So we were talking about Edward Said's Orientalism in recitation, which I read and re-read for my theory class. The thesis of the text is about how the West projects its own ideas about the Orient onto the Orient for their own interests, and don't actually take into account what being in the Eastern world is like. It does not specifically address religion but I thought it was relevant.
Anyway, I was thinking about how we get our views of the East from Orientalist texts (for the most part) and wondering if it would be possible for us to see that part of the world from another point of view. It reminded me of what Maureen was saying in class about not only not passing your own judgment, but suspending your values. It seems like that would be incredibly hard to do. So even if you wanted to study Islam from an empathetically objective point of view, I think you would always be seeing it with your Western views, or always being conscious of trying to push aside your Western views.
I kind of noticed this when Professor Valeta was asking a question to Imam Kazerooni. He took forever to word the question, like he was searching for the politically correct way to say it so he wouldn't offend the guest.
It was useful of Said to write Orientalism because it makes us aware of our attitudes toward other parts of the world. But breaking out of these attitudes is much harder.
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