, Chosenness, DNA, Lost Tribes, Sheep & More post



Sharing the Love of Christ With Your Muslim Neighbours by Ahmad Aygei -- this guy spoke at our church earlier this year and offered his book for sale. It's actually 2 books in one thus the following book is by him as well. He is from Ghana and grew up in a large Muslim family. He briefly shares how he became a follower of Jesus and then shares the trials of a new convert and God's heart for Muslims. 

One of my favorite parts is from the Introduction:

"It is a sad fact that many Christians are ignorant of God's purposes for the Muslim world. Rather than having God's heart for the Muslims, they feel threatened and become hard-hearted towards them.  Some see Islam as a threat which can only be conquered by military might.  They have forgotten that we do not use the weapons of the world (2 Corinthians 10:4) and we are not fighting against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). ... The fact that a sect or religious group is opposed to our beliefs does not mean we should hate them and wish to see evil befall them.  The spirit of Christ is full of Love.  Loving when we are hated is what makes Christians different."  (pg. 1-2)

My other favorite part was dealing with trials and avoiding self pity while going through them.  He encourages us to deal with trials properly and not allow ourselves to be self pitying or fearful, but realize God is our strength. (see pg. 28)




Ishmael Shall Be Blessed by Ahmad Aygei -- the second part of this 2 in 1 book.  The author shares about Jesus from both the Bible and Quran.  I found the final chapter on the Comforter of great interest.  He shared the Islamic argument of the Comforter being a prophecy of Muhammad and compared it to the Christian belief of the Comforter being the Holy Spirit just as Jesus stated.



A Christian Perspective on Islam by J.L. Williams -- this guy is the one who actually brought Ahmad Aygei from Ghana to our church for the 3 day conference.  I would not have bought this book because I have read so many books of this type already, but Andrew bought it without my knowing  thus I figured I'd go ahead and read it.  And there was some stuff that was different from most books of this type. I enjoyed the discussion of community, culture, the Crusades and colonialism. Some of it turned me off because I feel such people really are fearful of Islam and I just am not. Perhaps I am naive for being this way.

And with that, I have finished all the books on my own bookshelves aside from the few that are Andrew's.  And on July 20, I went to the library and got more books which I shall begin shortly!


After the Apple by Naomi Harris Rosenblatt -- see previous posts for notes


The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner -- NPR correspondent decides to travel various parts of the world to determine what makes people happy or unhappy in the case of Moldova. This was a fun way to learn interesting tidbits about several countries like Bhutan, Iceland, Qatar, India and so forth. The subtitle is "one grump's search for the happiest places in the world."  I love the conclusion that he reached about happiness being relational; it's "utterly intertwined with other people" and also, I believe, with our relationship with God.

Last Notes and Lessons Learned from Stories of Jews in Muslim Lands

Last notes from In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands by Martin Gilbert.


I finished the book! Ah, what an interesting read.  Definitely a side of the story I'd never heard especially the part pertaining to how the Jews were treated in Muslim lands leading up to and after Israel was created. What a mess!  Several times I got the impression that Arabs were simply frustrated at the British presence (like in Egypt) and angered by the creation of Israel so they took out their hostility on the local Jews. It is no different than Americans' mistreatment of Japanese living in the United States during World War II and blaming American Muslims for the sins of Al Qaeda or a rogue Muslim extremist. Or even our bombing of Iraq for what 19 mostly Saudi nationals did on 9/11. It's sad that the human race is such that we take out our wrath on innocent people when we feel injustice has taken place and we are lusting for revenge or dignity or whatever term we use to justify "making someone pay!"

Yesterday's post left off with Iraq and since then I've read about Egypt and the 1954 Lavon Affair in which the Israeli intelligence agency along with at least one Israeli Government Minister tried to implicate the Muslim Brotherhood in acts of terror!  "The plan was to have Israeli agents explode bombs against Egyptian, American and British targets while at the same time making the attacks look like a Muslim Brotherhood operation."  (pg. 253)  I suppose you can guess that this plan's failure only increased the difficulty for Egyptian Jews.

Oh, and also in my last post I talked about the Arab mistreatment of Jews only bolstered Israel, right?  If his stats are correct, the author states around 75% of the immigrants to Israel were from Muslim countries and not Europe where (I am assuming) the root of the problem started!  Weird how that works.  Interesting tidbit: even though the white, 'westernized' Jews make up only around a quarter of the Jewish population in Israel, most all of the big-time leaders have been from this group. The author said the Ashkenazis often looked at Jews from Arab countries - the Sephardi - as "primitive" and "fit mainly for manual labour and domestic service."  (pg. 311)  Racism exists from Jews towards Jews. Imagine.

Also I wondered yesterday why Arab countries would allow so many Jews to leave for Israel. Well continuing the book, I found not all of them did. Syria, for example, basically trapped their Jewish population for decades.  Finally in the 1990s after much international pressure, President Hafez al-Assad agreed that "all 3,886 Jews in Syria were free to leave -- for anywhere but Israel."  (pg. 308)  Some Arab countries were similar in not allowing travel to Israel while others like Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco seemed fine with it.

The last chapter discussed the roughly 50,000 Jews still living in Muslim lands today. Many of those are in Iran, by the way. (Jews in Persia predate Christianity and Islam.) The ones that made me smile most were stories of the one Afghan Jew who stays because he wants to represent the Jewish culture that was there for a thousand years and the three Jews, the Pinchas family, in Kamishli, Syria.  Also I think it's cute that two Jews are registered to vote in Sidon, Lebanon.

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Here are two final stories I wanted to share.  One good, one bad. They represent to me much of the last half of the book which dealt with quite a bit more of modern Jewish/Muslim history than I recall from Zachary Karabell's book last year.  (Karabell seemed to detail more of the older history while this book dealt more with modern times.)



After some problems in Egypt between the Muslims who took out their anger for the creation of the State of Israel on local Jews ...

"In spite of the return to order, an Egyptian Arab wrote a revealing letter to the Bourse égyptienne newspaper on July 22: 'It would seem that most people in Egypt are unaware of the fact that among Egyptian Moslems there are some who have white skin,' he wrote.  'Every time I board a tram I see people pointing at me and saying "Jew, Jew."  I have been beaten more than once because of this.  For that reason I humbly beg that my picture (enclosed) be published with an explanation that I am not Jewish and that my name is Adham Mustafa Galeb.'"  (pg. 225)

YET ...


"Amidst all the political turmoil, incitement and violence, relations between Muslims and Jew were still possible.  In the Aboukir internment camp, Egyptian-born Abraham Matalon met the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria, who had also been imprisoned.  'At first,' Matalon remembered later, 'I didn't know he was a member. We embraced, and we started meeting every day.  He said he wanted to learn Hebrew, and I wanted to learn Koran, so this is how we spent our time. I wanted to have a dialogue with the Muslims, and they loved me for it!  I did the call to prayer in the camp and the soldiers admired it, they even answered me.  And they knew I was a Zionist, but they did not manifest any attitudes against me. They said we are friends in life. When you come to talk to your enemy, you see that he is a different person, you can see his human side."  (pg.221)


Perhaps we can learn lessons from the stories I shared from this book.  Thoughts?

Jews in Muslim Lands and the Creation of Israel: "They did not wish to be dhimmis any more. Finally they had a choice."

Some more notes from In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands by Martin Gilbert.  Now we're getting into the section on World War II, the creation of the State of Israel and the aftermath of that.



So we've seen Muslims and Jews actually got along quite well at times.  In those instances as long as the Jews kept their respectful stance as dhimmis, most often problems did not exist. After a time, however, this all changed and problems happened in places where Jews had thrived for years such as Iraq.  One former Iraqi administrator, Abraham Elkabir, "later reflected - while living in Israel - on what went wrong" between Muslims and Jews.  "He traced Muslim hostility to three factors:

1.  "the Palestine issue"
2.  "the Mufti of Jerusalem's campaign in Iraq identifying Jews and Zionists"
3.   "the 'anti-Semitic tendencies' of the British officials and other Westerners in Iraq"  (pg. 193)


Chapters 12 and 13 also mention Nazi Germany influencing Arab hatred towards the Jews.  This despite the fact Hitler's social ladder put Arabs only one step above Jews.  Wisely Hitler had this illustration deleted from the Arabic printing of his book Mein Kampf since he wanted Arab help.

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Observation: Part of the problem with Zionism is that it was in conflict with rising Arabism. So was this all a soured competition between nationalities?

COMPARE this thought ...

"The Muslim world, inspired by Arab nationalism but inflamed by Jewish nationalism, still considered Palestine as an Arab country and part of the Muslim patrimony, in which Jews could live only as a subject people." (pg. 201)

with this one:

"The imminent prospect of a National Home had given the Jews a sense of pride and a hope for a secure future. Jews would no longer have to put up with being second-class citizens, but that was how the Muslims among whom they lived considered them:  the eternal, born dhimmis, subject to one form or another of the Covenant of Omar." (pg. 205)

So was the problem that Islamic faith said Jews were God-ordained to a certain role that Jews no longer were willing to play?


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I found this fact very interesting and wondered how I should weigh it in considering the whole Palestine/Israel issue.

"Between 1922 and 1939 more Arabs had entered Palestine than Jews. These were Muslim immigrants including many illegals, from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Iran and Syria - as well as from Transjordan, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. These immigrants were drawn to Palestine by its opportunities for work and its growing prosperity - opportunities and prosperity often created by the Jews there. In 1948 many of these Arab immigrants were to be included in the statistics of 'Palestinian' Arab refugees."  (pg. 175)

So much for all the Palestinians living on ancestral lands for centuries, huh?  I'm sure many had, but not these 20,000+ who came only in the twentieth century from other Arab lands.


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The Partition problem also caused conflict in Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood "called for the reintroduction of the dhimmi laws, which had been repealed by Egypt's Mohammad Ali dynasty a century earlier, allowing both Egyptian society and Egyptian Jewry to flourish."  (pg. 213)

Several times Arab suspicion of the Jewish communities giving money to Zionist organizations was noted. It seemed most Arab countries at this time simply wanted to make sure their Jewish populations didn't support the creation of a Jewish state and they wanted the Jews to renounce Zionism, declare their loyalty to their countries (whether Iraq or Morocco or Libya) and definitely not financially support any Jewish agencies which might work to relocate Jews to Palestine.  This reminds me of today in the United States where many Muslim "charities" are under suspicion for supporting what the United States deems as terrorist organizations.  If you want to support the Palestinians by giving to any charity with ties to Hamas or Hezbollah, forget it. 


And people here often want Muslims to show their loyalty to the United States. It seems some are suspicious of Muslim ties to that mysterious worldwide ummah.

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The last chapter I finished was about Iraq from 1948 to1952.  One Jewish man put the reason why his family left, "because of 'hostility at a popular level to the new State of Israel' - not due to any official Iraqi discrimination or expulsion.'"  (pg. 243) It's as if the Arab people hated Israel so much that they took out their frustrations on the local Jewish populations which caused most of them to flee.  The author noted by the end of 1951, over 113,500 Jews had left Iraq legally while 6,000 remained.  When Jews left Iraq they had to surrender all but a small amount of money so a few Jews decided to stay.

What I find ironic to consider is that European Jews discriminated against and hurt so much by the Holocaust and preceding years (and years) understandably wanted to flee Europe for the newly created Israel where they felt safe.  Most Arabs throughout the region hated this new creation so they took out their wrath on the Jewish people in their countries. Which, in turn, made those Jews want to leave.  So many Arab countries let them leave -- for Israel!  Which to me makes little sense. If you are wanting to destroy this newly-created entity, why bolster it with more people?  Especially Jewish people who seem to have an innate ability to thrive wherever God puts them?

I think I see more clearly why many Palestinians feel abandoned by other Arabs and why they are cynical of Arab nations truly wanting to aid them. If anything, Palestine and Palestinians have been used as a rallying point for some Muslims who are trying to unite a fragmented ummah. But has real effort taken place to do anything? Or is it mostly talk?  Arabs have often blamed their dictatorial leaders so we'll have to see if this Arab Spring - and new leaders coming to power - makes any difference for the Palestinian refugees.

All that said, it does not change the fact that I detest how Israel treats the Palestinians. I find it very shameful that people who have suffered so much over the centuries could, in turn, show they can be just as evil now that they are in superior positions. One would hope the human population would learn lessons from history, but that seems too difficult.


Thoughts? Corrections?  Please share!

(see the two previous posts for more information on this book)

Lesson from a Brave Muslimah & Stories of Jews in Muslim Lands

Besides the subject of Muhammad's example of how to treat Jews, here's a sampling of some of the topics discussed in this book's first 200 pages. There are some encouraging stories at the end of this post!

In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands  by Martin Gilbert


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The Fatimids for the most part treated the Jews well enough. Until Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah came on the scene destroying all synagogues and churches and giving Jews and Christians the "choice of conversion to Islam or departure from the countries under his rule."  A year before his death, however, he changed his mind and synagogues could be built and Jews could practice their religion again.  The lesson from al-Hakim: "although the dhimmi laws made room for both persecution and protection, their effect was decided by the temperament, religious zeal and personal caprice of Muslim rulers." (pg. 38)

The author notes Caliph al-Hakim likely had mental issues so ...

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Chapter 4 -- Jews thrived in Spain under Muslim rule for a time and even held high positions. I think it was here that a Jewish man commanded a Muslim army until someone got jealous.  Yet later a Muslim tribe from North Africa the Almohads or "Unitarians" (for the unity of God) came into the region and they were much less tolerable. Either convert to Islam or leave.  (Throughout the book so far, I am amazed at how often Jewish people are forced to move from one place to another. Reminds me of reading the biblical tale of the Jews wandering in the desert.)

It was during the Almohads rule that the great Jewish scholar Maimonides lived.  In fact he outwardly converted to Islam.  "He advised his fellow Jews: 'Utter the formula' - of conversion -'and live.'"  A footnote says, "Maimonides was echoing Deuteronomy 31:19: 'I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.'"  (pg. 56)

Moses influencing the Jews in a convert-or-die situation!

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Page 64 records how Jews flourished in Baghdad and assisted in its construction,

yet page 66 records how in Fez, Muslim leaders realized the Jews' conversions to Islam were insincere and devised special clothing and "degrading costume" for all Jewish men who supposedly had converted to Islam.


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The book records "brief glimmers of light whenever Muslim nobles intervened on behalf of the Jews" (against common folks who testified against the Jews) yet also sad times when Jewish children were given to Muslim families enabling "authorities to take advantage of a particular Islamic theological position - fitra - that maintained that all males were born Muslims, and that they became Jews or Christians only because of the education received from their non-Muslim parents." (pg. 67)

The author notes Ibn  Aqnin who said many Muslims believed they would gain "considerable reward from Allah" for taking children from Jews and Christians.

God-sanctioned kidnapping is sad.


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The Mamluks were not kind to Jews in Egypt, yet the Jews in the Persian city of Shiraz did pretty well.  (pg. 71)

At times the Jews lent aid to Muslims in fighting Christians.  (pg. 72) And when the Jews were expelled from Christian Europe, they were welcomed and protected in Muslim lands (pg. 76).

The Ottoman Empire was good for Jews suffering not only in Christian lands, but also in other Muslim lands such as Yemen. Jews from those places found refuge for the most part among the Ottomans.  (pg. 82)

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THE GOOD STORIES

What I like about the book is that the author will be sharing how awful Jews were treated by a Muslim mob...well, I don't like those stories, but I will be thinking how wrong it all is and then...ah, hope!  Then he will start a new paragraph sharing how individual Muslims stood against the mob mentality to protect the Jews!  And I remember looking off into the distance last night hoping that if ever an angry, murderous mob were in my town that I would not be tempted to join it and do harm to others. And that I wouldn't be afraid of them and go hide and pretend they are not doing these awful things. But that I would be bold in doing right and standing up to the bullies! 


Here is one example from a Tunisian leader, Muslim ruler Muhammed al-Munsif ("known to the French as Moncef Bey"):

"When the Germans occupied Tunisia at the end of 1942, Moncef Bey summoned his senior officials to his palace and told them: 'The Jews are having a hard time but they are under our patronage and we are responsible for their lives.  If I find out that an Arab informer caused even one hair of a Jew to fall, this Arab will pay with his life.'"  (pg. 181)

In Baghdad Jews found favor and help from the Mayor, Arshad al-Umari who rid the city of Yunis al-Sabawi who wanted to target Jewish houses and shops. (pg. 189)

Later in Adhamiya north of Baghdad when anti-Jewish fervor spread, Mordechai Ben-Porat told this story from when he was just 18 years old.  "'Armed with vicious tools such as axes, knives and all manner of sticks and clubs,'" he could "hear very clearly 'their strident voices and calls on Allah to sanction their murder of Jews.'"  His family "barricaded themselves into their home and climbed up to their roof to see what was happening....'I watched as our "good" Moslem neighbours, living on the opposite side of the street, those to whom mother would offer occasional savoury dishes from her kitchen participated in the general madness: they guided the raving attackers to our front door.'" 

I noted after reading one such tale how horrible it is that people who for years got along, lived together and were friendly, good neighbors would turn their backs on that in the name of religion and politics and nationalism!  It's so sad to see a root of bitterness allowed to grow into a cancer of destruction, isn't it?

But here is the good part of this particular story.  Ben-Porat continues:  "But at the very moment when the mob reached [his] house, the wife of another Muslim neighbour, Colonel Taher Mohammed Aref, stopped them from proceeding. Holding one of her husband's guns and a hand grenade, she 'stood facing the menacing crowd. ... Her determination and show of arms convinced them of her serious intent and they retreated.'  Ben-Porat never forgot this woman's actions: 'It was an act of bravery and left an indelible impression on my mind.'"  (pg. 191)

I want to be brave like this unnamed woman who stood up against the mob to do the right thing!   Even when that mob was her people of her faith and the ones being defended were not.


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Thoughts?  Corrections? Please have your say in the comments!

Gilbert on Muhammad and the Jews

So the other day I started reading In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands, a gift I received for my birthday.  I recall this being one of those recommended by Amazon.com after it saw other books I had viewed.  I think at the time I was interested in Jewish life and the treatment of Jews while living among Muslims because Zachary Karabell's book, Peace Be Upon You, (one of my favorites from 2010), made me better understand coexistence is possible...and there was historical proof for it having happened.  People who say Muslims and Jews have never gotten along since the days of Isaac and Ishmael and Muslims have always persecuted the Jews and what we see of Muslim Arab hatred for Israel is only proof of that aren't entirely truthful.

So I put this book on my Wishlist thinking perhaps one day I'd order it. At least it was on the list as a reminder. Fast forward to birthday 2011 and I received it from a thoughtful friend!  Having just finished a book pretty much detailing why Islam is so awful (a book I'd had for a couple years and decided to finally read in my quest to read books I have here instead of checking out more library books), I was weary of another Muslim-bashing book and when I found out the author, Martin Gilbert, was Jewish, I thought, "Oh no! This isn't like Karabell's book at all!"  But then I started reading and overall have found it fair.  (I've read about 150 pages with about 200 to go.)

In all honesty, I've heard the Muslim side of some of these stories.  I've read enough Muslim-leaning blog posts and snippets from books and articles and talked to Samer enough to have heard the justification given for Muhammad's treatment of Jews.  And I'd often thought it seemed fair enough. He was asked to be the leader or mediator guy in Medina and when the Jews broke their commitment, covenant, signed agreement (whatever!), they were punished.  Martin Gilbert didn't present those stories in the same manner. In fact it was after reading the short chapter on Muhammad and the Jews that I had my "Oh no!" reaction.  He described more of a cleansing of Arabia or a moving out of the Jews for the sake of the Arab Muslims which made me think of modern-day Palestine in reverse. He did say Muhammad initially seemed OK with the Jews, but his later response changed when the Jews refused to accept him as a prophet.  *shrug* I don't know the true story of what happened.  But at least now I've heard two sides of the story, right?

He didn't totally condemn Muhammad, by the way. In fact he concluded the chapter with "Throughout the centuries to follow, Muslims had to decide in their relations with the Jews whether to see them as cursed people, or as a people protected by Islam.  Mohammed's example gave them ample reason to take either view.  Although he had protected Jews living under dhimmi status and granted them religious freedom, he had also subjugated them and punished them severely."  (pg. 26)  Based on what I know of the story from Muslim, Jewish and secular sources that seems pretty accurate. Maybe this author didn't tell the whole story of how bad the Jews were and why they deserved the "severe" punishment and how it was par for the course at that time in history and even seemed OK with other Jewish tribes. I think he didn't represent that point of view quite fairly. Or maybe that is the Muslim side of things coming out from my memory.

I just know it seems whenever I read most any book - aside from the Bible - Jews (pre-Zionism) never do much of anything wrong.  It sincerely comes across as if they are mostly innocent victims who were just bullied by many throughout history for often made up reasons. Like they killed a Christian child to use his blood for their Passover. Or made too much money in their businesses and people were jealous of their wealth. Stuff like that.   Has that been your reading experience as well?


I may share more notes from this book later, but this post is long enough.  Share your thoughts if you'd like.

Moses, the Egyptians, Tahrir Square and Reenslaving Ourselves

Remember Tahrir Square earlier this year?  Oddly, perhaps, I thought of the Egyptian revolution several times as I read a book about Moses' influence on the United States.


"'Freedom is the right to be free, and then the obligation to accept responsibility. If you don't understand that, then ugly stuff happens. And when you do understand that, you're prepared to meet the obligations straight-on.'"    (pg. 132)

I read this statement in America's Prophet: How the Story of Moses Shaped America.  Author Bruce Feiler was speaking with an African-American pastor about slavery and an Old Testament truth the slaves as well as other Americans had to learn.  Society is not great if you have total freedom. Anarchy is not that good.  In fact one political theorist suggests "the solution...is to voluntarily commit oneself to a new form of bondage.  To reenslave oneself."  (pg. 96)

Moses represents both.  There is the freeing of the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians (whose Hebrew name apparently means "the confining place" or "pressed in"), yet they are soon put under a code of law. The children of Israel trade bondage to Egypt (often representing "the world" in Christian talk) for divine law.

Americans took inspiration from this.  Before the Pilgrims got off the boat, they wrote the Mayflower Compact as a form of law governing them when they landed.  Though not everyone agreed to it and didn't sign on, it shows that many of them understood that total freedom was not ideal. Who is going to keep your freedom to swing your fist in check with my desire to keep my face bruise-free?  :)

According to the author, Exodus provides three things:
1.  "A language of chosenness for a beleaguered population"
2.  "A rhetoric of mission that emboldens the aggrieved people to strive for their own liberation"
3.  "A rhetoric of control that allows the newly emancipated community to rein in any tendencies toward excess" (pg. 129)

I was trying to think of these things in light of the Arab Spring since it has been so much in the news throughout 2011.  Even Egypt was included and while they were successful in ousting Mubarak, they are going through the growing pains of forming a new government and constitution. They are in that critical area of having won some freedom, but now having to curb it for the sake of not abusing minorities and just for common decency.  No one wants criminally-minded individuals to think they now have the freedom to loot and make life more chaotic.  The same is true for other countries such as Syria. Although they are still fighting that battle if, God willing, they are successful and one day free of the Assad regime, they will have to basically build a government from scratch. They will have to restrain any undesirable tendencies of those experiencing certain freedoms for the first time.

In the post where I showed off the many American Moseses, a friend mentioned that America could have chosen one of its own historical personalities instead of Moses since God provides for everyone. She stated that we didn't have to borrow from another culture.  Yet I think for some - starting with the folks on the Mayflower - they were inspired by what they read back then. Just as we may get inspiration today from scientists, artists, musicians, poets and maybe even TV personalities and sports figures, they apparently took their inspiration from the Bible.  Especially the Old Testament.

One lesson I took from this is that while the early settlers and former slaves realized they needed to "reenslave" themselves and drew inspiration from Moses, they didn't adopt Mosaic law completely.  Some aspects were relevant. No need to murder and steal and commit adultery and lie and covet.  It's always good to honor God and parents.  But as far as I know they didn't find it necessary to become Jews and adopt the no-pork-or-shrimp rule or circumcise every male child or avoid mixing fabrics and such things. They saw the Mosaic Law as good and a principle from which they could learn.  People need some guidelines in order to enjoy their freedoms.  At the same time, they realized the Mosaic Law was for the children of Israel. They were OK with adopting the spirit of Mosaic Law without binding all Americans to every little law God deemed necessary for the Jewish people.

I think this is important because society today is not the same as it was then. Sure we are humans and have human traits that have passed through time. But things do change. We have to deal with regulating vehicles on busy streets which was not an issue when most people walked.  And they had to deal with diseases such as leprosy in tougher ways than we do now that we can treat them with modern medicine.

It's a good lesson for me to realize principles are there, but they are not always applied to every generation the same way. Some things you can disregard and still honor God in how you deal with others.  Jesus gave me the impression it's really the way we treat God and others that matters the most. When you honor God and love others, you naturally will not murder, steal from, commit adultery against or lie to them.

What lessons can we learn from Moses today? What lessons might the Egyptians of 2011 - mostly Muslims and Christians who should have some fondness for Moses - learn from him to help their own country?