Washington Area Lunch - November 12, 2010

Pictures were submitted by Dave Carruth

The Washington/Annapolis luncheon on 12 Nov. was as good as we had anticipated.  The consensus was that our speaker, Barbara Ferguson,  was excellent and her presentation thoroughly enjoyed.  I’m certain that each of us took home different highlights from what she told us as she covered religion, and society of the region.  Some things I took away, in speaking of head scarves she pointed out that it used to be the practice here in practically all churches for women to wear hats.  We are Episcopalians and I have many pictures over the years of Betty wearing a hat when we were on our way to church.  Some of my Catholic friends tell me that women in their church are still expected to cover their heads in church.  Barbara also said that Muslim women are expected to cover their hair to avoid distracting men (those are my words not hers).  We have always had a saying that a woman’s hair is her crowning glory.  This reminded me of an experience I had returning from a long deployment in the Philippines, China, Japan and other assorted countries when I was riding a bus in Hawaii.  Several rows ahead of me on the bus was a woman with the most beautiful red hair I had probably ever seen.  I sat there thinking she must be a stunning woman until she got up to leave and walked past me.  The Lord had not been kind to her when He passed out good looks, except for that hair.  So much for distraction.

          Barbara also said that the Bourkha is worn in some countries, mainly India and Pakistan for much the same reason and said she had been to parties there where the women came into the house, removed the Bourkha and was dressed in the latest Western fashion.

         She mentioned the uproar created by the Danish cartoons of Muhammad and asked that we consider what our reaction would be to similar cartoons of Jesus.

         This is trivia of course and constituted a very small part of her presentation but this “trivia” is something our media makes a fairly big issue of.

  If you would like to experience a good course in comparative religion I can recommend one available from The Teaching Company titled Comparative Religion taught by Professor Charles Kimball of the University of Oklahoma.  I believe you can find it at your library, 20 lectures on DVD each 30 minutes in length.  Barbara’s talk has convinced Betty and me to go through that course  again.

         While I don’t frequently do this here are the people who were at this luncheon.  They are listed in the order in which they signed in—

         Warren Graham brought his minister, Jim Abernathy, as his guest.

         Bob and Helga Smith

         Bill and Elizabeth Reed

         Bob Ghormley

         Phil Shutler and Margaret with Walt and Eleanor Rodger as their guests

         Frank and Betty Boushee came up from Wilmington, NC and had Bill and Jane Smoot Class of ’50 as their guests

         Judith and Bob Flood

         Libby and Cab Davis

         Joanne and Dick Munly

         Dave and Betty Carruth

         Jean and Charlie Mertz

         Rosemary Hogg

         Patty and Tony Duncan

         Greta Goldman

         Bill Bartow

         John and Dolly Rasmussen

         Jack and Louise Conable

        Jonathan Sisson

         Jim and Mary Beggs

         Charlie and Marguerite Heid

         Bill Arnold

         Bill Bass

         Carol Manganaro

         Peg Lee

We were particularly pleased the see Greta Goldman, Peg Lee and the Boushee’s there. 

Our next luncheon will be on the second Fri. of January at the Army/Navy Club as usual.  If you can be in the area, join us.       Dave

Following is the speaker' s bio and picture:

Barbara G.B. Ferguson gained extensive experience with international affairs while employed as a journalist and for several national and international newspapers and magazines. Working the last 24 years as a journalist and bureau chief in Paris, London and now Washington, she developed an expertise on Middle East affairs. She speaks French and Arabic (Egyptian dialect).

 Ms. Ferguson currently is the Washington Bureau Chief of Arab News, the leading English-language daily in the Arabian Gulf; headquartered in London with its editorial staff based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  Rupert Murdoch?s News Corporation recently bought the minority interests of the parent company, Asharq Al-Awsat. 

She served as an embedded war correspondent with the USMC in 2003, where she translated for her unit in Iraq.  As a result, she now works part-time as an advisor on Islam, Arab Culture, the media, and Strategic Communications for the USMC?s Center for Advanced Operational Culture (CAOCL) at Quantico, Virginia. 

Apart from her full time work as a journalist, she also periodically trains Mideast-bound American contractors to become culturally competent on Middle Eastern issues.  Her students include US military corrections officers, police, intelligence officers, and employees from the US Justice Department. 

Ms. Ferguson has taught part-time with the Naval Postgraduate School?s “Leadership Development and Education for Sustained Peace,” LDESP,  and conducts CAPSTONE classes for general officers and their spouses at National Defense University; lectures PAOs on Arab Media and Islam at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Maryland and regularly speaks at various other military and non-military events