Professor Gloria in excelsis Emeagwali,
Imagine if de Vries had written "gloria in excelsis deo" at the very top of his dedication!
That of course could be most appropriate in a doctoral dissertation for the theology department, Oxford, Dublin, Vatican...
I think that it's a pity that de Vries can't be permitted to dedicate his work to his God but that it would have been perfectly OK for him to have dedicated it to one of the little green men from the Sirius star for example.
I don't think that we know de Vries well enough to diagnose him as "presumptuous, arrogant and delusional." On the contrary I'm sure that he himself would argue that dedicating his efforts and success to God his Father Almighty and not to himself personally, should give the impression of humility to even the imbeciles, that it's "Not me but Thee O Lord!" ( Spiritual pride?)
Maybe because over the past 30 years I have been mostly glossing religious literature (in the dedications of hundreds of books it's always many thanks to Hashem/ Allah/ Jesus/ their mothers, wives, secretaries, lovers, editors etc. for their patience...
Etches On Fresh Waters for example is dedicated to the Yoruba God Sango, and Goddess, Oya. (I thank God that there is no academic authority in the world that's gonna tell Oga Professor Falola or Fela,
"NO you can't do that!"
In some editions of his poetry T.S. Eliot has a dedication to his wife - the love song of J Alfred Prufrock was dedicated to his girlfriend Jean, posthumously.
Personally, I don't syncopate too well with de Vries use of the word honour in that dedication ( I prefer the more religious word " blessed" to "honoured" maybe because I have in mind, Holy Quran 89: 15 -16:
15. As for man, whenever his Lord trieth him by honouring him, and is gracious unto him, he saith: My Lord honoureth me.
16. But whenever He trieth him by straitening his means of life, he saith: My Lord despiseth me.
(Pickthall translation)
15.And as for man, when his Lord tries him and [thus] is generous to him and favors him, he says, "My Lord has honored me."
16. But when He tries him and restricts his provision, he says, "My Lord has humiliated me."
( Sahih International translation)
But de Vries is probably a Christian and not a Muslim. Muslims I'm sure have fathers and mothers in heaven but do not claim that the King is their father...
Missed my plane. I should have been in Malta since Saturday, but am only now recovering. Pray for us.
On Monday, 8 May 2017 05:50:10 UTC+2, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
He is also presumptuous, arrogant and delusional, and cannot tell the difference between secularism and its opposite. He wears his religion on his sleeve to intimidate others, or impress them.
His religious belief is his personal affair. I don't want to know about it, although I respect his right to believe in whatever religion he wants to claim. The world is bleeding right now from trigger- happy, exhibitionist zealots who couldn't keep their religious belief and credentials in check.
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