This article is probably beyond the interests of my army of readers, but I have no doubt that these attitudes are practically universal in academia wherever there are Muslims.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
7 comments:
This is of great interest to me! I Jusy graduated with a Dual degree in Constitutional Studies and Religious Studies, and I am starting a Masters program at a school within the Boston Theological Union in a week. This type of stuff is huge for me-I'd love to hear more or any advice you might have; assuming you are not yet too crotchety to have a 24 year old pen pal ;-)
Theological schools are such a huge waste of time; the only cultures that have clergy as a prestige profession, for male breadwinners are 3rd world cultures or ghettos. Within 20 years a Masters in Divinity will have all the social prestige and earning power of a Masters in Social Work and require even less mathematics.
Thanks for the compliment, AD, but I don't really have much advice for you except: if this is the BTI, the assumptions and values of liberalism are utterly entrenched there and if you deviate from them, you will suffer the consequences.
Oh, and this. An Orthodox priest prof of mine at Columbia, whose family fled for their lives after the Russian Revolution, told us to be very aware of the distinction between a Marxist in a classroom and Marxists in power. I would apply the same idea to Muslims.
Interesting, I suppose a Marxist in the classroom is "theoretical" and a Marxist in power would be less likely to follow theory closely or be more dangerous? My only real experience with the difference is from reading Under a Cruel Star. Also, I was wondering if you would be willing to allow me to contact you through email, because you have a really unique perspective and education combination and I often find myself wanting to know more about your personal journey (which sounds similar to mine) and I frequently wonder what your opinion on various things would be. Of course, I know that you are a busy professional and that you may find my age off putting or simply have no desire to commumicate with someone you don't know; in which case I would understand (I'd be a bit sad, but I'd get over it just like everything else in life, lol).
Annonymous- thanks for the insult. That is a rather ignorant comment, as there will always be a need for an mdiv as long as there are any real religions. Besides ive never viewed an mdiv as a "prestige" thing, as you definatly don't get rich from it, and prestige comes from your quality as a minister/leader. And there is a huge difference between social work and religious ministry/training. Also, the fact that you think theological school = mdiv shows your ignorance because there are many different degrees at such schools these days.. Nothing in the article or comments section spoke of mdivs, but rather Subfields of Religious studies. Religious studies has nothing inherently to do with belief or ministry, it is an objective examination of the religion from the lenses of several fields of human studies- it seeks to understand religion as a phenomenon in the human experience. Religious Studies is fundamentally different than Religious Education- most religious studies people are atheist/agnostic/deist, but many people of religion are involved in religious studies to understand how their religion compares to another, and it is often required to be involved in inter-religious dialogue an community relations. Governments, religious groups, and corporations have started to pick up religious studies people left and right and the field is projected to grow very rapidly movin forward. And BTW, I am NOT getting an Mdiv, I am in a Catholic-theological Studies program with a concentration in church history on a pre-doctoral track. Religious studies people need to really specialize in one religious tradition, and Christianity (especially Catholic christianity) is my personal specialization. mdivs, clergy, prestige, and everything else you brought up has no relation to any of this discussion. Social work is so far outside of my field and interest that I had trouble grasping how your comment fit into the topic, then it dawned on me that that the reason was because it DIDNT have any relevance and was therefore obviously made by someone who is too busy judging to ever perceive reality, too busy telling everyone what they think to ever eally notice if their opinion is based on incomplete or obsolete information (like my feminist professor who finally tone it down after I snapped one day and yelled out loud "this isn't the 70's anymore things have changed, please catchup to 2012 or I will shred you on the information and relevancy section of the the Instructor evaluation forms"). Go get an education so you can have a clue about how flat out stupid your comment was.
Thanks for the offer, AD, but I am afraid an email thing wouldn't be a good idea. I am a bad correspondent at the best of times.
Thank you for putting an effort to published this article. You've done a great job! Good bless!
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