Lately there seems to be a glut in Hyde Park of threads and comments devoted to demonizing the Muslim faith. I am not a Muslim myself, but I'm saddened by the broad and often ignorant generalizations made about a huge and diverse group of people whose religion spans many cultures and traditions.
Decent, enlightened, and peaceful people abound in the ONE BILLION + worldwide Muslim population. Thus, here's a place to post POSITIVE stories, video clips, and impressions about the beauty of their culture, the diversity of their peoples, and the richness of their contributions to human civilization. I'll start.
My father lived for many years in Turkey and as a child, I was always entranced by the Whirling Dervishes -- Sufi mystics whose message is universal love and peace among all faiths and creeds of mankind. The dervishes spin for hours in a trance, one hand pointed to heaven, the other toward the earth. They perform their mystic ritual in front of peoples of all faith and persuasions because they believe that the mesmerizing movement of their bodies serves as a conduit for divine love and inspiration, channeled through their physical beings, to be shared with all.
Here's a beautiful clip of their ritual dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Km4j36khA
Decent, enlightened, and peaceful people abound in the ONE BILLION + worldwide Muslim population. Thus, here's a place to post POSITIVE stories, video clips, and impressions about the beauty of their culture, the diversity of their peoples, and the richness of their contributions to human civilization. I'll start.
My father lived for many years in Turkey and as a child, I was always entranced by the Whirling Dervishes -- Sufi mystics whose message is universal love and peace among all faiths and creeds of mankind. The dervishes spin for hours in a trance, one hand pointed to heaven, the other toward the earth. They perform their mystic ritual in front of peoples of all faith and persuasions because they believe that the mesmerizing movement of their bodies serves as a conduit for divine love and inspiration, channeled through their physical beings, to be shared with all.
Here's a beautiful clip of their ritual dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Km4j36khA
