Religion is Politics

I know I've been deviating from my normal form, although normal is relative considering the youth of this blog, but I wanted to talk about the DaVinci Code.

I saw the movie yesterday and it was enjoyable, although probably less so as I have read the book twice and am somewhat of a purist. In general though it seemed to be a good depiction of what I believe the book to be about. A couple of my gripes stem from its more controversial component, Opus Dei.

While reading the book I didn't necessarily view Opus Dei as being the vicious fringe group the movie depicted. Granted, Opus Dei is a strict Catholic sect that subscribes to indoctrinated faith rather than the relaxed liberalism brought on by John Paul II or even just the more relaxed nature of the American Church in particular. What suprised me was the changes in script that seemed to villianize Opus Dei even more. I am no expert on the teachings or practices of Opus Dei, so I will not condescend to critisize them, nor can I support them. But I found it somewhat troubling that it was so easy to make them the point of all Langdon and Sophie's trouble. Maybe that is the conservative in me.

I will give Opus Dei credit where it is due, they believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church, and they uphold them more faithfully than I, or anyone else I know for that matter, can claim to do. What they do to themselves, or ask of their members, in the name of God is truely their business. Worse atrocities have been done in the name of God.

But I am slightly ashamed of my Church at this time. I support them, believe in them, I myself would chose Catholism over other Christianities given the choice. But to renouce a movie, a work of fiction, as being blasphemous and a danger to the Church is ridiculous. Believers will believe regardless of what a book tells them about Jesus Christ. To put so much emphasis on its "evil-ness" plays right in to the hands of the books and its believers making it seem as if there really were something to hide.

The truth or fiction behind this Mary Theory is meaningless to me. Because in reality even if Jesus was a mortal man, a father and husband, it doesn't change his divinity. He died on the cross and who he left behind, blood relation or not, are the people who he died to save. Now maybe that is too much religios mumbo jumbo for some of you. But I can't help but think that perhaps Dan Brown put too much emphasis on the secret. Believers will believe and faith, the faith of the true, won't be shaken because Jesus was a man. Faith is about believing in something you can never prove, and for some that is the Grail Quest for others its Jesus' Divinity. All this controversy brings to mind a theory I've had about many things.

Its the wanting, the hope of figuring out the secret, that inspires people. To know for sure begins to take away the meaning. Human beings love a mystery and they will spend their lives trying to find answers, but once we have them we move on... find something else to search for. For a very long time people have been looking for the real answers about Jesus and God, while others have been searching for the Grail. But in the end they both believe that finding the answer will bring to revelation, that it will change humanity. Isn't that faith, that search for something greater all the same?

God is what you make him, and I suppose that is the liberal in me, but whatever it is that you seek with unbridled faith its faith nonetheless. So believe in Mary Magdeline or don't, because I believe that in the end it all might just be a wash.

Non-Sequitor

This post is completely unrelated to any real political event, but I am going to find a way to swing it.

We're moving both at home and here at the office and I am finding it to be an exercise in futility. I have never moved before so I could not honestly up until this moment that I knew what it was like to pack up every last object in a room and transport it to a new location. Unfortunately for myself, that has become my only hobby of late, as my home and office moves are simulataneous.

At first you pack in an organized fashion putting like objects in boxes that are labeled with their future room's name clearly on the box. But by the end you are throwing things into boxes just to get it done and get out of there.

So I started to wonder what happens when the President moves out. Is he throwing matters of National Security in boxes labeled "Oval Office stuff"? Because I'm wondering what is going to be in the Bush Household's boxes when they finally vacate the nation's capital. Where does he put his special President Bush veto stamp?

Anyway, just thought that since moving rules my life that I would find a way to relate it to the political world.

Time is NOT on My Side.

Well its been a long lapse in posts, mostly because life sometimes gets in the way of my desire to wax eloquent, however I'm back and with issues to spare.

First up is Russia. For those of you who know me well, you know that Russia happens to be my pet project, my country of interest, the object of my fascination. My love started with Stalin. Which is a creepy thought, I know, but I just couldn't imagine living in a place so steeped in secrecy and bloody tradition. (And I don't mean bloody in the English adjective kind of way.)

So fast forward to the present tense when Russia is run by a "democratic" President, Vladimir Putin. When elected, I would wager to guess that the rest of the world breathed a sigh of relief. But in the years since his debut tensions have risen and Soviet era whispers have begun. When Putin became President he inherited a fledgling democracy from Boris Yeltsin. What he has done with that democracy I don't pretend to know, but what has emerged from the Putin machine is centralised autocracy that fears and oppresses any whiff of independent opposition.

Putin himself has stated that the arms race is still on. Putin is assertive and Russia has gained a sense of confidence under him, they no longer need the help of the West in order to survive econmically as they did right after the fall. We (the west) tend to disapprove of his leading style, probably because it reminds us of a more frightening divided time, but are reluctant to say so within earshot of the Motherland. However the bigger picture here is that the tables have turned, and now we need them.

With Iran heating up to be a bigger mess than Iraq, at least if things go as badly as they could, we need Russia to help us set the stage for a big cool down. If there is one thing I DO know its the way Russia reacts to criticism, and that is by shutting down and shutting out the rest of the world. And that is the last thing we need when Russia has oil, diamonds, and worse power. We need them and we don't know what to do about it.

tags: Russia,Putin,Russia

Egypt, Terror, and Suicide

Sinai got hit hard this week. The region has almost always been one of unrest, lying between Egypt, Israel, and the Palenstinian zone. It was also one of the major hot spots during WWII. Basically it stands in the middle of a hotbed of Muslim/secular issues.

The short of it is that Sinai got hit with two suicide bombers April 24th. 24 people were killed (mostly Egyptians) and 100 wounded. The victims were almost all tourists at a vacation resort. Its the third time Sinai's beaches have been hit by suicide bombers according to the article in the Economist.

Basically these attacks tend to coincide with Egyptian and non Muslim holidays as well as a released tape from Osama Bin-Laden calling for a jihad against "Zionist Crusaders"; therefore prompting a belief that these are Al-Qaeda related. The article mentions the fact that the bombs were rather crudely made and that it might indicate the terrorists capabilities diminishing.

Allow me a moment of pure cynicism here, OF COURSE their capabilities are dimishing, they are suicide bombers. The ones who are good at making the bombs are dead.

Either way its a disturbing trend in the section of world. Admittedly however there is little comfort to be found in the Middle East at any time, so this isn't much different. But here in the US we don't pay much attention to places other than Iraq and Iran these days, so I find it only fitting to read about countries that are being "punished" for understanding that in order to function as a part of the world, you must actually interact with the world.


tags: terrorism,Sinai

Abu Ghraib

Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Jordan is being held accountable for his actions in Iraq three years ago. He was associated with the prisoner abuse that occured at Abu Ghraib prison. Ironically many of the military members who were responsible for these acts hail from Western Maryland, the Cumberland area, and the surronding sections of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. According to the Economist, L-C Jordan is the highest ranked official to face charges thus far.

tags:Abu Ghraib

Highlighting a Country of Interest

So the Cold War has been over for a decade now. But the Soviet era repression and dictatorship isn't so dead.

So my Little Known Country of Interest today is Belarus.

Belarus is a country full of repression, media supression, and imprisionment of opposition leaders. It sounds so reminicent of soviet times past. In many ways that is model from which Belarus is taking its cue. It is a small Eastern European country left to whither once the Soviet Union fell. Its leader, Lukashenka, just won another election and has embraced the culture of corruption.

He banned the use of the name 'President', it is reserved soley for him. So clubs and associations have just had to come up with new names for the cheifs of their organizations. He also banned the use of the independant Belarussian flag, replacing it with the Soviet version. Not to mention the disappearances of some protestors to the government. As well as those being jailed for their opposition.

All in all its a soveit style state that seems to be lost in another time, at least to us. The reality of the situation is that that kind of behavior is more common than we choose to believe. There are still plenty of European dictatorships out there but in many cases we simply choose to ignore them.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042801212.html



tags: politics,Belarus,dictators,Lukashenka

Tocqueville

Read Democracy in America. It is hands down one of the best books written about American politics. Ever.

" Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom."

tags:Tocqueville