Küng: Idealized Image of Islam, Hostile Image of America?

10:36 AM Sunday.

Early this morning, I spent some more time reading in Küng's Islam: Past, Present and Future. If you have a copy of this seminal text and consult the table of contents, you will see that Küng begins with a short preface titled "The Aim of this Book." Then he proceeds to take up the subject of Islam's origin in two subsections: "A Controversial Religion" and "Problems of the Beginning." In today's lesson, I would like to focus our attention on "The Aim of this Book" and "A Controversial Religion" with the following discussion questions in mind:

1. What program has Küng "formulated for the global change of consciousness which is vital for our survival" and what do you think about it?

See: https://share.google/aimode/swna2ATZtRl4L8xhf

2. Do you think Küng treats Samuel Huntington and Huntington's book The Clash of Civilizations fairly?

See: https://share.google/aimode/bNBzgzSf6vQzMZpNd 

3. Do you see any evidence that Küng promotes an idealized image of Islam and a hostile image of America in these opening sections of his text, or do you think he presents a realistic, sympathetic, and critical image of both Islam and America?

See: https://share.google/aimode/zyfDM8eyaYKVC0pZG

4. Do you think Küng's essentialist pursuit of the "real image" of Islam is a sound intellectual enterprise?

See: https://share.google/aimode/1FdRcITxty77YnIPO 

In my next lesson on this important text by Küng I will take up the subsection on Islam's origins titled "Problems of the Beginning." 

End 12:29 PM.