I just came across this article about a British politician and peer addressing how acceptable prejudice against Muslims is in her country.
Meanwhile the Brits have banned this fellow from Florida who threatened to burn Korans last year. An English group "concerned" about the supposed growing "Islamification" of their country had invited him to speak.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Now Christmas is over
Happy Feast of the Epiphany.
This day, Jan. 6, marks the formal end to the Christmas season. This is the day the three king (makers) paid homage to Jesus after a star led them to the house where Jesus and his mother were. Yes, house, not stable, and Joseph, the shepherds, and barnyard animals are all absent. They are all in Luke’s version.
The stories get mixed up in popular culture. The Christmas schedule does too, come to think of it, both before and after the Big Day. The weeks before Christmas Day are Advent in the Christian calendar and should be days of quiet reflection. Instead they are filled with frenzied shopping, wrapping, mailing, and housecleaning. Christmas morning is frenzied with unwrapping and the day after Christmas brings more frenzied shopping. Some people even hurry to clean up their Christmas clutter, not just discarded wrappings, but even the tree and decorations.
The trees and decorations stay up until January 1 or 2 in most households, though. Then the holidays are over, on the secular calendar. Christmas light displays go dark. Denuded pine trees get tossed to the curb. The stores relegate any lingering Christmas merchandise to a corner, bearing a “90 percent off” sign. Meanwhile employees with forklifts bring in gardening equipment and tiki lamps in preparation for spring planting and the summer’s first barbeque.
Life goes on, but does have to be that fast? Let us enjoy the final night of Christmas and send the season out with aplomb, and flames. One parish I attended years ago made a big deal out of Epiphany. They had three magi in full costume, spicy food, and a king cake. The night’s festivities culminated in a bonfire. All the Christmas greenery from the sanctuary was set wonderfully ablaze, under the watchful eye of the fire marshal, of course. It was a wonderfully declarative conclusion.
Years ago I learned to my great relief that *proper* Episcopalians and other liturgically inclined Western Christians keep their trees up through January 6. I have always kept mine up as long as possible, not wanting to let go of the season. I will take my tree down tomorrow, maybe. Before the summer’s first barbeque, probably.
Here is a list of materials about Epiphany traditions and liturgies.
This day, Jan. 6, marks the formal end to the Christmas season. This is the day the three king (makers) paid homage to Jesus after a star led them to the house where Jesus and his mother were. Yes, house, not stable, and Joseph, the shepherds, and barnyard animals are all absent. They are all in Luke’s version.
The stories get mixed up in popular culture. The Christmas schedule does too, come to think of it, both before and after the Big Day. The weeks before Christmas Day are Advent in the Christian calendar and should be days of quiet reflection. Instead they are filled with frenzied shopping, wrapping, mailing, and housecleaning. Christmas morning is frenzied with unwrapping and the day after Christmas brings more frenzied shopping. Some people even hurry to clean up their Christmas clutter, not just discarded wrappings, but even the tree and decorations.
The trees and decorations stay up until January 1 or 2 in most households, though. Then the holidays are over, on the secular calendar. Christmas light displays go dark. Denuded pine trees get tossed to the curb. The stores relegate any lingering Christmas merchandise to a corner, bearing a “90 percent off” sign. Meanwhile employees with forklifts bring in gardening equipment and tiki lamps in preparation for spring planting and the summer’s first barbeque.
Life goes on, but does have to be that fast? Let us enjoy the final night of Christmas and send the season out with aplomb, and flames. One parish I attended years ago made a big deal out of Epiphany. They had three magi in full costume, spicy food, and a king cake. The night’s festivities culminated in a bonfire. All the Christmas greenery from the sanctuary was set wonderfully ablaze, under the watchful eye of the fire marshal, of course. It was a wonderfully declarative conclusion.
Years ago I learned to my great relief that *proper* Episcopalians and other liturgically inclined Western Christians keep their trees up through January 6. I have always kept mine up as long as possible, not wanting to let go of the season. I will take my tree down tomorrow, maybe. Before the summer’s first barbeque, probably.
Here is a list of materials about Epiphany traditions and liturgies.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Banning veils
Syria made news today for banning Muslim women on college campuses from wearing the full face veil preferred by some conservative Muslims. Syrian officials made a similar move last summer. Beginning last fall, secondary teachers were no longer allowed to wear the full veil in the classroom. Some quit teaching rather than remove their veil.
Here is an interesting op-ed piece from the Jerusalem Post comparing European and Middle Eastern nations' response to women wanting to wear the niqab, full face veil, in public.
Syrian officials reportedly want their country to appear more modern and secular and the niqab does not fit that image. Or does it? Is it "modern" to restrict how people choose to show their religious affiliation?
The Muslim dress debate has sprung up in both dictatorships like Syria and democracies such as France. Whatever the political situation, an interesting paradox is at play here. Many people, particularly non-Muslims, see the veil, particularly the niqab and the burqa, as oppressive to women. It seems hard to imagine anyone wanting to wear it. Western feminists might assume that such coverings are forced on subordinate Muslim women by jealous and dominating Muslim men. Yet some Muslim women do choose to cover themselves. In fact, Muslim apologists contend that veiling is not mandated by the Koran and that it must be up to individual women to choose whether and how to cover their faces. This article from the New York Times talks about American Muslim women who made this choice and have faced great criticism for it, particularly from other women. Veiling in America is countercultural, rebellious, traits that are quintessentially ... American.
The Syrian women included in the veil bans presumably are intellectual and independent. They are "modern." To be a secondary teacher, one must be fairly educated and have a desire to lead. Young women on a university campus are there to explore the world and develop their independent selves. None of these traits are submissive. So should they have to submit to a dress code that forbids their chosen form of religious piety and modesty?
Here is an interesting op-ed piece from the Jerusalem Post comparing European and Middle Eastern nations' response to women wanting to wear the niqab, full face veil, in public.
Syrian officials reportedly want their country to appear more modern and secular and the niqab does not fit that image. Or does it? Is it "modern" to restrict how people choose to show their religious affiliation?
The Muslim dress debate has sprung up in both dictatorships like Syria and democracies such as France. Whatever the political situation, an interesting paradox is at play here. Many people, particularly non-Muslims, see the veil, particularly the niqab and the burqa, as oppressive to women. It seems hard to imagine anyone wanting to wear it. Western feminists might assume that such coverings are forced on subordinate Muslim women by jealous and dominating Muslim men. Yet some Muslim women do choose to cover themselves. In fact, Muslim apologists contend that veiling is not mandated by the Koran and that it must be up to individual women to choose whether and how to cover their faces. This article from the New York Times talks about American Muslim women who made this choice and have faced great criticism for it, particularly from other women. Veiling in America is countercultural, rebellious, traits that are quintessentially ... American.
The Syrian women included in the veil bans presumably are intellectual and independent. They are "modern." To be a secondary teacher, one must be fairly educated and have a desire to lead. Young women on a university campus are there to explore the world and develop their independent selves. None of these traits are submissive. So should they have to submit to a dress code that forbids their chosen form of religious piety and modesty?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)