Friday, September 24, 2010
كاستر سيمينيا”… أو نكتة الجندر”
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Only a few are daring to protest against this mainstream portrayal of the problem... They are usually anti-Hezbollah people and I tend to agree with most of what they are saying, check out what AK said, it worth reading: Looking beyond the horror
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Yes I break my silence to say one thing:
Khalas ba2a, tla3o min rase with your stupid avatars and your stupid words… Khalas hypocrisy dressed in compassion. Stop highjacking online media to do the Jihad you are too chicken to do, what are you looking for? Exposure of the Palestinian cause? Ma Gaza is on every fucking station.
Shi marra face this frightening truth that stares you in the face and bi2ouwa hal ba7sa… The only enemy to the Palestinian cause is Hamas and those lli bishiddo 3a mshadda. Ma ba2a trab7oune jmeele with your bigotry.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine’s Day… I guess
I had planned to talk to you about my birthday, it was yesterday and yes now I’m 23 but as you all know, in Lebanon, Valentine’s Day is less celebrated than the death of Hariri exactly three years ago. A friend of mine was asking me to go but I had said no, for a very clear reason that I will talk about later. Last night around my neighborhood in Beirut, 14th of Marcher were calling on people to participate in today’s demonstration using loud speakers and stuff. Keep in mind that I live in a Christian (combining both FPMers and Christians 14th of Marchers of all factions!) area that is currently being engulfed by the rapid expansion of the Dahieh.
As far as I am concerned this move did nothing to change my mind, why would I change my mind aslan?
At around 10pm I go to bed as usual, at 2:20am I wake up, not on the sound of an explosion but the sound of gun shots! Around my house there are certain unusual and unhealthy phenomena taking place and at certain occasions guns were used, but this time it was different, it wasn’t the result of some personal problem, since it wasn’t a single shot or something, it was several (somewhere around 7 and 10) shots. Needless to say I jumped out of my bed to get a grip of what was happening but I didn’t jump to the windows, a habit I have learnt from previous gun shots J. But I was genuinely scared. Not much was known so I went back to bed.
This morning, my uncle informs me that our building was specifically targeted! Shooting on the first floor where there are commercial shops and stuff, a few shots landed on the façade of the building also. What’s even funnier is that a small explosive was thrown but didn’t explode.
The news certainly wasn’t aware of this news, for many reasons:
1- Tomorrow is the 14th of March, it’s better to promote a fake image of security
2- his is a delicate area it would be unwise to wake the demon lying next to us
3-I’m sure there were many incidents that were meant to scare people, promoting it would be giving the perpetrators what they wanted
Surprisingly no one got hurt and we got back to our normal lives… more or less…
And now let’s see… Why did I refuse to go to Martyr’s square today?
Because of the horrible weather?
Well tropical rain was never the best environment for demonstrations but Beirut always had the talent of pleasantly keeping me wet J so if this year’s celebration would have seduced my heart the rain wouldn’t have stopped me.
The horrible gunshots?
Well it scared me but if it proved anything it proved that staying at home won’t protect me, weapons can come to my home.
The fear of trouble?
I have been hearing a lot about the potential problems, my birthday preparations were made extremely difficult due to that situation, parents are literally locking up their kids and forbidding them to move around in Beirut. The situation is not the best ever, it’s dangerous and everything may as well blow up in Martyrs’ square today… But danger should never stop us, I went down to college last year when the 8th march forces were burning tires and advising everyone to stay home, or else… And I survived! So that wasn’t why I didn’t go.
I am just disappointed!
Yes I am disappointed, I am disappointed for a lot of reasons and because of a lot of actions that I considered to be “not good enough”. The mistakes that the cedar revolution patrons did started from the 2005 elections and never stopped. BUT in spite of that, I remained faithful to my revolution and to my choices, I went down to many demonstrations but this time, they crossed the line! What is particularly insulting for me is the repetitive submission to Hezbollah’s blackmail; no I won’t take that shit! Not that I don’t know how difficult the situation, I am fully aware of how delicate the situation is!
But there is not plausible excuse for this country to remain without a president! I don’t really care what the consequences would be… I demand a president! I live right next to the Dahieh and our building would be the first one to fall if Hezbollah chooses to retaliate, no one is more in danger than us. What must be done must be done, and some people must be put back to their places. It’s more than obvious than they don’t want a president. If they wanted a president they wouldn’t delegate Aoun to negotiate in the name of the opposition.
For the past couple of years, we have strictly refused a new General for President… Then we accepted, what does that mean? That means we’re mere cowards, no not cowards… Idiotic cowards! For it has not led to the election of Sleiman, no, it only gave the opposition an advantage that we can no longe take back. Now Hezbollah has moved to another achievement they now want to choose the government that suits them best… And Lebanon is still dangerously headless!
So no I won’t walk to the Martyrs’ Square, because a few months ago 14th of march officials were claiming they can elect a president because they had more than half of the parliament… But they didn’t and I refuse this move they made.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Egypt 'torturing HIV sufferers'
But I am above all against the abuse that we suffer from in our own societies, international media might be insulting in the way they take advantage of us, but our own people TORTURE and PERSECUTE us, for no reason, be it apparent or not.
But I speak of discrimination because of this case where an Egyptian guy states that he is HIV positive, a sort of social crime in our society exactly like lesbianism is, as we all know. So… notice the chain of events:1. The police arrests him
2. Arrests the male friend that was with him
3. Handcuffs both of them 23h/day on the hospital bed
4. subjected to anal tests to "prove" their homosexual conduct (against their will)
5. beaten for refusing to sign statements written by the police
6. Two others were arrested when police found their photographs and contact numbers in the wallets of those detained
7. Then four others in November when police raided the flat of one of those being held, which had been placed under surveillance
Now the first four are being convicted of "habitual debauchery"… Which is one of several ways an Egyptians could be legally punished for being Homosexual, other pretexts may include obscenity or prostitution…
What is sad and pathetic and heart breaking is that these people, may or may not be Homosexuals, the only thing that is known for a fact is that one of them is HIV positive… A person that is not even sick but the requires and might require in future medical assistance and support, I guess being tortured and inhumanly treated will force them not only to snap out of homosexuality but also snap out of HIV, right?
Sources:
PinkNews: Egypt accused of criminalising HIV positive gay men
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Thank God for the rain
I bet you’ve all seen it all a million time on TV. What’s funny about it is that personally I was in a retreat, organized by IndyAct in order to put a five years plan to save the world, one way or the other… No wait WAIT! Don’t close the window just yet. You see, The retreat started on Friday and ended on Sunday.
On Friday morning I was gracefully sleeping in my bed, I planned to wake up early that day, I had a course at 10. However, at 9:55 I wake up at the sound of a powerful blast that actually pressured my ears. Taking in consideration the fact that I have miraculously never been close to any explosion, I was consumed by the frightening idea that the explosion was right next to me or something. I was shocked that my room is safe and everything. I jumped to the window in the living room to see where the explosion came from. I certainly didn’t jump to the bedroom’s window cause that one gives a view on the Dahieh, no explosion ever takes place there.
What I see is a column of smoke going up. It was obviously not as close as I had feared, I took a couple of picture for memory purposes! Then the news came on TV and that’s when I really started to get scared. My whole family uses that road to go to work, including my father, two of my uncles, and three of my cousins, not to mention my dad’s cousin! Slowly I was ensured that they were all ok!
A few hours later I was in a small residence in a touristic area. And peace reigned for 48 hours, then in the final meeting on Sunday I get a call from my ex, she’s panicking begging me not to go home to Beirut and go instead to jounieh. She was yelling at me telling me my hometown is in turmoil or something. And before I hung up I receive another call from another close friend of mine repeating the same shit! Then it was my uncle’s turn and the whole family. By the time we were done with the meeting we turned the TV on and no shock was waiting for us. Just a bunch of young men acting like total jerks, burning tires and running around riding small mobilettes…
Then there were shooting and then there were chaos…
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
We just believe…
Did I know that people will die? I believe I did, because I repeated it for who ever was willing to listen, I told them that death is around the corner, and I believe they knew what I was talking about.
Do I believe that our struggle is worth the blood of our citizens? I am an adept of life, but I know that nothing will be given, all must be paid for.
Do I believe that’s it’s all right for people like Charles to die? No, but I am only given two choices:
- to accept and give in, thus accepting the death of all those who have died as a mistake made by our society against those who occupied us
- To refuse! And thus keep on resisting … but taking the chance of seeing more blood shed and horror
I refused and will there fore try to answer this call:
Friday, September 28, 2007
Meem and the new changes of my life
Well, I promised to keep you people updated on my situation so far. Well here’s what happened: When I stopped updating a while back, it was because the month was over and I had to pay the internet bill, but back then I had made the decision to move to another provider but needed an additional 75$ for installation and stuff, so I decided to wait a month and then register. Then by the end of the month I realized that there is no need, I could move to my uncles’ place by the start of winter and they already have internet connection.
No, I wouldn’t be moving just to get internet access (that would be funny). In fact I am planning to move for three reasons. The first and most compelling reason is that I have a plan to start a small biotechnology lab and I have so many ideas how to develop it and everything, but I need the space, since my home in Jounieh is too small hopefully my grandparent’s home in Beirut is a better option.
In addition, I have started writing articles in the Beirut Marathon magazine: Running Middle East. Though I have no direct contact with the administration being in Beirut will help me more than staying in Jounieh.
Finally, I have become active in a growing and active society in Lebanon, the LBTQ women society (LBTQ standing for Lesbian Bisexual Transexual and Queer). All our weekly meetings are help is private and secret places in Beirut which makes it much easier for me to move to Beirut.
Now about our LBTQ society… The seed of this activism had started blooming exactly one year ago with the help and support of the helem association (The association for the protection of homosexuals in Lebanon. Quickly our community grew in numbers and in projects. During this summer it finally resulted in the launch the very first Middle East community for Lesbian rights, active on an Arabic soil: Meem.
Meem being a symbolically feminine letter in Arabic, symbolizing everything that the woman is in our community from her identity to her suffering, we had decided that Meem would only have one public aspect, our website: Meemgroup.org. The website is still under construction but some of its main features are already up and running.
Now the community is certainly secretive and private for the obvious reasons, first of all the privacy of our members is a need, considering the difficult situation in which we live and plan on improving. Second, our first goal is not advocacy of Lesbian rights, it is the internal empowerment of the girls to help them overcome the scars of a sexually repressed and repressive environment. Not that we don’t believe in the need to educate the general public on what we are and what we are not, no! Our advocacy will mainly be channeled through our cooperation with supporting organizations such as Helem or Aswat (the Palestinian Gay Women).
In addition to our website and our blog we have been organizing weekly support groups dealing with our communities problems and issues. We do have many other projects summarized here.
Now Meem is still young, it has succeeded in a very short while to gather a significant number of ladies (around 129) who simply appreciate other ladies but in order to sustain the ongoing effort we do need support, though financial support is certainly needed we most of all need recognition inside Lebanon and outside to ensure additional protection and additional efficiency.
So if you are interested in supporting, helping, encouraging, bashing us feel free to contact either me in person on my gmail account: Xie.medusa.stheno @gmail.com or directly contact the big bosses on the email: meem@meemgroup.org. And spread the word for others that I cannot contact myself.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Big Pharaoh’s : Lebanese Playground Army
With all my due respect to Lebanon
Ok that seriously went very close to sarcasm or even hypocrisy. What respect? If the Big Pharaoh’s arguments made much more sense he wouldn’t have resorted to such an obnoxious start. You see, when my mom was hailing the army’s victory I said the same thing that the Big Pharaoh was stating, I told her that the victory came to a very high price. But unlike him, I actually do admire the Lebanese army for what it did. I admired them for actually being brave enough to go into this war though they knew that it’s going to be very expensive. I admired them for going into a war they were not supposed to enter, up until the last day many were just trying to bribe the terrorists away. Everyone stood against the army, Palestinian bashed us by nurturing such repulsive monsters then backing them in battle, then crying infanticide when the army fired back. The army was attacked by Hezbollah who explicitly refused the camp to be attacked. Many politicians believed they could just solved it “peacefully” by begging the terrorists to be merciful! But the army against all odds refused to back off and demanded to avenge the fallen soldiers! I remember the dark years before 2005 like for example when 4 judges were shot inside the courtroom by similar terrorists who hid in… A Palestinian camp… (some things never change!) And the army was not allowed to go into the camp, everyone said no Lebanese army would ever enter the camps, and indeed no one EVER entered and cleaned any Palestinian camp since Arafat chose to pass through Jounieh to reach Kods! No one except for the Sabra and Chatilla massacre… As far as I am concerned this victory is far better and more worthy of praise and celebration! Don’t you think?
So please DO respect the souls of the dead, they did choose to die bravely holding their Lebanese flag high not hiding like mice, hiding between civilians and blowing corpses… Yes I am talking about Hezbollah’s divine victory. This army fought with everything it had, it didn’t have enough? True, but they are celebrating their unexpected victory… Respect!
I simply cannot understand how the Lebanese army can be so weak
He said, but didn’t really bother thinking of why and how the army could be so weak so I’ll attempt to think for him just this time:
- Our army is weak because, for the past 30 years, the army was ordered to be weak. Keep in mind that we had a civil war, the army can’t enter the war… Who wants the national army to go into the war anyway? That’s suicide! At the start of the civil war the soldiers received the order to each join the closest military station which would mean that each would join stations from the same sectarian group. Of course one might say that the army was already weak, if it wasn’t weak then the war wouldn’t have fallen upon us, true. Which takes us to the second point…
- The Lebanese army was weakened upon international request. When Abd El Nasser was celebrating his Arabic dream he was forcing his Arabizing upon us by smuggling weapons, in accord with the Syrian regime back then, into Lebanon, through the Syrian/Lebanese borders of course (yes some things just never change). Back then the Lebanese army was overwhelmed and asked for the UN’s aid, they sent a commission to investigate, they were witnesses to one raid over a smuggle attempt in the Bekaa, they were smuggling weapons over mules from Syria to Lebanon. The attempt was intercepted and the Lebanese army officials thought this, and other incidents would ensure international support. No! the report concluded that there were no sufficient evidence of an organized smuggling process. They just turned away their looks and allowed others to give weapons to the parties who opposed Abd El Nasser…
- Yes the Syrians didn’t allow the army to grow any stronger during the post-Ta’ef period… Which is predictable and needs no explanation!
- Lebanon’s an undeclared confederacy, centralizing the power before reaching genuine secularism in politics would mean that sects would control sections. The Maronite, for instance, would monopolize the military force… As maronite as I am I don’t want to see that happen. In fact the army was only fortified for an ephemeral phase in the Lebanese history: Michel Aoun’s monarchy years! Michel Aoun, unlike what most Lebanese would accept to admit, built the concept of a strong army he was the only one that raised the soldiers’ salary back in the 80s and he was the only one to actually build a strong army. But where did that lead to? Well, it led Aoun taking over the government (in a legal but unwise manor). In the end, as a result we had the famous 2 governments, one being legal and the other viable. Aoun soon lost the resources to sustain his claims, since he was surrounded by enemies that he had created for himself and the rest is history, I just thank god that Hoss was wise enough back then to prevent any further schism by refusing to create another Lebanese army in West Beirut, but no thanks for Aoun! This my friend the Pharaoh shows you how delicate the Lebanese situation is
- Lebanon has only two bordering countries, with one of them holding a knife under our nose (yes I am talking about Syria). This situation means that the army is in fact crippled in its role to preserve the Lebanese/Syrian borders, cause on one hand our tiny army is very tiny in comparison to the Syrian one, on the other hand any move from the army to put the Syrians at bay would automatically result in a diplomatic crisis=closing the borders=chocking of the transit activity=more bad news for us. Ever wondered for instance why doesn’t San Marino have an army? Or even Monaco?
- The Lebanese army, in the space of only 3 years had to lose a lot of soldiers (because the forced military service was canceled), stretch to go cover the southern border and deal with internal turmoil starting from the 14th of march challenge, ending with the Downtown Beirut occupation, passing through the January 23rd failed coup d’état (trust me you had to be there to know how delicate and dangerous the situation was!)…. I believe that this is part of the respect bit that you claim to have for us. Respect means that you respect the army that was overwhelmed… Afterall shit happens man!
Now that I have stated the reasons that first popped into my head as I was trying to think for you, let’s move to the next part of our conversation:
Was the Lebanese army as weak as you are actually stating?
Well comparison is required. But allow me to detail your entry:
I remember going to the Lebanese army’s club in Jounia in Lebanon in 2002. My mom and I were only allowed to enter after the security guard at the gate knew that my father was a general in the Egyptian army.
Upon entering the club and checking out the swimming pool, my jaws literally dropped. Lebanese babes in bikinis were sitting around the pool french kissing their soldier boyfriends. I turned to my mom and told her: mom, A huge difference from the Egyptian army right? But do you know why Hezbullah is in the South? Do you know why Syria is occupying this country? Because of how weak this army is.
- It’s Jounieh not Jounia, pronounced like Jounié… ok lol let’s get serious.
- Now let’s see… What has the jaw-dropping-babes have to do with the fact that our army is weak? I don’t know if you are calling us immoral for wearing bikinis and French-kissing in social gatherings (even military ones) thus weak because we french kiss or are you calling our army undisciplined? Or are you saying that since there’s a war in the south then soldiers shouldn’t French kiss? What the hell are you trying to prove with this? I honestly fear that this is a masked expression of how you have a problem with our modernism and liberated lifestyle (sorry).
People just think of it. 155 Lebanese soldiers lost their lives while fighting 360 Fatah al-Islam terrorists. 155. That’s almost half the size of their foes. And today over 20 militants where killed as they were trying to escape the besieged refugee camp. Of course 2 Lebanese soldiers had to be killed in the gun battle that erupted.
- As far as I know it’s 424 terrorists either killed and captured and an unidentified number of terrorists that had fallen in battle. Plus, unlike what all Palestinians say, many other factions actively participated in the battle. Oh and keep in mind that more than 20 soldiers were killed on the first day when the terrorists attacked their post, before the war had even effectively started.
- Let me see, you say these casualties were too big, right? In comparison to which other victory in the Arab world?
Iraqi victory against Iran ? Um no, that was no victory, it looked nothing like the army v/s guerilla war that went on in Lebanon.
Egyptian victory against the Israelis in Sinai? That isn’t even funny to say the truth. That war was lost my friend… With all respect at least the Lebanese army achieved victory!
Hezbollah’s victory against Israel? Oh fuck no! that’s a major loss in denial!
American victory in Iraq? Afghanistan? This is getting ridiculous…. How about you be the smart person and let me know to which mighty victory are you comparing our army’s victory to conclude that we were THAT weak!
We were not prepared: yes!
We were taken by surprise: yes!
But seriously where are you living Big Pharaoh?! If the Lebanese army was so perfect, if Lebanon was all so jolly and happy would’ve 14th of march demonstration been necessary? If we didn’t have problems we wouldn’t have needed to work on solving, am I wrong?
In fact, usually the greatest military victories are usually are in either resisting conquest or repressing demonstration… I can’t believe that you people are forgetting what it is like that you loved about Lebanon in the first place!
I just can’t believe it. An entire nation’s army besieging a refugee camp cannot solve a problem caused by 360 people!
Why do I get the impression you are talking about the soviet army! A Nation?! Like seriously man! How many soldiers in the Lebanese army is there according to your opinion?
Lebanon’s friend, especially the US and France, must really help the Lebanese army grow some claws if this nation was to cease being abused.
Oh thank you for that wise advice… Friends?
I apologize Big Pharaoh but with all respect your statement was closer to an insult and it was absurd.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Christianity and False Reform
This loss in followers that gradually degraded the Catholic church in its cradle (Europe) meant a huge loss in political power and in money. Then Miraculously came John-Paul II, a man that many regard as remarkably tolerant, good, modern, gentle and so on. Some praise him as the iron fist that shook communism in Poland, others praise him as the defender of poor people around the world, the man who renewed the church… A lot has been said about this man but let’s get back to earth, his presence, his actions and his decisions were all part of a good plan:
- Attract the young generation:
He gave the young generation a distinct place in the church they had camps and activities inside the Vatican itself, he emphasized on their role thus attaching them and using them for work that needs to be done - Looking like a saint
Well you know how they teach us in the bible that the early Christians lived in total poverty? How they relied only on the help of God? How Jesus in person forbidden us from piling riches? Well every time the Catholic church went through a identity crisis, they did readopt that Saint appearance. Just as an example, remember the establishment of the Dominicans and the Franciscans , also known as the Mendicant Orders. These orders were established as a direct response to the rise of Catharism. These orders quickly spread like mushroom on wet lands, the prohibition of Catharism and the inquisitions favored the rise of Mendicant Orders on the detriment of Catharism naturally. But the fast expansion of Mendicant Orders expresses the need among the population for a better spiritual guidance. That’s what was going on since the dawn of the last century, and that is why the church has been trying to restore a stoic/humble/poor façade.
You see, a lesson that history has taught us, humans have an empathy/selfishness balance within them; rough environmental conditions favor selfish behavior, clement conditions favor empathetic behavior. This, in my opinion, partially explains the clash of cultures also. But in general the modern world is more at ease and satisfies its needs much more easily than before, especially in the Occident (again and again). That is why people would find a docile and soft Christianity far more appealing than a tough and powerful one. Christianity has the ability to fulfill that role, because Christianity in its beginning was a very oppressed religion, it was found and established in a hostile environment under constant threat, unlike Islam that spread quickly and establish an empire even quicker (the Coran being written under the guidance of kings not fugitives) and Judaism, a religion who’s holy books were written over a long period of time, and more often than not by an independent nation. So the New Testament is a tolerant book, because tolerance is usually the demand of the weak and the minority facing an oppressive majority. Christians in post-war Lebanon demand tolerance, Christians before the war demanded the right to preserve the Christian privileges by force.
So the Catholic Church, back at the good old days of John-Paul II tried to resurrect the memory of that old Christianity backed with a very tolerant New Testament…
However there are a few flaws that show the insincerity of this docility. The Church is only docile with the powers… So can we call it a resurgence of tolerance or reassessment of alliances?
- Reinforcing the role of Africa and Latin America, but also the InterChristian, the Christian/Jewish and the Christian/Muslim Dialogue:
Europe has always been the cradle of Catholicism and all Catholic Christians were subjugated to the central power of the Vatican, in fact all Catholic Churches were obliged to sing in Latin (except our Maronite Church), to pay the tax directly to the Vatican, the Pope was almost always an Italian… Many saw that the election of John-Paul II and his work afterwards was colossal and amazing, sort of like a liberation a modernism… Well allow me to disagree, though I do agree on these moves I don’t really understand how can people neglect the fact that John-Paul II’s election in itself indicated that the change within the church wasn’t the result of that pope’s election, on the contrary it is the change that brought him to power. In fact it was utterly absurd and idiotic to keep the power of the Church so centralized, it was absurd that Africans and Latin Americans would be so excluded of the church, it was absurd for people who never even come in contact with the latin alphabet to be forced to pray in Latin, thus pray in a language they cannot understand, the changes John-Paul II generated were the strict minimum that anyone would demand, he didn’t liberate the church he just didn’t want to fight the changes that were inevitably happening.
To understand why this is not such a great work, you should simply remember how big Latin America and Africa are in terms of Christianity, of blind belief and compare it to the atheist and small Europe. I am shocked it took them so long to take this step don’t you think? These are powerful groups that the church simply needs
And think of their attitude toward other entities… - What about powerless minorities
Now the modern society hasn’t just abandoned the old catholic beliefs like for example Muslims and Jews brought the plague in the medieval times or Protestants are heretics… They morphed their whole society, there were the emancipation of women, the gay pride, just to name a few. However, in an all-Male Vatican, the emancipation of women does seem absurd, of course don’t beat them but would they want to invert roles in society? Why do they refuse to bear children? Why do they demand to become part of the Ecclesiastic body? Why do they want to head the religious celebrations?
I am sadly speechless against these questions as they express the blindness and the stupidity of the people in charge, starting from the head of the church back then to the simple priests… They simply refuse to listen, ever since the election of John-Paul II and his work for the Catholic Church’s reform feminists tried and tried to reason with them, it just wasn’t heard, we just looked funny for him.
And allow me NOT to mention the homosexuality debate… The mere mention of such a subject is sufficient explanation in itself.
In fact the Church is still the dictator that it always was, it only started to realize who have become too powerful for her to oppress, those that are still not powerful enough are still oppressed - Condom anyone?
Well it’s very very very very simple, what is the objection against safe sex? What is the objection against enjoying sex? What kind of modern church are we talking about? Why? Why? Why? Why?
My personal conclusion: It wasn’t that great and he wasn’t that much of a saint afterall
But wait! Don’t close the window just yet!
Well, I am not a big fan of John-Paul II but the last thing I wanted was the return of fundamental Catholicism. Yes I know many people cried out Nazi when Pope Benedictus was elected… and I know they were cruel, inaccurate and silly. But that doesn’t change the other aspects about this person. Benedictus is, just like John-Paul, the result of the changes that are storming in the Church and the world. And his ascendance to power was not the fruit of chance either. Three main points:
- The absence of Greater enemies
When John-Paul II was elected, the Church was threatened by new ideas such as communism, there were a sense of anti-religion, a sort of anti-religion imposed by politics, churches were being burnt Christianity was being attacked (along with other religions). At that time the Catholic church had to struggle against that current to preserve its political influence, after all communism and other ideologies failed to eradicate Christianity as a belief but did manage to eradicate the financial and political power of the Institution (the Church).
Nowadays, it’s different, attacking any entity is banned, there fore religions can’t be eradicated. However, a worse anti-religion has been established… the one that grows inside the individual, individuals are no longer against the church, they are indifferent to it! This is even more lethal than the political oppression.
Struggling against the Church is now being tougher, to distinguish itself from others, to affirm itself as THE right belief, sort of creating a new Identity for Catholics. It is no longer OK to agnostic/atheist/muslim/jew/Buddhist for as long as you are “tolerant” no you HAVE to be Catholic Christian to be GOOD.
Sadly this attitude is nothing but a regression to a time that we thought won’t come back. - The rise of extreme Islamism
Fundamental Islamism has hasted many changes both in the Muslim Middle East, The Christian West and the Secular West. Though the Christian and the Secular West have evolved side by side and have become archenemies they do rely on the same population. The Secular West could be described as a dreamer for the past few centuries they have promulgated fundamentalism as THE problem, claiming that secularism and tolerance will solve all the problems and that others (Muslims for instance) will be friendly if we are friendly… Skipping many details we can say that this simplistic view of the Middle East failed to protect the Europe and the West against gruesome and unimaginable violence.
Up until recently, secularism was THE rule, among the Western population. The rise of Islamism and the apparent absurdity of this philosophy/ideology makes the Western population more inclined to the Fundamental Ideologies (throw the Muslims back to where they belong kind of ideas). One of the fundamental Ideologies is expressed by the rise of Christian Fundamentalism, remember when Benedictus claimed that Europe is unfaithful to its Christian roots and ungrateful to its Christian History. Unfortunately, people are now going to be more and more attracted to fundamental speech, and to be honest I am no longer sure if secularism/tolerance is the solution anyway, but I am certain that Fundamentalism is NOT.
As a final result, the Church tightens its grip and it launches outrageously intolerant remarks hiding behind the excuse of caring for linguistic precision! Just check this article:
Catholicism is the only true church, Vatican declares
Or this one (thank you Nomad for posting it):
Catholic claim 'offensive'
Ok let’s consider that this source is not that objective or whatever! I am honestly tired of this! This is STUPID… there shouldn’t be any comments that could be interpreted in a negative way by unsubjective sources.
I have no idea why I have spent around 5 hours writing this!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The difference between the Occident and the Orient:
We’ve heard it all too many times, under all too many angles and from all too many perspectives. And since I am just an average main-stream, biased, westernized, uncivilized Middle-Eastern I must add my contribution.
The occident has often adopted one out of two attitudes toward the Middle East:
- The colonial attitude:
Easy to spot, circle and define. It consists on dominating and despising the Middle East, yes those adopt this attitude do admit the existence of intellectual and civilized Middle Eastern people, but they regard them as an exception, they often advise them to leave. This attitude results from a sense of western superiority over the Middle East. The USA is the most flagrant example of this attitude, but not all Americans adopt this attitude and not all non-American are exempt from it.
- The Maternal attitude:
Now this attitude is far more complex it’s usually a long term result of the first, once the occupation is removed the people of both the occupant and the occupied country tend to establish bonds, due to the cultural improvements/mutilations done to the original country of the occupied country. For example, in Lebanon, many regard France as the “mother” of many orphaned Lebanese. It was first the Maronite Christians who adopted such an attitude due to the hostility of their Muslim environment and the absence of any natural ally. In general, Europeans tend to have this attitude toward the Middle East, they regard Arabs and Middle Eastern nations as retarded nations that require support not military intervention.
However, people in the Middle East don’t see it that way. In order for our culture to resist globalization and Westernization, they adopt defensive mechanisms, usually they hold on to the old “they have everything but we have morals” attitude, yes we usually regard you Western people as immoral, stupid and going to hell. Many Middle Eastern people see the Middle East as roughly equal to the West but with some social and financial difficulties.
Now all my life I was raised under these influences, being born in this Middle East I was taught to take pride in our “morals”, something that the west lacks. As a Lebanese I was taught at the same time to be very attached to our unique position, to our unique role as pioneers in the Middle East. As a Christian Lebanese I was taught to be very fund of our connection to the West, for many Maronites we are not even Arabs. So you could say I stand with neither sides. But what has always amazed me about this Orient/Occident is the distinction but not the difference. Ok I am not sure how clear what I have just said may sound so let me explain.
Take the notorious Abou Ghreib scandal. When this scandal first broke out many Americans felt outraged, insulted infuriated! The press hammered President Bush for this scandal, they attacked him ferociously. It was unacceptable.
ON the other hand, many Arabs also felt outraged, insulted infuriated! The press hammered President Bush for this scandal, they attacked him ferociously. It was unacceptable.
But the two camps didn’t do so for the same purpose, the Americans did so as an act of moral protestation, an act of responsibility (the political forces and balances are certainly not to be neglected). The Arabs’ motive was to attack the Americans, sort of a defensive act to avenge the Arab impotence facing the American occupation of Arab lands.
In my own environment, it was neither reactions, when average Lebanese heard this news s/he was amused by the vulnerability of both the Arabs and the Americans demonstrated by the film. Americans were hit where it hurt most: Their idealization of their mission in Iraq, not only things didn’t go according to their own plan but their own units were sodomizing the Iraqis they were here to salvage. We were amused most of all by what seemed like the shallowness of both the Americans and the Arabs… What were they expecting? It’s war! Lebanon went through a very difficult civil war that had left us very accommodated to such atrocities. We actually laughed at Americans for being so surprised, like DUHHH! Everyone knows that these things happen during “interrogations”.
I just read the following article: White House denies prior knowledge of Abu Ghraib abuse. No of course the interesting part is not that the White House denied prior knowledge, but rather the details:
T he ex-general, who retired in January, spoke of other, undisclosed material on the Abu Ghraib abuse, including descriptions of the sexual humiliation of a father with his son, who were both detainees.
He also told the magazine he saw "a video of a male American soldier in uniform sodomising a female detainee," adding the video was never made public or mentioned in any court or in public.
Maj Gen Taguba says all high-level officials had avoided scrutiny while the jail keepers at Abu Ghraib were tried in courts-martial.
"From what I knew, troops just don't take it upon themselves to initiate what they did without any form of knowledge of the higher-ups," Maj Gen Taguba told the New Yorker, adding his orders were to investigate the military police only and not their superiors.
"These (military police) troops were not that creative," he said. "Somebody was giving them guidance, but I was legally prevented from further investigation into higher authority.”
And I find myself asking: Does it even need to be mentioned? Of course they knew!
But then again, what does this attitude indicate? If not the fact that Americans just want what’s better than this. We as Arabs know what’s going on, we know that this is what is going to happen for as long as their will be power in the hands of some and a need to oppress the others there’s going to be torture and humiliation. Or is it just that we have given up on ourselves and, unlike Occidentals, we don’t work to improve our environment, we are too busy destroying each other…
Easy to spot, circle and define. It consists on dominating and despising the Middle East, yes those adopt this attitude do admit the existence of intellectual and civilized Middle Eastern people, but they regard them as an exception, they often advise them to leave. This attitude results from a sense of western superiority over the Middle East. The USA is the most flagrant example of this attitude, but not all Americans adopt this attitude and not all non-American are exempt from it.
Now this attitude is far more complex it’s usually a long term result of the first, once the occupation is removed the people of both the occupant and the occupied country tend to establish bonds, due to the cultural improvements/mutilations done to the original country of the occupied country. For example, in Lebanon, many regard France as the “mother” of many orphaned Lebanese. It was first the Maronite Christians who adopted such an attitude due to the hostility of their Muslim environment and the absence of any natural ally. In general, Europeans tend to have this attitude toward the Middle East, they regard Arabs and Middle Eastern nations as retarded nations that require support not military intervention.
He also told the magazine he saw "a video of a male American soldier in uniform sodomising a female detainee," adding the video was never made public or mentioned in any court or in public.
Maj Gen Taguba says all high-level officials had avoided scrutiny while the jail keepers at Abu Ghraib were tried in courts-martial.
"From what I knew, troops just don't take it upon themselves to initiate what they did without any form of knowledge of the higher-ups," Maj Gen Taguba told the New Yorker, adding his orders were to investigate the military police only and not their superiors.
"These (military police) troops were not that creative," he said. "Somebody was giving them guidance, but I was legally prevented from further investigation into higher authority.”
