bulls eye hit is true, but: maya was raising the epistemological traits of god, particularly allah, as male/ patriarchal and her understanding is very much true if she follows the traditional islamic exegesis of qur'an, which are unquestionably patriarchal and xenophobic.
i was introducing the alternate readings/ thoughts slowly coming up within islam which have the stake to reject the patriarchal/oppressive readings of qur'an. experiencing/understanding the God has the large shade of mystery as you rightly described. it has almost nothing to do with the epistemic position of god described in scriptures and interpreted/contextualized in millions of ways, which in turn function in most of the contexts oppressive and biased. attempts to depicting scientific endeavors in terms of tradition and scriptures are really funny as we 've seen on the essay by ziauddin sardar http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2008/08/quran-muslim-scientific On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 4:26 PM, damodar prasad <[email protected]>wrote: > I put my comments in this thread only bcoz I find the discussion on God > somewhat uneasy in a thread on 3 establishments as I have mentioned before. > Nonetheless, my response is shaped by that discussion. > > After the successful launch of Chadrayaan, a scientific victory of > Nation-State and Scientific establishment. ( It is exactly not a victory of > science since there is nothing innovative in the endeavor except the fact > the space exploration has been made more cheaper), G.Madhavan Nair, the ISRO > Chief, went to Guruvayur for offering a Tulabaram ( don't know whether > there is an English word for it). Those scientific temper enthusiasts would > have frowned at it as they saw the picture of G.Madhavan Nair "weighing" > himself to God. > > It may also have happened that the scientist in the concerned project have > decided the launch time according to Hindu astrology concerning rahukalam > etc. Anyway that is classified information, which we may not have access to. > > > While working on the project they must have appealed to the GOD for the > success of launch. However, the science- the actual process, the rational > calculations, technological design- behind the whole enterprise was not > based on a theological text or a scripture. God actually did not have a role > in the process. > > They very well-know these two are incommensurable logics. But these does > not annihilate each other as the distance between both are never closed. > > But there are others who would like to "reconcile each other". Here the God > is absent but it is material tradition that is called forth. > > The problem with this new enthusiasts of India's scientific tradition and > hardened traditionalist like the Gopalakrishnan type people are that they > want to depict the scientific endeavors in terms of tradition. And in turn > the static tradition is legitimized in terms of science. The vedic > mathematics are all part of this grand scheme, as I understand. ( > Goapalakrishnan's "Valluvadan" Malayalam oration is also specifically > designed to communicate the purity of Hindu scientific tradition) > > Its a political act. > > when an average ( in the sense of "sadarana") human goes to places of > worship, no one actually cares. This is bcoz we do not endow the average > with 'scientific" intelligence. > > It is when Madhavan Nair or P.Govinda Pillai goes to places of worship, we > have a problem. For that matter, the media concerns itself with religion in > public life when Abdulla Kutty stress the significance of religion or when > the church authorities say that late Mathai Cahcko has baptized his son at > church. > > Here there is a moral expectation of how the public personalities should > behave. The society imposes certain moral codes on them. And some times, > interestingly. the same public persons are criticized for their firmness of > commitment to the ideology they profess. > > Why should we impose such moral codes on public persons as long it does not > hamper civil life? > > This is perhaps bcoz the so-called public always doubted about science and > rationalism or bcoz publci persons are considered as automatons to behave > one-dimensionally. The media deny them alternatives for explorations, > possibilities of new inquiries. > > We can also see that media tends to highlights that some hardcore > Hindutvadi is an atheist or inon- spiritual etc. I have seen reports > communicating that in Advani's home there are no photos of any gods. > > Again, the religious politics little concerns itself with spiritual or the > GOD. > > As a believer I have failed to "understand" what God is. And that's bcoz > the very notions of "understanding" is premised on different theories of > ontology. God fails me in that. Its better to unthink GOD. > > I don't know whether am making clear. One reason, apart from others, for > this unclarity is that God is not graspable at least in my words and terms. > I don't about yours. > > Oh!My god. what a blashpemy!! > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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