Dreamer Easy

Hatred in the Hallways: HRW responds to the bullying of gay American kids. Links to their 2001 report and suicide prevention resources.

One of the things that's struck me while doing my homework on Islam is its non-hierarchical structure, compared to more familiar religions such as the Catholic and Anglican churches. Rather than pronouncements handed down from the top which everyone's supposed to go along with, you can go to any alim or Islamic scholar and ask for a ruling. I think this one reason Westerners get confused; we expect a single "Islamic" view, and instead discover a plethora of denominations, schools, and individuals, all opining away. (That's what a fatwa is - the opinion of a religious scholar, nothing more.)

Now I don't want to overstate this comparison, as there are very profound differences, but my own religion of Neo-Paganism is also largely non-hierarchical. This was brought home to me when I tried to find out whether I could, tongue-in-cheek, call myself a mushrika. Google promptly produced several different definitions of the term and who it could be applied to. (It's clear I'm going to have to hit the books some more over this one!) There's a saying: "twelve witches, thirteen opinions", and I think the same may be true for the ulema. :)

This brings me back to Ms Moon:

"The same with other points of Islam that I find appalling (especially as a free woman) and totally against those basic principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution...I feel that I personally (and many others) lean over backwards to put up with these things, to let Muslims believe stuff that unfits them for citizenship, on the grounds of their personal freedom."

Again, it's hard to know exactly what Ms Moon has in mind here. But this idea that Islam is ultimately incompatible with freedom, especially for women, is paralleled in some Pagan thought, particularly in the Goddess movement. Some feminists are working hard to reform traditional religions such as Christianity and Judaism. Other have given up on the Abrahamic faiths as being inevitably, hopelessly oppressive, particularly for women, and have turned to Paganism as an alternative. (And quite a few people fall somewhere between the two camps.)

I thought of this when reading a Pagan response to the dreadful tragedy of gay kids taking their own lives, which several recent well-publicised examples have suddenly brought into the spotlight. That response draws in turn on a Baptist minister's call for theological change from an unspoken model where "God is at the top, (white, heterosexual) men come soon after and all those less valued by the culture (women, children, LGBT people, the poor, racial minorities, etc.) fall somewhere down below."

It's tempting to satirise some of Ms Moon's points by showing how well they apply to Christianity, her own religion, just as well as they do to Islam - to say, with some Pagans, that Christianity is incompatible with freedom, especially for women. Personally, though, I haven't given up on the Abrahamic faiths; even a glance at their histories shows how capable of innovation they are. Besides, they're not going away any time soon.

But I do want to say, with Jason at the Wild Hunt blog, that "... it is more important than ever for us to make it known that our alternatives exist. To be visible and to make common cause with those who are told to hate themselves by the dominant faith lens."

I can't speak for every Neo-Pagan or Wiccan; no-one can. I can tell you, though, that the goddess I worship, Inanna, is the patron of all sexuality. In the Mesopotamian hymns and tales she's a macho warrior and a new bride. Her clergy (as best we can tell) included gay men and cross-dressers. As the evening star, she's compared with a sex worker, hanging out of the tavern window looking for business! She's not a mother goddess; she's a goddess of sex, and without her, nobody can bothered with it. Starhawk says that the lovers taken from us by AIDS are her martyrs. She's the reason I've blogged so much about sex education, reproductive freedom, and freedom from sexual violence. If you are a slut, a fag, a queer, a whore, a tranny, a monogamous heterosexual, or a hopeful virgin, this goddess, who was worshipped for thousands of years and who has burst back to life, wants to gather you up in her huge multicoloured bouquet of life and love and joy. (Heck, if you're celibate or asexual, jump on in. It's a big bouquet.)

Jason blogs: "My 'something else' is the modern Pagan movement, but it isn't the only 'something else' out there." Hold on. Don't give in. You're part of nature too, and God loves you. You will find friends and a safe place to be yourself. Reach out for help. Don't give in. Hold on.

Past time I did an update on Gaza. The fact is, I've bookmarked dozens of links - about the damage done in the recent conflict, the recent Israeli election, etc. Rather than spend all day spamming you with links, what I'd like to do here is focus on the issue that involved me in the first place: war crimes and violations of human rights before, during, and after Operation Cast Lead.

In recent days, Israeli newspapers have published the testimony of IDF soldiers of the wanton killing of non-combatants and other abuses. The UN has also reported evidence of the killing of civilians and their use of human shields, and Physicians for Human Rights Israel has called for an investigation into attacks on medics and denial of emergency medical care during the conflict.

I often see claims that international human rights groups criticise Israel while ignoring abuses by Palestinians. These claims are, well, lies. Amnesty International wants all participants held accountable, as do Human Rights Watch.

All of this is placing pressure on Israel to investigate the behaviour of its troops and officers. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din notes that the soldiers' testimonies were made public, no investigations had been started.

An editorial comment. I'm still new to this issue, but to me, the conflict seems to be powerfully fuelled by an attitude of "We're not talking to you, you're beyond the pale". Parties on all sides uninterested in ending the killing misuse the moral high ground as an excuse to dodge negotiation and compromise. I've got my fingers crossed that the change in the US administration may affect that unwillingness to talk.

Rape Victims Suffer Ordeal to Get Medical Tests: "Victims of sexual assault in some areas of NSW are being forced to wait hours in blazing heat and travel up to 500 kilometres without showering because there are not enough local people to carry out the medical tests later used as evidence."

MPs seek to lift ban on abortion advice: "The federal coalition may accept a move to overturn a Howard government ban on Australian aid funding advice on abortion and other aspects of family planning."

In the Name of Hijab?: "Some so-called “traditional” Muslims argue that ‘Western’ women are oppressed because they must derive their self-worth from the gaze of men. However, it is also true that within some Islamic communities a woman who does not cover is not afforded the same respect as one who does. The expectations are different but the result is the same; a woman’s worth is still determined by others, including men."

The mysterious and sudden adoption of feminism by Islamophobes is endlessly amusing. Katha Pollitt comments: "In the zillions of words for which [David] Horowitz is responsible--as writer, activist, speechifier and editor of Frontpagemag.com--there is virtually no evidence of concern for the rights, liberties, opportunities or well-being of any women on earth, except for Muslims." She also points out how useful this is in attacking Western feminists "as a bunch of princessy complainers. (Domestic violence? job discrimination? abortion restrictions? Honey, you're lucky someone's not stuffing you into a burqa!)"

Damsels in distress?: "The west should stop using the liberalisation of Muslim women to justify its strategy of dominance."

"Muslim!" Now Available In Insult Form: "Long before America cared about the rights of women in the Muslim world, Muslim women were launching anti-honor killing jihads. One of the most far reaching attacks against Islamically sanctioned forced marriages has been a film from Pakistan, not a vitriolic screed written in a high-end magazine in London. Whenever there is progress in the Muslim world, it is because of something Muslims themselves accomplish."

( Saudi Arabia, Aqsa Parvez, hijab )

First some great news from the AP: Saudi king pardons rape victim: Abdullah reportedly spares woman in sex-assault case from jail and lashes. (But what about the man, who was also raped, and whose sentence was also increased? The article doesn't tell us.)

Still a long way to go for Saudi Arabia, with alleged rape victims denied forensic exams and the flogging and imprisonment of gays.

Mum saved me a charming clipping from local paper The Hills Shire Times, about a Christmas carols night hosted by a Muslim centre, an event organised by the Hills Interfaith Dialogue Group. Participants traded info on Advent and on the importance of Jesus and Mary in the Koran.



Right, well admittedly the timing on this is a bit weird, but here we are: Huge rise in Scots with racist prejudices (and they were surveyed before the nightmare at Glasgow Aiport). Scottish Muslim Osama Saeed comments at his blog, and was also interviewed by The Scotsman: "There is this idea in many people's minds that Muslims in this country sympathise with regimes like Saudi Arabia or Libya, when in fact many people are here because they fled those regimes and are here because of the freedoms we enjoy."

Via drhoz: Comic Book Characters Grouped by Religious Affiliation. Pineapple Man!

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As I'm not firing on all cylinders, I'm going to take a break this week from blogging on these issues (unless there's some major news or I think of some fascinating point to make).

Christmas means rape and indecent assault for too many NSW women. "It's happening in factories, offices, law firms, in banks and in high-profile companies we all know. It's not just occurring at parties. Many employees get asked to stay back late this time of year to do overtime. Opportunistic bosses in particular are exploiting this situation."

Violence Against Women and the Role of Religion: this online essay explores how the scriptures of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity have been used to excuse domestic violence, and how they can also be used to oppose it.

From Arab News, a Saudi Muslim woman explains in detail that the Qatif sentence is not supported by the Koran: On the Flogging of a Female Rape Victim: "There is no legal or Islamic basis for such sentencing. Although it is true that according to Qur'anic teaching, a woman may not meet a man in privacy, no punishment was decreed for taking such action."

ETA: Just found a link I'd squirreled away, which compares the views of fundamentalists and religious liberals. "Fundamentalists themselves would claim that the Bible is the center of their worldview, but scriptural support for their more controversial positions is often scant and open to alternate interpretations. Ault notes that members of the pseudonymous Shawmut River Baptist Church 'generally held such views before they were "saved" and became born-again Christians. Their pro-family conservatism could not be explained, then, by doctrines or practices found in any particular religion.'"

2005 report from the Pew Global Attitudes Project: Islamic Extremism: Common Concern for Muslim and Western Publics: "Nearly three-quarters of Moroccans and roughly half of those in Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia see Islamic extremism as a threat to their countries. At the same time, most Muslim publics are expressing less support for terrorism than in the past. Confidence in Osama bin Laden has declined markedly in some countries and fewer believe suicide bombings that target civilians are justified in the defense of Islam."

This 2006 news item from the Beeb made me laugh, in a bleak sort of way: Survey highlights Islam-West rift: "Many Westerners see Muslims as fanatical, violent and intolerant... Muslims, for their part, tend to view the West as selfish, immoral, and greedy - as well as fanatical and violent - the survey says." From the survey itself: "Western publics, by lopsided margins, do not think of Muslims as "respectful of women." But half or more in four of the five Muslim publics surveyed say the same thing about people in the West."

Interestingly, a majority of Muslims said they believed democracy can work in Muslim countries, while Westerners were more sceptical about it. Oh, and: "Muslims differ over whether there is a struggle in their country between Islamic fundamentalists and groups wanting to modernize society. But solid majorities of those who perceive such a struggle side with the modernizers."

It really does seem as though the average Muslim has a lot more in common with the average Westerner than a lot of us might think, and that there's a struggle going on in Islamic societies between hardline religion and a more open society, and between supporting violence and looking for other ways to resolve conflicts - rather like there is in the West.

Dammit, Martin Amis, I only just discovered your writing! Couldn't you have waited a bit longer before disgracing yourself by bashing Muslims?

Pell out of touch on climate - bishop "The head of the Anglican Church's international body on the environment, George Browning, said [Catholic Archbishop] Dr Pell's position on global warming defied scientific consensus and theological imperatives to protect the Earth and its future generations."

Catching up on podcasts. Tom Keneally is making me LOL in a "Spirit of Things" called "Grumpy Old Religion" - there's a transcript online, although his scratchy old voice is a great part of the humour:

"One of the things I like about Judaism is that God is someone you argue with, as in the Old Testament, you know, God is right there for Moses to argue with and for Abraham to argue with. And God, I notice, is treated by some Holocaust survivors I know as a sort of over-imaginative, brilliant nephew who has written the world like a turbulent screenplay, and who has to be reasoned with so much. An old Jewish bloke said to me 'When I went to Malthausen and there was that quarry cliff and the SS throwing people over it, I said, "God, this has gone far enough".'."

(Kenneally's mention of Jesus' association with outcasts moved me. I'm not sure why; it's not as though it was an unfamiliar concept. Anyway, I've been banging around in Mark this evening. What anarchy!)