Shattering The Myth

Islam is often portrayed, especially in Western media, as an alien, violent, hostile, and monolithic religion, whose adherents are intent upon battling nonbelievers throughout the world. Shattering the Myth demonstrates that these conceptions more accurately reflect the bias of Western reporters than they do the realities of contemporary Islam. Westerners are barraged by images of violence that usually originate from armed confrontations in one small corner of the world. Islam, Bruce Lawrence argues, is a complex, international religious system that cannot be reduced to stereotypes. As Lawrence demonstrates, Islam is a religion shaped as much by its own postulates and ethical demands as by the specific circumstances of Muslim people in the modern world. The last two hundred years have brought many challenges for Muslims, from colonial subjugation through sporadic revivalism to elitist reform movements and, most recently, pervasive struggles with fundamentalism. During each period, Muslims have had to address internal tensions, as well as external threats. Today Muslims in the post-colonial era, only some of whom are Arab and living in the Middle East, are playing ever greater roles in economic changes, both regional and international. As the impact of these changes has become evident in societies around the globe, new leaders have come into public view. The most remarkable emerging presence is that of Muslim women. Lawrence argues that it is the experience of Muslim women in particular that calls for a more nuanced understanding of Islam today. It is time, Lawrence believes, to replace inaccurate images of Islam with a recognition of the multifaceted character of this global religion and of its widely diverse adherents. Here he describes changes that are taking place throughout the world, particularly in Southeast Asia, enacted by governments and nongovernmental organizations alike. In a time of rapid international change, Lawrence suggests that it is time for our images of Islam to reflect more clearly the realities of Islam as it is lived. Shattering the Myth provides significant insights into the history of Islam and a greater understanding of the varied experiences of Muslims today. "An informed interpretation of the contemporary Muslim experience . . . Lawrence's explanations for the particular states of affairs in Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Malaysia, among other cases, are compelling . . . [A] distinguished contribution."--From the foreword by James Piscatori and Dale F. Eickelman

Winner of the Outstanding Publication Award of the Post-secondary Education Division of the American Educational Research Association In Shattering the Myths, Judith Glazer-Raymo uses a critical feminist perspective to examine women's progress in higher education since 1970. She contrasts the activism of the 1970s, the passivity of the 1980s, and the ambivalence and antipathy demonstrated toward feminism in the 1990s. These waves of change, she explains, were brought about by external forces, by generational differences among women, and by intellectual and ideological struggles within the women's movement and the larger academic culture. In tracing three decades of women's progress in the academy, the author provides data from a variety of sources on women's rank, salary, employment status, and education. The book also draws on the experience of women faculty and administrators as they articulate and reflect on the social, economic, political, and ideological contexts in which they work and the multiple influences on their professional and personal lives.

Examines the conflict between science and religion, and helps to dispel the myths and superstitions that have long been used as an excuse for political and religious extremism. Also extends the theory of evolution to include the struggle for political power and the development of advanced technology, and contemplates the existence of the universe and questions whether consciousness has any kind of cosmic purpose.

The idyllic myth of the perfect teacher perpetuates unrealistic expectations that erode self-confidence and set teachers up for failure. Author and educator Aaron Hogan is on a mission to shatter the myth of the perfect teacher by equipping educators with strategies that help them shift out of survival mode and THRIVE.

Cherr’e Moraga, Migdalia Cruz, Caridad Svich, Josefina Lopez , Edit Villarreal and Diana S‡ena are in the vanguard of contemporary Hispanic women playwrights in the United States. The voices of three generations of Hispanic women are heard in these plays as the women explore their bicultural heritage, articulating what it means to be a Hispanic woman and, in essence, shattering the myths that have been associated with that heritage. The plays of Shattering the Myth illuminate a feminine language rich with texture and character, a language that has far too long been hidden from this countryÕs cultural tapestry. Opening the anthology is an introduction by Linda Feyder which provides background on the playwrights and their works. The plays in the collection were chosen by noted playwright and novelist Denise Ch‡vez.

Covering Sparta's full classical history, The Bronze Lie examines the myth of Spartan warrior supremacy. The last stand at Thermopylae made the Spartans legends in their own time, famous for their toughness, stoicism and martial prowess – but was this reputation earned? This book paints a very different picture of Spartan warfare – punctuated by frequent and heavy losses. We also discover a society dedicated to militarism not in service to Greek unity or to the Spartan state itself, but as a desperate measure intended to keep its massive population of helots (a near-slave underclass) in line. What successes there were, such as in the Peloponnesian Wars, gave Sparta only a brief period of hegemony over Greece. Today, there is no greater testament to this than the relative position of modern Sparta and its famous rival Athens. The Bronze Lie explores the Spartans' arms and armor, tactics and strategy, the personalities of commanders and the common soldiery alike. It looks at the major battles, with a special focus on previously under-publicized Spartan reverses that have been left largely unexamined. The result is a refreshingly honest and accurate account of Spartan warfare.

Compelling evidence that the most important assumptions on which Darwinism rests are scientifically wrong. The controversial best-seller that sent Oxford University and Nature magazine into a frenzy. Shattering the Myths of Darwinism exposes the gaping holes in an ideology that has reigned unchallenged over the scientific world for a century. Darwinism is considered to be hard fact, the only acceptable explanation for the formation of life on Earth, but with keen insight and objectivity Richard Milton reveals that the theory totters atop a shambles of outdated and circumstantial evidence which in any less controversial field would have been questioned long ago. Sticking to the facts at hand and tackling a vast array of topics, Shattering the Myths of Darwinism offers compelling evidence that the theory of evolution has become an act of faith rather than a functioning science, and that not until the scientific method is applied to it and the right questions are asked will we ever get true answers to the mystery of life on Earth.