Tess - AMA

[Tess]

I'm not 100% sure how these work but it looks like fun, so I thought 'I'll take a whack at it!' (anyone get the Parent Trap reference?)

So lets get to know each other; ask me anything

 

[JackofSpades]

What kind of music makes you feel nostalgic?

 

[Rhamiel]

favorite food?

you are in England... I hear Indian food is really popular, do you like Indian Curry?

 

[Tess]

favorite food?

you are in England... I hear Indian food is really popular, do you like Indian Curry?

I love food, I don't know if I can pick just one! Ice cream probably. I also love avocadoes and sharon fruit and bread. Carbohydrates in general are great

I do like curry, although I don't like it too spicy (I'm a wuss)! Indian food is pretty popular here, we have lots of Indian takeaway type places.

What kind of music makes you feel nostalgic?

Nostalgic music... old school Taylor Swift! 'You Belong with me', that kind of stuff. It's not that old but it reminds me of being 15, haha.

 

[vanillaicecream]

Did someone say icecream?

Favorite movie/s?

 

[sunshineforJesus]

Whats your fave color?

 

[Tess]

Did someone say icecream?

Favorite movie/s?

Ice cream is the best!
Ummmm that's tricky.. I'm gonna list a few
Harry Potter (all of them are good)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Trading Places
The Hunger Games
Disney films in gereral

Whats your fave color?

I like all deep strong colours, but probably blue the best

 

[vanillaicecream]

Favorite food?

 

[Tess]

If I could only pick one I probably would have to go with ice cream haha! Not vanilla though, sorry!

 

[Rhamiel]

what countries have you visited?

 

[Tess]

what countries have you visited?

Ooooh, let's see,
Canada
France
Germany
Holland
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Croatia
Switzerland
Greece
Turkey
Tunisia
Belgium
Czech Republic

That's it so far!

 

[JackofSpades]

On other thread, you said something about your study on history of European colonialism and how it's related to identifying of religions. Want to share some more thoughts? As a history-geek, I find it to be interesting topic. This is your AMA so you're free to use 5 000 words here, haha!

 

[Tess]

On other thread, you said something about your study on history of European colonialism and how it's related to identifying of religions. Want to share some more thoughts? As a history-geek, I find it to be interesting topic. This is your AMA so you're free to use 5 000 words here, haha!

Hello again!

I've tried to keep this concise, but I'm a bit of a rambler, so sorry this is long! If you're into history, you're probably familiar with some of what I'm explaining anyway

So, the ‘West’ explored the world and instantaneously ‘claimed’ anything they found and assumed it as their own. The ‘West’ had a real power complex, and as we know, knowledge is power. Foucault said that if one has knowledge of something, one has power over it, and so 'Western' scholars set out to define the 'East' in every way (including religion) in order to control them, so for Foucault, religion is power; it is part of political strategy of controlling people.

Now, In ‘Orientalism’ Edward Said defines Orientalism as a manner of viewing other cultures as ‘a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and remarkable experiences.’ More importantly, viewing these cultures as distinctly ‘other’ than our own. Said argued that Europe has a sort of identity crisis and found its own identity through its juxtaposition to the 'East': ‘the orient helped define the West as its contrasting idea, image, personality’. Said says that the ‘Orient’ or the 'East' was basically a European invention created by the ‘West’ and painted as being exotic and dangerous to enforce the image of Europe as a logical, scientific and civilized society. ‘Without understanding Orientalism as a discourse one cannot understand…the systematic discipline by which European culture was able to manage –and even produce the Orient politically, socially, militarily, ideologically and imaginatively.’ So, to summarise, the 'East' was presented as this weird and wonderful place in order to make the 'West' seem better, and this also applies to religions.

An example of this is when Buddhism was first 'discovered'. Phillip Almond says that in the early nineteenth century the West claimed to have ‘discovered’ Buddhism, but that in reality, Buddhism had been ‘constructed’. The people in China who were being labelled 'Buddhist' actually didn't understand what was meant when they were asked what 'religion' they were; this was an alien concept to them. They just believed whatever they believed, without a label. But 'Western' scholars wanted to define everyone in order to control them, so they came up with 'Buddhism'. The image of Buddhism constructed by the ‘Western’ scholars was so vague that it seemed to include anyone and everyone who lived in Asia! ‘By the mid-1830’s ‘Buddhism’ had come to define the religious beliefs and practices of most of Asia.’ The ‘Western’ scholars sent information about the Buddhists of the ‘Orient’ back to Europe, who believed what they were told!

So that is just one example of how the category of ‘religion’ is merely a label the ‘West’ created to control the people they came across: ‘Religion itself is the historical product of discursive processes.’ If many people are given the label of ‘Buddhist’ or ‘Christian’ and yet they do not necessarily all believe the same things, it may be that they do not even have a single ‘theme’ in common, then we must conclude that the label is meaningless.

This is interesting for me and what I study because the claims and labels we assign to different religious groups puts them into a box which they cannot escape. For instance, if scholars of religion label a group a ‘cult’ instead of a ‘religion’ this will have a huge effect on the way that the group is seen by the world, because the scholars are perceived to be the authority on the matter of what is or is not ‘religion’.

Hope that made sense and was interesting for you!?

 

[JackofSpades]

Yes it makes sense and it is very interesting. I'm familiar with history of colonialism from technical (military, economic) point of view, but it's ideological side, not so much. I've read about stuff like "White Mans Burden" (which is racistic nonsense in my opinion btw) but my knowledge on those things is rather superficial.

I think this is somewhat similar concept than the well-known fact that history is written by winners. Just in this case it was the description of culture, not so much history, which was written by the "winners", for their own purposes.

About cult/religion - label, I tend to think that responsible scholars might be less of a problem nowadays than mass media, which is quick to give such labels with very superficial information about what's actually going on.

Thank you for taking time to write that, it was very interesting and I will keep my eyes open if I find something to read about this.

 

[Tess]

Yes it makes sense and it is very interesting. I'm familiar with history of colonialism from technical (military, economic) point of view, but it's ideological side, not so much. I've read about stuff like "White Mans Burden" (which is racistic nonsense in my opinion btw) but my knowledge on those things is rather superficial.

I think this is somewhat similar concept than the well-known fact that history is written by winners. Just in this case it was the description of culture, not so much history, which was written by the "winners", for their own purposes.

About cult/religion - label, I tend to think that responsible scholars might be less of a problem nowadays than mass media, which is quick to give such labels with very superficial information about what's actually going on.

Thank you for taking time to write that, it was very interesting and I will keep my eyes open if I find something to read about this.

Ah good I'm so glad you found it interesting!

I do agree that the media is a real danger when talking about religious groups and that history is written by the winners.

 

[TheGirlOnFire]

well i was going to ask something dumb like....

what's your fave dog lol

 

[Tess]

well i was going to ask something dumb like....

what's your fave dog lol

That's not dumb!

I've never had a dog so this is kinda tricky... my best friend has two poodles and I love them, and my cousins have two golden retrievers and I love them... my godparents have two dobermans and I love them too!

 

[sunshineforJesus]

Whats your fave color?

 

[vanillaicecream]

First five songs in your playlist?

 

[Tess]

Whats your fave color?

I like all deep colours, but probably blue

First five songs in your playlist?

I have about ten playlists for different moods and what I fancy listening to, so that's tricky.
But yesterday some of the things I was listening to:
Wet - Don't wanna be your girl no more
Taylor Swift - Style
Holzier - Take me to chuch
Chris Tomlin - God of angel armies
Gardiner Sisters - Better