http://www.oldroads.org/ Comments on life, texts, and places Society & Culture Personal Journals en Copyright 2007 martyn.smith@lawrence.edu (Martyn Smith) martyn.smith@lawrence.edu Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:34:02 GMT Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:34:02 GMT RSS DreamFeeder v 2.2.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.gif Although I had to miss the mulid for Sayyida Zaynab, I nonetheless found a group of men belonging to a Sufi order who had arrived to the mosque a couple of weeks early. They in turn let me know about a mulid taking place in Alexandria that same week. The incident reveals the informal channels of information in popular Egypt. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/0FM6gYMLT6g/popular_Egypt_at_Sayyida_Zaynab.htm Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:32:18 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1247369642836:7314630712413815:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/popular_Egypt_at_Sayyida_Zaynab.htm The third section of a series of videos on the Fox River of Wisconsin. This video explores the area known locally as the "Heart of the Valley." Most of this footage is from the winter. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/udYERlSqqGg/Fox_River_pt_3.htm Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:27:20 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1245036504199:9013274428114256:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Fox_River_pt_3.htm Thomas O'Loughlin's book Adomnan on the Holy Places argues that the topographical work of 7th century theologian Adomnan should be considered within the tradition of Latin theology. For us it is most important to note O'Loughlin's defense of a complex reading methodology. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/LjsdYyj2iP8/Adomnans_book_on_the_holy_places.htm Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:35:55 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1244781487121:45108060854807290:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Adomnans_book_on_the_holy_places.htm Some of the final projects turned in by students in my intro to religious studies course. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/VlDNPt_o3c0/student_final_projects.htm Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:45:07 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1244609169613:6527843985116873:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/student_final_projects.htm Herman Melville began his career writing about the South Seas but ends it with Clarel, a novel set in the Holy Land. It would seem a strange trajectory, but it makes more sense when you realize how much of the South Seas makes its way into the faith-drama of Clarel. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/G90S6-GFfB0/the_South_Seas_in_the_Holy_Land.htm Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:19:55 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1244438543912:20825138820993972:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/the_South_Seas_in_the_Holy_Land.htm The Book of Certitude by the founder of the Bahai religion Baha'u'llah gives a sense of how religious history is reconfigured. In its allegorical reading of the Bible it is exempary. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/RQ3EaqD2q90/the_certitude_of_Bahaullah.htm Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:51:17 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1244263968903:5119245424813554:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/the_certitude_of_Bahaullah.htm Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:51:17 GMT manual:1244263968904:5095877549618939:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss A new religion is interesting to follow as we get to see the process by which a new tradition distinguishes itself from an old one. In this case the Bahai use of garden imagery is traced to the experience of Baha'u'llah in the Garden of Ridvan. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/o0xaWFdusx0/Garden_of_Ridvan_everywhere.htm Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:37:15 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1244176719928:39372165103585480:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Garden_of_Ridvan_everywhere.htm The more I read of Tariq Ramadan the more I feel certain that he represents the future of Islam. His method of dealing with the Quran manages to be faithful to the text yet still allow for moderate outcomes. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/3RgWTYjmmHI/Tariq_Ramadan.htm Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:02:25 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1243919014437:9774599386168664:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Tariq_Ramadan.htm A day like today with all the topics I have thought about makes me feel I chose the right discipline. A Tom Cruise discussion of Scientology provides an example of how religions claim to be able to see the world for what it is. As religion scholars we are fascinated by how we can't see the world for what it is. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/FjnTU8p4QkA/why_I_like_religious_studies.htm Sat, 30 May 2009 04:05:26 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1243656421264:23748085831249776:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/why_I_like_religious_studies.htm Aurora and I attended the Memorial Day parade here in Appleton, Wisconsin. Seeing it through her eyes made me think about how early children are inaugurated into the system of national symbols. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/hGg7mbD3n1k/Memorial_Day_parade.htm Tue, 26 May 2009 04:31:20 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1243312340466:3556402902682777:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Memorial_Day_parade.htm Burn After Reading is a minor effort by the Coen Brothers, but it is a perfect example of the moral world they like to construct. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/f7JduiVvZ1Y/Burn_After_Reading.htm Tue, 26 May 2009 04:29:06 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1243312190482:8140518400163489:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Burn_After_Reading.htm A look at my new camera and a look at our morning outing with Aurora to the Bubolz Nature Preserve in Appleton, Wisconsin. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/XEVtJ3ZAlPo/turtles_Aurora_and_my_new_camera.htm Mon, 25 May 2009 03:55:25 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1243223842762:5549605179591252:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/turtles_Aurora_and_my_new_camera.htm The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright connects the dots of the careers of bin Laden and his partners in jihad. Wright is especially insightful in a section on the hijra where he looks at the semiotics of bin Laden's situation. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/74f_T-vw6DQ/Bin_Laden_and_the_Cave.htm Sun, 24 May 2009 05:08:11 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1243141807452:3657017191200205:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Bin_Laden_and_the_Cave.htm A review of Together Through Life by Bob Dylan, with an emphasis on what distinguishes this album from his last three. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/2B6y6STKuIY/Together_Through_Life_Bob_Dylan.htm Fri, 22 May 2009 05:22:08 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1242969772263:5226839444165345:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Together_Through_Life_Bob_Dylan.htm I put up a playlist of Aurora at the local park and comment on the way her experience of the small screen has changed completely from what I knew growing up. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/jOqhpLDJJmM/time_may_change_us.htm Thu, 21 May 2009 04:22:24 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1242879799916:4514425843732406:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/time_may_change_us.htm Muslim theologian al-Ghazali provides a manual for interpreting the Quran in Niche of Lights. He establishes the connection between the sensible and the rational worlds. Then he also gives an interesting portrait of the experience of the prophet. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/xR5WgtobIas/how_a_prophet_sees_the_world.htm Wed, 20 May 2009 04:30:30 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1242793919888:4441363568039518:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/how_a_prophet_sees_the_world.htm Reading Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower I was reminded that torture has been a part of the Islamist story for a long time. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/ZOZj0JXzBNw/men_of_the_pit.htm Mon, 18 May 2009 05:12:17 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1242623584557:3930544625848529:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/men_of_the_pit.htm The Rastafari claim Marcus Garvey as a forerunner to their movement, but at first glance this is a strange move since Garvey was a resolutely political actor. However the conceptual system he set in place could be easily adapted to a religious narrative. How this happens is evident in Bob Marley's "They Got So Much Things to Say." ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/t3YRZ2KVwRI/Marcus_Garvey_and_Rastafari.htm Sat, 16 May 2009 05:12:52 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1242450911732:8055894523517727:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Marcus_Garvey_and_Rastafari.htm I argue that yes, Wallace Stevens must have known Clarel by Herman Melville quite well. Especially in "Sunday Morning" this influence comes through quite clearly. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/ltqJzGIApxk/did_Wallace_Stevens_read_Clarel.htm Thu, 14 May 2009 04:41:48 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1242276179542:6893176333673121:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/did_Wallace_Stevens_read_Clarel.htm The new book The Present Alone is Our Happiness contains a series of interviews with Pierre Hadot. He presents a view of academic work that makes it more like spiritual work.. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/hInWBI5q8Ns/wisdom_from_Pierre_Hadot.htm Tue, 12 May 2009 04:46:43 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1242103665272:37273006742958930:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/wisdom_from_Pierre_Hadot.htm