Week 12: Related Readings
1067 words by framzi
My project is going better than I expected. I am done editing my video and I hope to post it on YouTube very soon. It is very unfortunate that I was only able to make the video and not the other stuff. I must admit I got caught up with all my other classes, but I think that the video is going to be great and that many people will find it interesting. I worked really hard to make it interesting and informative at the same time. As I mentioned before in an earlier blog, I went around Xavier’s campus and interviewed many students to see how much they know about Islam and to know their opinion about it. To my surprise many people agreed to participate. About ten people agreed to participate in the interview. Even though the semester is almost over and I made a video, I didn’t want to stop there. As a result, I got together with other Xavier students and we have decided to establish an MSA (Muslim Student Association) here at Xavier University. This organization will allow Xavier students to learn about each other’s culture and beliefs so that we can all come together as one community. Muslim Student Association. will not only be for Muslim students, its main purpose is for Muslim and non-Muslim students to join so that we can bridge the gap between us. I met with campus ministry on Wednesday April twenty second in the year two thousand and nine., with the adviser and the other students that are interested. The meeting went really well and Ms. Lisa McClain, who is representative of campus ministry, said that she supports us in establishing a Muslim Student Association. However, she also said that it is not completely up to her. She still has to talk to her supervisor and possibly Norman C. Francis. She said that she will start the dialogue of the important process after finals are over. Hopefully everything will go well and Muslim Student Association will be established. We will hear the final decision during the summer of the year two thousand and nine, till then we are just praying. This is the first real project for me to ever do on my own, but I think it is going well. I will definitely continue my project after the semester is over. I may do more videos, make the brochure I wanted to do, and the Facebook group.
Jesus is considered extremely counter cultural. At that time men, especially holy men, never mingled with sinners and especially women. Jesus did the exact opposite. His best friends were sinners and women. One of his disciples was a tax collector. People hated tax collectors, but he still chose Matthew to be one of his disciples to follow him in the service. And Mathew became a very devoted disciple who was loved by all. And he even wrote a whole book in the Bible discussing the life of Jesus. Jesus also respected women, which was very unusual during those times. One of his close friends was Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was known to have been possessed by many demons because of her sinful living. She finally received peace when Jesus was willing to put his hand on her and heal her. No man back there would be caught alive touching a sinner. Jesus even let a sinful woman clean his feet with perfume. In return he granted her forgiveness from her sins. Jesus’ teachings were also counter cultural. He taught love your enemies and bless those who curse you. This was not the normal teachings during those times. The norm was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Jesus was teaching that if someone slaps you on your cheek, then turn the other cheek instead of hitting that person back. The secret Jesus would tell was that although you would get hurt on earth, God in heaven would see your good deed and reward you on both earth and most importantly heaven. Jesus was also extremely counter cultural because he healed on the Sabbath day. This was a big no no in the Jewish religion. But Jesus did not take that into account. He believed that good deeds should be done all the time and not stopped for a single second. Most people that he healed were on the Sabbath day. Jesus was definitely counter cultural and that’s why everyone would travel long and far to see him. He was different and most people liked that. My project was not countercultural. This is because in America people like to inform. So what I was doing was informing people about my religion. I have freedom of speech in the United States of America, so culturally I am doing something that many people try to do, and that is inform people about misconceptions they may have. I hope the project is a success because I truly want people to understand Islam and the nature of the religion.
The video is coming soon. It is still being processed on YouTube.