A rather interesting link I found through a friend.
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/08/allahu-akbar-michael-bloomberg-tells-ramadan-audience-we-are-all-muslims/
Obviously such a controversial comment will lead to a lively discussion. I will save the entire Mosque controversy for another time. But what I find interesting is the assumption by Bloomberg that all religions are the same. He does not mean he is a Muslim in that he prays five times a day and fasts during Ramadan. He is implying that all religions lead to a generalized sense of peace and acceptance. Nice thoughts. But is he on solid ground.
Now I get to be a troublemaker. All religions are not the same. And to imply such is an insult to those religions. It is intellectually dishonest to state that the monotheism of Islam is the same as the atheism in Buddhism. The Jehovah God in Judaism is quite different than the Adam-God advocated by Mormons. When we state that all religions are the same we rob them of the distinctive attributes they can offer to society and generally replace those attributes with our own values. We are in essence using religion to validate our own beliefs. Those of you with some sociological understanding will recognize some of Durkheim's argument about religion as a way to create culture cohesion in my assertion.
Bloomberg is not alone in pushing this notions that all religions are the same. But it is more emotional and political desire than cognitive wisdom that drives this idea. But we need to stop doing this. Let each religion speak for itself. Look at the good and the bad of each faith. Let us not merge all the faiths into some mushy pot of oatmeal. Many who would never tolerate such cultural assimilation as it concerns racial groups freely accept it as it concern religious beliefs. Those who belief want to keep their distinctions and it is an insult to try to take that away.
Of course if we accept the religious distinctiveness of Islam, Judaism, Christianity etc. then we have to recognize the possibility that some of these religions may be more violent than the others. Perhaps another aspect driving this need to merge all religions together is our PC need to avoid such unpleasant realities. We rather pretend that all religions produce the same level of functional and dysfunctional behaviors. But that is once again putting our head in the same for the sake of ideological purity. So it is honest to ask the question of which religions tend to produce the most violence. But I have stirred enough trouble for now. Only can cause so much trouble in a given blog. But maybe soon in future blog I will take an honest look at contrasting propensities for different religions to create violence.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Why are Christian Colleges so White?
Christianity is suppose to be a religion for everyone. But is it well documented that Sunday morning is one of the most segregated time of the week. If Christianity is suppose to serve everyone then why can not people come together when they worship?
That is a question that more than a few theologians and scholars have been wrestling with. But I have another question that many have not thought about. It is one thing if Christians of different races worship in different places. After all there are many ways Christian worship can be organized and clearly some of these differences are linked to race-based cultural variations. But why are Christian colleges more racially homogeneous than other colleges. Education is needed by people of all races. People who worship a God that is not a "respecter of person" should not segregate themselves when it comes to getting an education should they?
I do not believe that Christians tend to create racially homogeneous colleges because of racism. Rather this is a good example of how our society is racialized in such a way that we reproduce the racial separation that we have seen in the past. We do this by where we live, who we marry and where we go to school. Christians have some cultural barriers that make it worse, but in reality they often just reflect the larger racial values in our society.
This is actually a question that I have studied and now have a book out on the subject. It is called Neither Jew nor Gentile and it has been published by Oxford University Press. In that book I not only look at the dynamics that create this racial segregation but also suggest some possible solutions. (One of my complaints of social scientists is that we are good at documenting problems but lousy at finding innovative solutions). If this is something you are interested in then check out the book. Here is a link where you can find it.
That is a question that more than a few theologians and scholars have been wrestling with. But I have another question that many have not thought about. It is one thing if Christians of different races worship in different places. After all there are many ways Christian worship can be organized and clearly some of these differences are linked to race-based cultural variations. But why are Christian colleges more racially homogeneous than other colleges. Education is needed by people of all races. People who worship a God that is not a "respecter of person" should not segregate themselves when it comes to getting an education should they?
I do not believe that Christians tend to create racially homogeneous colleges because of racism. Rather this is a good example of how our society is racialized in such a way that we reproduce the racial separation that we have seen in the past. We do this by where we live, who we marry and where we go to school. Christians have some cultural barriers that make it worse, but in reality they often just reflect the larger racial values in our society.
This is actually a question that I have studied and now have a book out on the subject. It is called Neither Jew nor Gentile and it has been published by Oxford University Press. In that book I not only look at the dynamics that create this racial segregation but also suggest some possible solutions. (One of my complaints of social scientists is that we are good at documenting problems but lousy at finding innovative solutions). If this is something you are interested in then check out the book. Here is a link where you can find it.
Okay so this is a little bit of a shameless plug. Yeah trouble-maker tries to sell his stuff too. But hey it is my blog and you are getting what you paid for. I will try to make the next blog a little less commercial.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
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