Posted on 03/24/2003 5:44:49 AM PST by dennisw
Edited on 05/07/2004 7:36:12 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Didn't that DC assassin Mohamid live in Baton Rouge, La and visit there several times before his killing spree? Could Baton Rouge, La be a hub for an al Qaeda sleeper cell?
Introduction to Islam [UC Davis course] sees general, Muslim students enrollment increaseBy DAVID GLASSER Aggie Features Writer February 27, 2002 - In light of a public awakening and newfound interest in the fastest growing religion around the globe — Islam — UC Davis’ Introduction to Islam class hit a record-high class size, with over 80 students enrolled this quarter in the typically small class. Curiously, over half of these students are Muslim.
According to lecturer Kathleen O’Connor, who has taught this and other Islamic study courses for the past four years, Muslim students take the class “to get a broader understanding of their culture.
“Non-practicing Muslims want to know where they come from. Practicing Muslims want to get information on their roots,” said O’Connor.
“I didn’t know anything about the history of my faith,” said first-year student Sana Ali when asked why she was taking a secular class about her religion. “I think that’s what makes it even more interesting.”
O’Connor said the average Muslim knows what they learn about Islam from their family and religious authorities. Many are unaware of the biographical aspects of Islam.
“It’s a mutual learning relationship,” O’Connor said. “I teach them about the history and background of their faith, which they don’t know a lot about, and they teach me about the day-to-day life within the faith, which I can’t know as well as they do.”
There are many issues to be tackled when teaching a secular class on a topic as sensitive and personally important as religion, said O’Connor.
Many Muslims who take secular classes expect their faith to be attacked and strongly try to rebut any perceived insults against Islam.
“There are always those who feel that they are defending the faith,” said O’Connor. “I have to be careful as an unbeliever. I still say the hard stuff, but I have to do it in a way without causing too much offense.
“There’s a weird sort of unspoken code against nonbelievers studying Islam,” she continued. “I got this handicap with students [by] being an nonbeliever.”
This has been a particular problem in O’Connor’s class, especially when introducing inherently controversial topics such as the place of minority sects and traditions within Islam.
According to O’Connor, modern Muslims are so used to having their faith insulted by Western culture, stereotypes and traditional approaches to religious studies that they try to present a unified front before those outside of their faith.
“Some of the students keep quiet of their opinions because they don’t want to show diversity within the religion, because to some of them diversity tends to suggest disunity and weakness,” said O’Connor.
She said she attempts to combat this tendency by spending as much time dealing with minority groups within Islam as on the mainstream sect.
“It’s like a minefield, you have to deal with all these concepts at once,” O’Connor said. “I’ve learned it’s just better to bring all the ambiguities into the public for discussion.”
One student in the Islam class who wished to remain anonymous said that O’Connor “is teaching the class through her eyes” and that “she emphasizes stuff that she feels is important.”
Another anonymous Muslim student said, “We know better what to concentrate on.” He continued, “We learned from when we were born, [O’Connor] learned it later.”
Still, many students are supportive of O’Connor and her approach to teaching Islam.
One female Sufi Muslim student who wished to remain anonymous stated, “I like how she spends time on all the different forms of Islam.” She continued, “I don’t follow the majority religion, and I appreciate the fact that she realizes that there’s more to Islam than just the Sunni tradition.”
According to O’Connor, many Muslim students go on to take more classes on Islam from her.[excerpt]
I thought they might have found a link between him and Lacy Peterson.
The SacBee reported today that he started UC Davis in 1988 and graduated in 1997 as a ROTC sergeant (not the normal Lt????). He enlisted in the Army 4/15/98 and assigned to the Army Signal Corps. Quickly made sergeant and assigned to the Army's statellite systems operation.
M is for Muslim. That's good enough for me.(Sung to the tune of "The Cookie Monster Song")
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