Re: e-interview questions for Karen Armstrong
I had thought that I was going to abstain from participating in the interview -- mostly because I was worried that any question I would ask might come off as antagonistic, given my objections to her thesis -- but should the interview become a viable option again, you might consider offering the following question. I don't know if it's really fair asking Armstrong to comment on something written by another author, but when I read the passage that I quote below, I thought almost immediately about the e-interview. Here's the question:
In his long essay "Notes Towards the Definition of Culture", T.S. Eliot writes: "There are, however, some grounds for believing that the elimination of an upper class at a more developed stage can be a disaster for a country: and most certainly when that removal is due to the intervention of another nation." The parallels with our current occupation of Iraq are obvious. Firstly, do you agree with Eliot's statement. And secondly, what do you think will be some of the potential consequences of wholesale regime change in Iraq, even given that the previous regime was decidedly oppressive? Thirdly, what part do you think religion ought to play or is likely to play?
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at: 3/21/05 4:08 pm
