Brian Griffith's Blog, page 2

Female saints and male authority

As she began teaching and attracting disciples, we hear of a group of religious men coming to challenge her. They accused her of presumption, explaining, “All the virtues have been scattered on the heads of men. The crown of prophethood has been placed on men’s heads. The belt of nobility has been fastened around men’s waists. No woman has ever been a prophet.” Rabi’a answered, “All of that is true, but egoism and self-worship and ‘I am your Lord’ have never sprung from a woman’s breast. ... All these things have been the specialty of men.”Mother Persia: Women in Iran's History

Islam According to Women

"The period of male monopoly on leading and defining Islam is ending."Mother Persia: Women in Iran's History

Thanks to Zhinia Noorian

I want to thank Dr. Zhinia Noorian for all her insight, expertise, humanity, and her patience to work with me on our joint project "Mother Persia: Women in Iran's History." I learned a tremendous amount about Iran, about women's accomplishments and experience, and about my own biases as a Western man. She oversaw all drafts, expanded the context, located illuminating resources, and ensured balance and accuracy. She made the story an authentic reflection of Iranian women's contributions to the world. Working with her has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. -- Brian Griffith, independent historian

Endorsement of "Mother Persia," by Zhinia Noorian and Brian Griffith

Mother Persia engages the reader with a plethora of well researched subjects covering women from the pre-Islamic era to modern times. Fascinatingly written, the authors look at gender equality, sexuality, spirituality, politics and the roles Iranian women have played challenging and establishing their places in Persian civilization. Peppered with personal stories of women, using their poetry, literature and arts, the writers describe the intelligence, courage, and tenacity of these women. Mother Persia is an intriguing read that will be enjoyed by multiple audiences from book clubs to university classes.” – Bridget Blomfield, author of "The Language of Tears: My Journey into the World of Shi’i Muslim Women."

The outer and inner domains

Clearly, the external domain was a zone of fierce competition and moral corruption. The inner domain, however, was a realm of nurturing care and moral purity. To protect the pure self from corruption, there must be a barrier. Toward the external world, people must maintain an outward appearance that commands respect and sets boundaries. Mother Persia: Women in Iran's History

The artist for my book cover

The painting used for my book cover (from 2001) was done by the Native Canadian artist Maxine Noel, and it's called "Seedings of Africa." It's one of a collection of works done to build relations between Canadian Native and African communities. After a series of droughts and famines in Sub-Saharan Africa during the 1980s. studies of aid donor lists showed there had been an extraordinary response of aid from Native Canadians. Efforts were then made to put Native and African communities in direct contact. As one part of this program, artists from Africa and Canada visited and painted each others' worlds. Maxine Noel's painting celebrates a "twinning" between Bunkpurugu, Ghana, and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Thanks again to the artist.

getting forgiveness, or giving it

"Jesus seems to offer people forgiveness as he speaks to them, rather than claiming they will be forgiven later, after he sacrifices himself to pay the penalty for their sins." Correcting Jesus: 2000 Years of Changing the Story

Comment on my book about Chinese women's cultures

Thanks to Yowann Byghan for his kind words about my book on the cultures and religions of Chinese women. It's great to hear from a scholar of world mythology, animal lore, goddesses, and Druidism.
He wrote,
"I’ve just finished reading A Galaxy of Immortal Women. It’s a superb book. The content is extremely interesting and very authoritative, but at the same time very readable. Again, you carry your learning very lightly, and the book is organised and structured very cleverly. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and I will be going through it again with a fine-toothed comb as I continue working on my encyclopedia of goddesses." A Galaxy of Immortal Women: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization

Review of my "War and Peace with the Beasts"

I’ve received a very generous review of my book “War and Peace with the Beasts” from Yowann Byghan, the author of “’Sacred and Mythological Creatures” and “Modern Druidism,” among other valuable works. He wrote,

“I have just finished reading ‘War and Peace with the Beasts.’ What a fascinating and thought-provoking book! I'm generally quite difficult to please as a reader, but [this book] captured me from page one. … You write very elegantly, but also very freely, which allows the material to expand and flow with relaxed energy, and, … it feels like a real conversation. You carry your learning very lightly and you mine nuggets from your sources with great intuition and precision: nothing interferes with the rhythm and the energy, but the cumulative effect is a combination of encyclopedic knowledge tempered by very judicious selection and application. Just as an example, I have always known that the near extermination of the bison was a colossal piece of stupidity and/or malice, but your evocation of it is so effective and well-structured that I found myself so stimulated by it that I had to start reading it to my wife and launching into a long conversation with her. (She has part-Cherokee heritage.) Then I had to paste an extract on to Facebook to share my enthusiasm.”

It's really great to hear this from an author of such vast experience and learning. War and Peace with the Beasts: A History of Our Relationships with Animals

Women's versions of Christianity

Down to WWII, probably most Christians still accepted an autocrat’s world view, in which the universe was an empire with an emperor, and all lesser beings were judged by how well they obeyed the emperor’s men. In that worldview, it seemed that the primary question in life, between men, women, children, or neighbors, was “Who has the higher rank? Who will command, and who will obey?” It was mainly Christian women who offered a different worldview, in which the created universe is a community, and the most important question among its members is “How good can our relations get?”Correcting Jesus: 2000 Years of Changing the Story