… the more I think that the recording that I call “Call to Prayer 1” (available here) is the same one that they use in the Dubai airport. This was the first call I had ever heard, and I thought it was really beautiful. The calls here in the old city sound mostly like yelling. Not quite as nice…
Tami and I went to Al-Houda supermarket tonight and found a few surprises. First up for me was a line of soft drinks based around ginseng. They had ginseng grenadine, ginseng ginger, and ginseng cranberry sodas. I have no idea what they will taste like, but they do sound interesting… The big surprise of the night was we found taco shells!! This is huge, we have been craving Mexican food for so long, this will be sweet. The only potential issue is that we will have to mix our own seasoning for the meat. If that goes well, it’s taco time!
How does this happen? I think that it’s because my teacher is curious about things he doesn’t know about. But why does he have to ask such difficult questions and expect me to answer in Arabic? Today it started out with currency values and led to the function of a central bank, pegging currencies to others, and a brief discussion about why currencies fluctuate in value. Needless to say, I think I was only partially successful in explaining that stuff. It’s difficult enough to do in English, try doing it in Arabic with someone that doesn’t even understand the function of interest in an economy…
As that conversation was going nowhere, I pulled out the Q’uran that I bought yesterday. That shifted the conversation quickly, he was in his element. We spent some time talking about how the book was organized, what some of the extra marks mean, and some of the ideas surrounding the different styles of recitation. Of course we drifted to comparing the Q’uran to the Bible, and then Islam to Christianity. He claims to have read the New Testament but I’m not really sure how much he could have gotten out of it. I’ve never read the Q’uran (I hope to remedy that situation soon), but I know some of the real basic stuff.
He knows a little of the book angst I have about the Bible and I think he was trying to use that as leverage to steer me towards Islam. He asked me which book I thought was “The Truth.” Obviously, that was a no win question for me, so I told him to be careful and not get me in trouble… He laughed at that and then got right to one of his main problems with Christianity, “How could Jesus be a man and Allah at the same time?” Woosh, how can anyone understand that, let alone someone that has been taught from a little boy that that was blasphemy? Sidestepping the direct question, I replied that it was one of the mysteries that Christians had to meditate on and wrestle with. “Why?” Well, this is where my Arabic deserted me. I said something to the effect that the only way that we can glimpse God was through these things that He accomplished that don’t make much sense to us. He is so far beyond us, it is like your dog trying to understand you, anything that we do would probably seem mysterious to the dog (if they were capable of that sort of thought.).
Adel responded that he (and it sounded like he was expounding on a general Muslim belief) doesn’t ned any more evidence for God than creation itself. There are, of course, many different possible explanations (big bang, evolution, etc.) for what we experience as creation but, and this is no slight on Adel, those theories are totally beyond him. Instead, I told him about the “Watchmaker’s” theory. Basically, just because He made something doesn’t mean that He cares about it or is involved in it. Creation may (may) be enough for some people to believe in God, but what difference does it make if He doesn’t care? What Christians believe is that the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus is a sign from Him to show His continuing commitment and love for us. Now that got him thinking…
Too many Christians do not appreciate the more nuanced ramifications behind the crucifixion, there is zero chance that anyone in Yemen can appreciate it. Adel asked me straight, “Do you think Mohammed (PBUH) was a prophet for the Arabs?” I thought that the “for the Arabs” bit was interesting. I replied that yes, if he was going to phrase it that way, I did believe that Mohammed (PBUH) was a prophet for the Arabs. I then wrapped it up by making my point about God sending messages in a way that people understand and does not force them to be shoehorned into some other culture.
It went pretty well I think. We both had to do some serious thinking on our feet. I was at a bit of a disadvantage for a while as I attempted to do this all in Arabic, but I gave that up 2/3 of the way into the class. I’m glad that I was able to paint a little more complicated picture of Christianity than it just being corrupted scripture. At the end, I suggested that we do some newspaper reading next class, he seemed to think that was a good idea…
I was given some literature while I was at the book fair about “Signs and Mericals (sic) of Prophet Messenger.” It’s a substantial book, 300 something pages long and it has as its mission to educate me about Muhammad (PBUH) and the Q’uran. Needless to say, it’s awful. I think it must be aimed at someone with about a 10th grade reading comprehension but with a 2nd grade mentality about religion. I can’t imagine this being effective with anyone that already has a faith and certainly would not resonate at all with a real atheist.
The first part of it is all about how Muhammad was foretold by various texts from other religions. They pull stuff from the Old and New Testaments, an apocryphal gospel, some Hindu texts, and even some Zoroastrian texts. Of course this is after explaining that the other traditions texts’ were corrupt and couldn’t be trusted. Not a great idea to dismiss the credibility of your sources before you start to use them… Anyway, I did a little digging about the stuff in the Bible and of course they’re way off. They claim that both the Old and New Testaments refer to Mohammed by name but that sloppy translation has kept the knowledge from the Christians and that outright deception has kept it from the jews. Um, yeah… whatever.
The best thing is the so called “scientific” proofs of things in the Q’uran. They point to a sura that talks about God sending down water to agitate the earth and make things grow and then exclaim that scientists didn’t know how that worked until recently! They spend pages talking about how that sura was way ahead of its time in “explaining” how water makes things grow. There are other equally vague references to “green matter” in plants and iron falling to earth that the authors then say that there is no way that they could have known about them back when it was written, it must have come from God! It actually crosses from being preachy to insulting one’s intelligence.
This has been the latest in a long line of ridiculous religious literature that I have read. Why is it that a religious organization (the Catholic church, The Church of LDS, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.) can have a well defined theology with many nuances and still sound idiotic when it prints literature designed to recruit people? How difficult is it to put down in writing what they believe and maybe some of the benefits of belonging to that particular denomination? Is it so hard to talk about the merits of your religion without disparaging the others? Can’t it stand on its own? Why do they feel the need to “prove” things in 500, 1000, or even 50,000 words? Most of the Christian literature and all of the Muslim stuff I’ve read have tried to be logically rigorous, arguing from some sort of authority (A book, a prophet, a disciple, etc) and “proving” that they are indeed the correct religion. Of course it’s much easier to use logic to refute the entire basis of religion, so I’m surprised so many people try that approach. The way I figure it, if Descartes couldn’t do it, what chance do any of us have in logically proving this sort of stuff?
I think I’m going to have to do what I’ve had to do with all the other religions I’ve studied, namely not listening to the rank and file in that religion and consulting some actual texts. I’ve found both scholarly and religious books to help in this regard. Unfortunately, my Arabic is not nearly good enough to start reading the stuff I want, not yet. With a little more time, I’ll do it. It’s easy to get motivated to study something that you’re actually interested in…
I’ve uploaded (assuming that everything has gone well) some audio files. There’s a couple of calls to prayer and what I believe is the first sura in the Q’uran. Let me tell you, this is how a religious text should be, it can be downright beautiful. Unfortunetly, I’ve never heard anyone quite as good as this here. I think this guy is from Egypt and I think he’s pretty good. Anyway, let me know if there are any problems…
My housemate came back from the internet cafe in a rotten mood. He had been reading the news and it made him really upset. The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are swelling to over 2 trillion dollars, and some people estimate that we reached “peak oil” reserves 3 years ago… OK, the wars are a disaster, and I don’t know what else to do but get mad about that, but peak oil? What a crock.
The idea behind peak oil is “OMG, there’s less oil available, we’re screwed!” That’s a summary of the stance, and I think it’s pretty accurate. It’s ridiculous on a couple different levels. We’ll never run out of oil. That’s right we will never run out of oil. There’s a couple of reasons for that. The concept of peak oil was first brought up in the early 1900s. It was observed that there was not enough oil for the then current needs to be met in 10 years time. Well, guess what, more reserves were found. In more recent times, peak oil was again a worry. There wasn’t enough oil to go around in the decades to come! Well then the shale sand up in Canada added another source of oil, and when the price of oil rose above $50 a barrel, Venezuela’s reserves went online. They went from a minor player in the petroleum market to having the largest reserves in the world within the space of 10 years.
So, as prices rise, more and more oil is found. That’s one reason not to worry too much about running out of oil. Another reason is that when “Peak oil” theories are thrown around, they are talking about the “light sweet crude” grade of oil. That is the stuff that has the least amount of junk in it and is the easiest to refine into various useful products. There is an enormous amount of “sour” reserves. That’s oil with more impurities in it. Last I heard, the reserves of these sour grades is almost unimaginable. At some point, it will be economical to use these grades with more refining instead of the light sweet crude.
OK, so reserves keep growing as prices go up. That’ll be fine for the foreseeable future. If additional refining is needed, and nothing interferes, the cost of that refining will be minimized through compitition. There is a finite amount of oil in the ground, and we do use it at a much faster rate than it is created, there’s no getting around that. That part of the peak oil theory is basicly correct, although I think that it’s blown way out of proportion. The part of peak oil that drives me crazy is the tacit belief that we’ll just stand around and watch the oil be used up until it’s all gone. The idea is that we’ll run out of oil and the entire world will grind to a halt. The people that worry about this really don’t understand how markets work. As the price gets higher and higher, new ways will be found to find oil, new ways to conserve oil will be found (thus conserving the existing supply), and substitutes will be found. There are already substitutes available in the form of electricity and alternative fuels. This is why we’ll never run out of oil. At some point it will be so expensive that no one will want to use it. There will be a transition to some other type or types of fuel and oil, like whale oil, will be a historical curiosity.
All of the peak oil gnashing of teeth is really fear of change and a general distrust of people and their ability to adapt and thrive. It’s a really unnecessary and, IMO, obnoxious abject pessimism. Things will change, people will figure out how to use something else. Environmentalists the world over should be cheering the rise in oil prices, it’s the quickest way to have alternative fuels become viable. Where’s Julian Simon when you need him?
tags technorati : economics peak oil julian simon alternative energy
The annual book fair is going on at the Yemen Expo Center. It’s an interesting affair. Vendors have come in from all over the gulf area. Saudi, Kuwaiti, and Emeratian, plus maybe some from other places as well. The book selection was noticeably different than what I’ve seen in the west. Most of the place was filled with textbooks and religious writings. There were a fair number of children’s vendors as well. There was a heavy concentration on learning English in many booths, and there were even some English titles available. Oddly enough, I saw at least 3 booths filled with medical models, various types of internal anatomy and what looked like CPR dummies. I have no idea what they were doing there.
I had to buy some stuff of course. I can’t be around that many books and not buy anything. I got a couple Qran recitation cds, I got my requisite Qran (I can’t be in a Yemeni book fair and not get a Qran) and a few English titles. My Qran is pretty nice, although I did see some nicer ones. They have running commentaries alongside the suras. I decided not to get one of those since I don’t know my commentators at all.
The English titles they had available were impressive. They were for people studying English, the English speaking population isn’t big enough to support a dedicated market. A local asked me, in broken English, if I could make a suggestion for him. He explained that he was studying English and was midway through his course. He showed me a book called “The great cave” or something like that. It was sealed so I couldn’t get a feel for the content, but it looked like a “young adult” book. I would guess the target age was 11-13 years old in the states. Then he showed me the other book he was thinking about getting, “A Tale of Two Cities.” Hmmm, I like to encourage people to read the classics, but he was having trouble asking me which book I thought he should get. As diplomatically as possible, I told him that Dickens uses an older style of English and that it might be a little difficult for him.
They didn’t just have Dickens there either. They had a slew of Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, Austen, and a few more. I picked up a copy of “Dubliners,” a book that I would be astounded if any Yemeni could understand. My favorite purchase had to be D.H. Lawrence’s “Women in Love.” I have never read any of his stuff before, and I have no idea if I’ll like it. I bought the book because of the delicious irony of finding what must be an incredibly haraam work at the Yemen book fair. Maybe this is a book about innocent love, but the title and the author’s reputation makes me think that’s unlikely. Anyway, I’ve got some new things to read, things that I would never have thought of finding here…
My teacher started today with a discussion about William Shakespeare. I can’t remember how we got on the topic, he might have brought it up. Anyway, after I talked for a while about how we studied him in high school and which plays I had seen and/or read, he told me about a popular theory here. There are some that believe that Bill’s ancestors came from Yemen! The evidence? C’mon, Sheik-spear? Seriously, some people believe that before Islam showed up, people dispersed from Yemen all over the world, including William’s ancestors. I asked to make sure I was understanding this right, that his family members would hold on to the name “Sheik-something” for a 1000 years. “Right!” Right….
One other thing that came up with Adel yesterday is how he viewed Jesus. Moslems consider Jesus (Issa, PBUH in Arabic) to be the 2nd most important prophet behind Mohammed (PBUH). Adel believes that Jesus was sent to correct the followers of Moses and that Mohammed (PBUH) was sent to correct the mistakes of the followers of Jesus. I have a slightly different take. If I assume that Mohammed (PBUH) really was a prophet, I think that there might have been something else going on than “correcting” the Christians. After all, it’s my understanding that most Arabs were not Christians when Mohammed (PBUH) started to preach, they were polytheists. It took some time before there was contact with a Christian nation, so when did the “correction” start? I think that God may have sent another prophet because the Arabs were not (and are not) able to respect, let alone worship, anyone they perceive as weak.
Even the Bible mentions the stereotypical Arab mentality when it describes the descendants of Ishmael. In Genesis 16:12 it says (referring to Ishmael), “This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.” To be fair, the bedouin life was pretty tough, and lead to some tough people. By all accounts, the people that Mohammed had to deal with were a little rough and tumble, and there’s still a lot of that kind of attitude around today. The stereotypical Arab (and there’s always a grain of truth in stereotypes) is quick to anger, prone to vengeful thoughts, and doesn’t hesitate to judge. It shouldn’t be any surprise that the concepts of self sacrifice, pacifism, forgiveness, and subjecting oneself to persecution does not sit too well with a lot of people over here. The culture that has been developed over millennia has systematically disparaged the the core teachings of Christianity.
Instead of “correcting” Christians, I believe that Mohammed (PBUH) was sent to the Arabs so that they could channel their culture into useful and good purposes. That hasn’t always worked out of course (name one religion that has) but I believe that the overall impact on the Arab culture has been a positive one. There are many Christians that would like nothing more than the entire middle east to be converted to Christianity. That thought has some appeal, but aside from the obvious problems, I just don’t think that it’s realistic to expect Christianity to be persuasive in this culture.
One of the things that has stuck with me from my Buddhist studies is the concept of “skillful means.” In that context, a Buddha can teach in a way that makes sense to that person in order to lead them to enlightenment. They were adamant that there wasn’t one way of doing that, there were an infinite number of ways. I don’t think that it’s unreasonable to think that God does the same thing. Or maybe actually is the same thing… Anyway, I’m willing to believe that some messages will be accepted by some people and not by others. And I’m also willing to believe that none of us have the complete picture, none of us is capable of it. So different people get different glimpses and do the best they can with things that make sense for them…
Adel (my teacher) and I were talking about various things between Christianity and Islam today. One thing that came up was how the Bible was constructed. He had actually heard of the Apocrypha but didn’t really understand what they were. Ooog, I gave up trying to explain in Arabic and did the best I could. I’ve found that teaching is the best way to learn how much you really know. I have had several instances when a question was asked and my first reaction was, “I don’t know that..” but with a little reflection it turned out that I did, I just hadn’t thought of it before.
His question about the Apocrypha brought a lot of loose ends together in my head… I explained that for a long time, there wasn’t a single text that Christians based their faith on, there were many texts that purported to tell some of the story. What has become known as the Catholic (and guess the Orthodox) church had ecunenical councils in 692 (the so called Quinisext council) and the more famous council of Trent in 1545 to determine what books were orthodox and which were not. They based this decision on the practices of the church which supposedly had been passed down from Peter and the rest of the Apostles down to the present day. They already had an idea of what was orthodox, the church had its practices down and the Bible was going to reflect those practices. When the Bible was put together, it was corroborating the church’s practices. I’m sure that the people involved at the time would never have thought to try to understand the Bible separate from the church’s beliefs and practices.
Of course when the Reformation came along, the attempt was made to strip the Bible from the church that created it. Nowadays, a basic article of faith in most Protestant churches is that the Bible is the word of God and infallible. But I’ve never heard of any serious attempt to reexamine what books make up the Bible despite the fact that the newer churches don’t look or practice anything like the Catholics.
Here’s where my issues come into play. I really don’t think that the Bible is complete without the background that the church brings to the table (as the Orthodox and Catholics believe from the teachings of the Apostles). This is totally missing from the Protestant churches, and I can’t really take them seriously. On the other hand, I have issues with the Catholic and Orthodox churches. So Adel asked me, “So which is it? The book or the church?” Of course it’s neither for me. I gotta believe that there’s some truth in both, but that neither by themselves pass “The smell test” and that in combination they (IMO) reek of humanity and have very little holiness in them. Adel was of the opinion that I was going to have to choose a church, I don’t think that’s true. Things have been going just fine without having to rely on a book or an organization completely, and until that changes, I don’t see why I should have to subjugate myself to something that I can’t believe…