Comments for Michael J. Altman

Comment on The First Hindu in America? Maybe… by Michael J. Altman

Michael J. Altman — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:45:52 +0000

Thanks for the great comment! I think you are spot on. Hind practice would have been very difficult while sailing around. Later in the 1820s and 1830s many Americans hoped Rammohun Roy would make the trip to the U.S. as “the first Hindu in America” and were saddened when he died in Great Britain. It’s intriguing to think of the difference between this anonymous man from Madras and the international fame of Rammohun and, later, Vivekananda.

Comment on The First Hindu in America? Maybe… by Tāṇḍava

Tāṇḍava — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:54:10 +0000

It is very likely that he was a Hindu, but probably not a practising one.Even today the population of Chennai (called Madras under British and Muslim rule) is over 80% Hindu. The life of a sailor crossing oceans at that time would have made following the daily rituals that a practising Hindu should follow impossible, so it would not have been an occupation of choice for a practising Hindu.

Comment on Places to Send Students in Search of Religion Blog Topics by Kristian Petersen

Kristian Petersen — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:35:16 +0000

I have a number of other media sources both local and international. Also a few related to Religion specifically like NPR Religion, Immanent Frame, and Tricycle.
http://homepages.gac.edu/~kpeter15/Gustavus/New_Media_Project.html

Comment on Remembering When the Klan Tried to March Through Town: Kelly J. Baker’s ‘Gospel According to the Klan’ by Review Redux: Gospel According to the Klan : Kelly J Baker

Review Redux: Gospel According to the Klan : Kelly J Baker — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:07:14 +0000

[...] Michael J. Altman, Remembering When the Klan Tried to March Through Town: [...]

Comment on Narrativity in American Religions, Transmedia, and me on Hinduism: Panels I Plan to Check Out at the AAR by Jermaine Has Finally Come Back to AAR | Jermaine M. McDonald

Jermaine Has Finally Come Back to AAR | Jermaine M. McDonald — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 02:30:59 +0000

[...] sadly, did not make either of their lists (See Kelly’s list here and Michael’s list here.) I am still excited about it. It is my first presentation at AAR, it is in a section that [...]

Comment on Religion at #2011ASA, a Dialogue by Narrativity in American Religions, Transmedia, and me on Hinduism: Panels I Plan to Check Out at the AAR « Michael J. Altman

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:45:24 +0000

[...] to the limited travel budget of a Ph.D. candidate (who already spent a weekend at the ASA), I’ll only be in lovely San Francisco for Saturday and Sunday. Here are the panels I plan to [...]

Comment on Drafting a Syllabus: REL100 Intro. to Religion- Christian and Hindu Traditions by Evangelical Theologies of the Body: What About John Wesley? « Michael J. Altman

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 21:14:31 +0000

[...] Drafting a Syllabus: REL100 Intro. to Religion- Christian and Hindu Traditions [...]

Comment on Drafting a Syllabus: REL100 Intro. to Religion- Christian and Hindu Traditions by Andrew Aghapour

Andrew Aghapour — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 02:33:14 +0000

I can’t tell you how much I love that you’re starting a class blog and bringing Twitter into the participation grade! Awesome stuff. I was thinking about how silly it is that we use clunky web services like Blackboard when discussion boards like blogs and twitter are out there, being used every day by our students. I’m really inspired by this- thanks for this insight into your syllabus, and I’d love to see updates!

Comment on A Hypothesis: Hannah Adams and British Sources of Knowledge in America by Travis Harris

Travis Harris — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:11:45 +0000

Good Afternoon,

My name is Travis Harris. I would like to speak to you about being a doctoral candidate at Emory. Could you email me at travis.t.harris@gmail.com

Travis

Comment on Not Theology, but Authority: Rob Bell and the Evangelical Institutional Establishment by CJL

CJL — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:21:11 +0000

I have read the book. Rob Bell clearly states that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. He specifically repudiates the ‘many ways up a mountain belief’ in clear declarative sentences. He primarily asks questions which can be confusing for people and you need to read him carefully. His theology is easy to criticize, but let’s criticize what he actually said.

One can make an argument that the book smacks of universalism, but he does not actually embrace universalism. I think the less usual belief he is playing with is different from what people usually call universalism’. (Note my tact in labelling it as ‘less usual’ instead of heresy!) If you read the book carefully, I think that you will see a different implication to his comments.

A more pressing issue may be the tone of criticism. Even if we are right we need to think about how we express ourselves. Rude, dismissive, angry expressions should be avoided.