In the spirit of that Sabbath, I want to share a few things I learned at a Muslim/Mormon forum that I attended last night. Oh and by the way, here's my hair. Adam and I went on a walk at the beach yesterday so there's a windblown look for you. Today I parted it on the side I never part it on. I felt awkward all day, but it had a lot of umph.Anyway, last night a BYU professor (somebody Peterson) spoke to a packed house at our Stake Center, mostly full of Mormons, about a bunch of random stuff re: Muslims and Mormons. Many Muslim dignitaries attended, and I think the point of the whole thing was to build bridges and just enjoy inter-religious dialogue, but I did come away with some useful knowledge and some good general insight.
Three rules to keep in mind when you want to learn about another religion:
1. Talk to those who love and live their religion. We Mormons can appreciate this - don't read Under the Banner of Heaven if you want to know whether or not we practice polygamy.
2. Don't compare your best to our worst. IE: Don't compare Pres. Hinckley with Osama bin Laden.
3. Leave room for holy envy. This means - take note of something that another religion does that you admire and try to incorporate that into your life. For instance, I admired one Muslim lady's answer to a question asked about why they wear head scarves. She said Muslim women believe in being modest; they are supposed to wear the head scarf mostly during prayers, but she wears the head scarf constantly because she is in continual prayer. I really admire that about her and want to be more constantly committed to remembering God. (Plus, Mormons can relate to the modesty thing and the "holy covering" thing, but that's beside the point.)
Someone asked: Why hasn't the Muslim community spoken out loud and clear against Osama bin Laden and terrorists that claim to be true followers of their faith? A Muslim fellow answered that they have, many times, and the most coverage they got was a tiny corner article on page 17 of the Boston Globe. (He said you can read such speeches at cair.com and mpac.org.) Maybe this is an exaggeration, but I think this is an important reminder that we need to pay attention to the good that the Muslim majority do in our communities. They believe in our same God and have a sincere dedication to be "doers of the word, not hearers only." We have some great things in common and can work together to promote higher moral values in a slippery, secular world.
PS - Watching baseball STILL. Will it be SOX and ROX? Probably.
6 comments:
Great forum, good insight. The Islamic faith is wonderful to learn about. I am glad you went. A radio show host in LA is so worried about his children going up in LA that he plans to become Morslim. This is his hybrid between to the religions so that his daughter doesn't have a kid at 15 from a suburban tattooed punk rock boyfriend and take up drugs. It may work with more of these forums.
Muslims are good and so is your hair. Your hair is really cute. And as always I am always shocked to see how much red your hair has in it naturally. I need to see a side view. mkay? Oh. And I had a dream that you took the clippers to your head and then when you were done it turned out LONGER! ?
love the hair marth. and good post about the forum. that would have been interesting to be there. thanks for the insights.
Love this. I am committed to deeper respect for Muslims and maybe getting a scarf.
Also. The hair rocks and were I not a chicken who needs long hair to cover her bacne, I might copy you.
Dear Thoughtful Poster,
Nice insight.
I updated my blog just for you.
AND, I had a fifteen minute fantasy about cutting my hair like you, and that girl you wish you were. I'm still fantasizing. Once you chop, you can't stop.
1- You are so brave to cut your own hair -- and yet it always turns out cute!
2- Thanks for posting your insights from your forum. I am on board with you! I took a history of Islam class in college and loved learning that it is a great religion. It's sad that the media scues religions to how they want them to be seen -- controversial. Of course there are extremists, but like you said, if you have a question, go to the source.
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