"Ordinary Muslim Man"

I've found a very fun meme that I wanted to share with you all during our unit on Islam. It's called the Ordinary Muslim Man - here are some examples:

(Here is the link, if you really want more)

I thought these were fun because they juxtapose extremist ideology (which often characterizes depictions of Muslims in the West) with the concerns of ordinary people, be they Muslim or Christian or Hindu. 

Unfortunately, many people from the West are only acquainted with the stereotypes of Muslims. However, over 1.5 billion people identify as Muslims, and they are as complex as people living anywhere else. A 2009 Gallup poll studied the opinions of Muslims living in many different countries, together representing about 90% of the total Muslim population. Some interesting patterns that emerged:

- In contrast to conservative American rhetoric, Muslims do not "hate our freedom": in fact, upwards of 80-90% of Muslims support the idea of free speech. A greater desire for free speech is also evidenced by the continuing protests against totalitarianism in the Arab world. 

- When asked whether a woman should be allowed to work at any job she is qualified for, over 90% of respondents answered that she should. Considering the history of sexual segregation in many Muslim countries, and the portrayal of Islamic cultures in Western media as sexually "backward," this is notable. I should add that this does vary by country: respondents from Iran and Egypt were more likely to answer the above question in the negative. However, during my travels to the United Arab Emirates, I met many ambitious female university students who were actively training for jobs. 

How has the Armstrong's book on the Prophet Muhammad changed your views on Muslims and Islam generally?

Article on Buddhism

An excellent article to close out our unit on Buddhism: Buddha Nature: 5 Tips in Tibetan Buddhism for Opening Your Heart and Mind, by Tsoknyi Rinpoche

An excerpt:

" We've become so used to the potency, frequency and variety of the thoughts and feelings that course through our awareness throughout the day that it's very easy to identify with and as them. This tendency is built into our very language. "I'm angry." "I'm afraid." "I'm happy. "I'm sad." 

We can bring the same kind of attention we brought to our bodies to our thoughts and feelings -- gently noticing them as they arise, abide for a moment and, somewhat to our surprise perhaps, disappear. In so doing, we gently begin to recognize that our thoughts and feelings are only aspects of experience and not the totality. Our identities may be may be influenced by mental and emotional patterns in the subtle body, but we are not those patterns"

Is Religion Relevant?

Recently, a friend of mine (a major in the hard sciences) told me that he thought religion was irrelevant. I laughed a little - of all the things that one can say about religion, good and bad, I didn't think "irrelevant" was...well, a relevant adjective.

Of course, he knew perfectly well what a force religion was in politics, current events, and international relations. But he didn't see why it was relevant in people's lives. After all, science was offering numerous empirical facts on issues that were once the provenance of religion. How could people believe that God had raised someone from the dead? Or spoke the words of a holy book to a man in a cave?

So I said, "Let's undertake a short primer in Buddhism."

This friend has been going through some hard times recently, so I told him to look at what had been giving him grief: longing for the past, for something that's gone and can't return - and maybe shouldn't return. Examine this longing, and at its root you'll find craving and thoughtless desire, which is the ultimate obstacle in Buddhism. Consider this desire you have thoughtfully, and you'll be able to cast it aside. (And, I added, I don't mean to preach to you because I'm no better - where you're stuck in the past, all my focus is on the future. This is no healthier, because the future is just as intangible as the past, and even more subject to cravings and impositions).

He thought about this for a long time. But, he replied, in respect to our discussion, this is just common sense, this isn't religion.

I didn't have an answer for him then, but I've thought of one now. If we posit that religions are characterized by their reliance on faith, and that this reliance makes them irrelevant, let's consider Buddhism. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to achieve the state of nirvana, having moved past all attachments and into a state of bliss. But the Buddha also avoided discussing nirvana, and told his disciples that they would understand the terrain when they arrived there. Doesn't it take faith to think that you can even achieve such a state?

What do people think about the relevance, or irrelevance, of religion on people's personal lives? What aspects of religion are relevant in a beneficial way, and which in a negative way?

Jesus and Irreverent Religious Humor

Seeing as you're all immersed in the first chapter of Crossan's Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, I thought I would kick off the unit with this:

This image exemplifies the wider contemporary phenomenon of irreverent humor in regards to religion. Another example is the film Dogma. I'm sure you can think of numerous other examples without my help.

What do people think of this? Is this belittling religion, which is at least in part humanity's attempt to connect with some higher good? Or does it make the (often frightening) phenomenon of religious experience less intimidating? Is there a right way and a wrong way to use irreverent humor? (Please answer this on your blogs, not in the comments section of this post). 

A Note About Comments

Just a note: due to the large number of blogs, I will only be reviewing comments on blog posts for week that has just passed. So for future reference, if you comment on someone's blog post from a previous week, please also post that comment on your own blog.

A reminder: blogging weeks start on Sunday and end on Saturday.

Have fun!

Luke Skywalker and the Gita

Here is a fun link to an  interview/video by Joshua Seftel and Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, entitled "What do Luke Skywalker, Neo, and the Karate Kid Know About the Bhagavad Gita?"

The experiences of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita are paralleled elsewhere - even in such movies as The Matrix and Star Wars (Jess Gamari made a connection between the Gita and The Matrix in her blog post a couple weeks ago). This shouldn't be particularly surprising; after all, the Bhagavad Gita is a part of the larger Mahabharata, which is the epic story central to Hindu cultures.

A particularly striking quote: Amitav Koul describes how his Hindu father, who rarely talked about religion, passionately stated after watching Star Wars, "If you want to know what it means to be Hindu, just think of Obi-Wan and the Force."

Is there a book or film that has taught you a spiritual/religious truth? Can you think of a popular, contemporary story that neatly and powerfully expresses the ideas of a world religion? (this is a great idea for a blog post!)

Fun Quiz and Reminder

Hello all! I hope your weekend is going well. I just wanted to remind all of you that for the purposes of grading, the deadline for weekly blogging in midnight on Saturday. You should all make at least one post on your blog, and make at least one comment on someone else's blog.

If you've already done your homework and you just can't wait until Tuesday for more world religions, here's a fun quiz where you can test your knowledge of the Hindu deities, and learn more about Hindu iconography and religion: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/28/hindu-deities-gods-goddesses-quiz_n_1229157.html?ref=religion#quiz_2170

Status of Women Around the Time of the Gita

Several people said that they were curious about verse 1:41 from the Gita, which is concerned with women becoming corrupt and society sliding in chaos. I did a little digging to find out more about the status of women around the time of the Mahabharata (roughly 1000 BCE) and the time the Gita itself was written (much later, perhaps 200 BCE). Here's what I found:

"The Aryan incursion into India about 1500 BCE, succeeded in imposing a patriarchal order and predominantly male pantheon on the formerly matriarchal [matricentrist?] society of the Indus valley. Surprisingly, this period of upheaval, the spirit of which is captured in the figure of the warrior god Indra, was one in which the position of women was comparatively good. Economically, women made valuable contributions, participating in agricultural work, making clothes, baskets, and arrows. In the religious sphere, too, women had a fair degree of equal opportunity. Girls, like boys, were initiated at puberty, after which they could study the sacred texts, the Vedas, which harked back to the period of conquest in the Punjab of northwestern India. Not only did initiated women receive a religious education, but they were able to share in Vedic rituals with their husbands, and unmarried women could also offer sacrifices. However, this relatively privileged status applied only to women belonging to the higher castes. [...] Women could also become poets, scholars, and teachers. [...]  

"In the period from 1000 to 500 BCE, the Aryan political expansion was complete and included the Ganges as well as the Indus valleys. As a significant segment of the native Dravidian population had become sudra [the laborer caste, one of the lowest social positions in Indian society], and as a large pool of cheap or unpaid labor became readily available, women's work became less valued. Women no longer participated in agriculture, a mainstay of the economy, but were restricted to home and cottage industries. In addition, intermarriage and/or intermixture of Aryan men with non-Aryan women lowered the status of women generally. During this same period, Brahmanic texts became increasingly esoteric, and ritual and sacrifice grew so complicated that a longer course of study was required. Fewer women could devote themselves to this study. Increasingly, girls' initiations were abandoned and women's participation in sacrifices became a formality."Susan Murcott, First Buddhist Women. 

I hope you all find this illuminating!

Introduction

Hello all! My name is Alexandra Nichipor, and as you already know, I'm your TA. I am a senior with majors in Philosophy and Sociology, and a minor in Women's Studies. After graduation, I plan to become an instructor in English at Hebei University in Baoding, China. After that, I will (hopefully) be working on a master's degree in Religious Studies.

My focus area is the study of women, gender, and sexuality in world religions. Though religion is often used as an excuse for persistent gender inequality, it is not accurate to simply say that religion oppresses women - after all, numerous women have risen to positions of power through the influence of religion, and many millions more find solace and inspiration in their personal religious practice. Nor is religion wholly anti-sex, or inherently homophobic. Indeed, given the wide variety of religious traditions and the complex interactions between individuals, societies, and the idea of a higher power(s), it's difficult to say anything at all about religion in the abstract.

About the name of my blog: it's a pun on 'bodhisattva,' a Buddhist term used for a person dedicated to the enlightenment of others (though that's a very simplistic definition. For more, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva). I'm pretty far from being a true bodhisattva, but I hope to assist you all in your learning experience.