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Cultural richness and contemporary moral squalor

Cultural richness and contemporary moral squalor

Last updated on: August 8, 2017 at 4:59 pm by Dan Peterson

Cultural richness and contemporary moral squalor 2017-08-08T16:59:05-06:00 Dan Peterson

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Istanbul’s “Blue Mosque” (Wikimedia Commons photo_

I’m excited to have a look at this new book by Peter Adamson, in which he attempts to integrate Islamic philosophical thought fully into a genuinely global history of philosophy:

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/deprovincializing-philosophy/

Assisting in laying the foundation for such an attempt was among my goals in launching the Islamic Translation Series at Brigham Young University, which ultimately morphed into the broader Middle Eastern Texts Initiative. One of the most painful experiences of my life has been being excluded from that project, which I conceived.

(Thanks to John Hancock for calling the above review to my attention.)

***

One of those who worked with us in the early years of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative was Professor Glen Cooper, who is unfortunately no longer associated with Brigham Young University.

He recently did a really nice interview for Top of Mind with Julie Rose on BYU Radio. It’s titled “The West Owes a Debt to Islam,” and it’s very definitely worth a listen.

***

In the meantime, there are many who have no appreciation whatsoever for Islam and Muslims. See these two stories, for example:

“FBI: ‘Improvised explosive device’ caused blast at Bloomington Islamic center”

(One might have expected the story above to have received national attention, but — so far as I’m aware, anyway — it hasn’t.)

“Burkini-wearing mother told to pay pool cleaning fees”

***

This isn’t a great article, but some might be interested in what seems to be a Saudi perspective:

“Who is more oppressed? Saudi woman or Western woman?”

***

Of course, not all is well in the world of Islam, either. To put it mildly.

Here’s an opinion piece about a substantial problem among Muslims worldwide:

“Muslims Must Ostracize Anti-Semitic Imams”

That one is from a Muslim. This one isn’t:

“Anti-Radical Muslims Need to Organize and Draw Lines”

And here’s a twenty-two minute film that puts a human face on the civil war in Syria and, perhaps also, on the plight of the refugees that it has generated:

https://www.facebook.com/theguardian/videos/10155769508626323/?hc_ref=ARTGwjHR9NQSLoFetmCYQdLc0rQx9FaWI9TFPRNfaF28KPmyUTOf1s0eV9BWqRBuc_M&pnref=story.unseen-section

And now for an item from someone affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the sad story of a young man, an open source developer, executed by the current dictatorial and oppressive Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad:

“On the death of Bassel Khartabil”

Apart from the sheer horror of war and tyranny, it’s sad to see such talent and ability squandered. The Middle East needs such people. But its rulers are killing them.

***

Finally, here’s something very dear to my heart, as is probably reflected by my former involvement as founder and editor-in-chief of BYU’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative and also as director of BYU’s Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts:

Rescuing Syriac Manuscripts in Iraq

Thanks to Douglas E. Neighbors (I believe) for bringing this article to my attention.

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