Southwind17
Philosopher
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2007
- Messages
- 5,154
I live in the Middle East and work in, naturally, a predominantly Muslim office of around 12 people. I am a Westerner and have absolutely no religious beliefs. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that I am anti-religion. That said, each to his own, I say, provided it's kept 'indoors' (there's not much one can do to disable the PA systems affixed to the mosque towers here!)
Now, our company CFO today issued an email to the five Westerners in the office suggesting that we might like to find out more about Islam, given that we're living in an Islamic country. He suggested checking out the website of a certain 'Mr Estes' who, he informed us, used to be a Christian preacher and reverted (I think he means 'converted') to Islam by his own choice. I'm not sure why he saw the benefit in pointing this out to us!
Incidentally, our CFO is a very gentle and likeable chap; we get on together very well, and, other than his obvious religious beliefs (and his attire), he seems to me to hold, or at least respect, many Western values. Here is the FAQ section of the website he referred us to regarding Allah. I found it an interesting read, but I particularly enjoyed the Mercedes variant of the old ID 747 analogy at question 8. I guess most arabs can relate to a Merc better, given that it tends to be the car of choice in the region, although I wouldn't doubt for a minute that some 'residents' could well be proud owners of 747s too!
I don't have a particular reason for making this post; I just thought some people might find it interesting, especially the website FAQs. It has prompted one question in my mind, though: If a senior manager of a Western company, say in the States or UK, were to issue such an email to all of the Muslims regarding, say, Christianity, would that be considered unacceptable, in any regard? At least one of the Westerners in the office here is religious, and a regular church goer (yes, he attends a Christian church in the Middle East!). I just wonder how he might feel about it.
Now, our company CFO today issued an email to the five Westerners in the office suggesting that we might like to find out more about Islam, given that we're living in an Islamic country. He suggested checking out the website of a certain 'Mr Estes' who, he informed us, used to be a Christian preacher and reverted (I think he means 'converted') to Islam by his own choice. I'm not sure why he saw the benefit in pointing this out to us!
Incidentally, our CFO is a very gentle and likeable chap; we get on together very well, and, other than his obvious religious beliefs (and his attire), he seems to me to hold, or at least respect, many Western values. Here is the FAQ section of the website he referred us to regarding Allah. I found it an interesting read, but I particularly enjoyed the Mercedes variant of the old ID 747 analogy at question 8. I guess most arabs can relate to a Merc better, given that it tends to be the car of choice in the region, although I wouldn't doubt for a minute that some 'residents' could well be proud owners of 747s too!
I don't have a particular reason for making this post; I just thought some people might find it interesting, especially the website FAQs. It has prompted one question in my mind, though: If a senior manager of a Western company, say in the States or UK, were to issue such an email to all of the Muslims regarding, say, Christianity, would that be considered unacceptable, in any regard? At least one of the Westerners in the office here is religious, and a regular church goer (yes, he attends a Christian church in the Middle East!). I just wonder how he might feel about it.
