Friday, January 7, 2011

215. Differences



I see that the Islamic community here is monolithic in religious belief and will tolerate absolutely nothing in the way of independent thought or expression. For example: I am shown the precisely correct way to place my fingers on my thighs as I do some of the exercises of prayer and, when I close my fingers one morning because of the extreme cold, I am reprimanded.


Experimentation or being different is not simply forbidden; it is not even considered. Everybody is not only equal, but identical in belief.


Is this the ultimate Democracy?


Or is there perhaps more than one way to skin a cat…more than one way to place your hands when you pray? Perhaps when you think you or someone else has all the right answers straight from God’s mouth, as it were; you are just plain wrong—even if there are millions of you.


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