On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 12:07:43 -0500, "David Tenner"
wrote:
>(Interestingly, Geraci refers to "some Kazan Tatars' claims that Tolstoy
>was considering conversion to Islam after corresponding with them about
>his denunciation of and excommunication from the Orthodox Church."
>http://books.google.com/books?id=7Yxqf_28nHwC&pg=PA267 An Orthodox
>missionary refuted this claim by citing a passage where Tolstoy had
>criticized Islam for demanding "blind faith"--though of course Tolstoy
>made similar accusations against Orthodoxy. There are actually some who
>believe that Tolstoy converted to Islam, but this is not accurate, and
>seems to be based on two things: (1) the fact that he did come to regard
>Islam as less evil than the Orthodox Church, and (2) taking out of context
>the phrase "regard me as a Mohammedan" in one of his letters. What he
>wrote was: "Some- liberals and aesthetes- consider me to be mad or weak-
>minded like Gogol; others- revolutionaries and radicals- consider me to be
>a mystic and a man who talks too much; the officials consider me to be a
>malicious revolutionary; the Orthodox consider me to be a devil. I confess
>that it is hard for me...And therefore, please, regard me as a kind
>Mohammedan, and all will be fine."
>http://web.archive.org/web/20050428132709/http://www.islamherald.com/asp/interesting_articles/nonmuslims/tolstoy_regard_me_a_mohammaden.asp
>In other words, the phrase was a joke...)
Yup - to me that quotation (which I had not seen before today) reminds
me of the story about the Belfast man who was walking between the
Falls Road and Shankill Road and was confronted by a band of thugs who
demanded to know whether he was a Protestant or a Catholic with the
implication that the wrong answer would lead to a beating. He said he
was an athiest to which he was asked "But are you a PROTESTANT Atheist
or a CATHOLIC Atheist?"
I've heard the same joke where Jewish replaces Atheist.
On the other hand I also heard the same story from my late grandmother
who emigrated to Canada when she was 18 and said the same thing
happened to her in 1920-21. She says she told the truth and ran away
as fast as she could and never knew whether she had given the 'right'
answer or if it had been her speed that carried her to safety. |
