re: Thoughts on what is taught in Louisiana Public Schools Re: World Religions

quote:

---

I think what they mean is that period in time (at least that's what I hope they mean).

---

It's not even correct, though. Islam is of the middle ages.

I guess maybe it makes sense in a 'this is when we will touch on all major world religions' standpoint, it just weird tying that to Ancient Rome.

quote:

---

i think it's useful to make a distinction between the spread of the early islamic empires, like the umayyads and abassids (which spread through military conquest), and the spread of the islamic religion (which occurred in phases for varied reasons - remember that non-arabs were barred from converting to islam during the early umayyad conquests).

---

But that restriction was lifted fairly early on, in a relative sense. Early Islam could not have spread without the weakened Byzantine and Sasanian Empires, who had been fighting for 5 centuries, on and off, which in addition to weakening both empires, created lots of alienated groups who were eager to align with outsiders.

I mean, the North African Berbers were converted very early on, and formed the bulk of the army for the Umayyad expansion to Europe. People like discussing how important the Battle of Tours was in 732, but people don't talk about there was another Islamic incursion into the area the next year, and that Umayyad expansion only stopped in the area with a Berber revolt in 740, if I recall.

quote:

---

It's not even correct, though. Islam is of the middle ages.

---

While that might be, Muslims referred to their Greek-speaking enemies of the Byzantine Empire as Romans all the way up to the 1st Crusade. If I recall correctly, up until the 18th Century, some people in Hellenic areas still referred to themselves as Roman. There was no hard stop on the term itself. In the West there is a clear delineation between the Western and Eastern halves of the Roman Empire, but the appellation "Roman" continued in the Eastern half for a long time.

quote:

---

It's not even correct, though. Islam is of the middle ages.

---

Maybe they've extended the range of "Ancient" Rome?

Putting aside devil's advocacy, this truly is a sterling example of how simple things like that often make it into teaching texts. Text book sales are big money and that sometimes means sacrificing quality.

quote:

---

His characteristics are very different between the Judeo-Christian understanding and the Muslim understanding, which means that the god of Islam has to be different from the God of the Bible.

---

Well there is more overlap between Islam and Judaism than there is Judaism and Christianity in its direct pattern of practice. Islam is a syncretic version Judaism with pre-Islamic Arab paganism, combined with aspects of Christianity and Zoroastrianism. The differences that arise are more of a modern development, but Islam very closely resembles Judaism.

If I recall, the Christ story in the Qu'ran closely resembles a book from the Biblical Apocrypha. I can't remember the name at the moment though.

This is not a textbook issue. There is no textbook used here. If I were to consult the classroom textbook, which I rarely do, Islam is not brought in until the African civilizations after the unit on Rome. The state has chosen to place the overview of these religions here during Rome. I know that Christianity is well placed here. I think the state was looking to simply knock all of this out in one activity.

(no message)

quote:

---

Islam is tolerant and accepts them both peacefully

---

PIECEfully

quote:

---

Christianity: Although Christianity developed out of Judaic texts, Christians do not follow Jewish law. Instead, they believe that the ritualistic Jewish law was abrogated in favor of a universal gospel for all of humanity and the Christian teaching, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Christians view Jews as refusing to move forward and Muslims as following a false prophet.

Islam: Islam sees Judaism and Christianity as earlier versions of Islam, revelations given within the same tradition by Allah but misunderstood over time by their followers. Muslims see Islam as the final, complete, and correct revelation in the monotheistic tradition of the three faiths. The Islamic tradition recognizes many of the Jewish and Christian prophets, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (although he is not considered to be the son of God).

---

That's extremely accurate.

quote:

---

Relationships between Jewish and Christian communities have often been difficult


Except the fact that Israel, a Jewish nation, is one of our biggest allies.

---

You're just going to throw out over a thousand years of virulent Christian antisemitism in Europe peaking with The Holocaust?
Seems this constant slurpage & talking point about Israel is Christian guilt due to Christians abhorrent treatment of Jews to the point of nearly annihilating the Religion.