Religion and Philosophy: January 2008 Archives
I read something on my RSS feeds this evening that literally made me clap my hands in joy. (It's not that odd, really, hand-clapping is an honoured practice with a proud tradition in my flat. Still, I was happy.) I read on the Bahá'í World News Service that an administrative court in Egypt had ruled in favour of the Baha'is in two ongoing lawsuits. I've mentioned this issue in previous posts. It's been picked up by other blogs, some reprinting the blurb from the News Service, including Baha'i Views and Living in Egypt Without ID. In a follow-up post, Baha'i Views linked to a few blog coverages of this story.
I feel that Barney gets to the real issue: "Now we have to see how long it will take the Egyptian government to implement the new ruling." He then points out that there's still a long way for Egypt to go - Baha'i institutions and activities have been illegal in Egypt for nearly 50 years now. His article is good, I'd recommend it to all.
Less heartening to read on my feeds was that 54 Baha'is have been sentenced to jail in Iran, simply for being Baha'is. The Baha'i World News Service reports on calls from both Amnesty International and the US State Department for Iran to release these prisoners. There is still a long way to go in both Iran and Egypt.
I'm just back from Edinburgh University Chaplaincy, where EUSA marked Holocaust Memorial Day this evening with a short and informal service, remembering the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides.
The event featured speeches from Rev Di Williams, the University Chaplain; Young Dawkins, the Vice Principal of Development and Alumni at Edinburgh University; Gordon Aikman, the Vice President of EUSA; and music from Stephanie Brickman, Uri Stav, and someone else whose name I missed. The highlight of the event was David Goldberg, a Jewish German who retold his personal story of living during the holocaust. He was lucky enough to be taken to Britain at the beginning of the war, but he lost over 20 of his family members to the Nazi persecution.
It was finished off by a candle lighting ceremony led by Di Williams, whereby seven candles (six of them representing the six million Jews killed in the holocaust - the seventh standing for others who have died in related genocides) were lit. The lighters were Di Williams, Gordon Aikman, David Goldberg, Chantal Ellis (President of the University's Jewish Society), John McQuade (President of BLOGS), and two other people I didn't recognise. After they had lit the big candles, they went to the back where there were tealights, and everyone present was invited to light them and reflect. I was pleased to see Subh and Nurul there (the President and Vice-President of the University's Islamic Society), especially given strained relationships that have existed in the past between societies. But tonight everything was cool :)
Afterwards, there was refreshments and the like, and I spoke to Subhan, Nurul, and the Chaplaincy's receptionist Kate. Some of the speeches had mentioned Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur, and Kenya. On the subject of systematic human rights abuses leading to genocide or similar circumstances, we talked about the Chechens; the Baha'is in Iran; and the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Australia, and Siberia. We discussed the need for actions, not words - "Let deeds, not words, be your adorning" (Baha'u'llah, Hidden Words From the Persian #5, p23-24). Also mentioned was the Islamic tradition that the only true criterion of a person's piousness is their taqwá'lláh - their consciousness of or fear of God.
One thing that struck me was that there were seven candles lit. Gordon Aikman used his speech to speak about the need for unity in the struggle against racism and prejudice. Which got me thinking - there is a book called Seven Candles of Unity, which details the time Abdu'l-Baha spent in Edinburgh. (Abdu'l-Baha is the son and appointed successor of Baha'u'llah, founder of the Baha'i Faith.) The book is named after seven principles that Abdu'l-Baha outlined as essential in the journey towards world peace.
While this little event in Edinburgh, in global terms, barely causes a blip on the radar, it is little by little that we can light the candles of unity in hearts around the world. We remember, we reflect, and we react. Never again should the world have to witness genocide. Maybe we can learn the value of human life.
I just finished Moojan Momen's Islam and the Bahá’í Faith, which is billed as "an attempt to present the Bahá’í Faith to Muslims" (vii), that is, from a Muslim perspective. The back cover also states that it "will also be useful to Bahá’ís who want to see how their religion relates to Islam," which is why I read it. I'd like to think I know more about Islam than your average Brit, but I wouldn't claim any sort of authority with my knowledge, especially with regards fields like Islamic jurispridence and history. This book has been greatly informative for me in three main areas: 1) my understanding of Islam, 2) my understanding of the Baha'i Faith, and 3) my understanding of how the Baha'i Faith views and relates to Islam. Given the title and aims of the book, that I learned things in those areas isn't particularly surprising, but it perhaps relays how effective Dr Momen has been in his 242-page (plus references and notes) account.
Momen takes us through the Baha'i teachings on Islam, particularly on the prophet Muhammad. He compares and contrasts the ethical and spiritual teachings of the Baha'i Faith with those of Islam. He then turns to Baha'u'llah's claim to be the promised one of all ages, and discusses this claim in relation to Islamic prophecies. The rest of the book is then about the Baha'i Faith in more depth, drawing parallels with Islam where appropriate. The final chapter, titled "Some Further Considerations", is essentially a miscellaneous section, discussing issues as diverse as miracles, the beauty of Baha'u'llah's writings, misrepresentations of the Baha'i Faith in the Arab world, and the state of Israel.
The book is very well researched, and extensively referenced throughout. Momen displays an in-depth knowledge of Islam, particularly of the ḥadíth and of the historical background of the Qur’án. It is perhaps worth noting that Momen has also written a whole book on Shi‘i Islam (Momen 1987). The arguments are reasoned, cogent, and comprehensive, and Momen never labours a point unnecessarily.
My only criticism, and it is a small one, is that the book is very apologetic and proof-based. Much of it seems to be aimed at addressing concerns and disagreements Muslims may have with the Baha'i Faith, and at proving the validity of Baha'u'llah's claims. However these are really minor points, and didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book. I'd recommend it to all, especially those with a connection to Islam.
Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shi‘i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi‘ism. New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, 1985.
Momen, Moojan. Islam and the Bahá’í Faith. Oxford: George Ronald, 2000.
Do check out this post over at Social Science++, titled Moral psychology on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Basically, the Amazon Mechanical Turk is a web service that lets you create simple online tasks or questionnaires and pay online workers to do them. The blogger, Brendan, creates a few moral dilemma scenarios, and asks people to say what they would do in that situation. The situations are all essentially "would you cause the death of one person in order to save five?". However, they vary from flicking a switch in order to redirect a deadly item from an area of high population to an area of low population (the trolley problem), to actually killing a young healthy man in order to harvest his organs to save the lives of others. Despite the rational equality of all the scenarios, they all get different responses. This suggests to us that moral reasoning is not rational, but emotional. Despite the title of "moral psychology", there are several philosophical issues at stake here.
- There is obviously a concept of action here, that allowing something to happen is not the same as making something happen. (This does not hold for all moral codes, and many (including Asimov's laws of robotics) believe that causing an outcome through inaction is equivalent to causing an outcome through action.) But to what extent are we responsible for those actions we do not interfere with?
- Is there a concept of "natural" or "inevitable" death at stake here, that makes the death of the organ needers that much more acceptable?
- Do the split-second decision making required of the first two scenarios, and the speedy nature with which their consequences will unfold, have an effect on the judgement of the decisions? Is the third scenario, the organ-harvesting one, that much less acceptable because of the length of time invested in carrying out this "lesser of two evils"?
Unfortunately, moral philosophy isn't something I know a great deal about (although I hope to learn), so I can't say if there are any philosophical theories that speculate along these lines. If anyone does know, I'd be very interested to find out, so please, leave a comment.
On another note, the actual method of data-gathering as outlined in the original blog post is a very interesting one. I think greater demographic survey of the web community is needed before it can be fully validated as a method of collecting empirical data, but the project itself, especially the flexible scale of tasks, make it ideal for small squibs and breakfast experiments.
Over at alisaurus.net, the home of Alice's Adventures in China, Alice has posted her story of a wee Orkney lass travelling thousands of miles to China, alone, and the various troubles and tribulations associated with that.
- Alice’s Adventures in China part 1: Getting to China
- Alice’s Adventures in China part 2: Getting to Macau
- Alice’s Adventures in China part 3: Getting to China again
It's an interesting tale, about facing fears, asserting your identity, and trying to survive in totally unfamiliar surroundings. The story ends on a positive note too, as... look, just go read it, okay? Enjoy.
