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steppy-boy · Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 61

Have any teachers here in Oman or the Middle East in general noticed that our students have many strange ideas and beliefs?

For example, two students came up to me and with all seriousness warned me not to eat pork because - and get this - it will make me less jealous when someone sleeps with my spouse. I laughed at this and thought they were joking, but to my utter amazement, they weren't.

I can cite many other examples of such silliness. It seems that this whole region and Muslims in general have many way out ideas! I suspect they live in a fantasy world of their own making. Their ideas about the West are particularly strange, far-fetched an ill-informed.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? I would love to hear them.

Steppy-boy.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

steppy-boy · Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 61

Maybe or maybe not. But they do believe that Mohammad went to the moon and split it in half, that it was the CIA that crashed the planes into the Twin Towers, that it was a Zionist plot, that all the Jews stayed home that fateful day, that its quite acceptable to kill those who want to leave their religion, that all science and technology was invented by them, that Jacque Costeau was a Muslim, that all the great thinkers were really Muslim but didn't know it, that its OK to bury women up to their waist, put a sack over their head and crush their skulls with stones, etc,. Believe me, the list can go on much longer. In the Hadith, there are literally hundreds of impossible and implausable stories that are more bizarre than the above I have quoted. It seems that Muslims are very frustrated because deep down they know they are dominated and rely so much on the West (And now the East) for their own progress and they don't unberstand why.

Stepy-boy.

veiledaccoutrements · Joined: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Europe

But they are happy, which is more than can be said for many in the West.

Leave thou thy sister, when she prays,
her early heaven, her happy views,
nor thou with shadow'd hint confuse
a life that leads melodious days.

Tennyson.

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

And they pay tax-free salaries! That's really disturbng!

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

No religion has beliefs that will withstand analysis or thought. That is why they invented the word 'faith.' It is usually best preceded by the word 'blind.' Have you ever bothered to read the "Bible" or the centuries of analysis written by the Jewish and Christian interpreters? These are the fellows who seriously debated such things how many angels can dance on the head of a pin...

You need to keep in mind that in 1970 there were no schools in Oman except for 2-3 tiny madrasas teaching the Quran. The first batch of university students arrived at SQU about 1986... and almost none of them had literate parents. Folk beliefs are still strong...

To be honest, your post says as much about you as them...

VS

Bindair Dundat · Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 1123

omanized · Joined: 04 Jun 2006 Posts: 152

Regarding one's domestic situation and eating pork, it is also not recommended to fry up bacon while naked. I believe this advice is alluded to in the Muslim faith and it is certainly a well known bit of home-spun commmon sense in the west - you see, there is plenty of common ground that we can share with our colleagues and hosts in the Gulf.

Celebrate differences ! The OP's post reminds me of several newbies I have encountered over the years who are shocked that life is vastly different to our own, east or west - what does one expect ?? It boggles my mind........

In Thailand, they eat bugs, in India, they poop in the river and wash their clothes downstream, in Africa, they pierce their lips with discs to enlarge them, in Canada, they build hotels out of ice, in the States they build trucks with wheels the size of small cars and drive them over other small cars.........what a wonderful world !

omanized

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Whoops. I thought this thread was about a massive Goodyear recall.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

eha · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 355 Location: ME

Aliskander · Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 50

And in all these places, not to mention in Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Australia, some people smile in your face while stabbing you in the back. Which seems to me a far, far worse thing than believing that eating pork makes you jealous, etc. What's that one about motes and beams?

And here they don't stab you in the back - get real. Any student will smile in your face and tell you how much they love you and how great you are - then tomorrow they will go to the principal of the college / school / university, sheikh or Wali and tell them how bad you are!!!!
Face life - this is one of lifes' unpleasant realities - across the world, all religions and all cultures.

eha · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 355 Location: ME

I didn't exclude 'here' -- if by 'here' you mean the Muddle East. I said 'Europe, ASIA, (and I meant every square inch of it) Australia, etc.
I also intended the 'motes and beams' reference to extend to ANYONE who thinks s/he's superior to those s/he's sneering at--- and that means expats, inpats, outpats, cowpats, etc. In fact, I personally have no time for so-called 'positive thinking' at the expense of reality.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

"cowpats" hee hee

VS