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March 14, 2008

The Dalai Lama on Tibet protests

Posted by derek at 12:04 PM ET | Comments (10)

The Dalai Lama - I am sooo sick of this guy. Commenting on the recent protests in Tibet, the Dalai Lama criticized the Chinese government for, among other things, the "politicization of religious issues." Really?! This, coming from a man who is revered as a God-King, who once technically legally owned everything and every person in Tibet, and whose religious position allowed him to stand at the top of a brutal and oppressive serf-based society...now he says we should keep politics out of religion?

The Dalai Lama has urged his followers (in a statement primarily geared towards international media, mind you) not to resort to violence. This is an interesting irony since the protests in Tibet are commemorating the armed uprising launched against China in 1959, which was initiated by "his holiness" with funds and training provided by the CIA.

The only reason the western media pays any attention to this parasitic clown is because his fantasy of returning to power in Tibet often conveniently dovetails with western attempts to encircle and put political pressure on China.

To quote another famous figure in Chinese history, the Tibetan people may very well have "a right to rebel." It's unfortunate that their just struggles against real greivances are either hijacked and diverted by cynical political operators like the Dalai Lama or are distorted by naive new-agers who romanticize what was one of the most brutal societies on earth.

PHOTO CHRIS GREENBERG

More entries on: From the intern desk | Global politics | Religion

March 10, 2008

International Women's Day: Afghanistan

Posted by derek at 03:51 PM ET | Comments (3)

I am caged in this corner
full of melancholy and sorrow ...
my wings are closed and I cannot fly ...
I am an Afghan woman and so must wail.
- Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet, murdered by her husband in 2005.

One hundred and sixty-five. That's how many Afghan women set themselves on fire in 2007. It's a desperate act that reflects the desperate lives of women in Afghanistan, whose plight is getting worse.

The outrages make for a long list: Child-selling for marriages is rampant, and many of the new brides haven't even reached their 10th birthday. In prisons and "shelters" women are raped by guards and government officials. Afghan women suffer from one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates: 1 in 9 women die during childbirth. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where the suicide rate is higher for women than for men...and on and on.

Those who speak out, or even raise questions, face harsh punishment. Sayad Kambaksh, 23-year-old journalism student, was recently sentenced to death after a trial that lasted just four minutes. His crime? Downloading an article about women's rights that was deemed blasphemous to Islam by the judges.

All of this is upheld by a government that is defended, funded, and propped up by NATO countries, Canada included.

More entries on: Feminism | From the intern desk | Global politics | Religion

January 23, 2008

Persepolis

Posted by derek at 03:30 PM ET | Comments (0)

Oscar nominations are out! In keeping with the spirit of the event, I would like to personally thank the Academy for its inclusion of the powerful and timely Persepolis, which has been nominated in the Best Animated Feature category.

The hand-drawn cartoon, directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, is adapted from Satrapi's graphic novel of the same name. Autobiographical in nature, the film tells the story of Marjane, growing up as a little girl in Iran just as a revolution against the hated Shah regime is beginning to sweep the country. Through the story of her exile and return, we learn about how today's Iran came to be - a history full of dashed hopes and personal and grand tragedies.

Persepolis is the perfect antidote for the current political climate that depicts people from the Middle East as mindless fanatics. The film is deeply humanizing, recounting how a people's hopes for joy and love and respect and fun came to be smothered, but not extinguished, by theocratic rule.

PHOTO DIAPHANA FILMS

More entries on: Cultural industries | Film | From the intern desk | Religion

October 09, 2007

Bible Beefcake - More Men for Mormons

Posted by calvin at 10:30 PM ET | Comments (8)

Luring unsuspecting Mormons with exposed manflesh is typically the tactic of the unwashed secular masses. But Mormons exploiting puffed-up Mormon beefcake in a racy pin-up calendar for Mormon charity? This demands ridicule. It is so self-immolating in religious irony, so oiled with homoeroticism, it almost demands categorization as novelty kitsch. Or condemnation. Or church group stocking stuffer.

PS- add them on MySpace!

More entries on: Religion

March 18, 2007

Hijib Hijabbery

Posted by calvin at 03:30 PM ET | Comments (0)

Should I be shocked by this? That a recent incident at Montreal's Bordeaux correctional prison barred a recently hired prison guard from wearing her Hijab (a tradiitonal Muslim headscarf) on the job? There are a number interesting political angles here: Muslim religious attire, Quebec multicultural tolerance, employee safety interests. Is this really a Quebec specific issue? Probably not as there seems to be a similar policy across the board on a Federal level, including the RCMP. So the media sensationalizing the fact this occured in Quebec and the recent Hijab ban in France is both a coincidence and blatant red herring. So, where do we end up between personel safety and religious entitlement? Personally, I'm tire of the knee jerk reactions, blanket policies and outcries of anti-Islamism. If the issue is safety then deal with the issue of safety, and not squeal bloody persecution. We live in Canada for goodness sakes, possibly the most diverse and tolerant of countries in the world. I guess the big question is does diversity, tolerance and common sense also go hand-in-hand-in-hand.

More entries on: Religion

March 09, 2007

The God Discussion

Posted by shawnsyms at 12:31 PM ET | Comments (16)

Over the past month, I got into the habit of reading Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion on the bus and streetcar most mornings. I try to walk to work as much as I can but it's been just too cold!

It's proven to be a very controversial book, and with its shiny cover with the title in big letters, I'll confess I've been a bit afraid someone pious might come up and accost me as my Ossington Street bus roars through some of the more church-lined parts of the trip to the office. And there's a section called "Stalin and Hitler were atheists, weren't they?" that reproduces and later dissects some of the arguments of Hitler and Stalin. I'd hate to have a person sitting next to me read some Nazi propaganda over my shoulder and become hurt or offended.

Ironically enough, getting over the fear of hurt or offense is one of the key thrusts of Dawkins' book. He believes that religion on the whole does more harm than good, and that people shouldn't shy away from making that case. He also makes provocative arguments against the religious indoctrination of children.

After reading both the book and much of the hype surrounding it, the hype—including the argument that Dawkins is a "fundamentalist atheist"—doesn't hold up. The God Delusion doesn't mince words, is bound to offend many, and may in fact be "preaching to the (atheist) choir"—but it offers some fascinating challenges to progressives.

On the one hand, many people involved in movements for social change, and doing greatly valuable and important work, get their philosophical inspiration from a deep spiritual commitment. On the other hand, it is in fact problematic that religion is seen widely as the one area that is untouchable in terms of rational inquiry. Across history and cultures, different religions have been in various positions in terms of social power and in relation to one another. The bottom line is that all of them should be equally up for discussion.

More entries on: Atheism | Religion

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