more bits on bman this year
Get religion points me to a piece in the Washington Times (of all places) on religion at Burning Man. Some interesting individual anecdotes, not a whole lot of depth or insight, though she does uncover some somewhat atypical perspectives (for this context, at least). I seem to remember a call for subjects going out on the Jackrabbit earlier this summer, so am glad to bump into its fruition.
It's interesting that she starts off with a Muslim's narrative--an attempt to reverse the reader's presumptions? or merely to entice with the exotic, or unexpected? It's not surprising that the individual she profiles could find no other Muslim's to practice with--out of the vast cornucopia of religious syncretism and symbolic appropriation that is Burning Man, Islam was the one tradition I never found represented or reimagined on the playa (that is, in a participatory way, rather than as an aspect of some artistic commentary on recent political events). I also recall bumping into this thread on Islam on the eplaya, which I believe must be the one mentioned in the article. What the author fails to note is how nasty the burners on the eplaya (and tribe) can be in general, not just about this topic, and further how nasty some burner's attitudes about religion generally are, not just Islam.
(I'm also happy to see a piece on this year's event that doesn't mention the early ignition & the alleged arsonist. refreshing...)
It's interesting that she starts off with a Muslim's narrative--an attempt to reverse the reader's presumptions? or merely to entice with the exotic, or unexpected? It's not surprising that the individual she profiles could find no other Muslim's to practice with--out of the vast cornucopia of religious syncretism and symbolic appropriation that is Burning Man, Islam was the one tradition I never found represented or reimagined on the playa (that is, in a participatory way, rather than as an aspect of some artistic commentary on recent political events). I also recall bumping into this thread on Islam on the eplaya, which I believe must be the one mentioned in the article. What the author fails to note is how nasty the burners on the eplaya (and tribe) can be in general, not just about this topic, and further how nasty some burner's attitudes about religion generally are, not just Islam.
(I'm also happy to see a piece on this year's event that doesn't mention the early ignition & the alleged arsonist. refreshing...)