Re: Idol Worship

Posted By Paliath Narendran (dran@panini.cs.albany.edu)
22 Apr 1997 15:34:40 GMT

The discussion on idol-worship has been very interesting and
educational for me. Perhaps it will be a good idea to also
discuss the objections (of Muslims, Jews, etc.) to our practices.

I have often felt that much of this depends on how the term
"idol-worship" is defined and who defines it. Such derogatory
terms for attacking other religions are often defined by the
accusers to only include others' practices. ("Idol-worship is
what other religions do.")

Recently there was some discussion in the Malayalam magazine
`Mathrbhoomi' on the practice of lighting a lamp to start a
function, as is often done in Kerala. Some Muslims objected to
this, saying that lighting a lamp is a form of idol-worship (the
exact word used was "vigrahaaraadhanaa."). A noted Muslim
scholar, Sheikh Mohammed Karaikunnu, wrote that though there are
no idols present, idol-worship is inherent in this practice.

Rather than discuss this specific issue, we should try to get a
clear understanding of the terms of the debate.

Narendran

-- 
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Paliath Narendran
Associate Professor                    URL: http://www.cs.albany.edu/~dran/
Department of Computer Science         phone: (518)442-3387

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