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AR 22:3 - Waking up to the nightmare of 'Westworld'
In this issue:
CHRISTOLOGY - how 'The Islamic Jesus' gets it wrong
CULTURE - secular critic of HBO's Westworld series asks: "What price does sin extract from our humanity?"
FREEDOM OF SPEECH - Canadian court favors feminist criticism of Muslim school
Apologia Report 22:3 (1,323)
January 18, 2017
CHRISTOLOGY
The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims, by Mustafa Akyol [1] -- "In a conversational style and with studious acumen, Akyol <mustafaakyol.org> ... shows scintillating connections between 'Jewish followers of Jesus and Arab followers of Muhammad' and how Jewish Christianity possibly shaped the Qur'an's view of Isa—the Arabic name of Jesus. Tracing sacred texts from multiple traditions and centuries of commentary and contemplation ... Akyol introduces the Islamic Jesus to the world." Publishers Weekly, Dec '16 #2 [3]
"Akyol reviews the place of Jesus in the scope of Islam in a way that few modern writers have, especially outside of purely academic works. After a short discussion on the concept of the 'historical Jesus,' he explores the divide between the theology developed by Paul, which became Christianity, broadly understood, and that developed by James and the church in Jerusalem, which became 'Jewish Christianity,' a sect that eventually died out. The author goes on to share the intriguing similarities between the theology of Jewish Christians and the Quran's theological concept of Jesus. In a pivotal chapter, the author provides a variety of recognized theories (and some archaeological evidence) for a real, historical connection between the vanishing Jewish Christians and the first followers of Islam. Nowhere does Akyol suggest that any one theory is definitive, but he certainly leaves readers with food for thought. He continues by exploring the role Jesus plays in the Quran, especially in contrast to his role in Christianity. In reviewing Quranic verses on Jesus, the author reveals that in many cases, parallel or at least related statements are made in apocryphal Christian literature. Among many other examples, the Quran claims that Jesus breathed life into clay birds, a statement highly reminiscent of a similar tale in a work of Christian Apocrypha, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Ultimately, Akyol finds that Jesus provides Muslims with a worthy exemplar of piety and holiness and that the overtones of history and geopolitics need not dampen that fact. A fascinating bridge text between Islam and Christianity." Kirkus, Dec '16 #2 [2]
One may find that the publisher's promotional copy gives greater clarity on the author's real intentions than the above reviews: "The Islamic Jesus reveals startling new truths about Islam in the context of the first Jews and the early origins of modern-day Christianity. Both Islam and the first Christians - the Jewish followers of Jesus - didn’t see Jesus as divine but rather as a prophet, and both groups believe that salvation comes directly from good works, and not directly from God. What Akyol seeks to reveal in The Islamic Jesus is how these core beliefs of Judaism emerged in a new religion born in the 7th century: Islam."
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CULTURE
Sometimes just encountering a question reveals the severity of our culture's disconnect from biblical morality. Brandon Ambrosino's October 20, 2016 BBC News feature is titled: "Would sex with a robot be infidelity?" Adult-rated entertainment in the form of HBO's Westworld drama series <www.goo.gl/xPC7V1> "about a Wild West-themed amusement park where guests are able to do whatever they wish to the 'hosts', or robots, who populate the resort," reveals one media organization's quest for legitimacy by engaging our culture's desensitized ethics.
More specifically, Ambrosino asks: "How real does sex have to be to constitute infidelity?" These challenges are raised in the context of a Westworld character, Logan, a twisted repeat guest who "seems like a psychopath - until we remember that, well, most of us have been there. As [another guest asks], is there any real difference between Logan and 'some 15-year-old kid beating a virtual sex worker to death in Grand Theft Auto just because he can?' Sure, it's probably easier to shoot a 3-inch avatar on a TV screen than a 6-ft humanoid standing right in front of you. But the point is, both killings are defended with the same argument: it's just a game. ...
"No doubt Westworld will continue exploring questions most of us haven't yet thought of. ... As social psychologist Sherry Turkle, who investigates our relationship with technology, has pointed out, our conversations about the future shouldn't obsess over what robots will be like. Instead, she says, we should think what kind of people we will be, what kind of people we are becoming, every day, whether we're watching porn, making love to our partners, trying to outsmart Siri or killing an avatar for no other reason than that's what happens in a video game. ...
"Logan understands this intuitively. By the end of this trip, he tells [a companion] as the two ride into the park, 'you're gonna be begging me to stay, because this place is the answer to that question you've been asking yourself: who you really are. And I can't wait to meet that guy.'" Westworld seems a most sad and appropriate signpost for where our culture appears to be headed. <www.goo.gl/Uhf30p>
Writing for the Religious News Service (Dec 2 '16), Kimberly Winston's piece, "HBO's 'Westworld': Robot sex and the nature of the soul," notes that the network "apparently doesn't produce a drama series unless it has a kink or two." Winston finds that "the show raises theological questions about what it means to be human and what it costs us to sacrifice our humanity for momentary pleasure."
In Westworld, "well-heeled guests pay big bucks to cavort and indulge their every sexual and violent whim in a big, bad theme park where they cannot be hurt. ...
"'The disturbing message … is that machines could one day be so close to human as to be indistinguishable – not just in intellect and appearance, but also in moral terms,' Tony Prescott, a cognitive neuroscientist and director of a robotics center at the University of Sheffield, said of Westworld in the online magazine The Conversation <www.goo.gl/HnoNQJ>.
"'At the same time, by presenting an alternate view of the human condition through the technological mirror of life-like robots, 'Westworld' causes us to reflect that we are perhaps also just sophisticated machines, albeit of a biological kind.' ...
"Ken Chitwood, a scholar of religion at the University of Florida, said Westworld touches on affect theory in its exploration of whether robots made by humans to look and behave like humans require us to treat them as if they were human. ...
"So far, Westworld has not answered ... any of the moral-theological questions it raises. Chief among them: What price does a judgment-free zone, where all manner of sins from murder to rape can be committed, extract from our humanity?" <www.goo.gl/MjG8g5>
Missing in the foregoing analysis is the concept of how sin begins as a matter of thought and intent, the connection between Matthew 5 and 15, and how our greatest problems start inside before they ever appear on the outside.
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FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Middle East Forum news release (Jan 5 '17) trumpets "Legal Project Funds a Major Victory in Canada" -- brief good news from an unexpected quarter: "A Quebec Superior Court has found feminist author Djemila Benhabib <djemilabenhabib.com> not guilty of defamation for telling a radio host that the Muslim School of Montreal gives its students 'an indoctrination worthy of military camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.' ...
"In 2012 radio interviews, Ms. Benhabib criticized the school for teaching 'extremely violent' and 'misogynistic' Koranic verses to students, and for 'spreading a message of hatred.' She said the school 'is creating fundamentalist activists who in a few years will be demanding accommodations....'" <www.goo.gl/BMsaFc>
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims, by Mustafa Akyol (St. Martin's, 2017, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.goo.gl/tgcFxW>
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