Here's a great twitter thread by Ali Olomi about Middle Eastern and Islamic folklore.
Olomi is a professor at the University of Pennslyvania and produces a terrific podcast about anything to do with Islam and the Middle East.
It's called Head on History.
Olomi's thread below is about djinn/jinn kings. He notes that djinn are an invisible race of beings "who live in tribes and nations with their own rulers."
Here's a fascinating story about heroism during the Holocaust in the 1940s students might read.
Most everyone knows Oskar Schindler, thanks to the book and the movie, Schindler's List. The German businessman saved over 1100 Jews from certain death in the Nazi concentration camps.
Fewer people know the Hollywood mogul, Carl Laemmle, who is credited with saving over 300 Jews during World War II. That is remarkable because Laemmle is probably the only Hollywood mogul to even get involved with the German Jews. Laemmle was the president of Universal Pictures.
According to this excellent story in the New York Times called "Laemmle’s List: A Mogul’s Heroism," Neal Gabler explains that most Hollywood Jews were just trying to fit in. He notes, "almost from the inception of the American film industry, the Hollywood Jews were dedicated to assimilation, not religious celebration. They had come to America to escape their roots, not embrace them."
Laemmle, like Schindler, was different from his peers. Gabler says that he "was terrified of what Hitler’s ascension would mean for his country, for the village of Laupheim (where he was born), for members of his family — many of whom had remained in Germany — and, perhaps above all, for his fellow Jew."
That concern prompted him to risk his fortune to save as many Jews from his hometown as he could. He furnished the American consul with hundred of affidavits, which "were pledges of support that were required of every immigrant to ensure that the individual would not become a public charge."
The story is fascinating, like Schindler's, with twists and turns.
Altman reminds us of Johnathan Z. Smith's idea that religious studies do not need to be "limited to things that seem “religious” in the common use of the term." He finds elements of religion in WrestleMania.
Altman compares the huge crowds and their deafening cheers to American revivals in the 19th century. He reviews the fictitious stories behind some of WrestleMania biggest stars and compares it to the idea of "belief" and "how belief functions in other places, especially those we often label “religious.”"
Finally, Altman examines the role of gender in WrestleMania and asks whether "there are male-dominated spaces within “religious” institutions, cultures, or communities that might be worth comparing to the so-called “women’s evolution” in WWE?
Arbaeen is the world's largest gathering, larger than the annual Hajj, and commemorates the martyrdom of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad and the third Shia Imam, Husayn ibn Ali's in 680.
It occurs every year in Iraq at the Karbala Mosque following the 40-day mourning period after the religious holiday, Ashura.
Millions of Shia converge on Kerbala during the commemoration. According to the Independent, they walk in columns that often stretch over 50 miles and sleep and eat in tents erected along the route.
Alex Shams, an Iranian American and Ph.D. student of anthropology, recently returned from Arbaeen and tweeted an explanation of Arbaeen and many excellent images.
Shams describes a 50-mile long food festival with falafel, beans, eggs, fried fish, mutton stew, and many other foods.
He notes the wide variety of countries at Arbaeen. In addition to Iraqis and Iranians, he saw Pakistanis, Indians, Azerbaijanis, Afghans, Nigerians, Lebanese, Saudis, Turks, Bahrainis, Kuwaitis, Qataris, and many more.
Shams says that while Arbaeen is a pilgrimage for Imam Hossein, it is also a challenge to ISIS today.
And he saw many different Muslim rituals. It's a fascinating tour!
Here's a great Twitter thread about the beliefs and practices of Zoroastrianism by Kainaz Amaria on the occasion of the new movie about Freddy Mercury, known as Queen. His father was a Zoroastrian.
Saudi Arabia recently arrested Saleh al Taleb, a prominent Mecca imam, and a member of the Wahhabi sect of Islam.
Ali A Olomi, a scholar of the Middle East and host of the podcast, Head on History, used the occasion to review the history of Wahhabism and its relationship to Saudi Arabia.
The first comes from her series, Belief, and the second comes from her other series, Super Soul Sunday.
The Religion and Ethics News Weekly has a an excellent short segment on Sufism here. Reporter, Deryl Davis, discusses the attacks on Sufism from Muslim fundamentalists and talks to scholars like Coleman Barks who has translated many of Rumi's Sufi poems and who here explains Sufi beliefs and the meaning of whiling dervishes.
Statutes of Buddhas are among the tallest in the world.
The Wall Street Journal recently published a slideshow of the five tallest statutes in the U.S. and the five tallest in the world. Four of the five tallest in the world are Buddhas.
Two are in China, one is in Myanmar, and one is in Japan. The one below is the tallest at 420 feet. It's called the Spring Temple Buddha and is in China.
By Zgpdszz - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16512067
This is the Laykyun Setkyar Buddha in Myanmar. It is the second largest statute in the world at 381 feet.
By Tetsuya Kitahata - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57280566
By C Ling Fan from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. - GuanYin deity, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3108680
The video below includes three of the Buddhas above, the Ushiku Daibutsu in Japan, the Laykyun Setkyar Buddha in Myanmar, and the Spring Temple Buddha in China.
Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism are known as the Three Teachings in China. Historian Stephen Teiser notes that a 6th century scholar referred to Buddhism as the sun, Daoism as the moon, and Confucianism as the five planets.
Asia for Educators has a terrific website about the three religions, all adapted from Professor Teiser's book, “The Spirits of Chinese Religion,” part of which you can download in pdf. Teiser is the D. T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies and Professor of Religion at Princeton University.
Students can read a brief overview of the Three Teachings and why they are so important in understanding Chinese history.
Next, they can read about each of the traditions.
Professor Teiser offers us insights far beyond what BBC and other encyclopedic religion sites offer. For example, readers will learn about the way of the Celestial Masters, an early Daoist movement that began in the second century. According to Professor Teiser, the celestial masters added mythology and rituals to many Daoist groups.
And in the Confucianism section, students will learn the attributes of a the ideal ruler which, according to Teiser, are "benevolence toward others; a general sense of doing what is right; and loyalty and diligence in serving one’s superiors."
Here's a review of the Three Teachings from "It's History."
Here are some very short clips that help explain it.
The first is a basic overview from Khan academy and runs about four minutes.
The second clip explains the three types of kami, or gods. These include ancestors, spirits, and souls of great people, all of whom coexist with us in the natural world.
The third clip explains the importance of the torii gate and the Shinto shrine.
And finally, a professor explains the great myth of the Japanese sun god, Amaterasu who is the daughter of Izanami and Izanagi. She was born from Izanagi's left eye!
Want to learn more about religion, or religious liberty, or the first amendment?
If so, consider taking a blended or online course through the Religious Freedom Center which is part of the Newseum.
I just finished an online course on the history of religious liberty in the United States. We examined the development of religious liberty in colonial America by reading about John Winthrop and Roger Williams and their opposing views of religious freedom. We studied the influence of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison on the First Amendment.
Some of the most interesting units included Supreme Court cases that tested the limits of religious liberty, especially those in public schools. In 1940, for example, during the beginning of World War II, a young Jehovah Witness in a Minersville, Pennsylvania middle school sued his school district for asking him to salute the flag every morning during the pledge. The Supreme Court did not agree and in an 8-1 decision said that symbols of unity like the flag were more important than religious freedom. Three years later, the Supreme Court reversed itself with a similar case.
Another highlight of the course included reading about Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X and the extent to which religion motivated them. Muhammad Ali refused induction into the army in 1967. The courts convicted him of draft evasion despite his claim of conscientious objection, but the Supreme Court eventually overturned the decision.
Finally, I learned about two terrific resources. PBSs Frontline series, God in America, is great. It weaves a lot of history into a engaging and fascinating story.
Living with our Deepest Differences in a Pluralistic Society is another great resource. Put together by the First Amendment Center, it includes teacher resources and lesson plans. A lesson about Nativism in America, for example, reviews the main waves of immigration in America with charts and period cartoons.
Registration for Spring course ends on January 7th. Summer and fall applications are due May 18th.
Here's an excellent overview of Human Rights from The Youth for Human Rights.
And here is excellent history explaining how the United Nations Universal Declaration of Rights developed. It comes from from Facing History and Ourselves.
