Summary Of Eboo Patel's Act Of Faith

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1. The word face as defined today has many different connotations. Simply and most commonly it is often thought about as the part of the body, which is most often seen and recognizable to others. Because of this, it can be said to be one of the most vulnerable parts of the body. It can also be understood at a front or more often mask that people put up to disguise their true selves. The expression” that’s just a face” infers that the subject being talked about is hiding behind the face and is not being real or true to what they are. As Levinas explained his meaning of the face in Totality and Infinity he drew upon this idea. In his view, if something had a face then it was more accessible and easier to deal with. This is applicable to the physical world in many ways. …show more content…

This idea is also expressed in chapter 1 of Eboo Patel's Act of Faith. Throughout the chapter, Patel familiarizes the reader with several suicide bombers. Through this, he is essentially giving them a ‘face’. Although he doesn’t go into much detail on their appearance, he does talk about their lives and their families. This allows them to become more comprehensible and show that they truly are just people. A quote from Terry McDermott simplifies it quite well on page 3 as he concludes,” The men of September 11 were, regrettably, I think, fairly ordinary men.” It's an idea that Levinas also touches on in this paper on page 197 when he talks about ‘faceless gods’ having power over people. This concept confirms the belief that if something, in this case, someone, is not seen seem bigger or more powerful that they really are. These conclusions that terrorist are truly just people wouldn’t have come together if they had remained anonymous. It is the power of the face that allowed Patel and others to be able to relate to them and see them as they truly are. Levinas says on page 194,” In gaining access to in I maintain myself within the same,” to say that by seeing it and understanding it he relates to

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