It's been a weekend of emotionally-draining movies. First was Of Gods and Men, about which I wrote here. That was followed by Miral, the story of four Palestinian women whose lives intersected in Jerusalem over a period of several decades.
The movie literally left me speechless, but with a strange feeling of hope. It took a day or so for my emotions to process to the point that I realized why a movie that was depressing in many ways would leave me hopeful. I then understood it was the emphasis that was placed upon the education of women in general and Palestinian Muslim girls in particular. One of the main characters of the film is a Palestinian Christian who dedicated her life to the education of these girls including the main character Miral.
Dr. Izzaldin Abuelaish, about whom I write here and here, argues that the key to a successful future for the Palestinians is the education of Palestinian girls, and Miral presents a visual example of that argument.
By coincidence - although I don't believe in coincidence - I had a most interesting conversation today with a young woman from a Brahmin family in India who is now an American citizen. One of the formative experiences of her life was being taught by Catholic monks as a young girl in Bombay. Again, it's the story of young girls being influenced and benefited by dedicated Christian educators.
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Perspectives on life so far.
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Followers
- Quotable Quotes:
- "The problem with Christians is they aren't as good as Jesus. But thank God most Muslims are better than Muhammad." - Wafa Sultan
"The more Muslims learn about Muhammad, the more likely they are to leave him behind." - Rashid (al-Hayat TV)
Manji Irshad to Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "Why did you leave Islam? Why don't you join us to become a Muslim reformer?" Ayaan's response: "I couldn't live with the dichotomy for five minutes."
"Today there can be considerable pressure upon non-Muslims not to investigate the primary sources of Islam for themselves, but to refer all their questions about Islam to a Muslim expert." - Mark Durie
"I oppose Islam for the simple reason that Islam opposes me." - Pat Condell
"Most Muslims believe in the Prophet they wish had existed. Muslims who follow the Muhammad who really existed have last names like Aulaki, Zawahiri, and Bin Ladin." - staringattheview
"I am a Muslim by default, but I don't believe. Many books tell me how to be a Muslim, but none tell me why I should be a Muslim." - a young Arab man
3 comments:
Dear SATV,
The young woman you spoke to comes from a Brahmin family.Brahman is a word for God in Hinduism.Big difference in the two words.
Cheers
Guy,
Thanks for the correction. Someone who spent his twenties wandering all over India - me - should have remembered the difference.
Ooh.. you just reminded me. If you don't have a device that allows you to stream Netflix directly onto your TV for $8 a month, now might be the time to look into that. There are a TON of awesome Arabic movies.
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