Brave young woman ends the holy month of Ramadan

This morning, gingerly footsteps gave notice that Maty was risen.   I gazed up from the computer screen to the landing.  She appeared, but not as I'd expected to see her.  She wasn't in the loose, easy clothes people normally wear when they recover from surgery.  She wore a traditional Senegalese dress, a West African beauty.  The black headdress she's worn for the last two weeks gave testament to the love she has for her departed father. 

She came down the steps slowly, tottering slightly.  The pain meds make her dizzy.

Grief-stricken Maty has been almost completely housebound for the last ten days. 

But today is Eid, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.  Maty dressed to commemorate. 

This evening, we drove downtown and I led her out to a bench on the waterfront where we sat and watched the people go by.  I tried to get her to laugh by remembering our first date, seven years ago, when we'd come to walk by the river and been caught in the rain and had to run for it.  How little we knew of each other back then!  How very differently we see each other now! 

She smiled, but no laughter.  Just as well.  Although I miss the sound of it, I wouldn't want her to agitate her wound.  My brave young woman. 

Words of the Prophet

Old nemesis merged on my pathway
I guessed that his trek had been long
Diverged and returned here beside me
"In compassion be like the sun."

An African woman imparted
Dark Continent's wisdom to me
As tempered by words of the Prophet:
"In tolerance be like the sea."

Islam is not your enemy

 (Islamophobia Watch) -- Those behind a sign posted in front of their northwest Gainesville church, proclaiming in red letters "Islam is of the devil," say it's a way to express their religious beliefs and is a message of "a great act of love."

(CNN) -- In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.  The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam... --Read the whole sorry story here.

Ah, Florida!  How I so very much regret that, on the one occasion in which I visited your state, I had no time at all to visit charming Gainesville.  I'd love to say that I might someday come, but, honestly, chances are slim.

Nothing disgusts me more than the kind of bigotry displayed by the Dove World Outreach Center.  I've ended decade-old friendships rather than tell a person twice that I don't care to hear any anti-Muslim bigotry.

Are there Tea Party people out there who will condemn this idiocy?  How about Sister Sarah?  Or Rush? How about Drum Major Newt?  Or that up-and-comer Eric Cantor?

I'm not holding my breath...

If there are any Tea Party people who have open minds, I tell you now that Islam is not your enemy.  If you hold the view that Islam is dedicated to destroying your way of life, such fears can easily be dispelled.  

Take a look at Burkina Faso in western sub-Saharan Africa.  The population of 15 to 16 million is some 60% Muslim, 20% Catholic, and 20% other, according to Wikipedia.  It is one of the poorest countries in Africa, with very few resources.

But, you know what?  Muslims and Christians live side by side without any "clash of faiths" bullsh*t messing things up.

My wife, Maty, as I have mentioned many times on this blog, lived in Burkina Faso for most of her life.  She is a practicing Muslim.  But she attended a Catholic school in Ouagadougou.

One of the biggest events in Maty's lifetime was when Pope John Paul II came to Ouagadougou in late January of 1990.  Schools and work places were shut down.  People lined the streets all along the route to the football stadium, which they packed to capacity and beyond, to pay their respects to the leader of more than a billion Christians.  This, in a country that is 60% Muslim.

So, you see, Tea Party people, Muslims and Christians live side by side peaceably.  They even go so far as to respect and honor each other!  It is possible!  You see?  Just like they do in Turkey and Greece and Senegal and Iran and Pakistan! 

Anyone who tells you that Islam is your enemy is either an ignoramus or is trying to distract you from something else.

Islam is not your enemy.

President Obama addresses Islam

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President Obama this morning delivered an address to the Muslim world from Cairo University in Egypt. I just finished listening to it, in its entirety and I have a few initial observations.

First of all, it is such a relief to have a president that can speak to Islam and be heard. President Obama is in a fairly unique position to deliver this opening salvo in interfaith dialog by dint of his Muslim father. Junior had so damaged our relations with Islam, his hand-holding of Saudi princes notwithstanding, that he almost single-handedly brought about a full on religious conflagration. President Obama provides a new opportunity for dialog. And, as Winston Churchill said, "To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war."

Secondly, the speech pays tribute to Islam's history and its contribution to humankind. Christians don't generally remember that, after the fall of the Roman Empire, most of Christendom was reduced to peat bog hovels and brute feudalism. During that time, Islam was the center of Western civilization, making huge strides in mathematics, art, medicine, and architecture, and, as President Obama pointed out, paving the way for the Christian Renaissance.

Thirdly, President Obama uses the word "intolerable" to describe the condition of the Palestinians. For any American politician to express anything other than full-throated support for Israel is a risky political proposition. And just days ago, the president met with the repulsive Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, who emphatically stated that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories will continue to expand. Let's see if President Obama is willing to take on this issue in a serious way. In the past, of course, US presidents have all paid lip service to the Palestinian cause (lip service that has added up to a whole lot of nothing, Jimmy Carter being the exception), but I can't ever remember the word "intolerable" being used before.

Lastly, we can predict that this speech will evoke indignant protest from Fox News viewers in the US. Already, we can be sure that Sean Hannity and friends are carefully picking through the text of the speech to find something about which they can pretend to be outraged. Or, perhaps, they'll resurrect the old "Obama is a secret Muslim" meme. It's entirely predictable. But the good news is that the Obama administration continues to humiliate and marginalize them by playing to the larger audience.

All in all, this is a good speech that offers a hopeful vision for Christian-Muslim relations. Now, let's see if it is backed up by real policy.

Today is Eid al-Adhha

For those of you, like me, who are largely ignorant of Islam, but interested to know more, today is Eid al-Adhha (eed all-ODD-tha), commemorating the first day of the Hajj. The Hajj is the holy pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim must undertake at least once in his/her life if he/she is financially and physically capable. It is an act of submission to Allah.

Today, Maty is preparing a feast for her friends and family in honor of Eid al-Adhha, complete with Halal-slaughtered lamb and various Muslim dishes. (There will also be spaghetti for those of us with less adventurous palates.)

This morning, we attended the Muslim call to prayer at the Oregon Convention Center. You might be surprised at the number of Muslims there are in the Portland area. I'd estimate the number of attendees at several thousand. Here's a very short video clip of the prayer.




It's a very patriarchal affair. The sexes are separated, with the men congregating at the front, directly before the podium, and the women with the young children in the back. (Well, after all, Islam is certainly not alone in its patriarchal structure. There are no female priests in the Catholic church).

As I watched the prayer ceremony and listened to the Imam, I was struck by a solemnity and a sense of --well --holiness. It was exactly the same feeling that I have experienced when attending a Catholic Mass, hearing the Rosary recited.

At an earlier (less wise) time in my life, I scorned organized religion as a crutch for weak people. But, as I've commented before, life has a way of demonstrating the error of one's ways, of convincing one of one's mortality. Get your ass knocked down a few times, and you come to realize that the world really isn't at your feet.

Maty and friends

So, I've moved from being an avowed atheist to an agnostic, from nihilism to befuddled acknowledgment of my inability to comprehend. I haven't settled on a faith because, in my investigations, I've learned that each has its appeal and its glimpses at the truth.

Maybe the Hindus have it right, anyway. While the concept is incomprehensible to those of us who have been brought up in societies dominated by Western faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), Hindus see no contradiction in being a Christian and a Hindu, or a Jew and a Hindu, or a Muslim and a Hindu.

So, in that spirit, let me wish you all a Happy Eid al-Adhha.