Elaine Pagels Quotes
There's practically no religion that I know of that sees other people in a way that affirms the others' choices. But in our century we're forced to think about a pluralistic world.
Pagels, Elaine. Interview by David Gergen. PBS NewsHour, 30 Dec. 2003.
Many, if not most, non-Muslim scholars and thinkers very much disagree with Hamid on this point. The great exceptions of Islam are almost 1,000 years in the past. Current Islam, they argue, is not more exceptional than the beliefs of modern Mongolia which dominated most of the known world centuries ago, but has little that deserves special respect in the 21st country beyond the general respect which is owed to all religions and nationalities. With the exception of Turkey, Islamic nations are for the most part, backward, and virtually no other non-Muslim nations try to emulate them in any way.
Locke wrote the Charter of South Carolina in which any 7 people could assemble and form a church including:
New Lanark was a Utopian commune organized by Owen.
The Ottoman Empire was a word Superpower for over 1,000 years, longer than any other in history, One of its great strengths was its pluralism and ability to not only absorb and assimilate people from other nations, cultures and religions, but also to utilize those people in key positions and contributions to their society. Christians and Jews rose to the highest positions under the Sultans. They became Governor’s of Provinces, manages of departments and even Grand Vizier to the Sultan himself. Jewish and Christian physicians, attorneys, traders were all valued in the Empire even though the had a second class status relative to Muslims. The opportunity was always there to convert to Islam and many did, but many did not and thrived, The Ottomans saw Christian Europe, not only in continuous religious conflict, but individual nations were never able to use the talents of the religious minority, the way that the Ottomans did, and later the United States did. Not only did the Ottomans allow immigrants from all over the world to become part of the Empire Government or Economy, but they actually send agents throughout the empire to find the best and the brightest of young men—regardless of religion or nationality—and bring them to the Sultan’s court for education, training and service. IT should be noted however, that the motivation was in no way moral or a desire for fairness. It was totally pragmatic. Exceptional manpower was not to be wasted.
Elaine Pagels, née Hiesey, is an American religious historian. She is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Pagels has conducted extensive research into early Christianity and Gnosticism.
