In addition, I found it neat to find out that there was a time in our history where the Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived side by side. It had been my impression that these groups had never shared such respect for one another. I was wrong. The world would be a better place if we accepted everyone for who they are. We shouldn't be making judgments based off of others' beliefs. Each and everyone of us should be free to choose how we live. Don't we have some important document named the Constitution (not to give away any hints or anything) that states this?
Before I began reading Armstrong's book I had negative associations with the Islamic religion. Karen seemed to do a good job of calming those associations. I learned that the prophet Mohammad was passionate about restoring the Islamic religion. In the grand scheme of things, the Islamic religion is not so different from all the rest. These chapters reiterated the fact that Armstrong writes this novel from an unbiased perspective (I suppose that could possibly be my biased opinion). She treats each of the religions and groups of people with equality, telling both the good and the bad. It will be interesting to see if Karen completes the book writing in this unbiased style. I look forward to hearing others' opinions in regards to these chapters.
I also have been fighting with this negative association with Islam since I went to Israel. I have tried to rid myself of it as much as possible, but it is difficult. I think the most important thing is for us to continue learning about it so that we are able to respect Muslims and their beliefs. The negative association we have is purely from being uneducated, and I think it's up to us and our generation to learn about each other and stop these negative associations that we continue making.
ReplyDeleteI too thought the same way about the Islamic belief until furthering my education and horizon to different articles, authors and points of view. Not only Reading Karen Armstrong's book, but many others written on either side of the bias spectrum can help us understand each sides issues more clearly than Armstrong can. Just making sure that we don't target one group or another through opinions is also key.
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