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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Stephen Jones wrote: |
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| ...Karen Armstrong and Bernard Lewis are two authors I'd recommend. |
They both have the virtue of not letting facts get in the way of their personal opinions. |
100% agreement on Lewis... 100% disagreement on Armstrong...
VS |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Don't know Armstrong's work personally. But it's certainly subject to some fairly serious attacks. |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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Yes... if there is anything that very religious people can not tolerate, it is reading informed intellectual analysis of religion.
Her books are fascinating and highly informative... and brimming with facts. I recommend them.
VS |
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scot47

Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:32 am Post subject: |
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| Armstrong's works are well written and easy to read. I am not sure that I agree with her theology but it makes a change to read a commentator from "The West" who knows the subject. |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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The criticism of Armstrong mentioned in Wikipedia, is apparently from fairly doctrinaire right-wing sources.
Her fields of interest are not sufficiently interesting to me to make it worthwhile investigating further in the short or mid-term. |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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| scot47 wrote: |
| Armstrong's works are well written and easy to read. I am not sure that I agree with her theology but it makes a change to read a commentator from "The West" who knows the subject. |
Some of her best books are more academic and a bit harder to read. Every teacher who works in the Middle East should read "Holy War" and "Jerusalem" to get insight into the history of what we are dealing with right now. And more easily readable is "The Battle for God" about fundamentalism in the three Mosaic religions.
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eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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VS wrote: to get insight into the history of what we are dealing with right now
What exactly does that mean? |
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trapezius

Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 1670 Location: Land of Culture of Death & Destruction
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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| "Holy War" and "Jerusalem" are self-explanatory. |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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Eclectic is a newbie to the Middle East I think... these two books tie all of the history of this part of the world together and explain (or try to explain) why the three religions continue to be locked into repetitious wars.
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trapezius

Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 1670 Location: Land of Culture of Death & Destruction
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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| You have to be new to the world to not know what's going on in the world for the past several years involving "Holy War" and "Jerusalem"! |
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