Dr Felder's Lecture- Sara Tosi @02647875

The theme of Dr. Felder’s lecture was justice and freedom. Dr. Felder said that when people speak about justice they often only mean it for people like themselves or “just-us”. He defined freedom as the right to make choices and pointed out that often when the words freedom and justice are used they are not really meant, such as in the founding of the United States under the principles of freedom and equality when in reality Blacks, Native Americans, and women were still second class citizens. Dr. Felder also spoke about how Europe has become the epicenter for culture and learning and Africa has been marginalized, and that the Bible has been white washed. Dr. Felder said “Egypt doesn’t move” and reminded us that Egypt is not in Europe so all of the figures in the Bible could not possibly have been European. Dr. Felder also spoke about the demonization of women as evil seducers in the Bible. Then he told a story from the Old Testament about Esther, the girl who became Queen of Persia and stopped the King’s persecution of the Jewish people. This story served to show us that strong female figures could be found before the European Bible. I enjoyed Dr. Felder’s lecture very much. I think it is fascinating to study religion from a different perspective than that of patriarchic Europe. I would have preferred if Dr. Felder had used a power point presentation or had some notes on the board for us or even some handouts because I was a little lost at the beginning of his lecture.