Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
“Finding the Roots of Religion in Saudi Arabia” (and Its Ambiguous Status in the West)

“Finding the Roots of Religion in Saudi Arabia” (and Its Ambiguous Status in the West)

Last updated on: June 19, 2020 at 8:06 pm by Dan Peterson

“Finding the Roots of Religion in Saudi Arabia” (and Its Ambiguous Status in the West) 2020-06-19T20:06:00-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The skyline of Doha’s West Bay from the State Mosque of Qatar (Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque)
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

My latest column for the Deseret News has appeared:

“Finding the roots of religion in Saudi Arabia”

***

Continuing with the theme that I opened up yesterday (“Islam and the West[s]”), I share yet another passage from Olivier Roy, Secularism Confronts Islam, translated by George Holoch (New York City: Columbia University Press 2007) that I marked for my notes:

In other words, when we question Islam’s capacity to become “Westernized,” we are referring to two different forms of Westernization: Christianization and secularization. Of course, things are more complex, and it would be easy to show that Western secularism actually has a Christian origin — as I do in this book. But it is interesting to see that the critique of Islam is today a rallying point for two intellectual families that have been opposed to each other so far: those who think that the West is first and foremost Christian (and who, not that long ago, considered that the Jews could hardly be assimilated) and those who think that the West is primarily secular and democratic. In other words, the Christian Right and the secular Left are today united in their criticism of Islam.

But if Christianity has been able to recast itself as one religion among others in a secular space why would this be impossible for Islam? Two arguments are usually summoned to make this case: the first is theological and says that the separation between religion and politics is foreign to Islam; the second is cultural and posits that Islam is more than a religion: it is a culture. . . . But this theoretical debate, which thrives on op-ed pieces and talk shows, is increasingly solved in the practice of Muslims themselves. The experience of everyday life as a minority brings Muslims to develop practices, compromises, and considerations meant to cope with a secularism that imposes itself on them. . . .

Unfortunately, the paradigms and models mobilized in the Western debate over Islam hardly reflect the real practices of Muslims. While the political debate over the potential danger allegedly represented by Muslims is more or less inspired by the intellectual debate about the “clash of civilizations,” the help of sociology (that is, the concrete analysis of Muslim practices) is hardly sought — even though sociology is at pains to grasp the concrete forms of religiosity that characterize the practice of Islam within immigrant communities. . . . Muslims tend to find themselves in a position that is closer to that of the born-again Christians or the Haredi Jews than to the position of a stranger. (viii-x)

Previous Post

June 17, 2020

"And you know that I know that it is true."

Next Post

June 18, 2020 Are NDEs caused by oxygen deficiency in the brain? (Part 2)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was a biblical measurement of a span?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Third of a cubit Full cubit Half a cubit Quarter cubit