Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 13:52:43 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: salon interview & rushdie & chomsky




> salil, you pose many interesting questions about islam.  why doesnt
> someone on the list respond to these questions??

with due respect to salil, whose posts i do often benefit from (despite
differences of opinion)... perhaps the reason no-one responds to these
questions is that no-one is interested in them. i am bored to tears by
having to engage in reactive discourse over whether or not muhammad
was to be essentially judged in one way or another for his marriages, etc.
the market for these debates is already cornered by the likes of jerry
falwell, no? if folks really feel these essentialist readings are
pressing issues for "understanding islam" (whatever we may define the
latter as) then a post-colonial listserv may not be the place for such
teatime speculation. if we all wanted to opine about the near-mythical
qualities of the various accounts of the prophets of various religions,
i doubt we'd have any time to talk about the other issues that may really
matter in coming to terms with cultural differences. from arjuna to buddha
to moses to even jesus, the legacy of different religious icons have
interpretive resonances that change over time. why not talk about that,
rather than - to quote falwell - if muhammad was a "pedophile" or a
"terrorist" (btw - does anyone read foucalut's work on sexuality? just as
a starting point?)... sigh... it's a cliche of the genre, but between
berry and salil's concerns over sightings of an object they call islam,
and the near-amusing ramblings of the one individual who writes under
various names in praise of self (much like god does, or is said to do), i
feel more and more at a loss for what to say here on this list...

sorry for the digression. i hope this leads the discussion somewhere.

-k


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