I have been sent a review copy of peace campaigner Milan Rai’s book 7/7 The London Bombings, Islam and the War (send me review copies and I will look at them en blog!),
I haven’t quite made my mind up, I tend to be a critical reviewer, I think this is what readers want and I tend to be hard and critical because I write myself…my published stuff is a bit less dyslexic than this blog (hopefully.
The main point of the book seems to be that the Iraq war influenced the bombers, this seems a small claim, we all know this and we all except Blair say this.
Some of the comments on religion are interesting though, I was provoked by this passage on the violent intentions of Jesus, there is also some stuff on Christianity as an imperial Roman religion, a point also covered in Negri and Hardt’s Multititude.
‘Before proceeding to discuss Islam and violence, let us take a closer look at Christianity and violence. We have already seen Jesus’ firm stance on the continuing validity of Jewish law. As is widely known, the death penalty is prescribed for adultery (Leviticus 20:11); for male homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13); for witchcraft and for being a medium (Leviticus 20:27); for friends and family who try to entice you into worshipping another god (Deuteronomy 13:6-10); for anyone who worshipps another god, or the sun, or any heavenly body (Deuteronomy 17:2-7); and for anyone who disobeys a priest (Deuteronomy 17:2-7). Many more laws could be cited here which to modern eyes are appalling.’
(Rai 2006: 62-63)
Good also on the basics of ‘Barelwi’ the sufi/sunni tradition that most Muslim’s in Britain practice, the following book
Ron Geaves (2000) The Sufis of Britain, Cardiff: Cardiff Academic Press, looks worth a read.
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2 comments:
There is no doubt that the teachings of the NT are in favour of a more, ah, progressive faith than those of the OT. But does Jesus' respect for the old traditions amount to a clear definition of "Thus far and no further"?
While modern culture seeks new ideas and radical solutions, for many ancient cultures and most religious traditions, to be heard and respected, you would appeal to reasserting prior values. For a rabbi with a following, it was essential that he at least give a nod to conservatism. That's not to say he didn't believe in it, just that we cannot tell where we're supposed to draw the line between Jesus as a product of his time and Jesus as a protester.
In any case, it's an all or nothing question. Either you persecute homosexuals, eat no proscribed food, and keep the Sabbath holy, or you turn the other cheek and follow Jesus' lead.
well despite my theological problems with judeo-christian-islam, Jesus had his moments and while I am not uncritical there is much of beauty in Sufi islam, Jubilee is a handy Jewish tradition as well, will write on Bakhtin the Russian literary theorist who appreciated the best side of Jesus at some point.
More gay Buddhist stuff tommorrow, promise!
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