This morning I got out of the shower and turned on MPR’s “Midmorning” (a nice morning routine) and heard a very bizzare conversation. The host was interviewing two or three twentysomething Muslim women who live in the Twin Cities and who follow traditional Islam. It was utter relativism on display – the show sounded as if the guests were from a Puritanical era of some sectors of the early United States. Over the course of only half an hour these three young American women revealed that alcohol is to be avoided at all times, they believe homosexuality is unacceptable, that touching between sexes is forbidden to avoid “inappropriate relations,” that they cover up at all times to maintain modesty, that they didn’t go to prom because it is not permitted, that men can marry outside the religion but they cannot (and they think that’s fine); and they went on for a minute or two about how nice it would be to have sex-segregated beaches in Minnesota. It was almost like conservative Christians from the 18th century were on the show!
I say “almost” because if the guests were such time-traveling religgies, then they would be subject to ridicule. Their repugnant beliefs on homosexuality and the “place of the woman” are counter to all of MPR’s past coverage. But somehow these religiously demented Muslims are given a warm discussion of their beliefs without any objection from the host or from the callers, with no perspective on what we’d say if religiously demented Christians were on the show instead. Why?
~Isaac
pseudoisaac 