I just finished SOTG, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was another one of those "can't put it down" reads.
Page 271 has Peter making some comments about Muslims that truly struck a chord for me. It was something to the effect that the reason Muslims are having so much trouble is that "Islam never truly learned how to be a real religion". This was a reference to their refusal to tolerate non-believers, and the Koran's justification for war against non-believers.
Basically, it was saying that until they take Alai's advice and allow all people the freedom to choose not to be Muslim, even if they were once a Muslim, Islam will not be able to co-exist in the world.
I have a particular interest in this in that I was recently selected by the US Army to change MOS to become a 48G (Foreign Area Officer - Middle East). After I finish this tour in Japan I'll go to language school to study Arabic. I also have a Master's in International Relations with an emphasis on Asia, including the Middle East.
The question is, does Peter's voice reflect OSC's? And, does this view have real weight to it? I can truly see both sides of this question.
--Joshua
Posted by RedHddBoy (Member # 7561) on :
I know I've heard it said many times, especially by OSC, that the character is not the writer. Similarly, the character's voice is not always the writer's voice.
Posted by Kent (Member # 7850) on :
OSC has mentioned that idea before in his essays on Ornery. He does believe it.
Posted by dh (Member # 6929) on :
Inasmuch as it applies to Islam of the more radical kind, he's more than half right, IMNSHO.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
If you assume that social responsibility is one of the hallmarks of a "real" religion, and tolerance is one of the hallmarks of social responsibility, then OSC's at least half-right. And, yeah, Peter's speaking for OSC, here, based on some of Card's non-fiction essays.