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There was a movie a few years ago...
The Jewel of the Nile, the sequel to Romancing the Stone that celebrated the Sufi perspective in a Hollywood way.
I think nothing touches cultural consciousness in the West so much as movies and music, and fashion. That is a path for exposing the Western mind to a different kind of Islam, though that is only half the problem: the main thing is the Sufi interpretation becoming the most popular and dominant theme in the Islamic world.
The more attention is put on something, the more it is empowered to affect whole cultures and populations.
posted by
Ciel
on March 26, 2009 at 12:47 PM
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Since I spend some time each year in Turkey I become more and more interested in the history which is also a very bloody one. But Turkey is also the cradle of Sufism as promoted and 'invented' if you like by Mevlana Rumi in Konya. It is of course part of Islam and represents all that is good in that religion, tolerance above all which is in stark contrast to the so called fundamentalists' ravings. If the belief of the Sufis could be more promoted and wide spread, then perhaps there would be a solution to the problem. Question is: who is going to do it?
posted by
vogue
on March 26, 2009 at 1:09 AM
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Well written as always Naut
" we have not been able to deal with those who, without themselves subscribing to it as their own guiding principle, will exploit our tolerance. That statement refers to many groups within Western society, but in particular to Islam, which at its very core demands the believer’s intolerance towards those of other faiths, since they’re an abomination in the eyes of God." Be that as it may, I haven't noticed a lot of Islamic evangelism... imagine if Christianity had applied the same principles over the centuries. Arguably, there would be no Judeo-Christian 'West,' and anywhere the Romans went would still be worshipping the Roman gods.
posted by
mneme
on March 26, 2009 at 12:37 AM
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Excellent answers, Naut...
...and the dilemma, as you suggested, is how to be "harmless as doves, and wise as serpents" so to speak.
Of course, there's no easy answer...if any, in how to grapple with an avowed enemy of a religious, sectarian nature within our own borders, without also victimizing those who share the same faith, yet, don't sympathize with the radical element.
Unfortunately, extreme circumstances sometimes call for extreme measures, so that, in the end...if we want our civilization to survive as we've come to know and love it, somebody's feelings are going to have to get hurt.
And the PC police are just going to have to live with it!
posted by
metalrat
on March 24, 2009 at 7:48 AM
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I liked what Taps said! You are one to read because you know what you are talking about and I get educated every time! Shelly
posted by
sam444
on March 23, 2009 at 6:47 PM
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Well, I made it through, but by the end, my head was swimming. LOL
You do have answers for every question and comment on this subject don't you. That makes it interesting. I hate to read someone who spouts off and doesn't know of which they speak but think that they do. Of course there aren't any of those on blogit.
posted by
TAPS.
on March 22, 2009 at 7:08 PM
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Looking forward to the continuing. I do agree with you about the west
becoming so tolerant and politically correct that we have painted ourselves into a corner.I fear we will soon be unable to call ourselves a Christian people, I would like to go to Indonesia for eg and say to them they can't call themselves a Muslim nation. They would expel me if I was lucky.
posted by
Kabu
on March 22, 2009 at 7:05 PM
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