Feb. 28 - Lahore, Pakistan
Monday, February 28 :: Lahore, Pakistan :: 4km today / 5303km total
Another brutally long transit day. On my first minibus ride the bus was filled with very conservative, elderly Pakistani men, the man beside me quietly chanting from the Qu'ran, or thereabouts, much of the way. We talked a bit, and I don't think I've ever met a man whose eyes displayed such inner peace and tranquility. All of them were extremely welcoming and happy to have me in their company.
After coming through such a conservative area I feel the need to say a bit about Islam and the culture here. Islam is very misunderstood in the West, most people really don't know what it's all about. Islam shares the same theological background as Christianity, with 2 main differences that I see: like Jews, Muslims do not believe in the divinity of Jesus (although they do believe he was a really, really good guy, a very important Prophet of God), and Muslims believe that another really, really good guy came along about 600 years after Jesus, named Muhammed. Muhammed is responsible for writing/producing the Qu'ran, and, like Jesus, was not divine. He is the most important Prophet, however, because he delivered the Final Word of God. Christians and Jews, not having adopted the Final Word, would be viewed as "backwards", theologically, not having the whole picture, but not "evil" or bad. Allah is their name for the Christian/Jewish God. Same guy. The Bible is also Holy to Muslims, and they revere Moses, Abraham, etc. as also very, very good guys. When Christians or Jews pray to God they are praying to Allah. Every Muslim I've met understands all this, and understands the similarity to Christianity and Judaism. Islam gets a bad reputation from the actions of a handful of bad men, all of whom true Muslims wash their hands of. These men use clever propaganda and media manipulation to confuse the masses to achieve their personal agendas - but this is nothing new or unique to Islam: look at 1930's Germany, or 2001-2006 United States.
Two bus changes, another long day, into Lahore at 1 a.m., India is 30km away (again!).
Another brutally long transit day. On my first minibus ride the bus was filled with very conservative, elderly Pakistani men, the man beside me quietly chanting from the Qu'ran, or thereabouts, much of the way. We talked a bit, and I don't think I've ever met a man whose eyes displayed such inner peace and tranquility. All of them were extremely welcoming and happy to have me in their company.
After coming through such a conservative area I feel the need to say a bit about Islam and the culture here. Islam is very misunderstood in the West, most people really don't know what it's all about. Islam shares the same theological background as Christianity, with 2 main differences that I see: like Jews, Muslims do not believe in the divinity of Jesus (although they do believe he was a really, really good guy, a very important Prophet of God), and Muslims believe that another really, really good guy came along about 600 years after Jesus, named Muhammed. Muhammed is responsible for writing/producing the Qu'ran, and, like Jesus, was not divine. He is the most important Prophet, however, because he delivered the Final Word of God. Christians and Jews, not having adopted the Final Word, would be viewed as "backwards", theologically, not having the whole picture, but not "evil" or bad. Allah is their name for the Christian/Jewish God. Same guy. The Bible is also Holy to Muslims, and they revere Moses, Abraham, etc. as also very, very good guys. When Christians or Jews pray to God they are praying to Allah. Every Muslim I've met understands all this, and understands the similarity to Christianity and Judaism. Islam gets a bad reputation from the actions of a handful of bad men, all of whom true Muslims wash their hands of. These men use clever propaganda and media manipulation to confuse the masses to achieve their personal agendas - but this is nothing new or unique to Islam: look at 1930's Germany, or 2001-2006 United States.
Two bus changes, another long day, into Lahore at 1 a.m., India is 30km away (again!).
posted by Graham Durrant at 6:57 AM
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