Right, but Bill was relating how he feels. We're not as comfortable with Moslems as we are with other Christians, even those Christians with whom we share little in common (in some cases, there are groups, like Ismailis, with whom we might have more in common than we would with other Christians, imo, ironically).
But more to the point politically speaking, Moslems ask themselves the same questions. They've taken different approaches in different countries -- we're not as a group aware of the tremendous diversity of the "Islamic world". Many of these countries ask questions relating to what it means to be Arab as opposed to Islamic, for instance (Iran is not an Arab country, for instance; neither is India, Pakistan, or Indonesia, and Morocco and Algeria have substantial Berber populations). Also many "Moslem" countries have historically had large non-Moslem minorities, although the size of those minorities have dwindled in the past century. Baghdad used to be around 20% Jewish, believe it or not. Egypt is still around 10% Christian, and while the al-Assads, both late father and son and current president, are both, technically speaking Moslem, they are secularist in their politics (as is Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak and Jordan [can't remember the new king's name]), but the al-Assads come from a despised minority known as the Alawites, considered by most Moslems not even to be real Moslems (sound familiar?). "al-Assad" isn't even the real family name. That's Arabic for "the lion" and is *not* an Alawite name; they'd never dare take on such a "presumptuous" name. It's an accident of history that, with the help of the French, one of their number came to be in charge of Syria. Lebanon's the best question. There are, last time I looked, 12 or 13 "official" religious groups, "official" in this sense meaning they have a right to denominational representation in running the country. Lebanon is "denominationalist" in that its constitution guarantees a certain power-sharing split between the three major groups, and the others get lumped in with one of the major groups. The only problem is that the group that used to be the smallest (the Shi'ites) are now the largest and vice versa (Marionite Christians), and that's what led to the civil war back in the Reagan era. "John W. Redelfs" wrote: > At 10:05 PM 10/3/02 -0400 Grampa Bill favored us with: > >Grampa Bill comments: > > I do. But in all candor, I must admit that I would be very uncomfortable if I >heard a Muslim say, " I am a Moslem first, and then an American." > > Islam is a false religion. Ours is true. It makes all the difference. --JWR > > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// > /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > -- Marc A. Schindler Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." --Michelangelo Buonarroti Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author�s employer, nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^^=============================================================== This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^^===============================================================
