Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 12:11:07 -0800
Subject: Religion


I think it is good to acknowledge that religion (*ALL* religion) can 
*both* become a tool of empire as well as a powerful and means to 
fight empire. All religions have been complicit with empire, and all 
religions have provided resistance to empire. I think both claims of 
complete innocence or complete guilt made about or by *any* religion 
are simply naive.

There are *many* good books out now on religion and postcolonialism. 
One good one is...
"Postcolonialism, Feminism, & Religious Discourse" ed. by Laura 
Donaldson, and Kwok Pui-lan.

Steve Black
Vancouver, Canada

>>i have never seen posting of questions like did moses talk to god, 
>>do the hindus worship the cow, did jesus die on this list, and 
>>never Judais or Kabbala  all your questions and answers come always 
>>to Islam and as open as some of you you think are i find that 
>>bigotry stereotypical q&a reign here. Islam has been an enemy to 
>>many since before the birth of Muhammed.
>>
>>why don't we ask the question of : what is the use of post-colonialism?
>>what did all these years of post-colonialism readings do the world?
>>why post-colonialists are in a dead end?
>>for me post-colonialism is dead, out-fashioned , and its preachers 
>>are as old as dirt.
>>thanks
>>
>>rom: "Kamran D. Rastegar" <kdr7-AT-columbia.edu>
>>Reply-To: postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
>>To: postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
>>Subject: Re: salon interview & rushdie & chomsky
>>Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 13:52:43 -0500 (EST)
>>
>>
>>
>>>  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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-- 
Steve Black
Vancouver School of Theology
Vancouver, BC
---

If you get confused, listen to the music play...
-Robert Hunter From "Franklin's Tower"


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