News and Events => Religious news => Topic started by: Hazumu on June 04, 2008, 02:39:08 PM Return to Full Version
Title: Borrow a Muslim? A 'living library' to prick stereotypes
Post by: Hazumu on June 04, 2008, 02:39:08 PM
Post by: Hazumu on June 04, 2008, 02:39:08 PM
By Mark Rice-Oxley | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the June 4, 2008 edition
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.csmonitor.com%2Fimages%2FpageTopBanner.gif&hash=831c030b6436e266090371c84ac17ad67062bfb7) (http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0605/p01s02-wogn.html)
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If the project ever comes to my neck of the woods, I want to be a 'book'; =K
from the June 4, 2008 edition
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.csmonitor.com%2Fimages%2FpageTopBanner.gif&hash=831c030b6436e266090371c84ac17ad67062bfb7) (http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0605/p01s02-wogn.html)
QuoteWelcome to the Living Library. Here, you borrow individuals who represent stereotypes that often are the target of prejudice or hatred.
At this east London library on a recent Saturday, there were 26 "books" available, including a Muslim, an immigrant, a transgender individual, a witch, and an Indian atheist.
QuoteAt one table, a Rwandan refugee explains to a listener why immigrants cannot be dismissed both as a drain on the public purse and a threat to local jobs. At another, a transgender individual relates why she felt biologically compelled to change sex. An Indian atheist and a Muslim are setting forth their worldview to "readers."
QuoteAnother criticism is that not all readers will overcome their prejudice during a 30-minute conversation. Reader David Semple says he found sessions with a funeral director and a police officer most illuminating. But the transgender "book" enlightened him less.
"The conversation was lovely but I'm afraid I still have the prejudice," he says. "I still find it hard to comprehend why you change your gender."
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If the project ever comes to my neck of the woods, I want to be a 'book'; =K