...Feeling slightly
upset and contemplating ALL that I believe.
Going into class this morning, I never expected to be so
affected by this discussion. After looking at some discussion questions the
class got caught up on the topic of the line between acceptance and respect.
Some in the class believed that Mortenson had crossed the line into accepting
Islam rather than respecting it. Some also felt that Mortenson's actions were
inappropriate and that he was only learning Muslim prayer to gain an 'in' to their
culture.
I don't
know what else to say...but I couldn't disagree more. The line between
acceptance and respect is much like the equator. You know that the line is
there, yet there is no blunt line just and area where the sun shines more often
and it's warmer. 
I DO NOT think that Mortenson
crossed any line in what he did in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I feel that he was
there to absorb the culture of the Balti people and put himself in their shows
so he can truly understand why a school meant so much to them. As the process
of constructing the school begins, it becomes evident that the Balti people are
the ones who are truly making the schools come and stay alive. They are
enriching themselves.
This started to remind me of Tending to Eden by Scott Sabin.
Sabin was all about getting to the very root of the problem. How the cycle of
poverty will forever continue until the very issue of it is solved. In Haiti it
is the struggle with the agriculture, once Haitians learn how to replant their
forests and understand how to work with the land they need to rely on, their
problems slowly begin to disperse away. Much like what Mortenson is doing with
the Balti people. He learns and lives with them all he can to put him in their
shoes and understand why they feel the importance to have a school. Mortenson
showed the Balti people that they could have a school; they took it from there
and did everything to help him and learn to enrich them. A quote from the book
that stands very true with my beliefs and the
act of going to the source of the problem reads, "Community and a close relationship with the land can enrich
human life beyond all comparison with material wealth or technological
sophistication."
This quote is from Helena
Norberg-Hodge and her book Ancient
Futures.
The Balti people are all about
dealing with the land they live on and adapting to its conditions. By having a
school that they are building; not some Christian ministers, on their own. It
allows them to feel that they aren't just being given a school but they are
building up their community and giving their children a chance to overcome the
extremist Islam groups.
Like I stated earlier in this
post, my views have been not only widely affected by the book, but by the
discussion as well. At this point I have many questions for myself about my own
faith and beliefs. What Mortenson did really speaks to me. The fact that he was
willing to give up everything to be able to build one school shows that whether
he is or isn't working for Christ what he did is still a great
accomplishment.
