Pitt's: A New Outlook (Formal-Sept. 19th)

Monday night's discussion has given me great insight to Joseph Pitt's, "A True and Faithful Account of the Religion and Manners of the Mahommetans." I would like to apologize for my ignorance of the Muslim culture. My previous blog was a raw reaction to the text as it was, without reading further into it, as I should have. After hearing other students' take on this narrative, I feel I have a better grasp on the material.

I must say that when reading this for the first time, I was under the impression that Joseph Pitt's was angry and resentful at being a slave and living in captivity in a different country with a completely different culture. When reading this piece I did, however, notice that he would speak kindly of many of the people that he met in his travels and came to develop a deep affection for his third and final master. In talking about this in class I noticed how much more it occurred than what I originally remembered. I also believe that his conversion to the Muslim faith made an impact on his life, even though he converted back to Christianity.

It was quite the debate on whether or not he was truly converted to the Muslim faith, and since I believe that this changed his live, I will touch on my thoughts on this issue. I believe that it is perfectly acceptable to say that Joesph Pitt's truly did convert, even though it may have been for a short time in the grand scheme of things. Although he was "forced" to convert (which may just have been an embellishment to make the English sympathize for him; only he knows) he made many references to the devotion of the Muslim people and even went as far as to say that he wished that the English studied their religious text and practiced Christianity with the kind of tenacity in which the Muslims worship. It seems that Pitt's would have been curious about these interesting people with their unique mannerisms, and wanted to learn even more about their culture. I also feel that after so many years of being exposed to a different culture, you have to come to understand it at some point in time which naturally affects one's life. And once you have the knowledge, it is hard to maintain the evil stereotypes that you have about that culture and may even come to realize that there is something to be learned in every situation. For example, I was very much opposed to the idea of polygamy within the Mormon faith, until I met my sister's boyfriend at the time, who was a Mormon and explained to me that it was to protect the women and was not a common practice. This enlightenment changed my whole view of the Mormon faith. As for Pitt's truly being converted to Muslim, yes I do believe that while engulfed in the everyday life of their culture, he was able to see the pureness and the beauty of the religion and most likely found spiritual guidance. Remembering those amazing spiritual experiences and the reasons why you actively practiced a faith when thrust back into a society where the Muslim faith was filled with ugly lies and rumors would have to have been extremely difficult. I am sure that once Pitt's arrived back in England, he was drilled with questions about the cruel things that they did to him, so he was ultimately forced to reestablish the feelings of anger and fear at being taken. I am certain that he was torn between these two completely different lives, it is evident in the text, but I also believe that there is something about the place that you are born that always holds a special place in a person's heart. This feeling of "home" will almost always overshadow beautiful scenery or financial stability or whatever else may try to seduce a traveller to stay on foreign soil. This is the reason I believe that he left a pretty good life to go back to England, not because he was chewing at the bit to get out of dodge. I believe it was a difficult decision for him because he did come to understand and respect the Muslim faith and was able to experience it first hand. That kind of revelation is a hard thing to shake.

In summary, I do feel that Joseph Pitt's was truly converted; I cannot see how he could not have been while living in the midst of such religious dedication. I am sorry that he chose to write a narrative that describes the unfortunate events that occurred because of some group's poor decisions and radical views, which do not necessarily reflect the views of all Muslims and may feed into the stereotypes. I believe that this could have been a great documentation for the cultural history of the Muslim faith due to the painstaking detail of their eating habits and daily activities that he incorporated into this narrative.