Sergio, I didnt set out to be an academic historian. I obviously have a natural interest in history, which is part of the reason you and I used to work together. I was, more or less, talked into studying history academically by my physics instructor in 1996. I co-presented a lecture on Female Genital Mutilation on the morning of September 11, 2001; FIU was evacuated within the next couple of hours. The next day, while working with Theresa at 911, I got five calls from people who were reporting on their neighbors. The callers used the terms Middle-Eastern, Muslim, and Arabic interchangeably. Thats when I decided that I needed to study the topic of Islam academically, and I soon bought the book Islam by Karen Armstrong. I was ignorant of the topics at hand, but instead of jumping to conclusions, I decided to educate myself. Reza Aslan is complaining to fellow journalists thirteen years later that they have not educated themselves on history. I believe that a lack of formal study of history in America is causing America to lag behind in the world. There are, certainly, people around the world who are watching this item you posted who think of it as one more example to prove the stereotype of Americans as a bunch of ignorant rubes.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:26:12 +0000
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