Escape The Fog

Shameful Abuse of Children

2007-04-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

Shameful Abuse of Religion:

It is bad enough when adults and young adults have to suffer for their faith, but when children are made to suffer too, we get to witness a new low.

To let this go on (like we let it in Darfur), gives me no sense of pride.

One's Own Conviction

2007-02-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

One's Own Conviction

Or, another case for "No Compulsion in Religion"
Or, another case for "Independent Investigation of the Truth"

I have questioned in an easrlier post whether it is satisfactory to base one's religion on what I call accidents of time and place:

"... the question of whether it is as valid as anything else for one's choice of religion to be determined by factors such as place of birth, the time of birth (which century), and the religion of the parents (either natural, or adoptive). For example, growing up Muslim if you were born in Saudi Arabia, Jew if you were born in Bethlehem in the year 50 B.C. (but Muslim or Christian if you were born in 1930 A.D.), Lutheran if you were
born in South Korea and were adopted at age two and a half by a family from Minnesota, U.S.A., but Catholic if your new parents are from Argentina."

Today, I read yet another story on the BBC news web site about parents sent home from the hospital, with a child who is not their own, because of a mix-up (30 years ago).

The story is about a Malaysian Chinese couple who are considering taking legal action against a hospital for sending them home with the wrong baby. Of course this means that another couple were also sent home with the wrong baby. This other couple happens to be Muslim. It's an interesting story that you should read for yourselves. The point that attracted my attention even more about this story, is -- now that the Chinese boy (man) is re-united with his natural parents, he wants to change his name to a Chinese name, and no longer wants to remain Muslim.

Should he be allowed to choose his real parents' religion for himself (or any other religion for that matter)?

Or, should he be forced to keep the religion he was raised with, in order to avoid complications and possible negative consequences associated with "apostasy" ?

Light of Unity

2007-01-31T21:25:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, the 21st of January, many celebrations were held around the world, in communities large and small, on the occasion of World Religion Day.

World Religion Day was initiated in 1950 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States to 'address the need for religious unity', as they state on their web site.

Most of the celebrations, are organized around the world at the grass root level, which is wonderful. Imagine how much more wonderful it would be if countries and world leaders of religion (specially the big shots), would make a larger effort in calling for such unity.

This year, a couple of countries commemorated the occasion with postal stamps.

"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth."

Baby Steps

2007-01-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the US swore in its new Congress. There were a few "NEW"s that have been topics of conversation for the last few weeks. New majority, new Speaker (and a woman too). New ideas, new standards for ethics (well, can't really call them new, but a new resolve to adhere more to ethics proposed to us for millennia), and many new faces. Many younger new faces.

Another "NEW" was that now the US has a Muslim for a congressman. Not only that, but two Buddhists as well. These, it can be argued, are very high offices in the land. The Muslim congressman took his oath (later for the pictures) on his Holy Book, which makes a lot of sense, because one should want a new officer to take an oath on a Book the he or she believes in, although the ritual itself is just symbolic because the Source of the Book, The Author, is ever present, and knows what's in the heart, making the oath (done actually together and without books), a pledge to the people witnessing the event. The copy of the Holy Qur'an used for the second ceremony, was a copy owned by Thomas Jefferson, one of the "Founding Fathers" of the American nation. This too seems to be a significant piece of information few people knew. I think it's significant that Jefferson would want to know about Systems of Belief other than his own.

NEW things signify change. Hopefully it's change for the better.

Buddhists and Muslims are among the smaller minorities in the US. Still, that in itself did not stop electing congressmen and congresswomen from among adherents of the two Faiths. This is really very good. For some reason, the Buddhist didn't make a big deal of this, but I suppose because of the current state of affairs between the Muslim World and the West, there has been a lot of attention given to the Muslim congressman.

These may be baby steps, but that is significant too. After baby steps, comes real walking.

I just hope that, even if for just a small degree, other countries also take baby steps in affording opportunities for their minorities to be "equal" citizens.

I hope that, this is not too much to hope for.

Too much talk about the same thing

2006-11-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

Many of you may be familiar with a program on Public TV (in the US) called NOVA, . Tonight's episode had different segments covering different aspects of science. One of which had to do with mass extinctions that have supposedly (or actually, I guess) happened numerous times during the lifetime of our planet.

There have been many theories concerning the cause(s) of these mass extinctions, including giant meteorites hitting the earth and causing the dinosaurs and other forms of life to disappear. The theory presented in tonight's episode proposes massive burps of poisonous sulfur based gases produced by uncontrollable growth of certain types of bacteria that thrive in the oceans when oxygen levels are depleted due to the warm up of the atmosphere and rise in water temperature. That is to say, that mass extinctions have occurred by massive poisoning.

Later, I came to my computer and saw headlines on the BBC News web page, of two stories that seemed very minor in the larger scheme of things which our world is going through these days. Really small, and probably should not have taken space on the web page.

One is about a former Russian spy who has been poisoned (allegedly) by the KGB. The other, is about rare Abyssinian lion cubs that are being poisoned at a zoo in Ethiopia's capital (for lack of funds).

Poison gasses in the atmosphere, a poisoned former spy, poisoned lion cubs .. too much poison for one day?

I already said, that these are very minor stories in and of themselves, still, I think they are reminders of other ills that plague us. Much larger ills.

I remain optimistic. We are emerging slowly from adolescence toward maturity. Still, these words keep ringing in my ears, not to bring me down, but to think about, ... to contemplate on :

"O YE THAT ARE LYING AS DEAD ON THE COUCH OF HEEDLESSNESS! [...] ye walk on My earth complacent and self-satisfied, heedless that My earth is weary of you and everything within it shunneth you. Were ye but to open your eyes, ye would, in truth, prefer a myriad griefs unto this joy, ... "

Magic Suitcase

2006-11-08T13:18:00.000-08:00

Examples of words differing from deeds are to be found everywhere. No shortages around us regular folks. Much more in the public arena.

This may have always been true, notwithstanding the fact that most people know and agree that this is less than honorable, that a person is more admired and more respected when their words are matched by their deeds.

All religions have expressed in so many words the need for this very important social principle. Many honorable people have tried to live by this, yet examples of the opposite still abound.

I am still optimistic however. It's inevitable that humanity collectively will reach its coming of age. Someday. I’m hoping soon.

In the meanwhile, I'll buy me a magic suitcase and I'll take it with me to all meetings big and small. In it, I will pack the ambience of large audience. The rallying, the ovation and the applause. Maybe I'll pack the audience too. May as well. .. Oh.. and I must not forget the big stage lights.

This posting was inspired by the inspiringly noble thoughts, the gentle words, the expressions of love, the pronounced manifestations of humbleness, the effulgence of the spirit of brotherhood and the extending of hands for cooperation, conciliation, embrace and comforting, .. every time a public figure .. politician.... religious leader, stood on the stage, in the warmth of the big lights, in the warmth of the comraderie with the audience, in the chilling warmth of the applause.

I’ll need the suitcase because when I see the same person the next day, he will have forgotten what he said on the stage, he will have forgotten who he was, how he was, and he may be less gentle, more mean and less brotherly in treating me, until I open the suitcase and he is in the warmth of the stage lights again.

In fact I’ll need another suitcase. This one to capture his gentleness of yesterday to remind him of it. ... Or will a video camera, a voice recorder, or a published page on the internet do?

“Say, O brethren! Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.”

Different Symptoms ..

2006-11-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

Different Symptoms ..Same Problem ?

I read a story on the BBC news site about a 92 year old archaeologist (Muazzez Ilmiye Cig) who was prosecuted over a book in which said that headscarves were first worn more than 5,000 years ago by Sumerian priestesses who initiated young men into sex. Charges were brought against her by a lawyer who took offence at the 2005 book. Today, she was acquitted. Her publisher was acquitted too.

Also on the same site today there was a story about the entertainer Maddona speaking on adoption . For a couple of weeks now, every news outlet has written about her attempt to adopt an African child. Some people see it as a benevolent act, some see it as an act of an arrogant person cutting in line and not waiting her turn like everyone else even if it is a benevolent act. Yet others see it as a publicity stunt with no benevolence whatsoever.

Two different stories, but what do they tell us about where we are right now?

Do they tell us that ...

We are not busy enough trying to make today better than yesterday? Not even for ourselves?

How much effort was wasted trying to punish a little old lady for her archaeological findings, because someone was offended because of his a religious over sensitivity about an issue that even his coreligionists have not agreed on because it is not mentioned clearly in the Book?

How much effort went into investigating, into writing, into reading, into discussing, into gossiping, into praising, into criticizing Maddona for her latest?

How much time did I spend writing this !! But I too am a part of this world.

Alterations: Can you widen these pants for me please?

2006-10-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

BBC – Magazine (Friday, 6 October 2006):

“The Pope may be about to abolish the notion of limbo,
the halfway house between heaven and hell, inhabited
by unbaptised infants.

[…], the church held that before the 13th Century, all unbaptised people, including new born babies who died, would go to hell. This was because original sin - the punishment that God inflicted on humanity because of Adam and Eve's disobedience - had not been cleansed by baptism.
This idea however was criticised by Peter Abelard, a French scholastic philosophiser, who said that babies who had no personal sin didn't even deserve punishment.
It was Abelard who introduced the idea of limbo. The word comes from the Latin "limbus", meaning the edge. This would be a state of existence where unbaptised babies, and those unfortunate enough to have been born before Jesus, would not experience pain but neither would they experience the Beatific Vision of God.”
….

Not popular
According to church historian Michael Walsh limbo is so unpopular it has all but dropped out of Catholic consciousness.
….

Some argue that the question of limbo has taken on fresh urgency because it could be hindering the Church's conversion of Africa and Asia, where infant mortality rates are high.
An article in the UK's Times newspaper this week suggested that the "Pope - an acknowledged authority on all things Islamic - is only too aware that Muslims believe the souls of stillborn babies go straight to heaven".

_ _ _ _

While I believe that the whole notion of 'original sin' is in stark contrast with the belief that we are created in the image of God, and that original sin is a man-made misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Bible, and while, therefore, I am all for the idea of abolishing 'Limbo' and all limbo-related beliefs, … people still need to stop and think whether religion should be based on either what is (or isn't) popular at a certain time in history, or on who happens to be Pope or Chief Rabbi, or Grand Ayatullah at the time. Most churches (not only Christian) have been very willing to ‘slightly’ alter doctrine in order to hold on to the faithful, or to compete with other religions for the remaining ‘heathens’ of the world. With all these ‘slight’ changes over the centuries, does any religion remain true to the original teachings of the Prophets?

Grade: Incomplete !!

2006-10-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

1978 Anwar al-Sadat, and Menachem Begin shake hands and agree on peace and end up sharing the Nobel Prize. Twenty eight years later, there is still peace on the state level but you wouldn't know it reading the papers or watching TV or the occasional demonstrations.

1989. Berlin Wall falls, Germany is one again. Families reunited. Wonderful news. Unemployment on the rise, competition for resources on the rise, Skinheads and Neo Nazis on the rise, ...

The "Evil Empire" dissolves to give rise to youthful hopeful new nations. Headline- October 02, 2006 : Putin Gives Bush Georgia Warning : Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President George W. Bush during an Oct. 2 phone conversation that any efforts by a third country that encourage Georgia's destructive policy toward Russia are unacceptable, the Kremlin press service said.

Chechnya, Kosovo, Ukrain, ...

Apartheid falls in 1994. Good riddance. Great news. .. Headlines in Oct. 2006: Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu has warned that South Africa is in danger of losing its moral direction. He said it had failed to sustain the idealism that ended apartheid and warned of growing ethnic divisions. Referring to South Africa's high murder rate and the rape of children as young as nine months, he said the African reverence for life had been lost.

India and Pakistan in recent years, are the closest they have ever been, but a few days ago, the BBC headlines read : Indian police have said that Pakistan's intelligence service helped to plan the July Mumbai train bombings.

These are just a few examples of the way it has been in the last few decades, yet I still think that we are making some progress ... however minuscule.

Most people want peace. Most people want a good life for their families and for the rest of the world. We shouldn't be disappointed. Lots of good happening in the world, but what does it take to maintain the momentum so we wouldn't take six steps forward and go back five ?

- - - - -
Undying Hope

On the lighter side: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times (Wednesday, October 4, 2006)

Dead Bachelors in China Still Find Wives

To ensure a dead son’s contentment in the afterlife, some Chinese parents search out a dead woman to be his bride.

Building Communities

2006-10-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a new group.

Three or four weeks ago I attended a party (/ meeting/ brainstorming session), where the host had invited a couple of dozen people of varied backgrounds and interests to enjoy a very nice dinner and good conversation. He called the event "Creating Authentic Connection to Create World Peace". A mouthful of a name, and I couldn't guess what it exactly meant at first, but as they talked, the rest of the attendees seemed to be interested in contributing to World Peace in rather creative ways. I was interested too. The host was encouraging each of us to think of ways to become leaders in bringing people of common interests to do things together and get to know each other well. The premise is that we would be building communities made up of diverse people who still have common interests. These interest could be almost anything. ... Different sports, cooking, enjoying nature, .. etc. As I sat there listening, the thought that came to my mind for when my turn came, was to start a group that discusses religion, and related issues.

I explained my idea to the group, and I was happy to see that there were five or six people who were interested. They represented Christian, Jewish, Baha'i and Hindu. Good start.

My email invitation was probably a bit too short notice, and of the four that almost made it to the meeting, only two were able to. Others replied that they would make more of an effort to come to future meetings.

Two people discussing religion over a friendly dinner (served by yours truly) wasn't bad at all. It gave us a very good chance to get a bit deep in some topics, which might not have happened if we had more people (considering the dynamics of larger groups, and how everyone needs to be given a turn to talk, making the time per person, shorter and more limited).

Among other topics discussed, was the question of whether it is as valid as anything else for one's choice of religion to be determined by factors such as place of birth, the time of birth (which century), and the religion of the parents (either natural, or adoptive). For example, growing up Muslim if you were born in Saudi Arabia, Jew if you were born in Bethlehem in the year 50 B.C. (but Muslim or Christian if you were born in 1930 A.D.), Lutheran if you were born in South Korea and were adopted at age two and a half by a family from Minnesota, U.S.A., but Catholic if your new parents are from Argentina.

I myself can think of more than one answer, but if you chance upon my humble blog and read this, please let me know what you think.

Where to call home?

2006-09-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

I saw a movie last night, a documentary, and it evoked quite a few issues to ponder on.

The documentary followed four Jewish writers of Iraqi descent. Baghdad to be precise. Three older gentlemen who actually grew up in Baghdad, and a middle aged younger lady whose parents are from Baghdad originally. They are all Israeli citizens.

The three men became intellectuals at an early age during the 40s, and at that time in Baghdad, many intellectuals were attracted to communism and joined the communist party. It’s a two hour movie, and I don’t want to spoil it for you, but for this short post, here are just a few interesting points:

These people kept identifying themselves as ‘Arab Jews’ which technically, I didn’t understand because the religion part of the identity is inherited from the mother in Judaism and since it wasn’t customary to invite people to join the religion, and intermarriage did not happen often, I would have thought that these writers were ethnically Hebrew, but that’s not important here. The important thing is that all four of them saw themselves as Arabs.

They talked about a major persecution event that happened in Iraq in the early 40s (maybe 1941) when many Jews of all ages were massacred during a period of unrest in the country, but they attributed that to the fact that the instigators were people seeking to fight the British influence in Iraq, and so, had aligned themselves with the Nazis, and it wasn’t because the Jews and Muslims hated each other.

In the late 40s, there were anti-Zionist Jewish movements in Iraq (although there was also a small Zionist movement there as well).

After the formation of the state of Israel, most Jews did not want to leave Iraq, but the Arab government no longer wanted them (and issued laws to annul their citizenship), and the Zionist movement wanted them to move to Israel, but mainly to bolster the number of Jews in the Holy Land (according to the documentary). All four writers were convinced that there was collaboration between the government and the Zionist movement !!! (what’s up with that?)

All four spoke of long years of discrimination in their new homeland because the Europeans saw them as backward and uncivilized even though the majority were well educated intellectuals, and so they continued to see themselves as outsiders and had to struggle with all kinds of issues of assimilation, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. The lady who grew up in Israel, wrote a book about this discrimination which opened eyes and shocked many. She finally found a home for herself in New York where she feels she can now be both a Jew and an Arab, without being her own enemy. !!

Of course there is much more to the movie, but what I wanted to bring up here, is what seems obvious to me (in this case at least), that religion was used (/abused), yet again for political reasons. Of course it’s naïve to say that the relationship among people of different religions was ideal throughout the centuries, specially where followers of one religion were the dominant majority, but the animosity we see today, is way out of proportion compared to a century ago, and most of it did not start with the people themselves.

We have the political and religious leaders to thank for that.

As to “where to call home?”, some of us will have to wait, while for some of us, “The earth is but one country, and mankind, its citizens”.

Conversation with the “river”

2006-09-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

These were replies to a fellow blogger (Edo River) who commented on an earlier posting. I am publishing them here again (with slight modification) because I am hoping to share them with others too.

(For his comments, please see the comment section for the “Are they competing with each other?” post.)

1) On seeing the similarities among the world established religions:

I think I agree with you completely (if I understood you right). The Oneness (of the Way) mentioned in the post may appear simplistic, but the implications are tremendous, and the meanings, limitless and complex. In some sense, as I have come to believe, the very salvation of the planet may be linked to the recognition and the realization of this Oneness. (Not bringing it about, but rather recognizing that it is a reality, just like the modern science of genetics and the study of DNA telling us that there really is only one [homo sapiens] species of people.)

While simplicity can be beautiful, it is not a synonym of 'ease'. Overcoming the ego, is just about the hardest thing in the world like you say, and there is no magic mantra either. The Prophets themselves suffered. Yet, all the world's religions have called for sacrificing (that which is low) for (that which is high). They all did.

’Simplicity’ can be beautiful. E=MC².
(How easy was it to come up with that?)

In order to believe in the oneness of the "Way", we may have to believe that there is only one God, only one human race, and maybe that religion is one too. Where would that leave us?

2) On the difficulty in not becoming a skeptic, a perpetual doubter, a cynic.

Doubt can be replaced by a (more positive?) principle called "Independent Investigation of the Truth". It is wonderful to have teachers who teach you how to think for yourself and instill a yearning in you to look for the truth. At the same time, there is a saying that says: once you have found the object of your search (I am paraphrasing), then to keep searching is foolish. That is where the doubt should end and become replaced by certitude -- (maybe what you called "Trust" in your post).

What you say about core teachings of religions on the one hand, and social teachings on the other, is very true and important to distinguish between, and also to understand the reasons for having two sets of teachings. The more obvious differences between the religions are mainly with regards to the social teachings. Each appropriate and perfect for the place and the age they were revealed in. Another difference, if you want to call it so, is in the extent of what they expounded to us. (Also perfectly appropriate to the capacity of the recipients in that time and place). So there is nothing inherent against seeing religion as one, if we can also recognize its relative nature.

As to having 62 churches (all claiming to belong to the same religion) in a town of 7000, .. there is another saying: "Knowledge is one point, which the foolish have multiplied."

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Question

2006-09-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

In my very first post I wrote about why I started a blog without really being prepared (just so I could leave comments on blogs which only allow other bloggers to comment), and how I scrambled and struggled to find a name that both had some meaning to me, and was not already taken. It was only after I finally found such name and started my account with blogger.com that I found out how un-unique this name too was. There are other blogs with the same name but not on blogspot, .. even web sites about some movie. Oh well !!

I know that I wrote that my postings would be "occasional" sharing of thoughts, but somehow now I almost feel a responsibility to write something more often even though I know well that this is an obscure blog and maybe no one (or very few people) would chance on it anyway, but still ...

I did write a few paragraphs which I think are worth sharing, but I wrote them as replies to comments by other bloggers (see the comment section for the previous post please). Now if I felt that maybe my reply to one individual, may still be good for others who may not bother to go to the comments section, would it be ok to put them in the main section of the blog itself?

Faisal

Are they competing with each other?

2006-09-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

The statements below are from 5 different world religions* (it maybe easy to recognize the source of one or two) :

"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me."

"This is the way, there is no other that leads to the purifying of intelligence. Go on this way! Everything else is the deceit of Mara."

"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."

"There is only one religious way. This one way is that of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, the way of heaven, of light and of purity, of the infinite creator"

"He that hath Me not is bereft of all things. Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me."
- - -

Now, depending on where you come from, your state of mind or upbringing, or even your mood on a certain day, you may see different things in these statements. Here is a couple of possibilities:

Like many of the followers of each of these religions, you may read some sort of exclusivity in them. You may choose to ignore or not care about religions other than your own because your religion is the only Way to God. All other people are, alas ... lost.

You may even feel (God forbid), .. a bit superior for that exclusivity.

Or you may see that they all say the same thing, because there is an underlying oneness that makes them speak with the same voice, calling us to walk on the one Path. Whatever else lie to the sides, mere distractions.

- - -
* not in the correct order : Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Baha'i, Buddhism, and Hinduism

Day 1

2006-09-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

I gave in finally and I'm starting my own blog.

Not that I don't like writing, but I've been resisting the "in" thing, and I'm more used to leaving short comments on other people's blogs. Some however, don't allow guests or anonymous contributors, and so today, I got my own account with "blogger".

Choosing a clever name wasn't easy either. Smart people everywhere. On my twenty third or whatever attempt, I finally found one that wasn't already taken. Well, that's what you get for being a latecomer.

Not much comes to mind for this, ... tonight.

One of the moderately big stories in the news for the last few days has been the Pope's address (or more accurately, a quote he used in a recent talk), that has angered many in the Muslim world. I don't want to talk about this particular incident as there has been tons written about it already, but it just reminded me how in a world so much in need for conciliation, where people of good will have been sacrificing to bring about justice, equality and brotherhood, by working hard to eliminate barriers such as those of race or gender or economic disparity ... etc., there still remains to be seen, any real and serious efforts by the top religious leaders – of all faiths, all over the world – to put a stop to feelings of superiority and exclusivity that have left the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of this planet (constituting the "Other") condemned to a fate that no one "wishing for others what one wishes for themselves" can accept. Instead, .. refusing to recognize the underlying oneness of purpose, aim and hope, taught by all religions, they continue to nurture man-made differences, and fan the flames. Tsk, tsk, tsk ...

: (