An Academic Is Fired Over a Medieval Painting of the Prophet Muhammad
On Nov. 18, Hamline Universitys student newspaper, The Oracle, published an article notifying its community members of two recent incidents on its campus in Saint Paul, Minnesota, one indubitably homophobic and the other supposedly Islamophobic. Both occurrences were placed under the same rubric as incidents of hate and discrimination.
Islamophobia which involves hate speech against Islam and Muslims and/or physical violence or discrimination against Muslims has indeed proven a blight in the United States, especially after 9/11, the rise of the militant far right and the recent political empowerment of white supremacy.
The Islamophobic incident catalyzed plenty of administrative commentary and media coverage at the university. Among others, it formed the subject of a second Oracle article, which noted that a faculty member had included in their global survey of art history a session on Islamic art, which offered an optional visual analysis and discussion of a famous medieval Islamic painting of the Prophet Muhammad. A student complained about the images inclusion in the course and led efforts to press administrators for a response. After that, the universitys associate vice president of inclusive excellence (AVPIE) declared the classroom exercise undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic.
Neither before nor after these declarations was the faculty member given a public platform or forum to explain the classroom lecture and activity. To fill in the gap, on Dec. 6, an essay written by a Hamline professor of religion who teaches Islam explaining the incident along with the historical context and aesthetic value of Islamic images of Muhammad was published on The Oracles website. The essay was taken down two days later. One day after that, Hamlines president and AVPIE sent a message to all employees stating that respect for the observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom. The essays censorship and the subsequent email by two top university administrators raise serious concerns about freedom of speech and academic freedom at the university.
https://newlinesmag.com/argument/academic-is-fired-over-a-medieval-painting-of-the-prophet-muhammad/
lark
(23,061 posts)delisen
(6,042 posts)marble falls
(57,010 posts)What Would a Muslim Want With a Portrait of Christ? - Newsweek
Among these objects, a large canteen made in the Mosul area, in modern-day northern Iraq, includes a central image of the Virgin Mary with Christ Child enthroned (below), as well as other scenes ...
https://islam.stackexchange.com questions 40753 is-it-true-that-prophet-mohammad-did-not-remove-a-statue-of-mother-mary-from-the
Is it true that Prophet Mohammad did not remove a statue of Mother Mary ...
Hadith 186 says that Quraish had put inside the Ka'abah pictures of Jesus and of Mary. The footnote in the same book says the hadith is weak, with some people unnamed in its narration. ... Our prophet pbuh ordered to wash all the pagan paintings but specifically instructed to leave the portrait of Marry alone.However that too was eventually ...
The Magistrate
(95,241 posts)The student is no different from one of the professional Christians whimpering about 'gay porn' in school libraries.
No matter how devout a person is, they have no right to expect others who do not share their religious views to adhere to their practices, let alone any right to compel them to. It might be courteous to refrain from an action, inconsequential to oneself, which gives some offense to a believer, but no one is required to display such deference, and in many instances, it would be inappropriate to do so. This one of them. The student may not like it, but a survey of medieval art will contain such depictions, and if that is something he wants to study, that's part of the course.
Biophilic
(3,630 posts)When did "feelings" become more important than facts and truth? Sorry, we all live in a world that sometimes does things that upset us, but those feelings should not dictate policy. I don't care if it's white teenagers hearing about racism and feeling badly, nor people of almost any religion finding something upsetting. This professor offered an "optional visual analysis and discussion". Yes, we do live in perilous times, but we should be smart enough to find our way through ourselves and to help others find their way through rather than just deciding to wipe someone or something out. We have to be better than this...or else we truly are lost. Democracy is messy and the truth can cause more messes, but in the long run worth the extra effort.
SalamanderSleeps
(578 posts)However, it does condemn the worship of idols.
Kneeling before a hunk of plaster has always seemed a little stupid to me.
Still, Zealots of all faiths always tend to just make shit up as they go along.
It's a fucking shame that so many folks die just to cater to requirements of other people's "goddamned" fantasies.
dalton99a
(81,391 posts)dalton99a
(81,391 posts)reACTIONary
(5,768 posts)Dr. Strange
(25,916 posts)Holy moley, that's quite the collection of woke buzzwords.
Response to Mosby (Original post)
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Scrivener7
(50,911 posts)and starts being an institutional coercion.
If your religion prohibits you from looking at Muhammad images, by all means don't do so.
If your religion prohibits you from abortion, by all means don't have one.
If your religion prohibits you from disrespecting spaghetti, by all means, don't.
But, as long as the rest of us aren't forcing you to do what you are prohibited by your religion, leave the rest of us out of it.
If there was no disclaimer for Muslim students to leave or turn away before the image was shown, that should have garnered a disciplinary act. Otherwise, leave the rest of us out of it.