Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Not my business? I feel your pain.

It's not considered polite to tell someone what to do about their religion (God knows I don't tolerate it from others), so I'll just suggest as politely as I can that any Muslim readers should follow the above link [via Ophelia Benson] and consider the odd dichotomy, roughly the equivalent of dividing all Jews into Reconstructionists and Likudniks. It doesn't make sense to me, but I've seen both Jews and non-Jews make a similar mistake -- effectively dividing Jews into Orthodox and Secular, with no middle ground; which one is "good" depends on who's writing and why -- and the suggestions which come out of these analyses are no better than the analyses. [update: Manan Ahmed cuts through the chaff, so to speak]

However, Rachel Barenblatt is someone who doesn't fit into categories well, she's well versed in Torah and Talmud and contemporary Judaism, she's aware of her limitations, and she's reading the Quran this summer. This could be fun.

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