{"id":79863,"date":"2019-11-04T13:33:32","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T20:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=79863"},"modified":"2019-11-14T23:27:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T06:27:00","slug":"theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html","title":{"rendered":"They’re by no means all over THERE."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
This well-known building in India (Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph by Amal Mongia) should be enough, in and of itself, to illustrate the fact that a very great proportion of the Muslim world and, therefore, of Islamic culture is not connected with the Arabs. \u00a0(In case you\u2019re still wondering what it is, it\u2019s the Taj Mahal. \u00a0Or, as one student identified it on a final examination of mine many years ago, it\u2019s \u201cTalmage Hall.\u201d \u00a0Which must be somewhere on a part of the Brigham Young University campus that I don\u2019t visit very often.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims, and that Muslims are all Arabs.\u00a0 In fact, of course, many of the major Islamic countries in the world (e.g., Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and the most populous of them all, Indonesia) are not Arab, and large minorities in some Arab countries are not Muslim.\u00a0 Christianity is a Near Eastern religion, not a European one, and it is has been in the Near East since its origin.\u00a0 (An Egyptian Christian friend once complained to me about how tired he had become of Americans and Europeans asking him whether his family had been converted by the Germans, the French, or the British.\u00a0 His ancestors, he pointed out, had been converted by Mark, the writer of the second Gospel, in the first century AD.\u00a0 My own forebears, in Scandinavia, didn\u2019t accept Christianity until roughly a millennium later.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Another misconception that many of us have is that Christendom can essentially be divided between Protestants and Catholics.\u00a0 In fact, though, Protestantism is a fairly recent religious minority in the Christian world.\u00a0 The much older division is that between western Christianity (essentially the Roman Catholic Church for many centuries) and eastern Christianity (including, but not limited to, such groups as the Greek Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox).\u00a0 There is, and always has been, an entire world of Christianity, rich and full of variety, beyond the (to us) more familiar realm of Protestants and Catholics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a nice article by a Muslim author:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow to Practice the Teachings of Islam in Everyday Life\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Years ago, I took a group of Latter-day Saints to attend the Friday noon prayers \u2014 which, accompanied by a sermon called the khutba<\/em>, constitute the main Islamic weekly worship service \u2014 at a mosque in Tucson, Arizona. \u00a0The preacher at the service spoke on honesty and integrity, including the obligation to give employers an honest day\u2019s work. \u00a0Afterwards, several of the Latter-day Saints were stunned at just how . . . well, ordinary<\/em> the preacher\u2019s sentiments had been. \u00a0\u201cThat talk could have been given in sacrament meeting!\u201d one person exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

True. \u00a0We have a very great deal in common.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims, and that Muslims are all Arabs.\u00a0 In fact, of course, many of the major Islamic countries in the world (e.g., Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and the most populous of them all, Indonesia) are not Arab, and large minorities in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2328,3994,66,1718,4820],"class_list":["post-79863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arabs","tag-catholic","tag-islam","tag-muslims","tag-protestant"],"yoast_head":"\nThey're by no means all over THERE.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims, and that Muslims are all Arabs.\u00a0 In fact, of course, many\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"They're by no means all over THERE.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims, and that Muslims are all Arabs.\u00a0 In fact, of course, many\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-04T20:33:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-15T06:27:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/09\/601px-TajMahalbyAmalMongia.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html\",\"name\":\"They're by no means all over THERE.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-04T20:33:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-15T06:27:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims, and that Muslims are all Arabs.\u00a0 In fact, of course, many\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"They’re by no means all over THERE.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"They're by no means all over THERE.","description":"    One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims, and that Muslims are all Arabs.\u00a0 In fact, of course, many","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"They're by no means all over THERE.","og_description":"    One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims, and that Muslims are all Arabs.\u00a0 In fact, of course, many","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-11-04T20:33:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-11-15T06:27:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/09\/601px-TajMahalbyAmalMongia.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html","name":"They're by no means all over THERE.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-11-04T20:33:32+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-15T06:27:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims, and that Muslims are all Arabs.\u00a0 In fact, of course, many","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/theyre-by-no-means-all-over-there.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"They’re by no means all over THERE."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79863\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}