Sometimes a topic comes along that I'd really rather not write about but eventually feel I can't ignore. Such is the case with this one. It starts with reading about an event in Saudi Arabia that I still am having a hard time wrapping my mind around but grew with another event in Sudan. Both involve women and a government run by religion-- in this case Islam.
First one was a woman who was gang raped by seven men Saudi rape victim gets 200 lashes. Does that seem believable? Well it is and yet unbelievable as who would do such a thing?
Then came this one-- Teddy bear teacher from UK charged in Sudan. She might only get 40 lashes for allowing one of her students to name a teddy bear Mohammed but if they decide she had tried to overthrow the religion or the government, she could be charged with sedition and then it'd be 10 years in prison.
For anyone who thinks religious fundamentalism isn't a big deal, or even that it's good, they need to stop and think what happens when it has absolute power. Islam right now is in the news and deservedly so for the awful things done using it as an excuse, but it has happened with Christianity too. Not just the Inquisition but also in the days where people were driven from countries for their religious differences, where they were killed, their property confiscated, if someone in power decided they were heretics.
Fundamentalism, of any religion, becomes a threat to anybody who does not exactly toe the proscribed line. Right now we see it vividly illustrated with the Muslim religion and not just terrorists. These are actions done by a government.
The thing I say in here over and over is we need to be aware and alert. Don't be the frog in hot water that doesn't realize it's being cooked until it's too late. The need for awareness is more true today than when I was a girl, but history has seen it repeated over and over. If you think it does not matter who runs your country, think again.
Every time I hear a political candidate espouse how god is with them; or see someone running for office who claims to follow his religion to the crossed t, I am concerned. Most especially concerned by anyone doing that who claims to be a Christian-- because they are not. Jesus said let your deeds show who you are. Don't seek the place of greatest honor but let others call you to it. Pray in a closet. Loudly espoused religious piety generally is not piety; and if it is, well you can see how well it works in those theocratic Arab nations-- especially for women.
Religion does not have to be the bad guy. Misused religion does.
10 comments:
The intolerance of fundamentalists is the same for all religions. I have trouble understanding why people buy into it. When I was in high school in the 60's I had friends who were beginning to stop their thought processes in the name of religious belief. Back then I wanted to love them and watch out for them. Now I fear them.
HERE HERE!!! Great post Rain! I have my own way of talking with God, and he knows it. I dont need others preaching to me, nor do I like public prayer! It has become a real division in my family because some have newly found CHrist and gbeleive that the rest of us are going to hell! (SIGH!)
Absolutely true, rain. I am also concerned with the moderates in all religions who let their religion be hijacked by fundamentalism. I'm an atheist, I have no dog in the fight, but I want all moderates to jump out and take their religions back. Otherwise, the fundamentalists will shape the conversation utterly. We will have teachers being imprisoned for teddy bear infractions. Insanity? You bet it is.
I don't think religion is bad but there are some bad people who have hijacked bully pulpits to make religion out to be something else.
The moderates I know hold involvment in their church as their first priority. They are very frustrated, however, because their congregation is made up of elderly. Maybe young families do not like to be around the elderly. There are just a few children in sunday school. The seniors make big preparations for the kids and they have to throw away perishable art supplies because the children do not always come back every Sunday.
I am a rather inactive member of a Jewish community. Our community is moderate and many of the active members are aging. They also fear that the community will die.
Though this example isn't from religion per se, I always think of the internment of the Japanese in WW II and how unjust that was.
The hijacking of religions is no different than hijacking of political parties.
Fran as terrible as is was for many families that were loyal to the US it is unknown what impact the internment truly had on the war effort.
The internment was largely based on an incident that happened on the Hawaiian Island of Niihau when a Japanese pilot that had just attacked Pearl Harbor crash-landed there and three different island residents of Japanese descent took up arms against the locals and helped the pilot escape from custody and held people hostage to help the pilot.
This and the fact that Japanese on Oahu were transmitting intelligence to Japan prior to Pearl Harbor.
so, ingineer, the actions of one man on that island (3 people at the utmost, who didn't really even know what had just happened given they were isolated), justified the bigotry of confiscating the property of a hundred thousand Japanese? amazing logic. And the fact that it financially benefited some other Americans didn't come into it? Bigotry is an amazing thing how easily it is justified against a group that is 'different'. Check out the book on the topic-- http://www.amazon.com/Niihau-Incident-Allan-Beekman/dp/0960913203
I have read about the Niihau Incident and they did know what had happened at Pearl that day because they had received a radio report about it. And I think that the military was shocked that the Japanese seemed to switch sides so easily helped lead to internment. I am not saying it was justified I was just giving an explanation to try and show the mindset of the time. It is terrible that people lost their property. Just like it was terrible that people lost their property in Germany under the Nazi party.
And not that it can change the past but victims of the camps were sent an apology from the President and a check from the US treasury. It was a dark day in US history, but try as we might we cannot change the past.
The articles I read said that it was one man mainly who went wild when he thought he had a chance to bully his neighbors. Three of them attacked their own neighbors using this as an excuse. If this had been anything but a racial incident, it would have been seen as just one bully who got a chance to be cruel to others. It's because some saw the Japanese, even those born in California, as being on the other side. Some of those Japanese fought in WWII but only in the European theater again because of lack of trust. How many citizens of German descent were treated equally.
I agree we can't undo history but if we ignore it, we will repeat it. And some individuals made large profits from that internment as they are making huge profits from the war today. Some people have no morality and it's up to those who do, hopefully in large enough numbers, to keep an eye out for such unfairness. It has happened a lot in history and today if we turn a blind eye to what some are capable of doing in the name of greed or power
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