School...
well, despite my earlier complaint of too much reading, i really am enjoying school here! the whole issue of gender and development still feels over my head, like i cant really grasp all the ideas & conceptual tools and everything since we cover so much each class, but its really interesting. and its really neat that everyone actually cares about the subject and conversations over lunch and get-togethers often come back to stuff we're talking about in class.
and especially today... we've been talking about gender and policy approaches, gender and resource management, gender and health, gender and power relations... but today we had a guest lecturer come in to talk about gender and RELIGION. interesting for sure!! and charged! the lady, whos an anthropologist whose work is mostly in Islamic communities in east africa (she speaks fluent swahili!)... was talking mostly about a sociological view of religion, that's "separate from the theological view - the question of whether a religion is true"... and how religion is lived out in society is both a model OF a society and a model FOR a society... ie, creates how life, social relations, behaviour, etc, IS and defines how it OUGHT to be. in this view, there is no truth in a text or truth in a religion in and of itself, but truth is in the interpretation of the text (ex. Qu'ran says women are to cover the body can be interpreted to mean completely - head, face, fingers, toes.. or less completely) or cultural interpretation of the religion (although people would believe that the truth comes from something outside human existence), which creates morality, how to live, what to do/not do, values, gender & power relations etc for the society. like general trends of domestic violence against women in Islamic communities.
while i agree with her that society is not static, and interpretation is therefore not static... and yes, religion (as anything else) IS necessarily understood and expressed at anytime through the present culture, im not so sure that a sociological view can really be separated from the theological question of truth though, because to even begin an analysis that a worldview of beliefs is constructed by the culture / cultural interpretation is really founded on the assumption that it isn't true, that there ISNT something outside our human existence that directs our understanding of things like morality.
as andrew, a Christian guy in my class noted, religion from my own life and understanding, IS something in and of itself, not just the fabrication of human experience. and its not primarily about symbolic meaning and moral rights and wrongs, but primarily about a relationship, a personal relationship with Jesus. (a bit of my story) the other things are trimmings that stem from that core of a relationship, but those trimmings themselves aren't what constitutes religion. im nice to people not so much because the Bible tells me not to be mean or my Christian culture tells me not to be mean, but primarily because i have a relationship with a God who is loving, i understand through this relationship what love is (well, still continuig to learn!) and that shapes my relationships with other people. i guess what our lecturer was getting at was that what shapes society at large is the trimmings of the culture of religion, but then... is that really even religion? kind of, when talking about social trends in "religious" communities? maybe it depends on the working definition of religion. hmmm...
anyways, this is getting long and academicky... but a lot of questions to think about, lots of discussions going on over lunch today and im sure more to come! keep me in prayer that ill be able to understand this whole topic a little bit more and maybe have opportunities to share a little bit of the truth of Jesus in my life with my classmates!
---
also on the topic of school, i'm writing a paper (any topic on gender & development) for this class due at the end of the month... i have 2 ideas so far that i think would be kind of neat, but havent decided between them / if i will use either one.
1) looking at HIV/AIDS education / other programs in Uganda, and how a gender approach is used/not used/how it is used. Uganda in particular because a) its one of the countries in Africa that has done the best in reducing spread of HIV, and b) ill be there this summer! downside: i dont think there will be one policy/program approach that represents the work in the whole country, so im not sure if this would work as a 10 pg paper
2) looking at World Vision as an organization and see how they address & approach gender in their programs and projects / how their gender approach could be further improved (although this kinda seems like me with my teensy little understanding of gender might be better than what im sure a million experienced minds have put together!). World Vision, because i've worked with the org a bit in the past and support quite a bit, and it might be interesting to look at how being a Christian faith-based organization influences their approach.
well, i'm not sure yet, but we'll see! anyways, very long and wordy post! ill post more fun pictures next time! =)
and especially today... we've been talking about gender and policy approaches, gender and resource management, gender and health, gender and power relations... but today we had a guest lecturer come in to talk about gender and RELIGION. interesting for sure!! and charged! the lady, whos an anthropologist whose work is mostly in Islamic communities in east africa (she speaks fluent swahili!)... was talking mostly about a sociological view of religion, that's "separate from the theological view - the question of whether a religion is true"... and how religion is lived out in society is both a model OF a society and a model FOR a society... ie, creates how life, social relations, behaviour, etc, IS and defines how it OUGHT to be. in this view, there is no truth in a text or truth in a religion in and of itself, but truth is in the interpretation of the text (ex. Qu'ran says women are to cover the body can be interpreted to mean completely - head, face, fingers, toes.. or less completely) or cultural interpretation of the religion (although people would believe that the truth comes from something outside human existence), which creates morality, how to live, what to do/not do, values, gender & power relations etc for the society. like general trends of domestic violence against women in Islamic communities.
while i agree with her that society is not static, and interpretation is therefore not static... and yes, religion (as anything else) IS necessarily understood and expressed at anytime through the present culture, im not so sure that a sociological view can really be separated from the theological question of truth though, because to even begin an analysis that a worldview of beliefs is constructed by the culture / cultural interpretation is really founded on the assumption that it isn't true, that there ISNT something outside our human existence that directs our understanding of things like morality.
as andrew, a Christian guy in my class noted, religion from my own life and understanding, IS something in and of itself, not just the fabrication of human experience. and its not primarily about symbolic meaning and moral rights and wrongs, but primarily about a relationship, a personal relationship with Jesus. (a bit of my story) the other things are trimmings that stem from that core of a relationship, but those trimmings themselves aren't what constitutes religion. im nice to people not so much because the Bible tells me not to be mean or my Christian culture tells me not to be mean, but primarily because i have a relationship with a God who is loving, i understand through this relationship what love is (well, still continuig to learn!) and that shapes my relationships with other people. i guess what our lecturer was getting at was that what shapes society at large is the trimmings of the culture of religion, but then... is that really even religion? kind of, when talking about social trends in "religious" communities? maybe it depends on the working definition of religion. hmmm...
anyways, this is getting long and academicky... but a lot of questions to think about, lots of discussions going on over lunch today and im sure more to come! keep me in prayer that ill be able to understand this whole topic a little bit more and maybe have opportunities to share a little bit of the truth of Jesus in my life with my classmates!
---
also on the topic of school, i'm writing a paper (any topic on gender & development) for this class due at the end of the month... i have 2 ideas so far that i think would be kind of neat, but havent decided between them / if i will use either one.
1) looking at HIV/AIDS education / other programs in Uganda, and how a gender approach is used/not used/how it is used. Uganda in particular because a) its one of the countries in Africa that has done the best in reducing spread of HIV, and b) ill be there this summer! downside: i dont think there will be one policy/program approach that represents the work in the whole country, so im not sure if this would work as a 10 pg paper
2) looking at World Vision as an organization and see how they address & approach gender in their programs and projects / how their gender approach could be further improved (although this kinda seems like me with my teensy little understanding of gender might be better than what im sure a million experienced minds have put together!). World Vision, because i've worked with the org a bit in the past and support quite a bit, and it might be interesting to look at how being a Christian faith-based organization influences their approach.
well, i'm not sure yet, but we'll see! anyways, very long and wordy post! ill post more fun pictures next time! =)
posted by Rainbow Choi =) at
3:33 PM
2 Comments:
hey bow! that speaker on religion sounds soo interesting! brought forth a few somewhat valid perspectives, i think. keep thinking though, it's good :)
im also studying about gender and power relations, oddly enough. cept mine's under the umbrella of ideology, and the media.
oooh, do the second paper on WV and gender approaches...now THAT would be interesting..!
much love
debs
By
debbie, at Fri Jan 19, 03:27:00 PM
oooh a 3rd idea just came up... a gendered look at the book by economist Jeffrey Sachs that I've been reading - "The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time".
hmmm.. that's a huge read though... but given that i've been trying to read it for a year and am still only half way through, it might be a good motivation!
By
Rainbow Choi =), at Mon Jan 22, 05:55:00 AM
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