Completed reading the book "The Spiral Staircase" by Ms Karen Armstrong. It is claimed that the book is continuation on earlier one that recalled the authors childhood and adoloscent experience in a traditional catholic convent. Her experience as a nun at a young age think of religion as constraining the physical as well as intellectual life enclosing one from real world and life. The experience turned the author from organised and ritualistic religion. She says that she not only turned out to be anti-religious but also anti-god in formal sence. Her further experience in life for about 34 years (i.e. she was 61 as of today) was always to study and speak and write about religion only. This intense study of all major religions resulted in her re-discovery of religion in terms experience of human compassion, whether there is god or not in the sense understood by monotheists. She is of the view that all religious teachings converge on the point of compassion and experiencing that in one self compassion towards others does not depend upon any favourable or un favourable response from others. She also deprecates and denounces all manifestations of fundamentalism. Still she tries to explain the 9/11 attacks on WTO and many subsequent terrorist acts as deep seated religions beliefs an action and reaction mode for which she sites the Karma theory. Thus the West and East are in course of confrontation thru historical karma. Not a satisfactory excuse. To the end of her book Karen now at the age of 60 is almost returning to religion as a mystical and personal experience and not basing on any god. This state almost matches with our new age guns, god men and god women presently occupying the religious space internationally. Not a good prospect.
19.3.2006
A little more on Karen Armstrong's thoughts in her "Spiral Staircase". (Pages 307 on) she mentions about the Fatwa against Salman Rushdie for authoring the novel titled "Satanic Verses". She further mentions that the book had a portrait of prophet that "many muslims found blashpemous." Riots in Pakistan and ceremonial burning of the novel in Bradford. She regrets that there are no biographies of the prophet in the west which might have given a better idea of the Islamic religion. She assumes that everyone in the west who supported Rushdie against fatwa were ignorant of the real Islam. She is also of the view that west took it for granted the Islam is a religion of sword and inherently violent. Significantly she forgot to refer the Iranian Fatwa to kill Rushdie and award the killer. It is not proof enough that the first reaction of religious Islam is to resort to violence and assassination? Quotting some old tales and sayings that is not in practice for hundreads of years but the opposite is not justification enough to redicule Rushdies supporters. As a further justification Ms. Karen to write on the life of Mohamad was to dispel confusion and prejudice in the west against real Islam. Ms Karen very well knows that her own descriptions of christian traditions and history is viewed as blasphemous by devout practising christians but no one issued a fatwa or edict to kill her. She has not taken cognizence of the different reactions. She also did not dwell on the aspect that whether Islam is such a fragile faith that it could crumple to dust because of any blasphemous writing of Rushdie or any one else. The most recent outburst of hate, violence and threat of human bombs against the Danish Cartoons are more vociferous in proclaiming that the popular and or practicing Islam will take to sword in any conflict with its critics. The American credo under Bush is to bomb out people establish peace and democracy. The muslim reaction is peace thru bomb. Whatever might have been the spiritual essence or legacy of christianity and Islam in the past, the present reality believes them. We might remember that while Bush swears in the name of christiantiy the vast majority of coreligionists do not approve of it. On the other has they loudly protest against him. It is just opposite in case of Islamic public. The loudest protests are organised in favour of violence and murder.
By,
K.N. Krishnan.
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