Chris: We have a new 7th Day Adventist TV channel here now. Some of it is innovative, like shows in which personal / psychological issues are discussed. There even is a fitness show featuring exercising .Otherwise, though, it is standard fare preaching and the television equivalent of Sunday School. Makes me wonder what a seriously innovative religion channel could be like. Sounds like the SDA school in Bozeman is trying to be innovative in its own way and that, certainly in principle, is all for the good. At the end of 2008, though, I gave a talk at U of O about the need in Comparative Religion classes, to discuss criticism of religion. Had an e-mail exchange with a HS teacher of the subject in which he was adamant about NOT criticizing any religions. Regrettably it sounds like the Adventist school takes a similar approach. The result of non-criticism is gross dishonesty up and down the line. Look at it this way. Every religion, certainly most of them, criticize other faiths WITHIN their core scriptures. The Bible does this with respect ( or disrespect ) toward various faiths, especially certain kinds of Paganism. The Qur'an criticizes Christianity and Judaism very stridently and condemns Pagans to death for their beliefs. Meanwhile there is an entire Tantric Buddhist text, the Kalachakra , the criticizes Islam unreservedly. And so forth for most other religions, not counting all sorts of extra-scriptural traditions. To ignore this is to ignore something basic about nearly every religion, how it defines itself in relationship to others. So, yes, seeking to foster good feelings between Pakistanis and Americans is a Big Plus. Its just that it would make a lot more sense if it wasn't, you might say, built on a foundation of sand. I like the objective. All for it. But some assumptions seem to be in play that are very questionable. Billy ======================================================== In a message dated 3/9/2010 7:15:00 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
Local story with a small ray of hope. Greg Mortensen (Three Cups of Tea) lives in Bozeman, so we get stories like this from time to time. ------ Fifteen-year-old Muhammad Saad Iqbal, a Muslim from Islamabad, Pakistan, is studying Christianity at Mount Ellis Academy in Bozeman. Before he came to Montana, he had no idea there were so many similarities between the Bible and the Koran. Moses is Musa. Joseph is Yoesuf. Noah is Nuh. "I never knew there were so many similar stories," Saad said. "It's pretty cool." But Saad isn't converting. Nor is anyone asking him to. He is among some 600 teenagers from 23 predominantly Muslim countries who come to live, study and volunteer in the United States each year through the Youth Exchange and Study Program, a high school exchange program authorized by Congress in the aftermath of Sept. 11. "This is really person-to-person diplomacy at the grassroots level," said Barbara Bancel, a consultant for the Center for Cultural Interchange, which is facilitating the YES program in Bozeman. "These are kids that are required to return to their home country and use their training and their experience there for the advantage of their country." _http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_a3fb5832-2b10-11df-b8c4-0 01cc4c03286.html_ (http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_a3fb5832-2b10-11df-b8c4-001cc4c03286.html) _______________________________________________ Centroids mailing list: [email protected] http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com Archives at http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/
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