Hello! I am posting a reflection paper I wrote for the class, "Andalusia," where the Professor asked us, in short, why is this important? WHy are we bothering to study Andalusia and religions in this way? so I hope you enjoy...
Why bother studying Andalusia? Why put forth all this energy and expense towards studying a specific time and place that supposedly is so far away from the current time and place in which we live (farther physically for some than for others, as this is a distance-learning course!)? My question in response is, “how can you not??” How can you not study the inter-relations between Islam, Judaism and Christianity when that is what is true?? The next question for me, then, is, “Why bother studying Christianity, Islam and Judaism as separate and distinct religions?” Why bother studying them without any analysis on contemporary culture and how religion and imperialism have worked together to lift up and push down certain bodies and peoples?
One of the things that struck me in learning about the formation of the early Christian Church was how much the Bishops and Councils tried to ignore Judaism. Actually, much of Christian identity was negative, in that the early Church leaders were defining Christianity by how it was not like Judaism. Judaism was a nuisance to the early Christians who wanted to show the inerrant and complete message of Christianity. The fact that Christianity came from Judaism, and that Jesus was a Jew, just got in the way.
I find this quest for purity related to how we teach religions. If we teach Judaism, Christianity and Islam as separate and distinct, then it is much easier to caste one (or two) as fallible and the other as perfect. What is at work in leaving out knowledge of the common grounds from which the three Abrahamic traditions were born?
Why bother studying Andalusia? Because my traditions depend on it. One of the questions I receive (and that I wrestle with myself) is how Unitarian Universalism can provide depth and meaning in worship if it tries to be everything for everyone. One of my realizations in the course is that all identities, if taken to their depths, come to a place of profound interrelation with all. This course and Unitarian Universalism isn’t about trying to be everything or even consider everything, but loving what you know so much that the many places from which you come is made visible and sacred. This is as true for my United Methodist identity as it is for my UU identity. UUism has as much potential to replicate systems of misunderstanding and purity as does United Methodism or Catholicism or Buddhism for that matter. Said another way, United Methodism has as much potential as UUism to use it’s own complex and interwoven history as a place to further compassion and multireligiosity in the world.
Why bother studying Andalusia? Because my God depends on it. During the Jewish High Holy Days, I was faced with the realization that I love Adonai and pray to Adonai as a non Jew. How does this work? Is this ok? I grew up in a liberal United Methodist Church that sings/ prays/ worships to a God that seemed identical to the loving and intimate Jewish God prayed to at Chochmat Halev. And yet, as a Christian, I have not felt the ways in which Jews are discriminated against institutionally and culturally. (As a person who holds Christian privilege, I often claim Christian even though I don’t actually believe Jesus was divine (any more than the rest of us are)). I have realized that if I want to pray to a God that is God to Muslims and Jews as well as Christians, and that embraces all peoples no matter their faith, then I must reflect this God in my life. Right now I am doing this by learning about the deep ways Judaism, Christianity and Islam have impacted and relate with one another, and by hopefully spreading religious tolerance by sharing this knowledge with my family and friends.
Why bother? Because I depend on it. I just participated in a ½ day workshop with Paul Kivel (a bay-area educator, activist and author) on Christian Hegemony. I was struck by the extent to which how I relate with God, others and myself is influenced by Christian/ imperialist mode of being and thinking. After connecting Christian hegemony with different “isms” like racism, heterosexism, anti-Semitism, capitalism, imperialism, anti-arab, environmental destruction, able-ism, Islamophobia, and sexism, we drew up some of the foundational values that come from a Christianity defined by imperialism. I was amazed at how infused many of these values are in my own personal identity. Even as I tried to “disarm” some values, I was using other harmful values in the process.
Some of these values are:
• Binary systems (something or someone is either good or bad; sinner or saved, God or the Devil. This confines all decisions to be about a moral judgment. It’s hard to hold complexity and hard not to take sides.
• Everything caste in a hierarchy
• Righteous Superiority
• One Truth (that excludes all other “small t” truths.
• Constant threat (everything is under siege from the “Other side”
• Individualism (the most important thing is one’s personal relationship with God. So, one’s personal integrity is most important, and when one has messed up or hurt someone, the most common response is defensiveness (turning the conversation to be about “me” and not about the impact or issue).
• Love (this one is hard for me, but it asks the hard question of how true is universal love? Who is allowed to “fall out” of the Caring Community? To whom does God’s love really include?)
• Missionaries (debunking the “good intentions” idea. The cross has always come with the sword. This has led to incredible increases in poverty and destruction the world over.)
• Dominion over nature
• Linear and binary relationship with time. )That we are progressing as a species. This very much related to feeling we are “on God’s side” or following some divine plan.)
• Apocalyptic
• Jesus as Savior (disempowering to communities if you can’t do it yourself but need some divine intervention to make things better).
• Suffering leads to Redemption (psychological war preparation- suffering as good)
• Don’t compromise (compromising is cooperating with evil. This normalizes struggle)
• Anti-Jewish
• Victimization as the “Chosen People” (again, “we” are always under siege)
• Judgment and Salvation (in the short term, how we (I) internalize judgment and judge others. I build up myself by judging others.)
• Duty to God is most important (and to all higher on the hierarchy)
• Obedience and Submission (one example was CA’s attempt to pass legislation to fund an education campaign about the harms of spanking, which failed.)
• Purity (of soul, thoughts, actions, etc.)
• Everything has cosmic consequences (every decision not just about here and now but has real ultimate consequences)
• Capitalism (the terms individualism actually was invented in the 17th C. with the creation of capitalism. It was used by Adam Smith in the phrase, “economic individualism.” This has led to an atomizing and severing of bonds between people.)
This list is incomplete and rather abbreviated. How this relates to this class and my life is realizing how much fear informs how I relate with myself and others. I think of how the Muslim rulers of Al Andalus didn’t “need” to punish non-Muslims because they didn’t feel threatened by them. Their identity wasn’t based on proving the “Other” as wrong, or even having an “Other” to begin with. When I relate with myself from a place of belief and love (here we are with the binaries again!), over fear, then my personal inadequacies and the inadequacies of my relations aren’t important, as our imperfections as well as our strengths are what connects us.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Follow up with American Religious History professor
I wanted to follow up (see previous blog) with the conversation I had with my professor of "American Religious History" who has hardly included Judaism and has completely excluded Islam from our class that has a focus on education to foster ecumenical dialogue and understanding. I write this out of a sincere desire to know if what he said was true, as it completely baffles me.
At first he responded to my question around the short time we spent on Judaism by saying that Judaism really isn't big in the picture of U.S. religious history. That we are an overwhelmingly protestant country, religiously and culturally, and Judaism just isn't a big part in our history. Ok, I can kind-of understand that. But I grew up protestant! Of course I can understand a history that mirrors my own personal identity. Is Judaism's small impact on U.S. religious history really true?
When I asked about Islam, the professor defended himself by saying that this isn't a world religion's class and then what about Buddhism and Hinduism and Indigenous religions? I agreed that you have to make choices in creating a class and that there is power in limiting one's scope so one can go deeper. However, Islam, Christianity and Judaism are particularly relevant to one another as Abrahamic religions, religions "of the book." I explained where my question was coming from- from learning about Andalusia (which was very significant in the time and region when explorers were making their way to the "New World.") Islam and Christianity and Judaism were very much in relation with one another, so isn't it possible Islam affected the Catholicism and even the Protestantism that came over to the Colonies? His answer: no. As simple as that- Islam did not affect Catholicism or Protestantism when they founded and spread in the "New World."
Somehow I can't quite believe this. I think of how African American slaves found each other and were able to understand one another because of the exact tune and rhythm of the Islamic prayers they grew up. And how African Americans formed whole denominations and cultures within Protestantism. I also wonder how Islam influenced Catholicism and Protestantism before the start of slavery, and outside of the slave trade. Any thoughts?
At first he responded to my question around the short time we spent on Judaism by saying that Judaism really isn't big in the picture of U.S. religious history. That we are an overwhelmingly protestant country, religiously and culturally, and Judaism just isn't a big part in our history. Ok, I can kind-of understand that. But I grew up protestant! Of course I can understand a history that mirrors my own personal identity. Is Judaism's small impact on U.S. religious history really true?
When I asked about Islam, the professor defended himself by saying that this isn't a world religion's class and then what about Buddhism and Hinduism and Indigenous religions? I agreed that you have to make choices in creating a class and that there is power in limiting one's scope so one can go deeper. However, Islam, Christianity and Judaism are particularly relevant to one another as Abrahamic religions, religions "of the book." I explained where my question was coming from- from learning about Andalusia (which was very significant in the time and region when explorers were making their way to the "New World.") Islam and Christianity and Judaism were very much in relation with one another, so isn't it possible Islam affected the Catholicism and even the Protestantism that came over to the Colonies? His answer: no. As simple as that- Islam did not affect Catholicism or Protestantism when they founded and spread in the "New World."
Somehow I can't quite believe this. I think of how African American slaves found each other and were able to understand one another because of the exact tune and rhythm of the Islamic prayers they grew up. And how African Americans formed whole denominations and cultures within Protestantism. I also wonder how Islam influenced Catholicism and Protestantism before the start of slavery, and outside of the slave trade. Any thoughts?
no comparison!
la ilaha ill’allah
Nothing exists outside of the One that is the source of all existence.
This foundational belief of Islam is powerful for me. It deeply challenges me to consider myself with radical love, as no part of me is outside of the Oneness of Life. It also helps me to recognize the ways in which racism, classism and all oppressions are advanced- that certain peoples and ways of being have been cast as “other,” as outside the Oneness who’s very definition depends on total inclusion.
It is hard to get away from the Christian way of thinking that necessitates one dominant and superior religion. My professor connected this with how we as a species have subscribed to the idea that human beings must dominate the earth. For Christians and cultural Christians, we have been taught (directly or indirectly through informal culture and ways of thinking) that it is our religious duty to defeat the chaos and the diversity that is inherent in earth’s creation. You can continue this perspective of domination down the line of oppressions- one superior race, superior way of knowing, so on and so forth.
What is tempting for me as a religious liberal is to put any form of orthodoxy outside the Oneness of all Existence. But am I not just falling prey to the “gifts” of Christian Supremacy of needing something to exclude and extinguish in order to expand self worth and “pure” identity? There is a saying, “There are as many ways to God as there are people and beings on this earth.” All are part of me, as I am part of the Oneness that excludes nothing.
How much do I compare myself to others in order to feel good about myself? I do this way more than I like to admit. In letting go of comparison (which I can do only for brief moments of time), I fall into a feeling of trust and union with God. There is a resilience to judgment and a love that is new that holds me and fills me.
When I remember this deep and eternal union, my judgments against myself and my friends lose power. It’s not that I don’t get angry or hurt by others and myself, but I am able to respond more quickly with compassion and openness. In connection, difference can be shared.
Nothing exists outside of the One that is the source of all existence.
This foundational belief of Islam is powerful for me. It deeply challenges me to consider myself with radical love, as no part of me is outside of the Oneness of Life. It also helps me to recognize the ways in which racism, classism and all oppressions are advanced- that certain peoples and ways of being have been cast as “other,” as outside the Oneness who’s very definition depends on total inclusion.
It is hard to get away from the Christian way of thinking that necessitates one dominant and superior religion. My professor connected this with how we as a species have subscribed to the idea that human beings must dominate the earth. For Christians and cultural Christians, we have been taught (directly or indirectly through informal culture and ways of thinking) that it is our religious duty to defeat the chaos and the diversity that is inherent in earth’s creation. You can continue this perspective of domination down the line of oppressions- one superior race, superior way of knowing, so on and so forth.
What is tempting for me as a religious liberal is to put any form of orthodoxy outside the Oneness of all Existence. But am I not just falling prey to the “gifts” of Christian Supremacy of needing something to exclude and extinguish in order to expand self worth and “pure” identity? There is a saying, “There are as many ways to God as there are people and beings on this earth.” All are part of me, as I am part of the Oneness that excludes nothing.
How much do I compare myself to others in order to feel good about myself? I do this way more than I like to admit. In letting go of comparison (which I can do only for brief moments of time), I fall into a feeling of trust and union with God. There is a resilience to judgment and a love that is new that holds me and fills me.
When I remember this deep and eternal union, my judgments against myself and my friends lose power. It’s not that I don’t get angry or hurt by others and myself, but I am able to respond more quickly with compassion and openness. In connection, difference can be shared.
Monday, November 3, 2008
The Looking Glass
Using an image from one of my classmates, two-way reflection glasses tell, in a way, the kind of way Western culture has been learning about Africa and Afro-culture. Two-way reflection glasses are an interrogation tool used in prisons and other places where prisoners are held. The observer is kept in the dark while the observed can only see him/herself back again, as the glass on that side acts as a mirror. Possibility for any kind of relationship is obliterated.
I have been thinking about relationship and knowledge a lot lately. In my American Religious History class, which has a primary purpose to foster ecumenical dialogue through education, Islam has NOT been mentioned at all (and looking at the syllabus, I doubt it will…but don’t worry, I’ll change that ☺). Judaism got a whole 90 minutes. Of course, there is a lot to cover in just one semester. But it is important to look at how we choose what to include and exclude.
In learning about how Western Anthropology has completely ignored Islam’s long-standing presence and impact in Africa (before and beyond the neatly bound dates and places Islam is said to have entered and existed in Africa), I am realizing how important Islam and Africa are to our history- MY history, everyone’s history. Whether you grew up a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Pagan, Hindu, Buddhist, Earth-centered, Agnostic, WHATEVER, whether you and your people were colonized by Christianity, or whether you have long Christian roots, Islam is part of your history.
There was so much interaction and cultural sharing in the time of Al-Andalus (and also since then and before then), it is impossible to distinguish any single origin for any group. This doesn’t mean we say that and go on with how we have been teaching history. I want to KNOW my Islamic influences! My Jewish influences, etc. etc.
For example, Islam has a very multi-sensory practice of literacy. (By the way, pages (which then opened space for the evolution of books) were actually invented by Muslims, if I remember correctly, and yet Africa is often discounted because of their supposed history as an “illiterate” continent.)
Ok, back to Islamic literacy. Literacy was not evaluated by whether or not an individual could read symbols on a page. No, Islam’s literacy was much more holistic than that. It didn’t just stop at the eye. It was a whole body thing, and a community thing. Communities would grow in knowledge through the way people learned to read. Because there weren’t enough books and pages for people, literature/ prayers/ poems, etc were often called/ read/ sung out loud and people would repeat it. Reading became a collective act for unifying in sound, rhythm, pitch, and meaning taken part by a community.
This was so pervasive that when African slaves were brought over to the Americas, slaves often found others from similar tribes or regions because of the exact way they would pray- the exact tone and rhythm of their spoken words. This influenced the religious expression of the slaves, and this is an important part for any course dealing with “American Religious History.” End point. ☺
In my Unitarian Universalist History class, we are learning about the extensive dialogues and debates people undertook in the, oh gosh, 16th C.?? Anyway, the time of the Reformation and huge religious fervor in Europe and in the U.S. As a U.S. citizen, I was amazed at how committed people were to dialogue even when the dialogue appears (to me, at least) to be incredibly brutal and harsh. People went to great pains to communicate with people they completely disagreed with! (U.S. culture doesn’t appreciate this openness to dialogue, I think, as much as Europe does. We get offended too easily, equating our own personal identity with what we think and what words we say).
Anyway, one particular relationship we were reading about was between a Jew and an Arian Christian. What I love about their story is their commitment to relationship. In the Arian’s criticizing of the Jew’s religion, he was also exposing how much he knew about Judaism (and vise versa). Even in the harsh disagreements, there was a real respect and tolerance for difference that I sorely long for today.
But today, we more often get a two-way looking glass instead of table and tea and conversation, and ignorance founds our relationships (or lack there of). This leads, I think to a culture that idealizes and demonizes things/ people/ cultures. I think idealization and demonization are the same thing, when one considers their impact in the world. They both put someone or culture on a pedestal (the pedestal could be a throne or a burning stake) and the person/ culture is no longer fully human. Once this happens, once there is no access to the imperfections, struggles, pains and joys that bond us on a deep and spiritual level, the possibility for impact is lost, or at least diminished. Once impact is lost, how can we ground our work for justice? How can we truly fight for justice and liberation when we no longer feel connected to the people we are fighting for (and ourselves)?
I have been thinking about relationship and knowledge a lot lately. In my American Religious History class, which has a primary purpose to foster ecumenical dialogue through education, Islam has NOT been mentioned at all (and looking at the syllabus, I doubt it will…but don’t worry, I’ll change that ☺). Judaism got a whole 90 minutes. Of course, there is a lot to cover in just one semester. But it is important to look at how we choose what to include and exclude.
In learning about how Western Anthropology has completely ignored Islam’s long-standing presence and impact in Africa (before and beyond the neatly bound dates and places Islam is said to have entered and existed in Africa), I am realizing how important Islam and Africa are to our history- MY history, everyone’s history. Whether you grew up a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Pagan, Hindu, Buddhist, Earth-centered, Agnostic, WHATEVER, whether you and your people were colonized by Christianity, or whether you have long Christian roots, Islam is part of your history.
There was so much interaction and cultural sharing in the time of Al-Andalus (and also since then and before then), it is impossible to distinguish any single origin for any group. This doesn’t mean we say that and go on with how we have been teaching history. I want to KNOW my Islamic influences! My Jewish influences, etc. etc.
For example, Islam has a very multi-sensory practice of literacy. (By the way, pages (which then opened space for the evolution of books) were actually invented by Muslims, if I remember correctly, and yet Africa is often discounted because of their supposed history as an “illiterate” continent.)
Ok, back to Islamic literacy. Literacy was not evaluated by whether or not an individual could read symbols on a page. No, Islam’s literacy was much more holistic than that. It didn’t just stop at the eye. It was a whole body thing, and a community thing. Communities would grow in knowledge through the way people learned to read. Because there weren’t enough books and pages for people, literature/ prayers/ poems, etc were often called/ read/ sung out loud and people would repeat it. Reading became a collective act for unifying in sound, rhythm, pitch, and meaning taken part by a community.
This was so pervasive that when African slaves were brought over to the Americas, slaves often found others from similar tribes or regions because of the exact way they would pray- the exact tone and rhythm of their spoken words. This influenced the religious expression of the slaves, and this is an important part for any course dealing with “American Religious History.” End point. ☺
In my Unitarian Universalist History class, we are learning about the extensive dialogues and debates people undertook in the, oh gosh, 16th C.?? Anyway, the time of the Reformation and huge religious fervor in Europe and in the U.S. As a U.S. citizen, I was amazed at how committed people were to dialogue even when the dialogue appears (to me, at least) to be incredibly brutal and harsh. People went to great pains to communicate with people they completely disagreed with! (U.S. culture doesn’t appreciate this openness to dialogue, I think, as much as Europe does. We get offended too easily, equating our own personal identity with what we think and what words we say).
Anyway, one particular relationship we were reading about was between a Jew and an Arian Christian. What I love about their story is their commitment to relationship. In the Arian’s criticizing of the Jew’s religion, he was also exposing how much he knew about Judaism (and vise versa). Even in the harsh disagreements, there was a real respect and tolerance for difference that I sorely long for today.
But today, we more often get a two-way looking glass instead of table and tea and conversation, and ignorance founds our relationships (or lack there of). This leads, I think to a culture that idealizes and demonizes things/ people/ cultures. I think idealization and demonization are the same thing, when one considers their impact in the world. They both put someone or culture on a pedestal (the pedestal could be a throne or a burning stake) and the person/ culture is no longer fully human. Once this happens, once there is no access to the imperfections, struggles, pains and joys that bond us on a deep and spiritual level, the possibility for impact is lost, or at least diminished. Once impact is lost, how can we ground our work for justice? How can we truly fight for justice and liberation when we no longer feel connected to the people we are fighting for (and ourselves)?
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