Month: April 2020

On page 155 of Reza Aslan’s “No god but God,” introduces a concept originally created by Spanish philosopher and physician Ibn Rushd dubbed the “two truths” theory. This theory idealizes religion and philosophy as two different ends of a spectrum, with religion being the truth of the masses, and philosophy as truth itself through the scope of human reasoning. I believe there are certain levels validity to this argument as well as discredibility.

As an atheist raised in the Greek Orthodox religion, I have always agreed with Rushd’s view of religion being the truth of the masses. While I personally believe that religion is a fabrication that has persisted through centuries in order to help rationalize what human perception cannot explain, I do also believe there is a sort of truth within the foundation of religions around the world. Many large religious groups such as Islam, Christianity and Catholicism have had such a tremendous impact on the history of the world, through events such as the crusades, colonialism in the new world, etc. It is hard to ignore and rebuke such powerful entities in their own belief systems after having such a profound effect on history. Simply put, I think that religions have created a sort of validity for themselves throughout their impact on history, which is why they are still so incredibly pertinent today.

However, I disagree with Rushd’s view of philosophy and its standing with religion. Primarily, I believe that the two are not opposing factors, but that philosophy is the marriage of past and present knowledge in the ever-evolving pursuit of trying to find “truth” in a world for those who seek meaning in it. What I mean is that to me, religion and science and any other sort of groups of knowledge and thinking are the building blocks for the concept of philosophy.

What are your guys’ personal views on your own religious beliefs and the “two-truths” theory?

At the beginning stages of the pandemic, there were many Western observers who noted that the outbreak could bring about the end of the Communist Party of China (CCP). However, it seems as though that may not be entirely true now. The Chinese government is known to come out with swift and evident policy responses in the face of crisis. This strategy combined with the ever-present censorship and propaganda has given the CCP regime a lot of wiggle room to operate within the pandemic and maintain control. Aside from the death of Chinese whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang, a physician who was one of the first to leak information regarding the developing outbreak, there has been little to shake the infrastructure of China’s current political regime.
So at this point, if anything, the CCP’s standing has been bolstered by the COVID-19 outbreak. This is especially due to the political narrative held in place that the authoritarian system is what creates superior leaders, and the “effectiveness” of China’s COVID-19 treatment in “flattening the curve” has been depicted as highly successful by the CCP. As we all have heard, however, that success may not be entirely true since the current regime is known for using censorship and false news in order to strengthen their own standing amongst the world and their own population. However, I don’t know what will happen if a second wave hits China. There will only be a certain level that public censorship can do for the CCP as it tries to maintain control.

Some questions for the class:
What do you think will happen if the CCP continues to censor information about COVID-19 for their own population, as well as the rest of the world?
How might a second wave affect the CCP’s control and the health of the Chinese population?
Do you think US-China relations will change after the pandemic? How?

I took a second look at the Layla and Majnun story from earlier in the semester and the inspiration that it had in other creative forums. I think the story in itself is very nice for the reader to follow and relate to. I think we all want to find someone that we would do nearly anything for. In my opinion that kind of love can translate to potentially any culture or religion let alone Islam. I think as a result thats why we have seen artists like Eric Clapton take to other creative forums in inspiration of the story. The Crazy about “Layla” reading was very interesting. It was cool to hear the backstory of how he took inspiration from the story and wrote his song. The fact that he wrote the song to convince George Harrison’s wife to leave her husband was amusing and intriguing.

I did some further digging and found a Washington Post article from a few years ago called “Muslim journalists no longer as rare in US newsrooms“. I thought it was quite interesting given the topic and its relation to my major and our class. The piece covers a need for more Muslim journalists in U.S. newsrooms since the rise in Islamophobia due to events like 9/11 and the emergence of other Islamic extremism. It profiles writers like Rummana Hussain who was the metro editor and reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times at the time of the story being published. Her parents wanted her to be in the medical field, where Muslims are more well-represented, rather than a journalist. While an exact number of Muslims working in U.S. newsrooms is not given the piece does say that minorities make up about 13 percent of editorial staffs. The article says that hiring a diversity of faith in the workplace can be “problematic”.

Maria Ebrahimji, a journalist who began working for CNN in Atlanta in the mid-1990s, is quoted in the article and said that she has seen an increase in the number of young Muslims who are interested in journalism for a career. Ebrahimji talked about that fact that when she first started working she wouldn’t address her faith but over time she began to change and identify as Muslim in the workplace.

I found a very interesting interview on Soundcloud with Janet Steele, the Director of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication. She was doing several talks at a few universities in Australia over Journalism in the Islamic world. One thing that I found most interesting from the 15-minute interview was Steele’s commentary on how basic journalism practices like truth and balance intersect with and diverge with the teachings of Islam. It comes at the 1:25 mark of the interview. She specifically references justice and how it intertwines with journalism and Islam and other religions. She says that “justice is a very important concept in Islam, much more important than freedom. So it was things like that, that got me to start asking journalists about the connection between journalism and religion.” I think this is a very interesting connection to make given how important bringing justice is to journalists around the world. I had never considered that relationship.

Here is the link for those that are interested in listening: LINK

There is also a transcript: LINK

Continuing today’s trend of journalism-related posts I decided to take a look at the top Islamic news sources in the world and what their impact is on their readers and the community around them. Given my earlier post about free-press in Islamic countries I was wondering how reliable the news sources in the Islamic world. My thoughts going into the research was that these sources are probably not very reliable and I was anticipating that most of them are probably state-owned publications. I found a very useful Lib-guide that lists Muslim news sources around the world.  Here are a few examples that I could find:

• Al-Ahram is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper according to the Lib-guide. I found that it is owned by the Egyptian government’s “Supreme Council of Press”. essentially the state owns shares of the paper. They view the journalists as “appointees of the state” so I found that the publication is not censored by the government because of this understanding.
• Donya-e-Eqtesad is one of the most widely circulated papers in Iran and it focuses on economic news. I found that it doesn’t currently have an affiliation to the Iranian government and it is often offers moderate criticism to it.

The list is obviously not limited to these two examples but this was still an interesting exercise for me as a journalism major.

I am a journalism major and I decided to do a little bit of research on how journalism is practiced in Islamic countries. As some of you may know the right to free press is not something that is guaranteed for everyone around the world. I found a “World Press Freedom Index” from Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit organization that safeguards the right to freedom of information around the world. The World Press Freedom Index ranks every country in the world based on how free its press is. I also found a list of the top countries in the world by Muslim population. From the top ten countries Nigeria, which ranks 115th in the world according to the site, has the highest free press rating. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world and it ranks 119th in the world. None of the other top-10 Muslim countries from that population list rank higher than 145th in the world.

From looking at the World Free Press Index the realization I came to is that most of the Islam world doesn’t have a very free press.  Roughly 21 million Muslims live in Niger and it ranks 57th in the world. If you made a list of the 25 countries with the largest Muslim population just three of those nations – Niger (57th), Senegal (47th) and Ethiopia (99th) – rank in the top-100 in the world by free press.

For those wondering, the United States ranks 45th on the list of free press in the world. Norway is No.1 in the world. Turkmenistan ranks 179th, the worst in the world.

I am a journalism major and I decided to dive into some research about how Western journalism and media impacts the way we view the Arab culture. I found a JStor journal article from the Middle East Journal called “Islam and the Western Journalist” and I wanted to share with you all. My takeaway was that the piece essentially argues the way western media portrays Muslim people impacts the reality of Muslim thought. The first portion of the article goes into depth about the basic practices of journalists and what they aim to do. The author defines journalism as “the production of general knowledge.” and that ” a journalist is someone who has to sift the particular knowledge and experience of individuals or groups of people, and to extract from it a message which larger groups are able to understand and willing to hear.” The article goes on to argue that there is a weakness in how western journalism treats the Islamic world. The author references a book called Covering Islam which argues that instead of understanding the Islamic world western journalists have simply “tried to explain them in terms of the peculiarities of Islam as a religion, or of Islamic languages and cultures such as Arabic and Persian, which are supposed to predetermine the course of Muslim thought.” The author argues that as a result western society has viewed the Muslim people as “irrational savages” instead of trying to sympathize with the various Muslim peoples. 

The last task I was presented with for my ICR final project assigned by the IACA prompted me to create a public service announcement that would focus on the importance of empathy and understanding during the current pandemic. I was also asked to discuss ways in which misinformation relevant to our unique situation can be disputed. Recently, I have seen many public service type announcements that focus in on many different aspects of the pandemic. My goal was to create a short announcement that would encompass several of the main points needed in order to make informed decisions during the difficult time. The outline that I used while creating my public service announcement is included below:

During this unprecedented and uncertain time, we must stay informed on important information shared with us about COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. We need to be aware of the facts and necessary steps we must take in order to protect our families and those around us.

With the recommendation by President Trump for Americans to shelter in place, we must have empathy given the current global pandemic that we are currently experiencing. Medical professionals are working around the clock to treat patients with the coronavirus, and medical researchers are working hard to test medications, create vaccines, and track data on patient treatments, as well as their outcomes. We must have empathy as we experience this pandemic and do our best to follow the guidelines that are set forth.

Even if you are not worried about your own health and safety, we must realize the impact that this can have on others, if we don’t follow the guidelines put in place. For individual’s with compromised immune systems, the elderly, and young children, the virus can be detrimental to their health. It is therefore important to be considerate of the lives’ around you at all times.

There are many things we need to consider when going out into public. Keep in mind the difference between essential and non-essential needs. When you must go out, please keep a minimum distance of six feet between yourself and those around you. Important items to have with you at all times when you are out in public include: hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, a mask, and gloves (if you choose). It is wise to shop early and take advantage of any early shopping hours provided for the elderly or immunocompromised. When returning home with your essential items, it is crucial to take the necessary precautions in order to protect your household. It is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (also known as the CDC) that you wipe down groceries with a disinfectant wipe before using. For those who choose to support local restaurants during this time, it is important to follow the previously recommended guidelines. Medical research has shown that hot meals are less likely to harbor the coronavirus, and experts suggest reheating the food if concerned, as the virus cannot maintain itself in high temperatures. If possible, it is best to take advantage of online shopping and delivery services for essential items.

Given the circumstances, we must realize that we will be exposed to several opposing viewpoints through social media, news outlets, and our friends and family. Keep in mind that some information shared may be deceiving. Following the guidelines from the CDC, as well as from the World Health Organization, is key to staying informed on the facts. Although this is a challenging time for society as a whole, it is important to remember that there are many people who are fighting for their lives, while many of us are still in the comfort of our own homes. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay informed, and most likely follow the guidelines.

The Chinese government has always been a big proponent of surveying their citizens, but the crisis that is Covid-19 has given them an excuse to monitor their citizens even more than they have been in recent times. This CNN article details the current happenings in China. The article describes the story of an Irish man named Ian Lahiffe who lives in China, and the day that he found a camera being posted up outside of his apartment facing straight at his door. The Covid crisis has allowed the Chinese government to justify their incredible invasion of privacy. According to the article, the Chinese government actually does not have any formal laws regarding the use of surveillance cameras, but they are already a regular part of life in China with the monitoring and social credit systems that they have in place. However, I feel that this is a new step of invasion by the government. The social credit system and surveillance in public I feel is very different than putting cameras directly outside people’s houses, or even in them. I do not think that this crisis justifies that amount of surveillance, and China is on pace to have six times as many surveillance cameras than the United States. Even though the addition of these cameras is an incredible invasion of personal privacy, I find it hard to believe that anyone will actually stop the Chinese government from doing this.