http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/18/syria-turkey-protests-refugees-crackdown.html
This article is a stark reminder of the fact that our world is at war. The article is entitled "Syrian Tanks Roll into Town Near Turkish Border". When thinking of what to write and reflect on tonight, this hit me the hardest. Moments ago I finished writing a paper on the history of Monotheism in Islam. I read about Muhammad and the instability and unrest that was going on in 6th century Arab tribes. Muhammad's travels to Syria and his experience of their "powerful" and "developed" Christian Empire were a driving force in him realizing that his people needed to have belief in a monotheistic God. However, something has clearly changed in the past 2000 years. How is that a country that was so stable it caused one of the world's largest religions to form, can now be somewhere so unsafe, and even "condemned" by the United Nations?
The questions that then come from this are innumerable and unanswerable, but I will list a few of them to chew on tonight:
1. What did Muhammad experience, and what has changed over the past 2000 years?
2. Was it really the religion that he saw that was maintaining the stability of Syria?
- if so, what is another place in the world today that would be an example of this?
- if not, what was it that he really experienced/saw?
3. Did Muhammad's view of a monotheistic God really give long-lasting stability and peace?
4. And finally, to what extent does our religious belief impact our social and political stabiltiy? (Beyond knowing that Yahweh is a transcendent, powerful and sovreign God)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Lebanon- So many relgions functioning together... Does it work?
I have had to attach this article to this post at the bottom as the link does not seem to work...
The New York Times gives a wonderful synopsis of the country of Lebanon. After my dad visited there last year, I became fascinated with a country that has no official religion, and yet can boast relgious plurality.
According to arabicpages.com, Lebanese people can be considered as belonging to one of the following religious groups:
Shia Islam, Shunni Islam, Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic, Druze and Alwaites, Amernian Catholic/Orthodox and Other Christians and Others/Agnostics/Atheists.
Corduan defines religion as "the centre of life that gives life meaning" (p. 20). He also says that it "unifies our existence by providing the core values from which we derive meaning and goals and directs us beyond the mundane routine of our everyday existence" (p. 21). The question then arrises, "how is one 'unified in existence' when the basis for that unification is different for everyone?" In other words, "how does a country become unified when everyone has varrying belief-systems?"
This is a question well worth pondering as one reflects on the political instability of a country such as Lebanon (as seen in the article below).
Lebanon
A meeting place of civilizations since ancient times, Lebanon has become a byword in recent decades for the many kinds of conflict that come from living atop a turbulent region's fault lines.
A civil war raged for more than 15 years between the country's Christian, Sunni and Shiite populations that ended only with a peace imposed by Syria's army.
A period of rebuilding that followed was shattered by a series of traumatic events: the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister and prominent anti-Syrian leader; the July 2006 invasion by Israel after Hezbollah, the country's powerful Shiite militia, seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid; and the street battles in 2008 in which Hezbollah vanquished its rivals in a brisk show of strength.
What followed was an uneasy balance. A coalition government was formed between Hezbollah and the March 14 Coalition, a Christian-Sunni alliance named after the date Syria withdrew its forces in the wake of Mr. Hariri's killing, which leaned toward the United States. Hezbollah is backed by Iran and Syria. Mr. Hariri's son, Saad Hariri, became prime minister.
In January 2011, Hezbollah forced the collapse of the government, deepening a crisis over the United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the killing of Mr. Hariri and 22 others.
Hezbollah has denied any role in the killing, but by its own admission, its members were named in indictments handed to a judge in mid-January that were not yet made public. It demanded the government of Saad Hariri end its cooperation with the court. When he refused, Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from the Cabinet.
Two weeks later, Hezbollah rounded up the votes needed to form a new government with its own prime minister, culminating the generation-long ascent of the Shiite Muslim movement from shadowy militant group to the country’s pre-eminent political and military force.
Its choice for prime minister was Najib Miqati, a billionaire and former prime minister. The government he forms may in the end look much like past cabinets in this small Mediterranean country and, indeed, Mr. Miqati struck a conciliatory tone, calling himself a consensus candidate. But the symbolism of Hezbollah choosing the country’s prime minister was vast.
The New York Times gives a wonderful synopsis of the country of Lebanon. After my dad visited there last year, I became fascinated with a country that has no official religion, and yet can boast relgious plurality.
According to arabicpages.com, Lebanese people can be considered as belonging to one of the following religious groups:
Shia Islam, Shunni Islam, Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic, Druze and Alwaites, Amernian Catholic/Orthodox and Other Christians and Others/Agnostics/Atheists.
Corduan defines religion as "the centre of life that gives life meaning" (p. 20). He also says that it "unifies our existence by providing the core values from which we derive meaning and goals and directs us beyond the mundane routine of our everyday existence" (p. 21). The question then arrises, "how is one 'unified in existence' when the basis for that unification is different for everyone?" In other words, "how does a country become unified when everyone has varrying belief-systems?"
This is a question well worth pondering as one reflects on the political instability of a country such as Lebanon (as seen in the article below).
Lebanon
Norbert Schiller for The New York Times
A meeting place of civilizations since ancient times, Lebanon has become a byword in recent decades for the many kinds of conflict that come from living atop a turbulent region's fault lines.
A civil war raged for more than 15 years between the country's Christian, Sunni and Shiite populations that ended only with a peace imposed by Syria's army.
A period of rebuilding that followed was shattered by a series of traumatic events: the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister and prominent anti-Syrian leader; the July 2006 invasion by Israel after Hezbollah, the country's powerful Shiite militia, seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid; and the street battles in 2008 in which Hezbollah vanquished its rivals in a brisk show of strength.
What followed was an uneasy balance. A coalition government was formed between Hezbollah and the March 14 Coalition, a Christian-Sunni alliance named after the date Syria withdrew its forces in the wake of Mr. Hariri's killing, which leaned toward the United States. Hezbollah is backed by Iran and Syria. Mr. Hariri's son, Saad Hariri, became prime minister.
In January 2011, Hezbollah forced the collapse of the government, deepening a crisis over the United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the killing of Mr. Hariri and 22 others.
Hezbollah has denied any role in the killing, but by its own admission, its members were named in indictments handed to a judge in mid-January that were not yet made public. It demanded the government of Saad Hariri end its cooperation with the court. When he refused, Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from the Cabinet.
Two weeks later, Hezbollah rounded up the votes needed to form a new government with its own prime minister, culminating the generation-long ascent of the Shiite Muslim movement from shadowy militant group to the country’s pre-eminent political and military force.
Its choice for prime minister was Najib Miqati, a billionaire and former prime minister. The government he forms may in the end look much like past cabinets in this small Mediterranean country and, indeed, Mr. Miqati struck a conciliatory tone, calling himself a consensus candidate. But the symbolism of Hezbollah choosing the country’s prime minister was vast.
War with Israel and Overview of National Politics
Israel invaded southern Lebanon in July 2006 and for 34 days carried out air, sea and land assaults before a truce was negotiated. But Hezbollah, by successfully shooting thousands of rockets into Israel while under attack and sounding defiant to the end, won a great deal of credit among Arabs across the region and used its prestige to grab a decisive role in the Lebanese government.
In late 2006, a deadlock developed over the choice of a new president that ground on for well over a year until an outbreak of street fighting in May 2008, in which Hezbollah gunmen routed their opponents across Beirut. A pact was reached that gave the Shiite militia more power, and Lebanon’s Parliament elected Gen. Michel Suleiman as president in May 2008. In a sign of confidence in the government the U.S. began a new wave of aid to the Lebanese military, the first since the 1980s.
In July 2008, as part of a long-awaited exchange with Hezbollah, Israel handed over a Lebanese prisoner who had been held nearly three decades after being convicted in a deadly and notorious attack, along with four other Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of 199 combatants and infiltrators from Lebanon. In exchange, Israel brought home the bodies of the two captive soldiers, closing a final chapter of the 2006 war. The fiercest clash since then broke the calm of the southern border in August 2010; the United Nations seemed to support the Israeli narrative of the event, which placed the blame for starting it on Lebanese forces.
The American-backed alliance known as the March 14 coalition retained control of the Lebanese Parliament after a hotly contested legislative election in 2009, which was billed as a showdown between Tehran and Washington for influence in the Middle East. The March 14 coalition is led by the Sunni Muslim Future Movement of Saad Hariri, whose father's assassination in 2005 led to huge protests that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from the country. Mr. Hariri was named Lebanon’s prime minister.
In January 2011, Hezbollah and its allies forced the collapse of the government, deepening a crisis over the United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Eleven of the cabinet’s 30 ministers announced their resignations, a move that dissolved the government. They said they were prompted to act by the cabinet’s refusal to convene an emergency session to oppose the tribunal, which is expected to indict members of Hezbollah.
The country is almost evenly split in its attitudes toward the court. Hezbollah’s supporters believe it is hopelessly compromised, amounting to little more than an American-Israeli tool to bludgeon the movement. Mr. Hariri’s supporters believe the vehemence of Hezbollah’s reaction only underlines their guilt in the assassination.
To form a new government, one that would denounce the tribunal’s indictments and end Lebanon’s cooperation, Hezbollah needed at least 65 of the 128 parliament members. Mr. Hariri, who effectively leads the Sunni Muslim community, insisted he would not join the new government, meaning that a cabinet that is supposed to be built on consensus will lack representation of one of the country’s main communities.
The Obama administration was expected to urge the new government not to work against the tribunal, which Hezbollah contends is being used as an American tool to put pressure on it, along with its allies Iran and Syria. The United States has said the tribunal itself could serve as a way to end a long tradition of assassination serving as just another weapon in crises here.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon in July 2006 and for 34 days carried out air, sea and land assaults before a truce was negotiated. But Hezbollah, by successfully shooting thousands of rockets into Israel while under attack and sounding defiant to the end, won a great deal of credit among Arabs across the region and used its prestige to grab a decisive role in the Lebanese government.
In late 2006, a deadlock developed over the choice of a new president that ground on for well over a year until an outbreak of street fighting in May 2008, in which Hezbollah gunmen routed their opponents across Beirut. A pact was reached that gave the Shiite militia more power, and Lebanon’s Parliament elected Gen. Michel Suleiman as president in May 2008. In a sign of confidence in the government the U.S. began a new wave of aid to the Lebanese military, the first since the 1980s.
In July 2008, as part of a long-awaited exchange with Hezbollah, Israel handed over a Lebanese prisoner who had been held nearly three decades after being convicted in a deadly and notorious attack, along with four other Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of 199 combatants and infiltrators from Lebanon. In exchange, Israel brought home the bodies of the two captive soldiers, closing a final chapter of the 2006 war. The fiercest clash since then broke the calm of the southern border in August 2010; the United Nations seemed to support the Israeli narrative of the event, which placed the blame for starting it on Lebanese forces.
The American-backed alliance known as the March 14 coalition retained control of the Lebanese Parliament after a hotly contested legislative election in 2009, which was billed as a showdown between Tehran and Washington for influence in the Middle East. The March 14 coalition is led by the Sunni Muslim Future Movement of Saad Hariri, whose father's assassination in 2005 led to huge protests that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from the country. Mr. Hariri was named Lebanon’s prime minister.
In January 2011, Hezbollah and its allies forced the collapse of the government, deepening a crisis over the United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Eleven of the cabinet’s 30 ministers announced their resignations, a move that dissolved the government. They said they were prompted to act by the cabinet’s refusal to convene an emergency session to oppose the tribunal, which is expected to indict members of Hezbollah.
The country is almost evenly split in its attitudes toward the court. Hezbollah’s supporters believe it is hopelessly compromised, amounting to little more than an American-Israeli tool to bludgeon the movement. Mr. Hariri’s supporters believe the vehemence of Hezbollah’s reaction only underlines their guilt in the assassination.
To form a new government, one that would denounce the tribunal’s indictments and end Lebanon’s cooperation, Hezbollah needed at least 65 of the 128 parliament members. Mr. Hariri, who effectively leads the Sunni Muslim community, insisted he would not join the new government, meaning that a cabinet that is supposed to be built on consensus will lack representation of one of the country’s main communities.
The Obama administration was expected to urge the new government not to work against the tribunal, which Hezbollah contends is being used as an American tool to put pressure on it, along with its allies Iran and Syria. The United States has said the tribunal itself could serve as a way to end a long tradition of assassination serving as just another weapon in crises here.
Bin Laden Killed- A reflection on the Middle East
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Osama+Laden+killed+forces/4708500/story.html
This article first appeared in local papers a month ago. Over the last month we have had a lot of time to reflect on our involvement in the Middle East and what the future of that may look like.
Being enrolled in this World Religions course at the same time has also given me a chance to think about the religious background of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan and what impact our North American Christian involvement has had on their religious system(s).
To begin, Bin Laden was the leader of the Al-Qaeda- an extremist Islamic group. As we learned in this course, Islam is both a religion and a political system (Corduan, 77). It also centres on the question of whether or not a person submits to Allah (p. 88). Although, the Al-Qaeda is clearly not within the "normal" stream of Islam, I believe it is important to come to a full understanding of the Islamic religion before trying to understand its sects.
Secondly it is important to understand the North American response to the Al-Qaeda. As "Christian" nations, the United States and Canada chose after the September 11th attacks by the Al-Qaeda to launch the War on Terror. We made it our mission to find, and essentially shut down, the Al-Qaeda by killing their leader. I will not give opinions on whether this was right or wrong at this point. I will merely say that after ten years of the "War on Terror" Bin Laden is now dead, and North Americans are left feeling the need to educate themselves on what it is we have been fighting the last ten years.
As stated earlier, I believe it is our responsibility as North Americans to educate ourselves on what is we have been fighting so as not to create stereotypes of religious groups based on one sect of their followers. I will leave this post with a challenge for all of us: as educated people, we need to educate ourselves on all aspects of a religion, and not be satisfied by mere stories or articles. Specifically following this monumental death, let us challenge one another to understand the difference between Islam and its extremist groups, and how these compare and contrast with our North American Christianity.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Religion and State
The first article I will write on in this blog deals with the religion with which I and those reading this are most familiar- Western Christianity. This article, found at wwr.org (World Relgious News) speaks of the desire for the separation of chruch and state to be evident in the prayers of senate sessions.
The article speaks of a Jewish Minnesota Lawmaker who is asking for Jesus Christ's name to be left out of prayers, as it is offensive to other Jews and people of other religions. This brings up the issues of whether one should or should not censor his/her prayers and what it means for one to pray to God while not using His name.
In the first unit of GS 311, there is a chart on the differences between Christian faith and Non-Christian faith. It is intriguing to note that much of America's desire to maintain the separation of church and state puts them in a place of non-Christian faith. Although the desire is to maintain religion only where it is needed, it is evident that instead, religion (Christianity specifically) is being pushed away and is being replaced by a secular society.
The article speaks of a Jewish Minnesota Lawmaker who is asking for Jesus Christ's name to be left out of prayers, as it is offensive to other Jews and people of other religions. This brings up the issues of whether one should or should not censor his/her prayers and what it means for one to pray to God while not using His name.
In the first unit of GS 311, there is a chart on the differences between Christian faith and Non-Christian faith. It is intriguing to note that much of America's desire to maintain the separation of church and state puts them in a place of non-Christian faith. Although the desire is to maintain religion only where it is needed, it is evident that instead, religion (Christianity specifically) is being pushed away and is being replaced by a secular society.
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