Word: religion
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This unusual, timely and beautiful film, Journey to Mecca, presents a more sympathetic interpretation of Islam both to the West and to the East. It shows the profoundly devotional aspect of a religion that has been thoroughly demonized since the cataclysmic events of 9/11. The rituals of the pilgrimage that bring together literally millions of worshippers every year to Mecca, presume and proclaim “Peace” in the world. Peace is of the essence since the worshippers themselves come from entirely different backgrounds, from all colors, and all climates...
...science alone. Pure data sets rarely inspire anyone to grand existential epiphanies. (Does anybody actually read the American Journal of Psychology for fun?) The recent offerings instead glide seamlessly from real cognitive scientific results into life prescriptions of the kind traditionally proffered by fields like religion and literature. The current overseer of the Grant Study results, George Vaillant, himself studied not psychology but history and literature when he was at Harvard; indeed, it may be the literary quality of many psychological findings that makes them go down so smooth for a meaning-hungry public. In my tutorial this year, Freud...
...watch 60 minutes of the most in-shape athletes on the planet rocketing across the surface of a giant diamond. • People literally walk on water! Last guy to popularize water-walking got a religion built around him. That guy was Rocket Richard; the religion is the Montreal Canadiens. • It's safely homoerotic for the hetero man: dudes in this game touch and rub up against each other constantly and straight guys scream for more. Woof! • The humility inherent in the sport: they make themselves more available to the press than any other athletes and always talk about...
...paradox here is that historically, Pakistanis have practiced a syncretic version of Islam that venerates saints and emphasizes a personal relationship with God. But the influx of Arab preachers during the war against the Soviets brought a more austere form of the religion. Shayan Afzal Khan, an Islamic scholar who writes about women and Islam, thinks Pakistanis lack the confidence to defend their moderate beliefs. "People are afraid to take on the mullahs because we can't quote the Koran the way they do," Khan says. "We have to take our religion back," but fear gets...
...Blaming India If Pakistanis have defined themselves by their religion, they have also defined themselves by what they are not - Indian. The bloody cleavage that marked the birth of two independent nations began a long enmity cemented by three wars and the threat of mutual nuclear annihilation. The contested territory of Muslim-majority Kashmir is the flame that keeps the pot boiling. In Pakistan every prayer ends with a thought for Kashmir. Pakistanis find it impossible to believe that India, with its booming economy and flourishing democracy, has moved on from the rivalry; India, many believe, still seeks the destruction...