By Christine B. Whelan
What would you do for spiritual enlightenment? Would you agree to spend 36 hours alone in the desert without food or water to find your true potential? Would you follow a trusted leader into a dark, hot tent to experience a Native American sweat lodge ritual? In the name of self-help, many people will do just that — and more.
Three people died and more than a dozen others were injured as a result of an Oct. 8 retreat in Sedona, Ariz., led by James Arthur Ray, a nationally known self-help guru. According to interviews with participants and their relatives, within hours of returning from a desert “vision quest,” and dehydrated from lack of food and water in the previous
1 1/2 days, more than 50 people followed Ray into a 20-by-20-foot makeshift sweat lodge of wood, plastic tarps and blankets. It was the surprise culmination of his “Spiritual Warrior” event, for which participants had paid as much as $9,695 per person.
For nearly two hours, Ray sat at the lodge’s only exit, encouraging them to “push past your self-imposed and conditioned borders.” Periodically, he brought in glowing red rocks to intensify the heat. At the conclusion, seemingly unaware of the bodies of the unconscious lying around him, Ray emerged triumphantly, witnesses said, because he had passed his own endurance test.
What happened in Sedona is not a crazy, fringe event. America has a long history of self-help, and to properly comprehend the horror of these deaths, we must first understand the inspiration and guidance that Ray offered. Such gurus motivate thousands of smart, accomplished adults by borrowing from two very powerful thought traditions — modern psychology and esoteric spirituality — creating a one-two punch that’s nearly impossible to resist.
Sedona police are investigating the deaths as homicides, while Ray continues to run his workshops. His company, James Ray International, made $9.4 million in 2008 from motivational videos, books and seminars, and he has appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and other shows. In an e-mail to his newsletter subscribers, Ray said he had hired his own investigators to look into the tragedy. “I have chosen to continue with my work. It’s too important not to,” he wrote.
I’ve studied the self-help business for nearly a decade, curious about the sociological and psychological impact of this $11-billion-plus-per-year industry. I’ve read hundreds of American self-help texts — by authors from Benjamin Franklin to Napoleon Hill to Deepak Chopra — and interviewed writers, editors and group participants. Notions of self-help are part of the fabric of our self-reliant culture.
The most popular of these leaders offer intense, “life-altering experiences,” participants say, creating new ways of thinking that may have a lasting impact. “James challenged us to live an honorable and impeccable life,” said a friend of mine who was injured in Sedona.
“James had put us through so many challenging and wonderful experiences that we’d built up a great deal of trust in him,” she said. Among her concerns about the sweat lodge were “the lack of emergency backup, the intensity of the heat, and not monitoring participants during the sweat, which all led to negligent behavior that is disturbing.”
Ray’s attempt to combine the spiritual wisdom of the ancients with cutting-edge science has been a popular strategy of American self-help gurus for more than a century — pairing the gut-level search for truth with the logic of science, usually with benign results.
The New Thought movement, for example, which rose to prominence between 1900 and 1920, offered success through “mind power,” sincere prayer and positive thinking. Priests and doctors joined together to harness the power of God and the skills of man, and faith was a psychological medicine that would cure all ills.
These ideas soon became mainstream: New Thought writers had a column in Good Housekeeping, and Norman Vincent Peale’s “The Power of Positive Thinking” (1952) sold more than 5 million copies.
In past decades, motivational gurus have incorporated increasingly exotic spiritual practices, holding their audiences’ attention by claiming skills that usually are beyond their expertise.
This spiritual element has the most persuasive effect. Religious authority figures claim to have knowledge not just about our fate — why we’re in a dead-end job and what to do about it — but about our eternal well-being too. Just hours before the deaths, Ray posted a darkly prescient message on Twitter: “Still in Spiritual Warrior ... for anything new to live something first must die. What needs to die in you so that new life can emerge?”
As the sweat lodge got hotter, the underlying psychological message was quite clear: If you leave, you’ll be a failure, not just in this ceremony but forever.
While Ray told participants that he had received training in proper sweat lodge rituals, he also bragged that his lodges were much hotter than those used in Native American gatherings.
But Joseph Bruchac, author of “The Native American Sweat Lodge,” said that a proper sweat lodge is a purification ritual, not a physical endurance test. He has received dozens of e-mails from Native American elders expressing how upset — but unsurprised — they were at the tragedy.
In 2005, at the same retreat venue, an unconcious woman was removed from the event. A relative of one retreat participant said Ray had warned his young volunteer staff — untrained as medical professionals — that while some people might exit the lodge vomiting and dizzy, that was not cause for concern.
There was quite a bit more cause for concern than Ray anticipated. “Several men and women were foaming at the mouth and having seizures as they were dragged, unconscious, from the steaming tent,” a survivor’s relative told me. Volunteers spent 30 to 40 minutes doing CPR on the victims, and emergency teams intubated and evacuated at least one woman by helicopter.
There was no locked door trapping people inside, but Ray used something equally powerful: He tapped into psychological and spiritual traditions, and with apparent recklessness, he reaped a deadly result.
Christine B. Whelan is a visiting assistant professor of sociology at the University of Iowa.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Spiritual Enlightenment Journey Off Planet
Ascension Center Enlightenment (ACE) is a title. A title for a new way of being while on planet earth.
This is not affiliated with any religious or political organization or philosophical, theosophical, or psychological ways in traditional cultures or lifestyles.
As far as I know, this is something that came to me from another way of being and thinking above.
Some believe the word ascension is of the new age movement. This is not true. The word Ascension stands alone and was a creation on earth long before we were ten million years or so ago on a planet that we believe to be roughly 5 billion years old.
Ascension is one word, Center is one word, and Enlightenment is one word. The first letters form an acronym or logo with a diagram that is used for recognition.
The photo of lines above that form a spacecraft sending out waves of knowledge into the future for our kind as human beings that are a part of the intelligent being species on this planet.
There are at least five that are known on planet earth and four are amphibious that live in the water on this planet which makes up 70% of this planet. The other 30% is inhabited with our biped human beings which are only one type that lives in this universe among the many galaxies.
This is fact but proving this to all beings is cannot be done through communication in today’s world and the way we think, believe, and become. We are creatures of habit and traditional lifestyles, with formed cultures created throughout time spent on earth.
We are alive on earth in this time for a reason.
There are illusions and magic created until we can see beyond that which we cannot understand. This is why we are hear to learn and explore, We are born on earth we live and we die. We all know this to be a gathered and understood fact of life on earth.
I am just one of many beings on earth and there are man us and approximately 6.8 and growing. We will need to expand our beliefs in the future in order to create life on land, in water, and in space. We will need all three for the future survival of our species.
There are those above who are much more advanced and can compel us to be nudged along in ways that some of us are participating in as a choice and in freewill suggestions. These suggestions are placed in our minds as our own thoughts. This is something that our kind is capable of and some call this the power of suggestion while others call this telepathy as a communication technique.
The communication that we are here to share to some is scientific terms and to others philosophical, while others may prefer to annotate this in a former religious context. It is no matter at this time. This is communication.
Some may not acquire a taste for these three words. I can understand. I also am not fond of these three words. But, until such time as someone else can come up with a new way of sharing a thought and idea or hypotheses and theory for what I am about to share, then this will have to do.
I do not claim to be special or different in any way other than one that has received the knowledge to share with others about the truth.
Alien Civilizations Exist! This is also A C E as an acronym and fits nicely with Ascension Center Enlightenment.
http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1009/psychic-change9.php
This is not affiliated with any religious or political organization or philosophical, theosophical, or psychological ways in traditional cultures or lifestyles.
As far as I know, this is something that came to me from another way of being and thinking above.
Some believe the word ascension is of the new age movement. This is not true. The word Ascension stands alone and was a creation on earth long before we were ten million years or so ago on a planet that we believe to be roughly 5 billion years old.
Ascension is one word, Center is one word, and Enlightenment is one word. The first letters form an acronym or logo with a diagram that is used for recognition.
The photo of lines above that form a spacecraft sending out waves of knowledge into the future for our kind as human beings that are a part of the intelligent being species on this planet.
There are at least five that are known on planet earth and four are amphibious that live in the water on this planet which makes up 70% of this planet. The other 30% is inhabited with our biped human beings which are only one type that lives in this universe among the many galaxies.
This is fact but proving this to all beings is cannot be done through communication in today’s world and the way we think, believe, and become. We are creatures of habit and traditional lifestyles, with formed cultures created throughout time spent on earth.
We are alive on earth in this time for a reason.
There are illusions and magic created until we can see beyond that which we cannot understand. This is why we are hear to learn and explore, We are born on earth we live and we die. We all know this to be a gathered and understood fact of life on earth.
I am just one of many beings on earth and there are man us and approximately 6.8 and growing. We will need to expand our beliefs in the future in order to create life on land, in water, and in space. We will need all three for the future survival of our species.
There are those above who are much more advanced and can compel us to be nudged along in ways that some of us are participating in as a choice and in freewill suggestions. These suggestions are placed in our minds as our own thoughts. This is something that our kind is capable of and some call this the power of suggestion while others call this telepathy as a communication technique.
The communication that we are here to share to some is scientific terms and to others philosophical, while others may prefer to annotate this in a former religious context. It is no matter at this time. This is communication.
Some may not acquire a taste for these three words. I can understand. I also am not fond of these three words. But, until such time as someone else can come up with a new way of sharing a thought and idea or hypotheses and theory for what I am about to share, then this will have to do.
I do not claim to be special or different in any way other than one that has received the knowledge to share with others about the truth.
Alien Civilizations Exist! This is also A C E as an acronym and fits nicely with Ascension Center Enlightenment.
http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1009/psychic-change9.php
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Musician Pursues Spiritual Enlightenment
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 10/28/09 -- As co-founder of The Kinks and as an iconoclastic solo artist, Dave Davies is one of rock's most influential and identifiable figures. The legendary guitarist/singer/songwriter's fans will be introduced to another side of Davies with the release of "Dave Davies Kronikles: Mystical Journey" on February 9th, 2010. A feature-length memoir of Davies' lifelong pursuit of spiritual enlightenment, the DVD documents the artist's extensive inquiries into a variety of eclectic areas, including Eastern philosophies, spiritualism, psychic phenomena, astrology and meditation.
The DVD exclusively features Davies' new single, "New Dawn, New Day." In addition, Davies will perform select shows in the U.S. around the DVD release date for the first time in 5 years.
"Dave Davies Kronikles: Mystical Journey," which Davies co-directed with his son Martin Davies, offers a compelling mix of newly shot footage, interview segments and archival material, including new Davies performances and rare vintage home movies of The Kinks on tour. Davies serves as on-screen narrator of the film, whose soundtrack features a variety of music drawn from various periods of his remarkable career.
Dave Davies' four-and-a-half-decade body of music, both with The Kinks and on his own, is one of rock's most formidable catalogues. His innovative guitar work has been a seminal influence upon multiple generations of musicians, while his uncompromising persona has established him as a beloved icon of rock 'n' roll attitude. "Dave Davies Kronikles: Mystical Journey" provides an invaluable insight into the inner life of one of rock's true originals.
http://au.sys-con.com/node/1162792
The DVD exclusively features Davies' new single, "New Dawn, New Day." In addition, Davies will perform select shows in the U.S. around the DVD release date for the first time in 5 years.
"Dave Davies Kronikles: Mystical Journey," which Davies co-directed with his son Martin Davies, offers a compelling mix of newly shot footage, interview segments and archival material, including new Davies performances and rare vintage home movies of The Kinks on tour. Davies serves as on-screen narrator of the film, whose soundtrack features a variety of music drawn from various periods of his remarkable career.
Dave Davies' four-and-a-half-decade body of music, both with The Kinks and on his own, is one of rock's most formidable catalogues. His innovative guitar work has been a seminal influence upon multiple generations of musicians, while his uncompromising persona has established him as a beloved icon of rock 'n' roll attitude. "Dave Davies Kronikles: Mystical Journey" provides an invaluable insight into the inner life of one of rock's true originals.
http://au.sys-con.com/node/1162792
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Spiritual Enlightenment Monument in Japan
Tze M. Loo: Shuri Castle's Other History: Architecture and Empire in Okinawa
Source: Japan Focus (10-11-09)
[Tze M. Loo is assistant professor of history at the University of Richmond. She wrote this article for The Asia-Pacific Journal.]
The Ryūkyū Kingdom Festival (Ryūkyū ōchō matsuri), organized and sponsored by the Shuri Promotion Association (Shuri shinkōkai), is a fixture on Okinawa Prefecture’s cultural and tourist calendar.
2008 Shuri Castle Festival poster
This one-day festival is one part of the larger Shuri Castle Festival (Shurijō sai); together, they celebrate the grandeur of the Ryūkyū Kingdom and its court traditions as a pure cultural past for the prefecture.1 Of pivotal importance to these events is Shuri Castle itself. Not merely the stage on which festivities unfold, Shuri Castle – with its vermillion architecture epitomized by its main hall (seiden) and Shurei Gate (Shurei mon), and its high, imposing ishigaki stone walls – is cast as the very heart of Ryūkyūan culture. While this representation of the castle celebrates local culture, it is difficult to ignore the role it plays in Japan’s continuing colonization of Okinawa. By suggesting that Ryūkyūan culture not only exists, but flourishes within the framework of the Japanese nation state, this representation plays an important part in a narrative that obfuscates the rupture of Japanese colonization of the Ryūkyū Kingdom and naturalizes Okinawa’s inclusion into the modern Japanese nation state.2
Nowhere is the assimilative nature of cultural valuation more stark than in the Japanese state’s 1925 designation of Shuri Castle’s main hall as a “national treasure” (kokuhō) of Japan. This designation is often lauded in the postwar as a sign of the Japanese state’s early recognition of the value of Ryūkyūan culture, but it also deftly transformed a marker of a prior independence into a marker of inclusion. The official text explaining the designation reads:
This is the main hall of the former Shuri Castle, and it is the Ryūkyū’s most important and largest piece of architecture … The current building was built in the 14th year of Kyōhō (1730) and underwent substantial repairs in the 3rd year of Kōka (1837). It has a very large, multilayered hip-and-gabled roof, a step canopy (kōhai) in the front [and demonstrates] unique Ryūkyūan form and techniques. Even though its large pillars and the decorative feature (fun) of the bargeboard (karahafū) resemble Chinese style (kan shiki), the frog-leg strut (kaerumata) and dragon carvings below the step canopy’s bargeboard carries the trace (obi) of the style of our Momoyama period [and is] extremely novel artisanship.3
Assimilation is performed in several ways here. First, Shuri Castle’s history is told in terms of Japanese reign names, mapping the castle’s history onto a regime of Japanese temporality even though the Ryūkyū Kingdom at this time was, for all intents and purposes, an independent political entity. Second, while the designation recognizes the uniqueness of Ryūkyūan form and techniques and even acknowledges its resonance with continental styles, the text – in the final analysis – folds these features into a narrative of Japanese architectural history. By discovering in these Ryūkyūan/continental features the “trace” of “our Momoyama” style, the designation skillfully sublimates any Ryūkyūan uniqueness into a larger, encompassing, and original Japanese cultural universe, diffusing the critical potential in these markers of difference.
There was, however, another way in which this designation appropriated and assimilated Shuri Castle into the Japanese national imaginary. In order for Shuri Castle’s main hall to be designated a national treasure in 1925, it was converted into the worshipper’s hall of Okinawa Shrine. This completed the layout for Okinawa Shrine, and Shuri Castle spent the period 1925 to 1945 as “Okinawa Shrine,” a functioning node in the ideological universe of State Shinto, put into the service of the emperor-centered Japanese nation state. This transformation occurred in part because Japanese heritage preservation laws until 1932 stipulated that only Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple buildings could be designated “specially protected buildings” to receive state protection and funding as “national treasures.” The problem is that the argument that the castle’s conversion was necessary for its preservation was privileged, both at the time as well as in our present, such that Shuri Castle’s tenure as a Shinto shrine is overlooked and its significance downplayed. This article traces Shuri Castle’s other history, to tell the story of its transformation into Okinawa Shrine in order to reveal the nakedness of the violence of Japanese colonialism as it is embedded in Shuri Castle.
The Silence around Okinawa Shrine
People have generally expressed surprise when I’ve posed the question, “Did you know that Shuri Castle used to be Okinawa Shrine?” This is not entirely surprising considering that histories of the castle – including the castle’s “official history” as it is told at the Shurijō Castle Park – do not reference its past as Okinawa Shrine. What is curious, however, is that the castle’s history as Okinawa Shrine is not exactly the object of a concerted campaign of silencing and obfuscation, with references to it readily available in the historical record. For instance, in prewar official inventories of national treasures compiled by the Home Ministry (Naimushō) which list all designated buildings and objects, Shuri Castle’s main hall is listed as “the worshipper’s hall of Okinawa Shrine” (Okinawa jinja haiden).4 In a relatively recent compilation by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō) of national treasures lost to war and disaster in the prewar period, the entry for Shuri Castle’s main hall, razed to the ground as a result of American bombardment, was similarly listed as the worshipper’s hall.5 Thus as far as one version of the Japanese state’s official record is concerned, “Shuri Castle” does not actually exist in the period between 1925 and 1945, replaced instead by “Okinawa Shrine.”
Source: Japan Focus (10-11-09)
[Tze M. Loo is assistant professor of history at the University of Richmond. She wrote this article for The Asia-Pacific Journal.]
The Ryūkyū Kingdom Festival (Ryūkyū ōchō matsuri), organized and sponsored by the Shuri Promotion Association (Shuri shinkōkai), is a fixture on Okinawa Prefecture’s cultural and tourist calendar.
2008 Shuri Castle Festival poster
This one-day festival is one part of the larger Shuri Castle Festival (Shurijō sai); together, they celebrate the grandeur of the Ryūkyū Kingdom and its court traditions as a pure cultural past for the prefecture.1 Of pivotal importance to these events is Shuri Castle itself. Not merely the stage on which festivities unfold, Shuri Castle – with its vermillion architecture epitomized by its main hall (seiden) and Shurei Gate (Shurei mon), and its high, imposing ishigaki stone walls – is cast as the very heart of Ryūkyūan culture. While this representation of the castle celebrates local culture, it is difficult to ignore the role it plays in Japan’s continuing colonization of Okinawa. By suggesting that Ryūkyūan culture not only exists, but flourishes within the framework of the Japanese nation state, this representation plays an important part in a narrative that obfuscates the rupture of Japanese colonization of the Ryūkyū Kingdom and naturalizes Okinawa’s inclusion into the modern Japanese nation state.2
Nowhere is the assimilative nature of cultural valuation more stark than in the Japanese state’s 1925 designation of Shuri Castle’s main hall as a “national treasure” (kokuhō) of Japan. This designation is often lauded in the postwar as a sign of the Japanese state’s early recognition of the value of Ryūkyūan culture, but it also deftly transformed a marker of a prior independence into a marker of inclusion. The official text explaining the designation reads:
This is the main hall of the former Shuri Castle, and it is the Ryūkyū’s most important and largest piece of architecture … The current building was built in the 14th year of Kyōhō (1730) and underwent substantial repairs in the 3rd year of Kōka (1837). It has a very large, multilayered hip-and-gabled roof, a step canopy (kōhai) in the front [and demonstrates] unique Ryūkyūan form and techniques. Even though its large pillars and the decorative feature (fun) of the bargeboard (karahafū) resemble Chinese style (kan shiki), the frog-leg strut (kaerumata) and dragon carvings below the step canopy’s bargeboard carries the trace (obi) of the style of our Momoyama period [and is] extremely novel artisanship.3
Assimilation is performed in several ways here. First, Shuri Castle’s history is told in terms of Japanese reign names, mapping the castle’s history onto a regime of Japanese temporality even though the Ryūkyū Kingdom at this time was, for all intents and purposes, an independent political entity. Second, while the designation recognizes the uniqueness of Ryūkyūan form and techniques and even acknowledges its resonance with continental styles, the text – in the final analysis – folds these features into a narrative of Japanese architectural history. By discovering in these Ryūkyūan/continental features the “trace” of “our Momoyama” style, the designation skillfully sublimates any Ryūkyūan uniqueness into a larger, encompassing, and original Japanese cultural universe, diffusing the critical potential in these markers of difference.
There was, however, another way in which this designation appropriated and assimilated Shuri Castle into the Japanese national imaginary. In order for Shuri Castle’s main hall to be designated a national treasure in 1925, it was converted into the worshipper’s hall of Okinawa Shrine. This completed the layout for Okinawa Shrine, and Shuri Castle spent the period 1925 to 1945 as “Okinawa Shrine,” a functioning node in the ideological universe of State Shinto, put into the service of the emperor-centered Japanese nation state. This transformation occurred in part because Japanese heritage preservation laws until 1932 stipulated that only Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple buildings could be designated “specially protected buildings” to receive state protection and funding as “national treasures.” The problem is that the argument that the castle’s conversion was necessary for its preservation was privileged, both at the time as well as in our present, such that Shuri Castle’s tenure as a Shinto shrine is overlooked and its significance downplayed. This article traces Shuri Castle’s other history, to tell the story of its transformation into Okinawa Shrine in order to reveal the nakedness of the violence of Japanese colonialism as it is embedded in Shuri Castle.
The Silence around Okinawa Shrine
People have generally expressed surprise when I’ve posed the question, “Did you know that Shuri Castle used to be Okinawa Shrine?” This is not entirely surprising considering that histories of the castle – including the castle’s “official history” as it is told at the Shurijō Castle Park – do not reference its past as Okinawa Shrine. What is curious, however, is that the castle’s history as Okinawa Shrine is not exactly the object of a concerted campaign of silencing and obfuscation, with references to it readily available in the historical record. For instance, in prewar official inventories of national treasures compiled by the Home Ministry (Naimushō) which list all designated buildings and objects, Shuri Castle’s main hall is listed as “the worshipper’s hall of Okinawa Shrine” (Okinawa jinja haiden).4 In a relatively recent compilation by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō) of national treasures lost to war and disaster in the prewar period, the entry for Shuri Castle’s main hall, razed to the ground as a result of American bombardment, was similarly listed as the worshipper’s hall.5 Thus as far as one version of the Japanese state’s official record is concerned, “Shuri Castle” does not actually exist in the period between 1925 and 1945, replaced instead by “Okinawa Shrine.”
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
U2 Spritual Enlightenment
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/10/live-review-u2s-360-tour-at-the-rose-bowl.html
"Enough of the folk mass!" declared Bono during U2's historic Rose Bowl performance Sunday, leading his band and the nearly 100,000 fans in the stadium out of a singalong and into a dance party. The 49-year-old singer/activist/life of the party has been making such quick metaphorical turns for much of his life, fronting a band known for transcendence but hardly immune to sensual pleasure.
Usually, Bono and his band mates travel from prayers to come-ons on the force of charisma and a sound that's ascendant and sleekly funky, structured around the Edge's stretchy guitar parts and Bono's dirty-faced choirboy cries. But for this tour, U2 has adopted another mode of transport: the four-legged circular stage rig known as the Claw, or the Space Station. This contraption is an extravagance with a big carbon footprint and an even bigger price tag. But in Pasadena, it proved worth every Euro, allowing this most ambitious rock band to genuinely reconfigure live pop performance.
Plenty of artists have played in the round, built multi-tiered sets and spent time roaming through the crowd on ramps or trapezes. But the Space Station (Bono's preferred term these days) changes the architecture of the live concert. It not only puts the stadium audience closer to the band, it cuts holes in the fourth wall between star and fan, creating a feeling of immersion and communal connection that's startling in such a huge venue, and that translated differently in person than it could have on YouTube, where the concert was streamed live.
Getprev-16 Ringed by a ramp that the band members usually reached via moving bridges, enclosing a good chunk of the crowd within a welcome pen, the Space Station truly conjoined U2 and its audience. The Rose Bowl's relatively low walls enhanced the illusion that mere footsteps (and sometimes less than that) stood between the men unstack and their elated devotees. When Bono crouched at the ramp's edge or the Edge strode across it, churning out a riff, they seemed as touchable as superstars could be.
The Space Station's fragmented and shifting ground dismantled the conventions of the rock concert. "I was born to lift you up," Bono sang in "Magnificent," one of the many songs performed from the band's latest album, "No Line on the Horizon." But at times this music seemed to do the opposite -- it pushed the crowd under a wave of echo and distortion, or formed a passageway between the fans and the band.
Those joyfully shouted group choruses, to older songs like "One" and "With or Without You" but also to newer ones like "Magnificent" and "Unknown Caller" (the latter aided by lyrics splayed across the Space Station's screen), offered the clearest route to union. But it also happened when the Edge and billowing guitar phrases bathed the space in harmonics during "Until the End of the World," or when the rhythm section of Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. (the latter playing a strapped-on conga) moved every body in the house with a Latin-cum-rave take on "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight."
U2's time-honored approach to spiritual enlightenment worked its magic too, when Bono prefaced the old favorite "Where the Streets Have No Name" with some verses of "Amazing Grace," or when he interjected phrases from crowd-pleasing oldies like "Stand by Me," or simply shouted "Soul! Soul! Soul!" (His funniest interjection, though, was when he compared himself to Dennis Hopper and then did a bit of that actor's heavy breathing from the film "Blue Velvet.")
But after three decades as an important band, U2 is long past simple uplift. Its music is as much about emotional entanglement (as in "Ultraviolet" on Sunday) and disorientation ("Vertigo"). Ultimately, it is a meditation on space: the majestic natural landscapes that the Edge's guitar playing often describes; the crowded dance floors or train platforms Clayton and Mullen's rhythms evoke; the inches between a whispering mouth and a lover's ear, or the infinite journey of a prayer hurled into the air.
The Space Station allows U2 to make those musical and lyrical preoccupations physical in a new way. At the Rose Bowl, it created a new experience even for the most jaded concertgoer. U2 concerts have often included moments in which raised voices build goodwill, or shaking hips stimulate joy. But for the first time, perhaps, this band's noise resulted in a kind of silence and stillness -- not a literal one, but the rapture that comes when nearly 100,000 people relax together, as if held within a gentle, open hand.
"God will put a wind at our back and a rising road ahead, if we work together as one," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu in an on-screen message late in the concert. That vision of nations and individuals opening up to one another is at the core of U2's mission. This extravagant tour gave the band another way to enact it and made for a whole new concert experience in the process.
Opening the show, the Black Eyed Peas went for something more tried and true, but also powerful: a party vibe celebrating the home team. Performing its many hits in an exuberant set, the Peas radiated Southern California pride. Tabu draped himself in Mexican and American flags; will.i.am name-checked neighborhoods and towns from Hollywood to East L.A. to La Crescenta.
The set's spirited climax came when Fergie took Axl Rose's part in a rough and true-blooded cover of the Guns N' Roses classic "Sweet Child o' Mine," with Slash himself on guitar. If U2 aimed for universals, the Black Eyed Peas reminded us that particulars have their uses too. Especially when those particulars are as diverse as the elements that make up the Southland.
-- Ann Powers
RELATED:
U2_ROSE_BOWL_BONO PHOTOS: U2's 360 Tour: Live at the Rose Bowl
Amid the rattle and hum before U2's Rose Bowl show
The masses descend upon Pasadena for U2's Rose Bowl gig
Making the U2 set so big that it's invisible
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC: U2 360 tour: Stadium in the round
Photos: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times.
"Enough of the folk mass!" declared Bono during U2's historic Rose Bowl performance Sunday, leading his band and the nearly 100,000 fans in the stadium out of a singalong and into a dance party. The 49-year-old singer/activist/life of the party has been making such quick metaphorical turns for much of his life, fronting a band known for transcendence but hardly immune to sensual pleasure.
Usually, Bono and his band mates travel from prayers to come-ons on the force of charisma and a sound that's ascendant and sleekly funky, structured around the Edge's stretchy guitar parts and Bono's dirty-faced choirboy cries. But for this tour, U2 has adopted another mode of transport: the four-legged circular stage rig known as the Claw, or the Space Station. This contraption is an extravagance with a big carbon footprint and an even bigger price tag. But in Pasadena, it proved worth every Euro, allowing this most ambitious rock band to genuinely reconfigure live pop performance.
Plenty of artists have played in the round, built multi-tiered sets and spent time roaming through the crowd on ramps or trapezes. But the Space Station (Bono's preferred term these days) changes the architecture of the live concert. It not only puts the stadium audience closer to the band, it cuts holes in the fourth wall between star and fan, creating a feeling of immersion and communal connection that's startling in such a huge venue, and that translated differently in person than it could have on YouTube, where the concert was streamed live.
Getprev-16 Ringed by a ramp that the band members usually reached via moving bridges, enclosing a good chunk of the crowd within a welcome pen, the Space Station truly conjoined U2 and its audience. The Rose Bowl's relatively low walls enhanced the illusion that mere footsteps (and sometimes less than that) stood between the men unstack and their elated devotees. When Bono crouched at the ramp's edge or the Edge strode across it, churning out a riff, they seemed as touchable as superstars could be.
The Space Station's fragmented and shifting ground dismantled the conventions of the rock concert. "I was born to lift you up," Bono sang in "Magnificent," one of the many songs performed from the band's latest album, "No Line on the Horizon." But at times this music seemed to do the opposite -- it pushed the crowd under a wave of echo and distortion, or formed a passageway between the fans and the band.
Those joyfully shouted group choruses, to older songs like "One" and "With or Without You" but also to newer ones like "Magnificent" and "Unknown Caller" (the latter aided by lyrics splayed across the Space Station's screen), offered the clearest route to union. But it also happened when the Edge and billowing guitar phrases bathed the space in harmonics during "Until the End of the World," or when the rhythm section of Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. (the latter playing a strapped-on conga) moved every body in the house with a Latin-cum-rave take on "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight."
U2's time-honored approach to spiritual enlightenment worked its magic too, when Bono prefaced the old favorite "Where the Streets Have No Name" with some verses of "Amazing Grace," or when he interjected phrases from crowd-pleasing oldies like "Stand by Me," or simply shouted "Soul! Soul! Soul!" (His funniest interjection, though, was when he compared himself to Dennis Hopper and then did a bit of that actor's heavy breathing from the film "Blue Velvet.")
But after three decades as an important band, U2 is long past simple uplift. Its music is as much about emotional entanglement (as in "Ultraviolet" on Sunday) and disorientation ("Vertigo"). Ultimately, it is a meditation on space: the majestic natural landscapes that the Edge's guitar playing often describes; the crowded dance floors or train platforms Clayton and Mullen's rhythms evoke; the inches between a whispering mouth and a lover's ear, or the infinite journey of a prayer hurled into the air.
The Space Station allows U2 to make those musical and lyrical preoccupations physical in a new way. At the Rose Bowl, it created a new experience even for the most jaded concertgoer. U2 concerts have often included moments in which raised voices build goodwill, or shaking hips stimulate joy. But for the first time, perhaps, this band's noise resulted in a kind of silence and stillness -- not a literal one, but the rapture that comes when nearly 100,000 people relax together, as if held within a gentle, open hand.
"God will put a wind at our back and a rising road ahead, if we work together as one," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu in an on-screen message late in the concert. That vision of nations and individuals opening up to one another is at the core of U2's mission. This extravagant tour gave the band another way to enact it and made for a whole new concert experience in the process.
Opening the show, the Black Eyed Peas went for something more tried and true, but also powerful: a party vibe celebrating the home team. Performing its many hits in an exuberant set, the Peas radiated Southern California pride. Tabu draped himself in Mexican and American flags; will.i.am name-checked neighborhoods and towns from Hollywood to East L.A. to La Crescenta.
The set's spirited climax came when Fergie took Axl Rose's part in a rough and true-blooded cover of the Guns N' Roses classic "Sweet Child o' Mine," with Slash himself on guitar. If U2 aimed for universals, the Black Eyed Peas reminded us that particulars have their uses too. Especially when those particulars are as diverse as the elements that make up the Southland.
-- Ann Powers
RELATED:
U2_ROSE_BOWL_BONO PHOTOS: U2's 360 Tour: Live at the Rose Bowl
Amid the rattle and hum before U2's Rose Bowl show
The masses descend upon Pasadena for U2's Rose Bowl gig
Making the U2 set so big that it's invisible
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC: U2 360 tour: Stadium in the round
Photos: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Author Searches for Spiritual Enlightenment
By JOHN ROGERS (AP) – 4 days ago
LOS ANGELES — His religious upbringing might well be as unorthodox as the psychedelic-inspired comic-strip characters that have made R. Crumb the most famous underground artist of his time.
Which, come to think of it, may have made Crumb the perfect artist for his latest project, an illustrated, comic-book version of "The Book of Genesis," the work that comprises the first 50 chapters of the Bible.
Raised in a secular household that was headed by a rigidly strict, ex-Marine father who was actually a closeted atheist, Crumb was sent off to Catholic school at age 6 because his father had always admired the discipline Catholic nuns were famous for instilling in their students.
"We never got a lot of religion at home," Crumb says of himself and his siblings. "But we certainly got the whole indoctrination and brainwashing in school."
Sixty years later, the creator of comic book characters like the R-rated Fritz the Cat and the bizarre Mr. Natural has finally put that religious training to good use.
"The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb" was published last month, and on Oct. 24 the stunningly detailed, beautifully crafted black-and-white drawings that comprise its 201 pages will go on display at Los Angeles' Hammer Museum. After the exhibition closes in February it will move on to other cities, including New York and Portland, Ore., a circumstance that has the normally circumspect Crumb shaking his head in disbelief.
"The Bible! Jesus! Incredible," Crumb says in a voice filled with awe as he reflects on the project that has consumed the last five years of his life.
Indeed, the project does raise an obvious question: Why would the guy famous for drawing voluptuous women and nerdy looking, well-endowed men, who put the phrase "Keep on Truckin'" into the national vocabulary with his posters of a big-footed oddball out for a walk, and who by his own admission owes much of his artistic inspiration to his extensive use of LSD in the 1960s, take on the Bible?
"It's kind of complicated," Crumb guffaws during a phone interview from his home in the south of France.
"I don't think 'Genesis' is a good place to look for spiritual guidance or moral guidance," he continues. "I don't believe it's the word of God.
"At the same time," he continues, "I think the stories are very powerful. I'm not out to ridicule them or belittle them."
Although done in the same, unmistakable style that Crumb has brought to such comic books as Zap, Weirdo and Dirty Laundry, "Genesis" is also surprisingly respectful, as well as faithfully loyal to the Bible's original text.
"He could have done something really satiric but he didn't," says Ali Subotnick, who is curating the exhibit. "He's not bastardizing the stories at all."
Which is not to say Crumb hasn't added his own unique touch here and there.
While historical characters like Noah and the Pharaoh don't look that much different from how they have been portrayed by other artists, God and the serpent are another story.
Crumb's Creator is one mean-looking old dude, an angry, finger-pointing father figure with a flowing white beard and no sense of humor. The serpent, meanwhile, looks as much like a snake-oil salesman as a snake.
"He's a con man," Crumb says of the reptile that got Adam and Eve booted from the Garden of Eden. "The serpent represents that part of cleverness and persuasion and deception and flattery, all those qualities which humans are so good at but that we don't consider our finest virtues."
It was teachings like those that fascinated him and drew him to the project, Crumb says. He spent a couple of years doing the research before setting to work, secluding himself in a cabin in the mountains for weeks at a time so he could draw uninterrupted.
Not an atheist like his father, Crumb describes himself as a Gnostic, a member of that ancient movement searching for spiritual enlightenment.
"I've spent a lot of time studying different religious traditions and I meditate," he says. "I think that all humans have that need for some spiritual meaning.
"But," he adds with a hearty laugh, "I don't think you're going to find it in 'Genesis.'"
Often described as reclusive, and by his own admission very shy, Crumb is actually an engaging conversationalist when he will sit down to talk. He's at turns witty, unpretentious and unfailingly friendly.
"Hi, I was just doing the dishes," he says upon picking up the phone. Minutes later, he lets out a loud, unembarrassed after-dinner belch.
The Philadelphia native has reluctantly agreed to come to the United States to promote the book and exhibition with a lecture at UCLA on Oct. 29 and a handful of other appearances. He says he's dreading all of them.
"I won't do TV," he adds flatly. "Don't want no cameras on my face. Hate that. Won't do it."
He is likely most recognizable from the 1994 documentary "Crumb" that showed him emerging from a frighteningly dysfunctional family to become a reluctant celebrity.
His older brother, Charles, who had inspired him to draw, committed suicide shortly after that film was completed. His younger brother, Max, also an artist, lives in seclusion, as does Crumb's son, Jesse. He speaks warmly of all three.
He fairly radiates with pride, however, at the mention of his daughter Sophie's name.
"She's a really good artist, in many ways she's a better artist than I am," he says. "But she's already feeling kind of self-consciousness about it because, being my daughter and all, she gets a lot of flak."
His wife, Aline, Crumb says, doesn't get the credit she's due as an artist. He says she's really the comedic force behind the pair's popular collaborative cartoons.
After he returns from the U.S., the pair plan to finish a forthcoming book.
After that: Who knows?
Crumb could return to more serious work, like the series of old-time musicians he admires that he profiled in the 2006 book "R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz, & Country" or the illustrated version he did of 18th century essayist James Boswell's "London Journal."
Or he could just do something silly.
"I guess next I'll tackle the Quran. See how that goes over," he says, bursting out laughing.
R. Crumb's Web site: http://www.crumbproducts.com/
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
LOS ANGELES — His religious upbringing might well be as unorthodox as the psychedelic-inspired comic-strip characters that have made R. Crumb the most famous underground artist of his time.
Which, come to think of it, may have made Crumb the perfect artist for his latest project, an illustrated, comic-book version of "The Book of Genesis," the work that comprises the first 50 chapters of the Bible.
Raised in a secular household that was headed by a rigidly strict, ex-Marine father who was actually a closeted atheist, Crumb was sent off to Catholic school at age 6 because his father had always admired the discipline Catholic nuns were famous for instilling in their students.
"We never got a lot of religion at home," Crumb says of himself and his siblings. "But we certainly got the whole indoctrination and brainwashing in school."
Sixty years later, the creator of comic book characters like the R-rated Fritz the Cat and the bizarre Mr. Natural has finally put that religious training to good use.
"The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb" was published last month, and on Oct. 24 the stunningly detailed, beautifully crafted black-and-white drawings that comprise its 201 pages will go on display at Los Angeles' Hammer Museum. After the exhibition closes in February it will move on to other cities, including New York and Portland, Ore., a circumstance that has the normally circumspect Crumb shaking his head in disbelief.
"The Bible! Jesus! Incredible," Crumb says in a voice filled with awe as he reflects on the project that has consumed the last five years of his life.
Indeed, the project does raise an obvious question: Why would the guy famous for drawing voluptuous women and nerdy looking, well-endowed men, who put the phrase "Keep on Truckin'" into the national vocabulary with his posters of a big-footed oddball out for a walk, and who by his own admission owes much of his artistic inspiration to his extensive use of LSD in the 1960s, take on the Bible?
"It's kind of complicated," Crumb guffaws during a phone interview from his home in the south of France.
"I don't think 'Genesis' is a good place to look for spiritual guidance or moral guidance," he continues. "I don't believe it's the word of God.
"At the same time," he continues, "I think the stories are very powerful. I'm not out to ridicule them or belittle them."
Although done in the same, unmistakable style that Crumb has brought to such comic books as Zap, Weirdo and Dirty Laundry, "Genesis" is also surprisingly respectful, as well as faithfully loyal to the Bible's original text.
"He could have done something really satiric but he didn't," says Ali Subotnick, who is curating the exhibit. "He's not bastardizing the stories at all."
Which is not to say Crumb hasn't added his own unique touch here and there.
While historical characters like Noah and the Pharaoh don't look that much different from how they have been portrayed by other artists, God and the serpent are another story.
Crumb's Creator is one mean-looking old dude, an angry, finger-pointing father figure with a flowing white beard and no sense of humor. The serpent, meanwhile, looks as much like a snake-oil salesman as a snake.
"He's a con man," Crumb says of the reptile that got Adam and Eve booted from the Garden of Eden. "The serpent represents that part of cleverness and persuasion and deception and flattery, all those qualities which humans are so good at but that we don't consider our finest virtues."
It was teachings like those that fascinated him and drew him to the project, Crumb says. He spent a couple of years doing the research before setting to work, secluding himself in a cabin in the mountains for weeks at a time so he could draw uninterrupted.
Not an atheist like his father, Crumb describes himself as a Gnostic, a member of that ancient movement searching for spiritual enlightenment.
"I've spent a lot of time studying different religious traditions and I meditate," he says. "I think that all humans have that need for some spiritual meaning.
"But," he adds with a hearty laugh, "I don't think you're going to find it in 'Genesis.'"
Often described as reclusive, and by his own admission very shy, Crumb is actually an engaging conversationalist when he will sit down to talk. He's at turns witty, unpretentious and unfailingly friendly.
"Hi, I was just doing the dishes," he says upon picking up the phone. Minutes later, he lets out a loud, unembarrassed after-dinner belch.
The Philadelphia native has reluctantly agreed to come to the United States to promote the book and exhibition with a lecture at UCLA on Oct. 29 and a handful of other appearances. He says he's dreading all of them.
"I won't do TV," he adds flatly. "Don't want no cameras on my face. Hate that. Won't do it."
He is likely most recognizable from the 1994 documentary "Crumb" that showed him emerging from a frighteningly dysfunctional family to become a reluctant celebrity.
His older brother, Charles, who had inspired him to draw, committed suicide shortly after that film was completed. His younger brother, Max, also an artist, lives in seclusion, as does Crumb's son, Jesse. He speaks warmly of all three.
He fairly radiates with pride, however, at the mention of his daughter Sophie's name.
"She's a really good artist, in many ways she's a better artist than I am," he says. "But she's already feeling kind of self-consciousness about it because, being my daughter and all, she gets a lot of flak."
His wife, Aline, Crumb says, doesn't get the credit she's due as an artist. He says she's really the comedic force behind the pair's popular collaborative cartoons.
After he returns from the U.S., the pair plan to finish a forthcoming book.
After that: Who knows?
Crumb could return to more serious work, like the series of old-time musicians he admires that he profiled in the 2006 book "R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz, & Country" or the illustrated version he did of 18th century essayist James Boswell's "London Journal."
Or he could just do something silly.
"I guess next I'll tackle the Quran. See how that goes over," he says, bursting out laughing.
R. Crumb's Web site: http://www.crumbproducts.com/
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Spiritual Enlightenment for 2012
http://blog.beliefnet.com/freshliving/2009/10/2012--the-predictions-prophesies-facts-myths.html
About five years ago a psychic friend of a friend told me she was allowing her 16-year-old daughter do pretty much whatever she wanted because, "She's only got till 2012."
I was shocked by her cold certainty, not to mention nihilistic permissiveness. She didn't sound sad about it, just matter-of-fact: The world will end in 2012. Duh, so what? Everybody knows that. Yikes.
Well, since then I've heard a lot more about 2012 and you probably have too. Much of it started with rumors about the end of the Mayan long-count calendar; the last day on it is December 21, 2012. There are also some trippy astronomical phenomenon that coincide with that day. And some have pulled Nostradamus into the fray, but I can't find a single actual prediction he made specifically about 2012.
All of this adds up to many new agers, apocalyptos, lightworkers, psychics, astrologers, scholars, and others who take this to mean that the world be go kaput that day. Though some also say it will just seem like the end of the world as we usher in an age of greater spiritual enlightenment. This buzz has gotten so loud even Hollywood has taken note and will release "2012" next month--an apocalypse movie extraordinaire.
I'm all for a good conspiracy theory and being a practicing Possibiltyist, I discount virtually nothing. And yet, I'm not sure any of this is good for us. At a workshop with spiritual teacher Joan Borysenko this summer she showed the original trailer for "2012" as an example of hope's opposite--basically how visualizing utter and complete world destruction tanks our mood, psyche, outlook, and ability to believe in the positive. She said that the initial testing to the trailer had been so negative that they replaced it with a slighly less gloomy version.
If it's true what they say that we can visualize and create reality with thoughts and intentions, certainly watching the destruction of all the world's major landmarks in gigantic full-color with surround-sound is not the best way to start. Why is it so much harder for us to inflate our greatest hopes, most outlandish wishes, and beautiful utopias of peace and love than it is our worst nightmares?
If you're curious, though, here's some fresh Beliefnet content exploring 2012. First we have a gallery to answer all your 2012 questions--where did this idea come from, what do mainstream scientists think, what do the 2012 die-hards think will actually happen, etc. Second is a fun 2012 quiz that I actually found really educational, and finally we have a gallery of how you can (calmly) spiritually prepare for the 2012 chaos that may come, as well as the chaos that we're living in right now. That last piece is also about how we need to start picturing a gorgeous, peaceful future, now.
What's 2012? The Hype, Predictions, and Prophecies, Explained
How to Prepare for 2012 and Beyond
Quiz: 2012 Facts and Myths
What do you think about 2012? Age of enlightenment? Doomsday? Hogwash? Y2K redux?
Like what you see? Click here to subscribe and get Fresh Living in your in-box every day!
About five years ago a psychic friend of a friend told me she was allowing her 16-year-old daughter do pretty much whatever she wanted because, "She's only got till 2012."
I was shocked by her cold certainty, not to mention nihilistic permissiveness. She didn't sound sad about it, just matter-of-fact: The world will end in 2012. Duh, so what? Everybody knows that. Yikes.
Well, since then I've heard a lot more about 2012 and you probably have too. Much of it started with rumors about the end of the Mayan long-count calendar; the last day on it is December 21, 2012. There are also some trippy astronomical phenomenon that coincide with that day. And some have pulled Nostradamus into the fray, but I can't find a single actual prediction he made specifically about 2012.
All of this adds up to many new agers, apocalyptos, lightworkers, psychics, astrologers, scholars, and others who take this to mean that the world be go kaput that day. Though some also say it will just seem like the end of the world as we usher in an age of greater spiritual enlightenment. This buzz has gotten so loud even Hollywood has taken note and will release "2012" next month--an apocalypse movie extraordinaire.
I'm all for a good conspiracy theory and being a practicing Possibiltyist, I discount virtually nothing. And yet, I'm not sure any of this is good for us. At a workshop with spiritual teacher Joan Borysenko this summer she showed the original trailer for "2012" as an example of hope's opposite--basically how visualizing utter and complete world destruction tanks our mood, psyche, outlook, and ability to believe in the positive. She said that the initial testing to the trailer had been so negative that they replaced it with a slighly less gloomy version.
If it's true what they say that we can visualize and create reality with thoughts and intentions, certainly watching the destruction of all the world's major landmarks in gigantic full-color with surround-sound is not the best way to start. Why is it so much harder for us to inflate our greatest hopes, most outlandish wishes, and beautiful utopias of peace and love than it is our worst nightmares?
If you're curious, though, here's some fresh Beliefnet content exploring 2012. First we have a gallery to answer all your 2012 questions--where did this idea come from, what do mainstream scientists think, what do the 2012 die-hards think will actually happen, etc. Second is a fun 2012 quiz that I actually found really educational, and finally we have a gallery of how you can (calmly) spiritually prepare for the 2012 chaos that may come, as well as the chaos that we're living in right now. That last piece is also about how we need to start picturing a gorgeous, peaceful future, now.
What's 2012? The Hype, Predictions, and Prophecies, Explained
How to Prepare for 2012 and Beyond
Quiz: 2012 Facts and Myths
What do you think about 2012? Age of enlightenment? Doomsday? Hogwash? Y2K redux?
Like what you see? Click here to subscribe and get Fresh Living in your in-box every day!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Chinese Spiritual Enlightenment in a Church
BEIJING — The Catholic faith is alive and flourishing in the Diocese of Beijing.
That is the message the people of the North Church, Beitang in Chinese, want to convey and is evident upon a visit there. I attended Mass in the church and spoke with the pastor, Father Peter Liu Yongbin, and associate, Father Sun, during a recent visit to China’s capital city.
My husband, Brian, and I were visiting our son, Jason, daughter-in-law, Christina, and new baby granddaughter, Mayfair Gina. Jason is working in Beijing as the Northeast Asia representative for the American Friends Service Committee, a humanitarian organization started by the Quakers in the 1940s. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and helped me obtain the interview with the priests and parishioners of Beitang. He also served as translator.
Historical context
A bit of history is needed to appreciate the resiliency of the Church in China. Before leaving for Beijing, I met with Father Ron Chochol, chaplain and director of pastoral care at Mother of Good Counsel Home in Normandy, who has visited China many times and is active with the U.S. Catholic China Bureau, which fosters communication and friendship with the people of China through sharing Gospel values.
Father Chochol provided materials on the historical, cultural and organizational aspects. Beijing has four main Catholic churches: Beitang (the North Church), Nantang (the South Church), Dongtang (the East Church) and Xitang (the West Church). There are a few smaller Catholic churches, but they are not as well known.
Beitang, which is also called Savior, is the largest Catholic church in Beijing, with a congregation of about 10,000. Beitang was established by the Jesuits in 1693 when they moved from the South Church to begin a new mission in the north. The Vincentians took charge of the church in 1773.
The church changed hands several more times during the next few years. In 1887 the present structure was erected on a new site under the direction of the Qing government. The construction of the church was documented by an imperial decree, which can still be viewed in the pavilion next to the church. The building was severely damaged during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and closed during the Cultural Revolution. It was repaired and re-opened in 1985, and now has the largest congregation in all Beijing.
Beitang today
The exterior of the church is light gray and has a large, round window in the upper center and two bell towers that rise 72 feet.
The interior of the church sports wooden pews, colorful statues, stained-glass windows and striking arches that soar to the ceiling. Large banners with Chinese characters hang from the pillars. There is a main aisle and two side aisles, and at each end of the sanctuary are electronic message boards that display the words to the songs and prayers in Chinese.
At the Mass we attended, several people knelt at the confessional booths in the back of the church, as the Sacrament of Reconciliation was available during the Mass. The church was nearly full, with people of all ages making up the congregation.
Families sat together. Some people were with a friend or spouse, and some were alone. The 10 a.m. Mass we attended is known as the children’s Mass. The youngsters gave the readings, prayed the petitions and brought the gifts to the altar. There was also a children’s choir and a blessing of children and babies after Communion.
Some of the churches in Beijing have Mass in Latin and English also, but at Beitang the Mass is only in Chinese.
Other than the language, the Mass was the same as anywhere in the United States with a few cultural variations. A clacking sound directed the congregation to sit, stand or kneel. After the homily everyone applauded, and at the exchange of peace the faithful turned to their neighbors and bowed deeply from the waist.
Immediately after the Mass, attendants rushed to set up two kneelers covered with a white cloth, while florists tied large bouquets of flowers to the ends of the pews. In a few minutes, a wedding would take place. With so many parishioners and so few priests, weddings and baptisms often follow the Masses.
Sundays are busy days for the priests in the North Church. While the wedding was taking place, Jason and I found Father Liu in his office where he agreed to answer a few questions for the Review. After about an hour, Father Liu had some church business to attend to, and he called for his associate, Father Sun, to finish our conversation.
Embracing the faith
From the priests and parishioners of Beitang, I learned of the differences between Catholics in the United States and those embracing the faith in China. It is not too difficult to be a Christian in the United States. Our country was established on Judeo-Christian ethics. The founding fathers embedded God in the foundation. The name of God is invoked in the Constitution and printed on our currency. We pledge allegiance to one nation, under God. With God so ingrained in the culture, even if we stop going to church, we are never completely cut off from Him.
The history of China is vastly different. In its long history the practices of Buddhism and Daoism, along with the influence of Confucius, had taken root well before Jesus came. Recently, atheism has been added to the mix.
To accept Jesus in a land where historically God has had so little presence is indeed swimming against the tide. If people do not actively seek Him by joining a faith community, God is simply not there. There are about 300 million Chinese who profess some sort of religion. For the remaining billion, God does not exist.
Yet there is hope. About 2,000 new Catholics are baptized each year in Beijing, and half of those baptisms occur at Beitang.
Welcome
According to Fathers Liu and Sun, there are three channels by which converts come to the faith. Some hear about Catholicism and find a church on their own. Some walk into a church as tourists, learn what it is all about, and decide to join. Others are invited by family members or friends.
A few years ago, the faith was mainly a family affair, passed on from parents to children, and the churches tended to shut the doors on nonCatholics. Recently that policy has changed, and the churches have become much more open.
Anyone who walks in is welcome to stay and observe. The North Church offers a variety of activities for the community. One need not be Catholic to attend. For the children, in addition to the children’s Mass and choir, there are after-school programs that offer help and encouragement with homework and studies. Religious instruction is available only if it is requested.
Proselytizing is strictly prohibited in China. Socials and outings help teens and those in their 20s meet other young Catholics. This is especially important for those who may be seeking a future spouse.
Volunteer opportunities are available for senior citizens, and a program for migrant workers helps those who find themselves alone and frightened in a big city. Beitang helps them with material needs as well as provides a sense of community and a comforting environment.
Recently large numbers of young people have converted to Catholicism. They are passionate about their faith, but often they are confused as to how to express it.
Although the Jesuits came to China in the 1600s, the tumultuous history of the country has not allowed the faith to take root and mature. As soon as the Church gained a foothold, circumstances forced it back to its starting point. The new Catholics, though passionate, are often in need and look to Jesus to provide for them.
As the priests at the North Church explained, U.S. Catholics have come to understand the responsibilities of the faith. A good Catholic or Christian asks, “What can I do for God? How can I help my neighbor?” Giving to charity and volunteering time and talent are accepted as a crucial part of our faith.
Chinese Catholics have not yet reached this level. The attitude more often is “What can God do for me?” Sacrifice and acts of charity are still somewhat foreign concepts. The work of the Church is very complex and delicate here, as it involves leading the new faithful to change their way of thinking.
As Father Liu put it in his homily during the Mass, receiving the body and blood of Jesus gives us eternal life, but it also comes with responsibilities. We cannot receive Him in the Eucharist and do nothing. We must follow His teachings and strive to be like Him, the priest said.
Church and state
After we left the North Church, we met with Stephan Rothlin, general secretary for the Center for International Business Ethics and chief editor for the Journal of International Business Ethics. He has a doctorate and is an expert on culture and the Church in China.
Rothlin agreed with the points made by the priests at Beitang and explained the relationship between the Church and the government. The North Church as well as all the other churches mentioned earlier are part of the official government-approved Catholic Church. The Diocese of Beijing, however, is in full communion with the Church of Rome, since Pope Benedict XVI has approved the selection of the current Bishop, Joseph Li Shan.
All sacraments are valid, and religious instruction is allowed as long as it is done at the request of the recipient and not proselytizing. The sale of Bibles and religious books and materials is allowed. The largest bookstore in Beijing has more than 700 books on Catholicism. Because of the rules on proselytizing, priests do not appear in public wearing a Roman collar, nor do religious walk around wearing habits or crosses.
The two seminaries in China are both government approved, but everything that is taught is in accordance with Catholic doctrine. Recently there has been a limited exchange of priests between the U.S. and China. The priests study ways other churches and cultures deal with problems of the faith.
The Church in China, though in many ways still in its infancy, is very much alive and growing. According to estimates, there are about 60,000 Catholics in Beijing, with more people coming to the Church every day. Let us pray for our Chinese brothers and sisters to remain strong in their new-found faith and that the churches in China will continue to flourish.
Tower, a member of St. Ambrose Parish in South St. Louis, is a freelance photographer whose work appears frequently in the Review.
Women religious in China
In the life of the Catholic Church in mainland China, women religious play a fundamental and indispensable role in pastoral care, evangelization, charitable and social work.
They befriend and console abandoned children, disabled persons, old people left alone and people with AIDS or leprosy. They are called “the guardian angels of hospital wards,” always present for every emergency, including earthquakes.
Although they never speak explicitly of the Gospel or try to forcefully evangelize, their presence and service are the most convincing witness. Without clamor or slogans, the sisters soon draw people to become followers of Christ.
U.S. Catholic China Bureau
The U.S. Catholic China Bureau offers extensive resources on China. Founded in 1989, at the initiative of the Society of Jesus and Maryknoll with the affirmation of the U.S. bishops’ conference, it represents a cross-section of Catholic organizations and individuals. The bureau:
• Works to promote understanding among U.S. Catholics about the Catholic Church and the situation of Catholic communities in China. It seeks to engage American Catholics in a new missionary partnership with Chinese Catholics.
• Compiles information on various service opportunities in China such as the Association for International Teaching, Educational and Curriculum Exchange (AITECE) Teaching Program, the Maryknoll China Service Project and New China Link.
• Offers a religious study tour to China in the fall of 2011.
• Takes part in the annual Missionary Cooperative Appeal, with Father Ronald Chochol giving talks in parishes in the St. Louis Archdiocese.
For information contact the U.S. Catholic China Bureau at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ 07079-2689 (973) 763-1131 or chinabur@shu.edu. The website is www.usccb.net.
The religions of China
Buddhism — Buddhism is classed as a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Guatama around the fifth century B.C. The word Buddha means awakened or enlightened. Those who practice this religion seek to attain a state of perfection or Nirvana by adopting a strict code of moral discipline. It is believed that as a person cleanses himself of worldly behaviors or desires and looks inward to the True Self by practicing the spiritual codes of discipline, he will become free of suffering. A belief in God is not necessary, and anyone who attains a state of enlightenment becomes a Buddha.
Daoism or Taoism — Dao is the word used to describe a collection of religious or philosophical practices dating back to the fourth century B.C. Two Chinese philosophers, Laozi and Zhuangze, are credited for establishing the school of thought. The word dao means way or path. It is difficult to define exactly what the dao is. It is often referred to as a reality or oneness in the universe, through which all things emerge or return. The process by which this occurs is called the de, translated as energy. Two of the forces in this constant transitioning are the yin and yang, or male and female. Daoists generally strive to live harmoniously with nature, and practice the virtues of compassion, moderation and humility. There are many variations on the central themes of Dao, which give way to different religious practices.
Confucianism — Confucius was a Chinese philosopher who lived from 551 to 479 BC. He developed a complex system of social and ethical principles that have had great influence over China and other nations of East Asia. One of the main premises of Confucianism is that people should be instilled with a sense of propriety and correctness so they have a sense of shame. Simply punishing people after they have broken the law causes them to behave out of fear of punishment. Instilling a sense of shame causes them to behave out of a fear of losing face, and thus they become self-governing. Confucius also established the idea of meritocracy, or advancement based on one’s own virtue and ability rather than noble blood lines or class status. He also developed the concept of filial piety, respect for elders, including deceased relatives, and loyalty toward family, spouse and friends.
In addition to these religions, a small percentage of the Chinese population are Muslims, and there are various Christian communities other than Catholics.
http://stlouisreview.com/article/2009-10-23/visit-church-china-finds-catho
That is the message the people of the North Church, Beitang in Chinese, want to convey and is evident upon a visit there. I attended Mass in the church and spoke with the pastor, Father Peter Liu Yongbin, and associate, Father Sun, during a recent visit to China’s capital city.
My husband, Brian, and I were visiting our son, Jason, daughter-in-law, Christina, and new baby granddaughter, Mayfair Gina. Jason is working in Beijing as the Northeast Asia representative for the American Friends Service Committee, a humanitarian organization started by the Quakers in the 1940s. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and helped me obtain the interview with the priests and parishioners of Beitang. He also served as translator.
Historical context
A bit of history is needed to appreciate the resiliency of the Church in China. Before leaving for Beijing, I met with Father Ron Chochol, chaplain and director of pastoral care at Mother of Good Counsel Home in Normandy, who has visited China many times and is active with the U.S. Catholic China Bureau, which fosters communication and friendship with the people of China through sharing Gospel values.
Father Chochol provided materials on the historical, cultural and organizational aspects. Beijing has four main Catholic churches: Beitang (the North Church), Nantang (the South Church), Dongtang (the East Church) and Xitang (the West Church). There are a few smaller Catholic churches, but they are not as well known.
Beitang, which is also called Savior, is the largest Catholic church in Beijing, with a congregation of about 10,000. Beitang was established by the Jesuits in 1693 when they moved from the South Church to begin a new mission in the north. The Vincentians took charge of the church in 1773.
The church changed hands several more times during the next few years. In 1887 the present structure was erected on a new site under the direction of the Qing government. The construction of the church was documented by an imperial decree, which can still be viewed in the pavilion next to the church. The building was severely damaged during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and closed during the Cultural Revolution. It was repaired and re-opened in 1985, and now has the largest congregation in all Beijing.
Beitang today
The exterior of the church is light gray and has a large, round window in the upper center and two bell towers that rise 72 feet.
The interior of the church sports wooden pews, colorful statues, stained-glass windows and striking arches that soar to the ceiling. Large banners with Chinese characters hang from the pillars. There is a main aisle and two side aisles, and at each end of the sanctuary are electronic message boards that display the words to the songs and prayers in Chinese.
At the Mass we attended, several people knelt at the confessional booths in the back of the church, as the Sacrament of Reconciliation was available during the Mass. The church was nearly full, with people of all ages making up the congregation.
Families sat together. Some people were with a friend or spouse, and some were alone. The 10 a.m. Mass we attended is known as the children’s Mass. The youngsters gave the readings, prayed the petitions and brought the gifts to the altar. There was also a children’s choir and a blessing of children and babies after Communion.
Some of the churches in Beijing have Mass in Latin and English also, but at Beitang the Mass is only in Chinese.
Other than the language, the Mass was the same as anywhere in the United States with a few cultural variations. A clacking sound directed the congregation to sit, stand or kneel. After the homily everyone applauded, and at the exchange of peace the faithful turned to their neighbors and bowed deeply from the waist.
Immediately after the Mass, attendants rushed to set up two kneelers covered with a white cloth, while florists tied large bouquets of flowers to the ends of the pews. In a few minutes, a wedding would take place. With so many parishioners and so few priests, weddings and baptisms often follow the Masses.
Sundays are busy days for the priests in the North Church. While the wedding was taking place, Jason and I found Father Liu in his office where he agreed to answer a few questions for the Review. After about an hour, Father Liu had some church business to attend to, and he called for his associate, Father Sun, to finish our conversation.
Embracing the faith
From the priests and parishioners of Beitang, I learned of the differences between Catholics in the United States and those embracing the faith in China. It is not too difficult to be a Christian in the United States. Our country was established on Judeo-Christian ethics. The founding fathers embedded God in the foundation. The name of God is invoked in the Constitution and printed on our currency. We pledge allegiance to one nation, under God. With God so ingrained in the culture, even if we stop going to church, we are never completely cut off from Him.
The history of China is vastly different. In its long history the practices of Buddhism and Daoism, along with the influence of Confucius, had taken root well before Jesus came. Recently, atheism has been added to the mix.
To accept Jesus in a land where historically God has had so little presence is indeed swimming against the tide. If people do not actively seek Him by joining a faith community, God is simply not there. There are about 300 million Chinese who profess some sort of religion. For the remaining billion, God does not exist.
Yet there is hope. About 2,000 new Catholics are baptized each year in Beijing, and half of those baptisms occur at Beitang.
Welcome
According to Fathers Liu and Sun, there are three channels by which converts come to the faith. Some hear about Catholicism and find a church on their own. Some walk into a church as tourists, learn what it is all about, and decide to join. Others are invited by family members or friends.
A few years ago, the faith was mainly a family affair, passed on from parents to children, and the churches tended to shut the doors on nonCatholics. Recently that policy has changed, and the churches have become much more open.
Anyone who walks in is welcome to stay and observe. The North Church offers a variety of activities for the community. One need not be Catholic to attend. For the children, in addition to the children’s Mass and choir, there are after-school programs that offer help and encouragement with homework and studies. Religious instruction is available only if it is requested.
Proselytizing is strictly prohibited in China. Socials and outings help teens and those in their 20s meet other young Catholics. This is especially important for those who may be seeking a future spouse.
Volunteer opportunities are available for senior citizens, and a program for migrant workers helps those who find themselves alone and frightened in a big city. Beitang helps them with material needs as well as provides a sense of community and a comforting environment.
Recently large numbers of young people have converted to Catholicism. They are passionate about their faith, but often they are confused as to how to express it.
Although the Jesuits came to China in the 1600s, the tumultuous history of the country has not allowed the faith to take root and mature. As soon as the Church gained a foothold, circumstances forced it back to its starting point. The new Catholics, though passionate, are often in need and look to Jesus to provide for them.
As the priests at the North Church explained, U.S. Catholics have come to understand the responsibilities of the faith. A good Catholic or Christian asks, “What can I do for God? How can I help my neighbor?” Giving to charity and volunteering time and talent are accepted as a crucial part of our faith.
Chinese Catholics have not yet reached this level. The attitude more often is “What can God do for me?” Sacrifice and acts of charity are still somewhat foreign concepts. The work of the Church is very complex and delicate here, as it involves leading the new faithful to change their way of thinking.
As Father Liu put it in his homily during the Mass, receiving the body and blood of Jesus gives us eternal life, but it also comes with responsibilities. We cannot receive Him in the Eucharist and do nothing. We must follow His teachings and strive to be like Him, the priest said.
Church and state
After we left the North Church, we met with Stephan Rothlin, general secretary for the Center for International Business Ethics and chief editor for the Journal of International Business Ethics. He has a doctorate and is an expert on culture and the Church in China.
Rothlin agreed with the points made by the priests at Beitang and explained the relationship between the Church and the government. The North Church as well as all the other churches mentioned earlier are part of the official government-approved Catholic Church. The Diocese of Beijing, however, is in full communion with the Church of Rome, since Pope Benedict XVI has approved the selection of the current Bishop, Joseph Li Shan.
All sacraments are valid, and religious instruction is allowed as long as it is done at the request of the recipient and not proselytizing. The sale of Bibles and religious books and materials is allowed. The largest bookstore in Beijing has more than 700 books on Catholicism. Because of the rules on proselytizing, priests do not appear in public wearing a Roman collar, nor do religious walk around wearing habits or crosses.
The two seminaries in China are both government approved, but everything that is taught is in accordance with Catholic doctrine. Recently there has been a limited exchange of priests between the U.S. and China. The priests study ways other churches and cultures deal with problems of the faith.
The Church in China, though in many ways still in its infancy, is very much alive and growing. According to estimates, there are about 60,000 Catholics in Beijing, with more people coming to the Church every day. Let us pray for our Chinese brothers and sisters to remain strong in their new-found faith and that the churches in China will continue to flourish.
Tower, a member of St. Ambrose Parish in South St. Louis, is a freelance photographer whose work appears frequently in the Review.
Women religious in China
In the life of the Catholic Church in mainland China, women religious play a fundamental and indispensable role in pastoral care, evangelization, charitable and social work.
They befriend and console abandoned children, disabled persons, old people left alone and people with AIDS or leprosy. They are called “the guardian angels of hospital wards,” always present for every emergency, including earthquakes.
Although they never speak explicitly of the Gospel or try to forcefully evangelize, their presence and service are the most convincing witness. Without clamor or slogans, the sisters soon draw people to become followers of Christ.
U.S. Catholic China Bureau
The U.S. Catholic China Bureau offers extensive resources on China. Founded in 1989, at the initiative of the Society of Jesus and Maryknoll with the affirmation of the U.S. bishops’ conference, it represents a cross-section of Catholic organizations and individuals. The bureau:
• Works to promote understanding among U.S. Catholics about the Catholic Church and the situation of Catholic communities in China. It seeks to engage American Catholics in a new missionary partnership with Chinese Catholics.
• Compiles information on various service opportunities in China such as the Association for International Teaching, Educational and Curriculum Exchange (AITECE) Teaching Program, the Maryknoll China Service Project and New China Link.
• Offers a religious study tour to China in the fall of 2011.
• Takes part in the annual Missionary Cooperative Appeal, with Father Ronald Chochol giving talks in parishes in the St. Louis Archdiocese.
For information contact the U.S. Catholic China Bureau at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ 07079-2689 (973) 763-1131 or chinabur@shu.edu. The website is www.usccb.net.
The religions of China
Buddhism — Buddhism is classed as a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Guatama around the fifth century B.C. The word Buddha means awakened or enlightened. Those who practice this religion seek to attain a state of perfection or Nirvana by adopting a strict code of moral discipline. It is believed that as a person cleanses himself of worldly behaviors or desires and looks inward to the True Self by practicing the spiritual codes of discipline, he will become free of suffering. A belief in God is not necessary, and anyone who attains a state of enlightenment becomes a Buddha.
Daoism or Taoism — Dao is the word used to describe a collection of religious or philosophical practices dating back to the fourth century B.C. Two Chinese philosophers, Laozi and Zhuangze, are credited for establishing the school of thought. The word dao means way or path. It is difficult to define exactly what the dao is. It is often referred to as a reality or oneness in the universe, through which all things emerge or return. The process by which this occurs is called the de, translated as energy. Two of the forces in this constant transitioning are the yin and yang, or male and female. Daoists generally strive to live harmoniously with nature, and practice the virtues of compassion, moderation and humility. There are many variations on the central themes of Dao, which give way to different religious practices.
Confucianism — Confucius was a Chinese philosopher who lived from 551 to 479 BC. He developed a complex system of social and ethical principles that have had great influence over China and other nations of East Asia. One of the main premises of Confucianism is that people should be instilled with a sense of propriety and correctness so they have a sense of shame. Simply punishing people after they have broken the law causes them to behave out of fear of punishment. Instilling a sense of shame causes them to behave out of a fear of losing face, and thus they become self-governing. Confucius also established the idea of meritocracy, or advancement based on one’s own virtue and ability rather than noble blood lines or class status. He also developed the concept of filial piety, respect for elders, including deceased relatives, and loyalty toward family, spouse and friends.
In addition to these religions, a small percentage of the Chinese population are Muslims, and there are various Christian communities other than Catholics.
http://stlouisreview.com/article/2009-10-23/visit-church-china-finds-catho
Friday, October 23, 2009
Spiritual Enlightenment is not a Vitriolic Fight
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100011864/the-guardian-has-blundered-in-throwing-wild-accusations-at-pope-benedict/
By Damian Thompson Religion Last updated: September 29th, 2009
Today The Guardian published a vitriolic attack on Pope Benedict XVI by Tanya Gold which accused him of colluding in the protection of paedophiles and ended thus: “Welcome, Benedict XVI, Episcopus Romae, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles… Don’t tread on the corpses.”
I described it this morning as the most poisonously anti-Catholic article to have appeared in the mainstream media in decades. However, The Guardian is anti-Catholic these days, and we do have free speech in this country, and on the whole I think professional offence-taking is a bad thing.
But, as CP Scott himself put it, “comment is free but facts are sacred”, and when Gold accuses the Pope of colluding in the protection of paedophiles she is making an accusation that requires a pretty high level of proof.
Which she doesn’t have.
She writes: “In May 2001 [the then Cardinal Ratzinger] wrote a confidential letter to Catholic bishops, ordering them not to notify the police – or anyone else – about the allegations, on pain of excommunication.”
No, he didn’t.
As Archbishop Vincent Nichols pointed out in 2006, when a BBC Panorama documentary made this allegation, the 2001 letter to bishops “clarified the law of the Church, ensuring that the Vatican is informed of every case of child abuse and that each case is dealt with properly.
“This document does not hinder the investigation by civil authorities of allegations of child abuse, nor is it a method of cover-up, as the [BBC] programme persistently claims. In fact it is a measure of the seriousness with which the Vatican views these offences.
“Since 2001, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, took many steps to apply the law of the Church to allegations and offences of child abuse with absolute thoroughness and scruple.”
Gold’s article is also highly selective, not to say misleading, in its presentation of the facts relating to the Church investigation into the scandal surrounding Fr Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Maciel was a favourite of Pope John Paul II, on whose instructions Cardinal Ratzinger closed down an investigation into various allegations. Perhaps he should have refused to obey the Pope – but what Gold fails to mention is that the moment Ratzinger was free to reopen the case (ie, when JPII became mortally ill) he did so, and as Pope sent the dying octagenarian priest into exile while a proper investigation into this massively complicated case began.
It’s nowhere near finished, but Pope Benedict is determined that the truth comes out, even at the price of dismantling the entire order. Quite right: Maciel was a vile piece of work, a seducer of young men and the father of several illegitimate childrn – but even if you think Cardinal Ratzinger colluded in his protection, the awkward fact remains that the Mexican was not, so far as we know, a paedophile. A nice distinction? Not in a court of law, which is where The Guardian would end up if it had made these claims about an ordinary individual.
Gold’s attack on Pope Benedict doesn’t read like the work of someone very familiar with the detail of the paedophile scandals. I’d like to know how much research actually went into it. The sad fact is that the upper ranks of the clergy are stuffed with prelates who were complicit in the protection of paedophiles – but the former Cardinal Ratzinger, whose Congregation assumed responsibility for investigating the scandals only at the end of JPII’s pontificate, is not one of them.
On the contrary: Benedict XVI is currently engaged in “purifying” (his word) the Church of the “filth” (his word again) of priestly sex abusers. It’s one of his priorities as Pope. It wasn’t one of John Paul II’s priorities, though it should have been. But he is dead, so Gold goes after his successor, intending to trash his reputation but actually doing serious damage to that of The Guardian.
By Damian Thompson Religion Last updated: September 29th, 2009
Today The Guardian published a vitriolic attack on Pope Benedict XVI by Tanya Gold which accused him of colluding in the protection of paedophiles and ended thus: “Welcome, Benedict XVI, Episcopus Romae, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles… Don’t tread on the corpses.”
I described it this morning as the most poisonously anti-Catholic article to have appeared in the mainstream media in decades. However, The Guardian is anti-Catholic these days, and we do have free speech in this country, and on the whole I think professional offence-taking is a bad thing.
But, as CP Scott himself put it, “comment is free but facts are sacred”, and when Gold accuses the Pope of colluding in the protection of paedophiles she is making an accusation that requires a pretty high level of proof.
Which she doesn’t have.
She writes: “In May 2001 [the then Cardinal Ratzinger] wrote a confidential letter to Catholic bishops, ordering them not to notify the police – or anyone else – about the allegations, on pain of excommunication.”
No, he didn’t.
As Archbishop Vincent Nichols pointed out in 2006, when a BBC Panorama documentary made this allegation, the 2001 letter to bishops “clarified the law of the Church, ensuring that the Vatican is informed of every case of child abuse and that each case is dealt with properly.
“This document does not hinder the investigation by civil authorities of allegations of child abuse, nor is it a method of cover-up, as the [BBC] programme persistently claims. In fact it is a measure of the seriousness with which the Vatican views these offences.
“Since 2001, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, took many steps to apply the law of the Church to allegations and offences of child abuse with absolute thoroughness and scruple.”
Gold’s article is also highly selective, not to say misleading, in its presentation of the facts relating to the Church investigation into the scandal surrounding Fr Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Maciel was a favourite of Pope John Paul II, on whose instructions Cardinal Ratzinger closed down an investigation into various allegations. Perhaps he should have refused to obey the Pope – but what Gold fails to mention is that the moment Ratzinger was free to reopen the case (ie, when JPII became mortally ill) he did so, and as Pope sent the dying octagenarian priest into exile while a proper investigation into this massively complicated case began.
It’s nowhere near finished, but Pope Benedict is determined that the truth comes out, even at the price of dismantling the entire order. Quite right: Maciel was a vile piece of work, a seducer of young men and the father of several illegitimate childrn – but even if you think Cardinal Ratzinger colluded in his protection, the awkward fact remains that the Mexican was not, so far as we know, a paedophile. A nice distinction? Not in a court of law, which is where The Guardian would end up if it had made these claims about an ordinary individual.
Gold’s attack on Pope Benedict doesn’t read like the work of someone very familiar with the detail of the paedophile scandals. I’d like to know how much research actually went into it. The sad fact is that the upper ranks of the clergy are stuffed with prelates who were complicit in the protection of paedophiles – but the former Cardinal Ratzinger, whose Congregation assumed responsibility for investigating the scandals only at the end of JPII’s pontificate, is not one of them.
On the contrary: Benedict XVI is currently engaged in “purifying” (his word) the Church of the “filth” (his word again) of priestly sex abusers. It’s one of his priorities as Pope. It wasn’t one of John Paul II’s priorities, though it should have been. But he is dead, so Gold goes after his successor, intending to trash his reputation but actually doing serious damage to that of The Guardian.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Apostolic Constitution is Path to Spiritual Enlightenment?
By Avril Ormsby
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE59K5H420091021
LONDON (Reuters) - Disaffected Anglican Dioceses in Papua New Guinea, the United States and Australia might consider switching to Roman Catholicism under a new constitution offered by the Pope, a traditionalist Anglican group said on Wednesday.
The Vatican has approved a document known as an "Apostolic Constitution" which paves the way for conversion while allowing Anglicans to maintain certain traditions.
About a dozen bishops from the Church of England, the Anglican mother church, are also likely to convert, according to the Forward in Faith (FiF) group, a worldwide association of Anglicans opposed to the ordination of women priests or bishops.
A possible exodus may still fail to secure much-needed stability in the Anglican Church, which has been struggling to maintain unity among its 77 million followers over the ordination of women priests and gay bishops.
"I would be surprised if any dioceses in England moved over but I think there are dioceses elsewhere in the Anglican Communion that might," said Stephen Parkinson, director of FiF.
"The diocese in Papua New Guinea would be an obvious one, there are one or two dioceses in America which might possibly, and there is certainly a diocese in Australia that might consider it," he added.
Individual dioceses would decide whether and how to make such a conversion, FiF said. Local worshippers who disagreed with such a move would be left without a diocese, the group added.
GUESSWORK
The Church of England could not comment on numbers likely to convert, with one source adding: "It's all guesswork."
But Parkinson said a figure of 1,000 Church of England priests, reported in the media, was "credible."
Estimates of laity are "much harder," Parkinson said.
"Inevitably if you say 1,000 priests you are then talking about several thousand laity."
But he said he "would not be at all surprised at a dozen" bishops in England switching. However, in England, bishops were likely to move individually rather than take their entire dioceses, which tend to have diverse views, with them. Some Anglican clergy anticipated numbers would not be great, pointing to the early 1990s when about 500 switched over the ordination of women priests. Some later returned to Anglicanism.
Some priests warned the Anglican Church may still be riven by divisions even after the likely defections.
Reverend Martin Dudley, rector at London's 12th century St Bartholomew the Great church, said: "In some ways this will weaken it for those of us who remain essentially Catholic in our view of things who do not want to move but could find ourselves left in an evangelical Church of England essentially." Continued...
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE59K5H420091021
LONDON (Reuters) - Disaffected Anglican Dioceses in Papua New Guinea, the United States and Australia might consider switching to Roman Catholicism under a new constitution offered by the Pope, a traditionalist Anglican group said on Wednesday.
The Vatican has approved a document known as an "Apostolic Constitution" which paves the way for conversion while allowing Anglicans to maintain certain traditions.
About a dozen bishops from the Church of England, the Anglican mother church, are also likely to convert, according to the Forward in Faith (FiF) group, a worldwide association of Anglicans opposed to the ordination of women priests or bishops.
A possible exodus may still fail to secure much-needed stability in the Anglican Church, which has been struggling to maintain unity among its 77 million followers over the ordination of women priests and gay bishops.
"I would be surprised if any dioceses in England moved over but I think there are dioceses elsewhere in the Anglican Communion that might," said Stephen Parkinson, director of FiF.
"The diocese in Papua New Guinea would be an obvious one, there are one or two dioceses in America which might possibly, and there is certainly a diocese in Australia that might consider it," he added.
Individual dioceses would decide whether and how to make such a conversion, FiF said. Local worshippers who disagreed with such a move would be left without a diocese, the group added.
GUESSWORK
The Church of England could not comment on numbers likely to convert, with one source adding: "It's all guesswork."
But Parkinson said a figure of 1,000 Church of England priests, reported in the media, was "credible."
Estimates of laity are "much harder," Parkinson said.
"Inevitably if you say 1,000 priests you are then talking about several thousand laity."
But he said he "would not be at all surprised at a dozen" bishops in England switching. However, in England, bishops were likely to move individually rather than take their entire dioceses, which tend to have diverse views, with them. Some Anglican clergy anticipated numbers would not be great, pointing to the early 1990s when about 500 switched over the ordination of women priests. Some later returned to Anglicanism.
Some priests warned the Anglican Church may still be riven by divisions even after the likely defections.
Reverend Martin Dudley, rector at London's 12th century St Bartholomew the Great church, said: "In some ways this will weaken it for those of us who remain essentially Catholic in our view of things who do not want to move but could find ourselves left in an evangelical Church of England essentially." Continued...
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Spiritual Enlightenment is the Trumpet Award
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/religion/315755493193492.php
By STAFF WRITER ~ Nassau Guardian:
Mount Tabor Full Gospel Baptist pastor, Bishop Neil Ellis will receive a 2010 Trumpet Award, which acknowledges the accomplishments of men and women who have significantly contributed to enhancing the quality of life for all.
Bishop Ellis, who also serves as the second presiding bishop in the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International, and chairman of the Full Gospel Baptist Denomination in The Bahamas, will receive a Spiritual Enlightenment Award and join the ranks of previous honorees including Bishop T.D. jakes, Pastor Paula White, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, Bishop Charles Blake, Bishop Eddie Long and many others.
"Given the fact that the award is a distinguished international award, I am pleased to accept it on behalf of the Christian community here in The Bahamas and I am humbled over the fact that I have been considered, much less chosen, as the recipient of this 2010 distinguished award," said Ellis.
Trumpet Award organizers seek out men and women who, through consistency and longevity, have achieved success in a chosen profession or career. The Trumpet Awards were originally created to herald the accomplishments of black Americans who have succeeded against immense odds. However, in recent times the organization has extended its arms internationally, giving special recognition to those who symbolize the many, and have overcome the ills of racism or poverty and have achieved special greatness. Listed among the recipients of this prestigious award are former South African president Nelson Mandela, and former prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Perry Christie.
Founded by Xernona Clayton in 1993, the Trumpet Awards has been televised annually and distributed internationally to over 185 countries around the world.
Since its inception, scores of honorees have been recognized including Justice Thurgood Marshall, Ted Turner, Coretta Scott King, Dr. Ben Carson, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Quincy Jones, Maya Angelou, Tiger Woods, and Sir Sidney Poitier.
The Trumpet awards will be held January 28 -30, 2010 in Atlanta, Ga.
Thursday October 08, 2009
By STAFF WRITER ~ Nassau Guardian:
Mount Tabor Full Gospel Baptist pastor, Bishop Neil Ellis will receive a 2010 Trumpet Award, which acknowledges the accomplishments of men and women who have significantly contributed to enhancing the quality of life for all.
Bishop Ellis, who also serves as the second presiding bishop in the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International, and chairman of the Full Gospel Baptist Denomination in The Bahamas, will receive a Spiritual Enlightenment Award and join the ranks of previous honorees including Bishop T.D. jakes, Pastor Paula White, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, Bishop Charles Blake, Bishop Eddie Long and many others.
"Given the fact that the award is a distinguished international award, I am pleased to accept it on behalf of the Christian community here in The Bahamas and I am humbled over the fact that I have been considered, much less chosen, as the recipient of this 2010 distinguished award," said Ellis.
Trumpet Award organizers seek out men and women who, through consistency and longevity, have achieved success in a chosen profession or career. The Trumpet Awards were originally created to herald the accomplishments of black Americans who have succeeded against immense odds. However, in recent times the organization has extended its arms internationally, giving special recognition to those who symbolize the many, and have overcome the ills of racism or poverty and have achieved special greatness. Listed among the recipients of this prestigious award are former South African president Nelson Mandela, and former prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Perry Christie.
Founded by Xernona Clayton in 1993, the Trumpet Awards has been televised annually and distributed internationally to over 185 countries around the world.
Since its inception, scores of honorees have been recognized including Justice Thurgood Marshall, Ted Turner, Coretta Scott King, Dr. Ben Carson, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Quincy Jones, Maya Angelou, Tiger Woods, and Sir Sidney Poitier.
The Trumpet awards will be held January 28 -30, 2010 in Atlanta, Ga.
Thursday October 08, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Church Selling Spiritual Enlightenment Calendars
The GazetteOctober 16, 2009
TODAY
Sign of the Times Bible series: The Signs of the Next World Power. Nightly except Monday and Thursdays to Oct. 24, 7 p.m., with Pastor Orlando L. Patterson, at Westmount Seventh-day Adventist Church, 571 Victoria Ave. Free. Call 514-267-3903, 514-573-8746 or 514-705-8142.
St. Luke Parish 45th anniversary mass and reception with Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte. Reception follows. 4 p.m., 106A Anselme-Lavigne Blvd., Dollard des Ormeaux. Call 514-684-6488.
St. Kevin's Catholic Church, 5600 Côte des Neiges Rd.: R.C.I.A. program from 10 a.m. to noon at the parish rectory for adults considering joining the Catholic church and Catholics who wish to receive the sacrament of confirmation. Call 514-733-5600.
Developing Intuition, workshop with Grace Bubeck from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The SSF-IIIHS Centre, 1974 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W. (ground floor). Cost: $65 for members,$85 for others (includes membership). Call 514-937-8359 or visit www.iiihs.org.
Shabbat Service, Parashah Bereshit, 10:30 a.m. at Kehilat She'ar Yashuv Messianic Congregation, 8255 Mountain Sights Ave., Suite 225. Call 514-481-4579 or visit www.ksy.ca.
The Royal Victoria Hospital Auxiliary, St. Bruno Branch. Concert by the Symphonie Vocale de la Fraternité des Policiers et Policières de Montréal (Police Brotherhood Choir), at 8 p.m. at Mount Bruno United Church, 25 Lakeview St. in St. Bruno. Tickets are $12 with the proceeds going to patient care. Call Muriel for info and tickets at 450-672-5654.
Knox Crescent Kensington & First Presbyterian Church. Jan Jarczyk, pianist, 3:30 p.m. 6225 Godfrey Ave. N.D.G. Freewill offering. Call 514-486-4559 or visit www.kckf.ca.
The People's Gospel Choir of Montreal: benefit concert under the direction of Kim Sherwood. 7 p.m. at Richelieu Valley Church, 250 Hertel St., in Beloeil. Call 450-467-7674 or visit www.richelieuvalleyunitedchurch.ca. Tickets $10. available at the door.
TODAY
Sign of the Times Bible series: The Signs of the Next World Power. Nightly except Monday and Thursdays to Oct. 24, 7 p.m., with Pastor Orlando L. Patterson, at Westmount Seventh-day Adventist Church, 571 Victoria Ave. Free. Call 514-267-3903, 514-573-8746 or 514-705-8142.
St. Luke Parish 45th anniversary mass and reception with Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte. Reception follows. 4 p.m., 106A Anselme-Lavigne Blvd., Dollard des Ormeaux. Call 514-684-6488.
St. Kevin's Catholic Church, 5600 Côte des Neiges Rd.: R.C.I.A. program from 10 a.m. to noon at the parish rectory for adults considering joining the Catholic church and Catholics who wish to receive the sacrament of confirmation. Call 514-733-5600.
Developing Intuition, workshop with Grace Bubeck from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The SSF-IIIHS Centre, 1974 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W. (ground floor). Cost: $65 for members,$85 for others (includes membership). Call 514-937-8359 or visit www.iiihs.org.
Shabbat Service, Parashah Bereshit, 10:30 a.m. at Kehilat She'ar Yashuv Messianic Congregation, 8255 Mountain Sights Ave., Suite 225. Call 514-481-4579 or visit www.ksy.ca.
The Royal Victoria Hospital Auxiliary, St. Bruno Branch. Concert by the Symphonie Vocale de la Fraternité des Policiers et Policières de Montréal (Police Brotherhood Choir), at 8 p.m. at Mount Bruno United Church, 25 Lakeview St. in St. Bruno. Tickets are $12 with the proceeds going to patient care. Call Muriel for info and tickets at 450-672-5654.
Knox Crescent Kensington & First Presbyterian Church. Jan Jarczyk, pianist, 3:30 p.m. 6225 Godfrey Ave. N.D.G. Freewill offering. Call 514-486-4559 or visit www.kckf.ca.
The People's Gospel Choir of Montreal: benefit concert under the direction of Kim Sherwood. 7 p.m. at Richelieu Valley Church, 250 Hertel St., in Beloeil. Call 450-467-7674 or visit www.richelieuvalleyunitedchurch.ca. Tickets $10. available at the door.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Quest for Spiritual Enlightenment Through Music
http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/music/articles/2009/10/15/20091015u2hotlistrevised-CR.html
Anyhow, this is the new list, same as the old list, with one notable exception ('cause staying the course is for suckers).
1. "War" (1983) - "I Will Follow" was a great first move, but "War" is where they really came into their own, the first suggestion that you could be looking at the most important rock band on the planet. There's a sense of urgency, from the opening shot of "Sunday Bloody Sunday," its militaristic drum beat underscoring Bono's vivid images of "broken bottles under children's feet" and "bodies strewn across the dead end street." It's flawless, really, packed with any number of the greatest songs they'd ever write, from an impassioned "New Year's Day" to "Two Hearts Beat as One" and the jittery "Seconds," a jagged shot of post-apocalyptic funk where kids are doing the atomic bomb like it's the latest dance craze.
2. "Achtung Baby" (1991) - This total reinvention of the U2 wheel was sparked, in part, by their decamping to Berlin to work where David Bowie had recorded "Heroes" (and the Bowiesque opening track, "Zoo Station," clearly makes the most of that connection). This is also where they started dabbling more in hip-hop beats and electronic textures. But the biggest - or most notable - departure was Bono's ironic detachment. He hadn't turned his back completely on the achingly sincere, though. From the operatic grandeur of "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" to the devastated "One," there no shortage of heart on "Achtung Baby." It's just sexier is all. And darker, too. But rarely at the same time.
3. "The Joshua Tree" (1987) - "The Joshua Tree" is U2's "London Calling," the masterpiece that dared you not to pay attention. All wide-open spaces and stadium-ready choruses, it filtered Bono's youthful quest for spiritual enlightenment through a newfound obsession with all things American and backed it up with killer tunes. "Where the Streets Have No Name" pulls you in and they finish you off with two chart-topping singles, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "With or Without You." Sure, the sense of gravity is almost overwhelming, but between the Edge's atmospheric love affair with digital delay and Bono's soaring choruses, it never feels too heavy for its own good.
4. "The Unforgettable Fire" (1984) - This is the first they'd worked with Talking Heads collaborator Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and the opening track sounds pretty much exactly like a Talking Heads song - at least until Bono starts singing. Then, the sound is unmistakably U2. An atmospheric stepping stone between "War" and "The Joshua Tree," this album features several of their greatest tracks, including "Bad," a song inspired by a friend who'd overdosed on heroin, and "Pride (In the Name of Love)," a stirring tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Other highlights of this flawless album range from the skittering funk of "Wire" to the moody soundscape of the title track.
5. "All That You Can't Leave Behind" (2000) - This Y2K return to what a lot of people see as U2's strengths was hailed in Rolling Stone on impact as the band's "third masterpiece." But 9/11 took moments as hopeful as "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On," in which Bono encourages listeners to carry on when "the daylight feels like it's a long way off," and repositioned them as something more profound than a prodigal rock band returning to form. Even the opening line of Bono's finest hour as a blue-eyed soul man, "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of," seemed to take on greater meaning in the aftermath of 9/11, hearing Bono reassure himself with "I am not afraid of anything in this world."
6. "Under a Blood Red Sky" (1983) - This is the sound of U2 proving they could rock the back rows of a stadium long before they got the chance. From those spirited howls in the opening moments of "Gloria" to an anthemic "New Year's Day," every gesture is bigger than life, even Bono's admittedly goofy disclaimer of "This is not a rebel song" while introducing a transcendent "Sunday Bloody Sunday." This is U2 in their element. And letting the audience have the final word on an album-closing "40" was a brilliant move. Although a lot of people wouldn't count this one because it's technically an EP, not an album, at just less than 35 minutes, it's longer than plenty of albums in my collection.
7. "Zooropa" (1993) - This rush-recorded effort may be U2's most experimental hour, pushing everything they'd dabbled in on "Achtung Baby" to its logical conclusion. Easing you in with the Bowiesque drama of the atmospheric title track, "Babyface" and "Numb" (on which the Edge takes the mike and delivers the lyrics like a sleepy-headed rapping robot), U2 hit the disco hard on the falsetto-driven funk of "Lemon." But they save the best for last - a guest appearance by the legendary Johnny Cash on "The Wanderer." If any voice could make the most of Bono's post-apocalyptic nightmares and spiritual fervor, it's the late great Man in Black, who was clearly no stranger to the dark side or the faith it so often inspires.
8. "Boy" (1980) - It kicks off with their finest hour of the pre-"War" era, "I Will Follow," making the most of the Edge's sonic shrine to Keith Levene of PiL while Adam Clayton lets it throb on bass and Bono crushes on a higher power. While there's not much else on "Boy" that reaches out and grabs you by the collar quite like that one, it's a solid post-punk effort, bathed in echo and other effects of the day. The dizzying arpeggio of "Twilight" makes another strong case for the Edge as U2's pre-"War" MVP and once you've ruled out "I Will Follow" and "Out Of Control," most highlights are as haunted as a meeting of the Bauhaus fan club. Or they would be if it weren't for Bono shining like an optimistic beacon in the darkness.
9. "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (2004) - It's kind of weird that a band as profound as U2 would return to the national stage after four years by placing a single that rocks with the spirited glam-rock abandon of "Vertigo" in an iPod commercial. But as odd career moves go, it sure sounds perfect kicking off an album. And if nothing else here rocks as recklessly as "Vertigo," there are plenty of anthems majestic enough to speak to those who like their U2 better when they're going for that "three chords and the truth" vibe, from "Miracle Drug," with its synthesized cello and spiritual fervor, to an aching "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own."
10. “No Line on the Horizon” (2009) — I may not hear this as their best since “Achtung Baby,” but I can see why other people do. The sense of atmosphere is rarely less than panoramic. Bono's vocals still sound like he didn't, in fact, “have a choice but to lift you up,” as he claims in the aptly named “Magnificent.” And the trip-hop-flavored “Moment of Surrender” is as breathtaking a ballad as they've put to tape in years, making the most of Brian Eno's melancholy organ sound. Even “Get On Your Boots,” the lead-off single that seemed so goofy back in January, with its talk of “sexy boots,” has held up surprisingly well as a playful aside, with Bono shrugging off his role as the stadium rocker most likely to shoulder the weight of the world with “I don't want to talk about wars between nations,” followed by a winking, “Not right now.”
Anyhow, this is the new list, same as the old list, with one notable exception ('cause staying the course is for suckers).
1. "War" (1983) - "I Will Follow" was a great first move, but "War" is where they really came into their own, the first suggestion that you could be looking at the most important rock band on the planet. There's a sense of urgency, from the opening shot of "Sunday Bloody Sunday," its militaristic drum beat underscoring Bono's vivid images of "broken bottles under children's feet" and "bodies strewn across the dead end street." It's flawless, really, packed with any number of the greatest songs they'd ever write, from an impassioned "New Year's Day" to "Two Hearts Beat as One" and the jittery "Seconds," a jagged shot of post-apocalyptic funk where kids are doing the atomic bomb like it's the latest dance craze.
2. "Achtung Baby" (1991) - This total reinvention of the U2 wheel was sparked, in part, by their decamping to Berlin to work where David Bowie had recorded "Heroes" (and the Bowiesque opening track, "Zoo Station," clearly makes the most of that connection). This is also where they started dabbling more in hip-hop beats and electronic textures. But the biggest - or most notable - departure was Bono's ironic detachment. He hadn't turned his back completely on the achingly sincere, though. From the operatic grandeur of "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" to the devastated "One," there no shortage of heart on "Achtung Baby." It's just sexier is all. And darker, too. But rarely at the same time.
3. "The Joshua Tree" (1987) - "The Joshua Tree" is U2's "London Calling," the masterpiece that dared you not to pay attention. All wide-open spaces and stadium-ready choruses, it filtered Bono's youthful quest for spiritual enlightenment through a newfound obsession with all things American and backed it up with killer tunes. "Where the Streets Have No Name" pulls you in and they finish you off with two chart-topping singles, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "With or Without You." Sure, the sense of gravity is almost overwhelming, but between the Edge's atmospheric love affair with digital delay and Bono's soaring choruses, it never feels too heavy for its own good.
4. "The Unforgettable Fire" (1984) - This is the first they'd worked with Talking Heads collaborator Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and the opening track sounds pretty much exactly like a Talking Heads song - at least until Bono starts singing. Then, the sound is unmistakably U2. An atmospheric stepping stone between "War" and "The Joshua Tree," this album features several of their greatest tracks, including "Bad," a song inspired by a friend who'd overdosed on heroin, and "Pride (In the Name of Love)," a stirring tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Other highlights of this flawless album range from the skittering funk of "Wire" to the moody soundscape of the title track.
5. "All That You Can't Leave Behind" (2000) - This Y2K return to what a lot of people see as U2's strengths was hailed in Rolling Stone on impact as the band's "third masterpiece." But 9/11 took moments as hopeful as "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On," in which Bono encourages listeners to carry on when "the daylight feels like it's a long way off," and repositioned them as something more profound than a prodigal rock band returning to form. Even the opening line of Bono's finest hour as a blue-eyed soul man, "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of," seemed to take on greater meaning in the aftermath of 9/11, hearing Bono reassure himself with "I am not afraid of anything in this world."
6. "Under a Blood Red Sky" (1983) - This is the sound of U2 proving they could rock the back rows of a stadium long before they got the chance. From those spirited howls in the opening moments of "Gloria" to an anthemic "New Year's Day," every gesture is bigger than life, even Bono's admittedly goofy disclaimer of "This is not a rebel song" while introducing a transcendent "Sunday Bloody Sunday." This is U2 in their element. And letting the audience have the final word on an album-closing "40" was a brilliant move. Although a lot of people wouldn't count this one because it's technically an EP, not an album, at just less than 35 minutes, it's longer than plenty of albums in my collection.
7. "Zooropa" (1993) - This rush-recorded effort may be U2's most experimental hour, pushing everything they'd dabbled in on "Achtung Baby" to its logical conclusion. Easing you in with the Bowiesque drama of the atmospheric title track, "Babyface" and "Numb" (on which the Edge takes the mike and delivers the lyrics like a sleepy-headed rapping robot), U2 hit the disco hard on the falsetto-driven funk of "Lemon." But they save the best for last - a guest appearance by the legendary Johnny Cash on "The Wanderer." If any voice could make the most of Bono's post-apocalyptic nightmares and spiritual fervor, it's the late great Man in Black, who was clearly no stranger to the dark side or the faith it so often inspires.
8. "Boy" (1980) - It kicks off with their finest hour of the pre-"War" era, "I Will Follow," making the most of the Edge's sonic shrine to Keith Levene of PiL while Adam Clayton lets it throb on bass and Bono crushes on a higher power. While there's not much else on "Boy" that reaches out and grabs you by the collar quite like that one, it's a solid post-punk effort, bathed in echo and other effects of the day. The dizzying arpeggio of "Twilight" makes another strong case for the Edge as U2's pre-"War" MVP and once you've ruled out "I Will Follow" and "Out Of Control," most highlights are as haunted as a meeting of the Bauhaus fan club. Or they would be if it weren't for Bono shining like an optimistic beacon in the darkness.
9. "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (2004) - It's kind of weird that a band as profound as U2 would return to the national stage after four years by placing a single that rocks with the spirited glam-rock abandon of "Vertigo" in an iPod commercial. But as odd career moves go, it sure sounds perfect kicking off an album. And if nothing else here rocks as recklessly as "Vertigo," there are plenty of anthems majestic enough to speak to those who like their U2 better when they're going for that "three chords and the truth" vibe, from "Miracle Drug," with its synthesized cello and spiritual fervor, to an aching "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own."
10. “No Line on the Horizon” (2009) — I may not hear this as their best since “Achtung Baby,” but I can see why other people do. The sense of atmosphere is rarely less than panoramic. Bono's vocals still sound like he didn't, in fact, “have a choice but to lift you up,” as he claims in the aptly named “Magnificent.” And the trip-hop-flavored “Moment of Surrender” is as breathtaking a ballad as they've put to tape in years, making the most of Brian Eno's melancholy organ sound. Even “Get On Your Boots,” the lead-off single that seemed so goofy back in January, with its talk of “sexy boots,” has held up surprisingly well as a playful aside, with Bono shrugging off his role as the stadium rocker most likely to shoulder the weight of the world with “I don't want to talk about wars between nations,” followed by a winking, “Not right now.”
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Movie Shows the Way to Spiritual Enlightenment - Not!
As the Coen brothers chose to open their monumental new film, A Serious Man, with a lengthy fable, I’ll begin this review with a fable of my own.
There once was a Jew who felt his life was spiraling out of control. He had done some things he was certain were sinful, and found it increasingly difficult to quell his conscience. After a few sleepless nights, he decided to go see the rabbi and ask for his advice. On his way to the rabbi’s study, however, the man’s stomach began turning: there was no way, he realized, that he could bring himself to confess all of his shameful deeds to the pious, aged reb. And so, just a few yards away from the rabbi’s door, the man finally found a solution. He went in, shook the rabbi’s hand, and began talking.
“Rabbi,” he said, “I’m here on behalf of a close friend of mine. You see, this friend is a terrible sinner, and he’s done many awful things, but he couldn’t bring himself to come and confess to you and he asked me to go in his stead.” Feeling secure in his ruse, the man then proceeded to speak at length and in detail about all of his questionable behaviors.
A few minutes later, when the man was finally done talking, the rabbi nodded his head gently and smiled. “What a fool is your friend!” he cried out. “All he needed to do was come see me and tell me he was speaking on your behalf.”
The rabbi wasn’t being cute. He understood that the man, by way of his conceptual trickery, has found a way to live both inside and outside the boundaries of his own consciousness, to be himself and not himself at the same time. A few centuries later, quantum physicists would give a similar principle the name complementarity, and acknowledge that it was entirely possible for things that intuitively seem antithetical to each other to coexist without much conflict.
In theory, Larry Gopnik, the Coen’s new protagonist, portrayed with rare gentility by Michael Stuhlbarg, should understand such principles well. When we see him at work, teaching physics at a Midwestern college in the late 1960s, he’s scribbling interminable equations on an enormous blackboard and droning on about Schrödinger’s Cat, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, and other staples of quantum mechanics. But when his marriage collapses, his career begins to careen out of control, and a swarm of other niggling concerns descend on him with alarming proximity, Gopnik has little use for modern abstractions. What he needs is an answer, clear and definitive, to the question “why me.” Looking at Stuhlbarg’s restless brown eyes—they press themselves against the thick lenses of his glasses like fish contemplating an escape from their tank—one could easily be tempted to believe it’s the only question that has ever truly mattered to mankind.
As is the case with existential conundrums of this magnitude, the very act of pondering could get tricky, for character and audience alike. If drama, as Alfred Hitchcock neatly put it, is life with the dull bits left out, metaphysical musings—the kind involving God, the universe, and our reasons for being—can too often seem like the dull bits with the rest of life left out. What unfurls on the screen lacks a particularly defined plot, any semblance of character development, or any of the other tropes that constitute cinema as we know it. Which, of course, has sent some critics reeling: the film, they argued, was too bleak, the protagonists too stereotypical, the narrative too lackluster. A viewer about to see A Serious Man would do well to ignore these voices and, like Gopnik, get ready for some serious grappling.
And grappling is what the film is about. The plot, or whatever little of it matters, is is concerned less with Gopnik’s questions and more with those he entrusts with answering it. The hapless physicist seeks the advice of several rabbis. It would betray much of the film’s considerable charm and dramatic tension to disclose just what each one says, but it comes as no surprise that a definitive, convincing, elegant explanation of God’s plan for the universe fails to materialize.
What Gopnik gets instead are platitudes about perception, empty praise, and repeated exhortations to soldier on with life even as it makes less and less sense. The exhorters include not only rabbis but also lawyers, colleagues, neighbors, family members, and friends, all of whom offer Gopnik a measure of assurance—some fake, some sincere—taken largely from modern society’s infinite supply of certainty. A real estate-minded esquire, for example, promises to resolve a dispute over yardage with precise measurements, and a fellow professor blurts out awkward reassurances about Gopnik’s ongoing quest for tenure. Even the sultry next-door neighbor—who tans in the nude and speaks with that deflated, matter-of-fact voice common to the incurably bored—sounds more like a physician than like a temptress when she offers Gopnik a touch of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.
All these individuals fail the film’s sweet, suffering hero because their very outlook—the outlook of the upwardly mobile middle class that trusts that everything can be measured and understood—is inherently ill-suited to exploring the far more elusive and infinitely more profound terrain with which Gopnik is concerned. They may know the law or the science or the culture, but he’s interested in the Meaning of Life. In many ways, Gopnik is like the cat in Schrödinger’s box, whose condition is entirely unknowable for the duration of the experiment.
Lesser artists might have used this weighty premise as the backdrop for a modest character study, or, at the very best, engaged in Charlie Kauffman-style metaphysical mindbenders. But the Coens, serious men, came into this film curious about the very same questions Gopnik hurls at his conversationalists. They want to know why. And, like Gopnik, they’re not afraid to ask.
This intellectual ferocity makes A Serious Man a very rare film. More than the tale of Gopnik and his petty woes, it tells another, far more universal story. In short, here it is: once upon a time, there was a people, the Jews, whose faithful sons and daughters lived in small shtetls and spoke Yiddish and realized that certain phenomena lay past the realms of their understanding and accepted that God moved about in the world in ways they couldn’t possibly know. When members of this nation immigrated to the New World, however, and shaved off their beards and shook off their mamaloshen, their mother tongue, they quickly became besotted with the promises of modernity. They were urged to replace the yearnings for Olam Ha-ba, the messianic and redemptive world to come, with lust for the trappings of Olam Ha-ze, the earthly realm in which we live. They exchanged the Talmud for the law book, the medical text, the tax code. Even when they pursued theological studies, they did so with deference to the principles of the Enlightenment that had emancipated them. And, like other sons and daughters of the Enlightenment, they embarked on the pursuit of the precise, devoting their lives to erecting strict systems of thought that sought to explain life in all of its infinitesimal detail. This transformation came with its rich rewards, but it also exacted a devastating price, chief among which was the loss of the ability—to paraphrase a quote by Rashi the Coens use as an epigraph—to receive with simplicity everything that happens.
Simplicity is the enemy of modernity. So is doubt. Modernity—in its American strand, at least—requires of its practitioners a growing specialization, an increased sophistication, a neverending striving towards certainty. It is, in other words, the very opposite of the Talmudic undertaking, in which the argument itself is the central pursuit and a finite truth, should it ever materialize, is of little concern. When Jews rid themselves of the Talmud, the ars gratia artis, the scholarly license to see the world for all of its competing and contrasting strands, and when they immerse themselves instead in the target-oriented, painfully concrete, and intolerably specific modern world, then, the Coens tell us, they’re in deep spiritual trouble.
Wherein, then, lies salvation? For that, the Coens suggest, we should turn to Danny, Gopnik’s teenage son, whose Bar Mitzvah is one of the film’s funniest and most poignant narrative threads. A stoner who is obsessed with trashy television shows and rock music, he, too, is searching for enlightenment. But whereas the father looks up to the guardians of an ossified religious establishment, thoughtless and irrelevant, the son looks to popular culture, as whirling and as potent as a tornado. When, in the film’s final scene, Danny finds himself face-to-face with an actual storm, with Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” screaming on the soundtrack, one feels an odd sense of purity: the tremendous spirit of the Jews won’t die, but will be reborn in a new generation of seekers, far less traditional than their ancestors but equally as capable of transcendence.
That the film is a vaguely autobiographical account of the Coens’ own childhood, and that Danny—celebrating his 13th birthday in 1967—is the exact same age as Joel Coen was that year, is no coincidence. Even as they remain as reticent as ever to talk about the meaning of their work, it is hard not to see the film as the brothers’ cri de coeur. The movie’s eponymous serious man, after all, isn’t Gopnik, but the tartly named Sy Ableman, the lover of Gopnik’s wife and a man whose every becalmed baritone pronouncement betrays the lust and greed lurking just below the surface. For his pretense, Ableman is revered by his community and enjoys the kind of virile and accomplished life Gopnik père is too timorous to imagine. But in the Coens’ moral and intellectual universe, it’s the junior Gopnik who shall inherit the earth, even if, for the time being, he experiences it through eyes reddened by marijuana smoke and ears cracked by Grace Slick’s howling.
That the reefer mad youths grew up to be filmmakers, and that they produced a masterpiece as profound as A Serious Man, should surprise no one who’s been paying attention to the film. If there’s anything that quantum mechanics and Judaism both teach us it’s that the exact path of anything can never be exactly determined. With some luck, the same would apply to the film itself, and this philosophical and theological gem—unadorned by famous actors and strongly rooted in the fertile soil of American Jewish communal and religious life—will receive the consideration and admiration it so richly deserves. As for us Jews, all we need in order to renew our spiritual thrust, to reconcile the ancient and the modern, and to understand our place in the world are a few serious men.
There once was a Jew who felt his life was spiraling out of control. He had done some things he was certain were sinful, and found it increasingly difficult to quell his conscience. After a few sleepless nights, he decided to go see the rabbi and ask for his advice. On his way to the rabbi’s study, however, the man’s stomach began turning: there was no way, he realized, that he could bring himself to confess all of his shameful deeds to the pious, aged reb. And so, just a few yards away from the rabbi’s door, the man finally found a solution. He went in, shook the rabbi’s hand, and began talking.
“Rabbi,” he said, “I’m here on behalf of a close friend of mine. You see, this friend is a terrible sinner, and he’s done many awful things, but he couldn’t bring himself to come and confess to you and he asked me to go in his stead.” Feeling secure in his ruse, the man then proceeded to speak at length and in detail about all of his questionable behaviors.
A few minutes later, when the man was finally done talking, the rabbi nodded his head gently and smiled. “What a fool is your friend!” he cried out. “All he needed to do was come see me and tell me he was speaking on your behalf.”
The rabbi wasn’t being cute. He understood that the man, by way of his conceptual trickery, has found a way to live both inside and outside the boundaries of his own consciousness, to be himself and not himself at the same time. A few centuries later, quantum physicists would give a similar principle the name complementarity, and acknowledge that it was entirely possible for things that intuitively seem antithetical to each other to coexist without much conflict.
In theory, Larry Gopnik, the Coen’s new protagonist, portrayed with rare gentility by Michael Stuhlbarg, should understand such principles well. When we see him at work, teaching physics at a Midwestern college in the late 1960s, he’s scribbling interminable equations on an enormous blackboard and droning on about Schrödinger’s Cat, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, and other staples of quantum mechanics. But when his marriage collapses, his career begins to careen out of control, and a swarm of other niggling concerns descend on him with alarming proximity, Gopnik has little use for modern abstractions. What he needs is an answer, clear and definitive, to the question “why me.” Looking at Stuhlbarg’s restless brown eyes—they press themselves against the thick lenses of his glasses like fish contemplating an escape from their tank—one could easily be tempted to believe it’s the only question that has ever truly mattered to mankind.
As is the case with existential conundrums of this magnitude, the very act of pondering could get tricky, for character and audience alike. If drama, as Alfred Hitchcock neatly put it, is life with the dull bits left out, metaphysical musings—the kind involving God, the universe, and our reasons for being—can too often seem like the dull bits with the rest of life left out. What unfurls on the screen lacks a particularly defined plot, any semblance of character development, or any of the other tropes that constitute cinema as we know it. Which, of course, has sent some critics reeling: the film, they argued, was too bleak, the protagonists too stereotypical, the narrative too lackluster. A viewer about to see A Serious Man would do well to ignore these voices and, like Gopnik, get ready for some serious grappling.
And grappling is what the film is about. The plot, or whatever little of it matters, is is concerned less with Gopnik’s questions and more with those he entrusts with answering it. The hapless physicist seeks the advice of several rabbis. It would betray much of the film’s considerable charm and dramatic tension to disclose just what each one says, but it comes as no surprise that a definitive, convincing, elegant explanation of God’s plan for the universe fails to materialize.
What Gopnik gets instead are platitudes about perception, empty praise, and repeated exhortations to soldier on with life even as it makes less and less sense. The exhorters include not only rabbis but also lawyers, colleagues, neighbors, family members, and friends, all of whom offer Gopnik a measure of assurance—some fake, some sincere—taken largely from modern society’s infinite supply of certainty. A real estate-minded esquire, for example, promises to resolve a dispute over yardage with precise measurements, and a fellow professor blurts out awkward reassurances about Gopnik’s ongoing quest for tenure. Even the sultry next-door neighbor—who tans in the nude and speaks with that deflated, matter-of-fact voice common to the incurably bored—sounds more like a physician than like a temptress when she offers Gopnik a touch of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.
All these individuals fail the film’s sweet, suffering hero because their very outlook—the outlook of the upwardly mobile middle class that trusts that everything can be measured and understood—is inherently ill-suited to exploring the far more elusive and infinitely more profound terrain with which Gopnik is concerned. They may know the law or the science or the culture, but he’s interested in the Meaning of Life. In many ways, Gopnik is like the cat in Schrödinger’s box, whose condition is entirely unknowable for the duration of the experiment.
Lesser artists might have used this weighty premise as the backdrop for a modest character study, or, at the very best, engaged in Charlie Kauffman-style metaphysical mindbenders. But the Coens, serious men, came into this film curious about the very same questions Gopnik hurls at his conversationalists. They want to know why. And, like Gopnik, they’re not afraid to ask.
This intellectual ferocity makes A Serious Man a very rare film. More than the tale of Gopnik and his petty woes, it tells another, far more universal story. In short, here it is: once upon a time, there was a people, the Jews, whose faithful sons and daughters lived in small shtetls and spoke Yiddish and realized that certain phenomena lay past the realms of their understanding and accepted that God moved about in the world in ways they couldn’t possibly know. When members of this nation immigrated to the New World, however, and shaved off their beards and shook off their mamaloshen, their mother tongue, they quickly became besotted with the promises of modernity. They were urged to replace the yearnings for Olam Ha-ba, the messianic and redemptive world to come, with lust for the trappings of Olam Ha-ze, the earthly realm in which we live. They exchanged the Talmud for the law book, the medical text, the tax code. Even when they pursued theological studies, they did so with deference to the principles of the Enlightenment that had emancipated them. And, like other sons and daughters of the Enlightenment, they embarked on the pursuit of the precise, devoting their lives to erecting strict systems of thought that sought to explain life in all of its infinitesimal detail. This transformation came with its rich rewards, but it also exacted a devastating price, chief among which was the loss of the ability—to paraphrase a quote by Rashi the Coens use as an epigraph—to receive with simplicity everything that happens.
Simplicity is the enemy of modernity. So is doubt. Modernity—in its American strand, at least—requires of its practitioners a growing specialization, an increased sophistication, a neverending striving towards certainty. It is, in other words, the very opposite of the Talmudic undertaking, in which the argument itself is the central pursuit and a finite truth, should it ever materialize, is of little concern. When Jews rid themselves of the Talmud, the ars gratia artis, the scholarly license to see the world for all of its competing and contrasting strands, and when they immerse themselves instead in the target-oriented, painfully concrete, and intolerably specific modern world, then, the Coens tell us, they’re in deep spiritual trouble.
Wherein, then, lies salvation? For that, the Coens suggest, we should turn to Danny, Gopnik’s teenage son, whose Bar Mitzvah is one of the film’s funniest and most poignant narrative threads. A stoner who is obsessed with trashy television shows and rock music, he, too, is searching for enlightenment. But whereas the father looks up to the guardians of an ossified religious establishment, thoughtless and irrelevant, the son looks to popular culture, as whirling and as potent as a tornado. When, in the film’s final scene, Danny finds himself face-to-face with an actual storm, with Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” screaming on the soundtrack, one feels an odd sense of purity: the tremendous spirit of the Jews won’t die, but will be reborn in a new generation of seekers, far less traditional than their ancestors but equally as capable of transcendence.
That the film is a vaguely autobiographical account of the Coens’ own childhood, and that Danny—celebrating his 13th birthday in 1967—is the exact same age as Joel Coen was that year, is no coincidence. Even as they remain as reticent as ever to talk about the meaning of their work, it is hard not to see the film as the brothers’ cri de coeur. The movie’s eponymous serious man, after all, isn’t Gopnik, but the tartly named Sy Ableman, the lover of Gopnik’s wife and a man whose every becalmed baritone pronouncement betrays the lust and greed lurking just below the surface. For his pretense, Ableman is revered by his community and enjoys the kind of virile and accomplished life Gopnik père is too timorous to imagine. But in the Coens’ moral and intellectual universe, it’s the junior Gopnik who shall inherit the earth, even if, for the time being, he experiences it through eyes reddened by marijuana smoke and ears cracked by Grace Slick’s howling.
That the reefer mad youths grew up to be filmmakers, and that they produced a masterpiece as profound as A Serious Man, should surprise no one who’s been paying attention to the film. If there’s anything that quantum mechanics and Judaism both teach us it’s that the exact path of anything can never be exactly determined. With some luck, the same would apply to the film itself, and this philosophical and theological gem—unadorned by famous actors and strongly rooted in the fertile soil of American Jewish communal and religious life—will receive the consideration and admiration it so richly deserves. As for us Jews, all we need in order to renew our spiritual thrust, to reconcile the ancient and the modern, and to understand our place in the world are a few serious men.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Spiritual Enlightenment Emulating Siddhartha
by Lodro Rinzler
Before Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment at age 35 he was a confused twenty and thirty-something looking to learn how to live a spiritual life. He had an overbearing dad, expectations for what he was supposed to do with his life, drinks were flowing, lutes were playing, and the women were all about him. Some called him L.L. Cool S. I imagine close friends just referred to him as Sid.
Many people look to Siddhartha as an example of someone who attained nirvana, a buddha. But here we look at a younger Sid as a confused guy struggling with his daily life. What would he do as a young person trying to find love, cheap drinks, and fun in a city like New York? How would he combine Buddhism and dating? We all make mistakes on our spiritual journey; here is where they're discussed.
Each week I'll take on a new question and give some advice based on what I think Sid, a confused guy working on his spiritual life in a world of major distraction, would do. Because let's face it, you and I are Sid.
Sometimes working toward better democracy through mainstream routes like lobbying and, uh, voting seems not only possible but exciting and empowering to me. Other times, though, I can see the appeal of splitting off from society, hopping trains, healing my friends with flower essences, and reading anti-government graphic novels late into the night with my headlamp. I exaggerate, but I am wondering- how would Sid make social change? - Sarah
In some sense Sid was the greatest social activist of his time. He broke away from a normative lifestyle and pursued a path that took him to a point where if he were to share his wisdom with others he would be going against the cultural and political norms of the time. It's said that when he finally took sustenance after a long period of self-induced starvation he threw his bowl into the river and, instead of going downstream, it skipped against the current. This has often been used as an analogy for how the Buddha's teachings have been counter-culture from day one.
As Walpola Rahula said in 1978, "Buddhism arose in India as a spiritual force against social injustices, against degrading superstitious rites, ceremonies and sacrifices; it denounced the tyranny of the caste system and advocated the equality of all men; it emancipated woman and gave her complete spiritual freedom." Buddhism itself has served as a catalyst for great social transformation.
Granted, Sid could have had a pretty profound effect on the local level without becoming a Buddha. Had he stayed at the palace he would have inherited his father's fiefdom and ruled with the wisdom he developed over time. However, that didn't appeal to him.
He instead realized that he had to work with his own mind before he could help others in a real way. If we want to produce social change we too have to follow his lead and curb our prejudices, our aggression, and our desire to promote our ego before we can be confident that what we are doing will produce positive reactions in the world around us. So I think Sid would consider step one in taking social action as working with our own mind through the practice of meditation.
Through meditation practice we slowly see how we create confusion and are less likely to cause harm. If we rush out into the world promoting how "I" think things ought to be done then we're likely to run into a bunch of other capital I egos who have contradictory opinions and clash with them. If we walk into the world without prejudice and are willing to be with situations as they arise we are more likely to work with others without causing harm.
There are a number of Buddhist organizations devoted to social change, such as the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. There are other resources focused on considering your career as an opportunity to produce social change. One of those is Dharma Doctors, a collection of resources for medical professionals. Still, some may say it's a cop out to downplay the role that non-violent protest has in social action in lieu of promoting petitions and Right Livelihood.
There is nothing wrong with making your voice heard about matters you believe in. However, it's hard to do that in protests without being aggressive. As a beginning practitioner I thought Buddhism and protests went hand-in-hand. In the midst of a large take-the-streets-and-storm-the-senator's-office sort of protest I saw a man resist arrest. This sixty year old man was pushed to the ground, kicked, and pepper sprayed. I don't remember much about that day but I remember pushing through police lines to try and help. I remember it in slow motion and the sheer anger and fear on the police officer's face as he unleashed a can of pepper spray in mine. I was subsequently arrested. It became a very large ordeal.
What I learned though was that what I thought was helping was actually creating more confusion. I was angry at the actions happening abroad. The police were scared and angry that a protest was out of their control. Neither of us were heroes that day; we were just perpetuating aggression. So I tend to steer clear of potentially violent protests myself. In order to produce social change I'm sure Sid would encourage us to have compassion and understanding for those we find ourselves at odds with. They want to be happy, just like us. We don't need to go on a hunger strike to make them see a new point of view; we just have to talk to them in an open and kind way.
While it is fine to get involved in the political process or to engage in non-violent protests I think Sid would also say that anything to do with other people can be considered social action. Once he was enlightened the Buddha used his influence to share teachings on compassion with others. He returned to kingdoms not to rule but to share his knowledge. He influenced many political rulers in positive ways, leading them to rule successfully. We may not have access to kings (yet) but we can share our heart with our family, our friends, and our co-workers. Even a kind gesture can go a long way.
When we keep our heart open and available, practice mindfulness with the aspiration to create no harm, and hold compassion for others we are truly living like Sid. I am sure he would agree with Gandhi that the best social change comes when you are "the change you want to see in the world."
Before Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment at age 35 he was a confused twenty and thirty-something looking to learn how to live a spiritual life. He had an overbearing dad, expectations for what he was supposed to do with his life, drinks were flowing, lutes were playing, and the women were all about him. Some called him L.L. Cool S. I imagine close friends just referred to him as Sid.
Many people look to Siddhartha as an example of someone who attained nirvana, a buddha. But here we look at a younger Sid as a confused guy struggling with his daily life. What would he do as a young person trying to find love, cheap drinks, and fun in a city like New York? How would he combine Buddhism and dating? We all make mistakes on our spiritual journey; here is where they're discussed.
Each week I'll take on a new question and give some advice based on what I think Sid, a confused guy working on his spiritual life in a world of major distraction, would do. Because let's face it, you and I are Sid.
Sometimes working toward better democracy through mainstream routes like lobbying and, uh, voting seems not only possible but exciting and empowering to me. Other times, though, I can see the appeal of splitting off from society, hopping trains, healing my friends with flower essences, and reading anti-government graphic novels late into the night with my headlamp. I exaggerate, but I am wondering- how would Sid make social change? - Sarah
In some sense Sid was the greatest social activist of his time. He broke away from a normative lifestyle and pursued a path that took him to a point where if he were to share his wisdom with others he would be going against the cultural and political norms of the time. It's said that when he finally took sustenance after a long period of self-induced starvation he threw his bowl into the river and, instead of going downstream, it skipped against the current. This has often been used as an analogy for how the Buddha's teachings have been counter-culture from day one.
As Walpola Rahula said in 1978, "Buddhism arose in India as a spiritual force against social injustices, against degrading superstitious rites, ceremonies and sacrifices; it denounced the tyranny of the caste system and advocated the equality of all men; it emancipated woman and gave her complete spiritual freedom." Buddhism itself has served as a catalyst for great social transformation.
Granted, Sid could have had a pretty profound effect on the local level without becoming a Buddha. Had he stayed at the palace he would have inherited his father's fiefdom and ruled with the wisdom he developed over time. However, that didn't appeal to him.
He instead realized that he had to work with his own mind before he could help others in a real way. If we want to produce social change we too have to follow his lead and curb our prejudices, our aggression, and our desire to promote our ego before we can be confident that what we are doing will produce positive reactions in the world around us. So I think Sid would consider step one in taking social action as working with our own mind through the practice of meditation.
Through meditation practice we slowly see how we create confusion and are less likely to cause harm. If we rush out into the world promoting how "I" think things ought to be done then we're likely to run into a bunch of other capital I egos who have contradictory opinions and clash with them. If we walk into the world without prejudice and are willing to be with situations as they arise we are more likely to work with others without causing harm.
There are a number of Buddhist organizations devoted to social change, such as the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. There are other resources focused on considering your career as an opportunity to produce social change. One of those is Dharma Doctors, a collection of resources for medical professionals. Still, some may say it's a cop out to downplay the role that non-violent protest has in social action in lieu of promoting petitions and Right Livelihood.
There is nothing wrong with making your voice heard about matters you believe in. However, it's hard to do that in protests without being aggressive. As a beginning practitioner I thought Buddhism and protests went hand-in-hand. In the midst of a large take-the-streets-and-storm-the-senator's-office sort of protest I saw a man resist arrest. This sixty year old man was pushed to the ground, kicked, and pepper sprayed. I don't remember much about that day but I remember pushing through police lines to try and help. I remember it in slow motion and the sheer anger and fear on the police officer's face as he unleashed a can of pepper spray in mine. I was subsequently arrested. It became a very large ordeal.
What I learned though was that what I thought was helping was actually creating more confusion. I was angry at the actions happening abroad. The police were scared and angry that a protest was out of their control. Neither of us were heroes that day; we were just perpetuating aggression. So I tend to steer clear of potentially violent protests myself. In order to produce social change I'm sure Sid would encourage us to have compassion and understanding for those we find ourselves at odds with. They want to be happy, just like us. We don't need to go on a hunger strike to make them see a new point of view; we just have to talk to them in an open and kind way.
While it is fine to get involved in the political process or to engage in non-violent protests I think Sid would also say that anything to do with other people can be considered social action. Once he was enlightened the Buddha used his influence to share teachings on compassion with others. He returned to kingdoms not to rule but to share his knowledge. He influenced many political rulers in positive ways, leading them to rule successfully. We may not have access to kings (yet) but we can share our heart with our family, our friends, and our co-workers. Even a kind gesture can go a long way.
When we keep our heart open and available, practice mindfulness with the aspiration to create no harm, and hold compassion for others we are truly living like Sid. I am sure he would agree with Gandhi that the best social change comes when you are "the change you want to see in the world."
Friday, October 16, 2009
Japanese Spiritual Enlightenment in Hotel
AFP
TOKYO - A Japanese inn so popular that people would book three years in advance to stay in a room said to be inhabited by a child spirit of good fortune has been razed in a blaze, the fire department said Monday.
A guest staying in the room failed to see the "Zashiki-warashi", a glimpse of which can bring great fortune according to local folklore, but luckily escaped before the Ryokufuso inn in northern Iwate burned down on Sunday night.
"I waited for three years to stay in the room after making the reservation," he told Japanese television, standing outside the destroyed wooden structure in the inn's Japanese room-wear kimono. "I'm surprised and shocked to see this."
A local official said there was no indication of arson.
"One of the guests jumped from the second storey and hurt an ankle, but no major casualties were reported," he said.
TOKYO - A Japanese inn so popular that people would book three years in advance to stay in a room said to be inhabited by a child spirit of good fortune has been razed in a blaze, the fire department said Monday.
A guest staying in the room failed to see the "Zashiki-warashi", a glimpse of which can bring great fortune according to local folklore, but luckily escaped before the Ryokufuso inn in northern Iwate burned down on Sunday night.
"I waited for three years to stay in the room after making the reservation," he told Japanese television, standing outside the destroyed wooden structure in the inn's Japanese room-wear kimono. "I'm surprised and shocked to see this."
A local official said there was no indication of arson.
"One of the guests jumped from the second storey and hurt an ankle, but no major casualties were reported," he said.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Spiritual Enlightenment Seekers Travel to Tibet in Record Numbers
BEIJING — A record 4.75 million tourists visited China's Tibet in the first nine months of 2009, more than twice as many as in all of 2008, when unrest led to a ban on foreigners, state media said Wednesday.
The local government slashed the cost of holiday packages, hotels and tickets to draw tourists back to the picturesque Himalayan region, Xinhua news agency reported.
"It's a high point for Tibet's tourism industry," Wang Songping, deputy director of the regional tourism bureau, was quoted as saying.
Wang said visitors to the Buddhist region generated four billion yuan (586 million dollars) in revenue in the January to September period.
During the eight-day National Day holiday this month, Tibet received 295,400 tourists, Wang added, without providing a figure for last year for comparison.
Xinhua did not provide a breakdown for foreign and domestic tourist numbers.
China banned foreign tourists from visiting Tibet after deadly anti-Chinese riots erupted in Lhasa and across the Tibetan plateau in March 2008.
The number of visitors to the region fell to 2.2 million in 2008 as compared with four million the year before.
Beijing also barred foreigners in March of this year during the tense 50th anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against China that sent the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, into exile.
Foreign tourists must obtain special permission from China's government to enter Tibet, where resentment against Chinese control has seethed for decades.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
(AFP) – 9 hours ago
The local government slashed the cost of holiday packages, hotels and tickets to draw tourists back to the picturesque Himalayan region, Xinhua news agency reported.
"It's a high point for Tibet's tourism industry," Wang Songping, deputy director of the regional tourism bureau, was quoted as saying.
Wang said visitors to the Buddhist region generated four billion yuan (586 million dollars) in revenue in the January to September period.
During the eight-day National Day holiday this month, Tibet received 295,400 tourists, Wang added, without providing a figure for last year for comparison.
Xinhua did not provide a breakdown for foreign and domestic tourist numbers.
China banned foreign tourists from visiting Tibet after deadly anti-Chinese riots erupted in Lhasa and across the Tibetan plateau in March 2008.
The number of visitors to the region fell to 2.2 million in 2008 as compared with four million the year before.
Beijing also barred foreigners in March of this year during the tense 50th anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against China that sent the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, into exile.
Foreign tourists must obtain special permission from China's government to enter Tibet, where resentment against Chinese control has seethed for decades.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
(AFP) – 9 hours ago
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Spiritual Enlightenment for Catholic Women
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-27154?l=english
Interventions From Synod's 10th Congregation
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 11, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here are the English-language summaries provided by the Vatican press office of the interventions given Saturday at the Tenth General Congregation of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.
* * *
H. Exc. Mons. Almachius Vincent RWEYONGEZA, Bishop of Kayanga (TANZANIA)
Evangelization of the family involves taking the family seriously as the "domestic church" where encounter with Christ is on a constant daily basis. The family is a vehicle by which the Catholic faith is nurtured through reading and meditating on the Word of God, praying together, receiving and celebrating the sacraments of life. Unity of the family is cemented and safeguarded by sharing common spiritual values and exercises.
Here are some of the key reasons for revisiting the catechesis and practice of contracting of mixed marriages within the set ups of the local church in Africa:
First, mixed marriages have been a source of fuelling misunderstandings between Catholic priests and pastors of the various Christian communities. Besides the persistent problem of insufficient knowledge of the obligations of the Catholic partner, arguments about where the Sacrament has to be celebrated create early backgrounds of division with regards to practicing of one's faith.
Second, in most of these marriages, parents get divided as to in which faith the children should be baptized and raised.
Third, there has been a growing tendency that parents in most mixed marriages lack a common tradition of imparting Christian values. Disunity that evolves from differences in prayer life ends up affecting love, justice, reconciliation and peace within the family.
As we seek ways of building reconciliation, justice and peace in Africa by rightly defining the family as the most complete primary agent of justice, reconciliation, solidarity and peace, it is important not to underestimated the issue of mixed marriages. Unless efforts are made to revisit the contracting of mixed marriages, there is a risk of continuing to experience the tragedy of Christian disunity even at the heart of the family.
Differences with regards to values of faith including the meaning of marriage can become sources of fuelling tensions and confusing the education of children. This has been at the heart of increased religious indifference (CCC, No. 1634). Mixed marriages can easily be like building faith on sand whereby it will be hard to produce fruits of love, reconciliation, justice and peace. It is high time that the position of the Church on contracting mixed marriages be revisited and that Catechesis on mixed marriages be refocused. Unless bold steps are taken to safeguard the family, efforts of promoting reconciliation, justice and peace will remain inadequate.
* * *
H. Exc. Mons. Fridolin AMBONGO BESUNGU, O.F.M. Cap., Bishop of Bokungu-Ikela (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO)
The exploitation of natural resources is one of the conditions for lasting peace in RDC. In fact, the repeated wars we have lived through revealed that the natural resources that make the RDC a “geological scandal” is at the same time a good, that is an important economic asset for the country’s recovery and an evil, that is a permanent source of coveting, conflicts, corruption of an international mafia with some Congolese accomplices. The main causes of these economic wars which unbalance the principle of a people’s sovereignty over their resources are: the lack of an international juridical framework that might restrict multinationals and trans-national extracting industries; the militarization of the mining sector; the increase in demand for certain now strategic minerals; the subordination of international interests of the Great Powers; the lack of respect for the dignity of the Congolese people whose riches we do not appreciate; the wish to balkanize the RDC for the benefit of the easily manipulated dwarf states, etc... The CENCO intervenes in three main domains. The CENCO created an Episcopal Conference ad hoc for natural resources, entrusted with the task of following the question of the exploitation of resources closely. With regard to education, the CENCO published a vademecum for the citizen on the management of natural resources. This document places man at the center of the exploitation of natural resources; it helps citizens to organize themselves at the base to reclaim the respect of social responsibilities of companies from the multinationals; to ensure human and community rights are respected. Given the international dimension of the problem of exploitation of resources, the CENCO waits for its sister Churches to raise their voices, in solidarity with the people who have suffered so much, so that the management of these resources with respect to the law may become an occasion for fraternity and development.
* * *
H. Exc. Mons. Zacchaeus OKOTH, Archbishop of Kisumu (KENYA)
Healing and Reconciliation are God-driven, without the Gospel nothing shall be achieved. Ordinarily as we know it, human nature without the grace of God is vengeful and so it is odd for anybody to imagine that the many tribes in Kenya shall not go after each other's throat again, given an opportunity for antagonism in future, unless the healing and reconciliation are given a priority.
Our Country Kenya has been torn apart, neighbors have turned against neighbors, daughters against fathers, brothers against brothers, mothers against children, tribes have turned against tribes. In short, people have fought, people have died, women and girls have been raped, property has been lost, life savings and investments have gone up in smoke within days if not hours. This sequence of tragic and deliberate wanton destructions, willed and executed by sections of some people is still very fresh.
The church in Kenya strongly feels the need to provide a clear direction on reconciliation process. The Bible and Church teachings provide as a vision on the reconciliation process. It is the faith that gives you what Jesus calls the new standard higher than the old (Mathew 5:20-48). Reconciliation has to be a process of healing the impossible hatred and can be achieved through five stages:
-- Remember the sins, wrong actions and utterances we have committed in full without excuses.
-- Feel sorry about them and promise ourselves not to repeat them again
-- Repent in freedom from the depth of our being
-- Confess them openly and experience remorse
-- Make reparation for the evil we have done and the damage we have caused to ourselves, community, environment and God.
* * *
H. Exc. Mons. Telesphore George MPUNDU, Archbishop of Lusaka (ZAMBIA)
This intervention refers to Instrumentum Laboris , #s 20, 32, 59, 114 and 117, all of which touch on the dignity of women, their giftedness to humanity, their potential massive huge contribution to the Church but that their charisma is not being adequately recognized, sufficiently utilized and suitably celebrated.
There is no meaningful development if at least 50% of the already marginalized population known as women is systematically excluded. Without true justice between men and women, development remains only a pipedream, simply a dangerous mirage.
We are clearly told in Genesis 1:27 that God created humanity and male and female he created them in his own image and likeness. Full and equal participation of women in all spheres of life is therefore essential to social and economic development. Denial of equality to women is an affront to human dignity and denial of true development to humanity.
We sadly admit with shame that in Zambia women are too often the victims of abuse, domestic violence sometimes leading to death, discriminatory cultural or customary practices, and statutory laws clearly biased against them. We bishops must speak more clearly and insistently in defense of the dignity of women in the light of the Scriptures and the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Yes, it was a woman, Mary, who first brought Jesus to Africa as a refugee [Mt. 2: 13-15]. Today in so many ways it is the woman who brings Jesus to us in Zambia. Women religious and lay women help our Church truly to be at the service of reconciliation, justice and peace, with special concern for the poor.
To promote respect for women and their integration into church structures of responsibility, decision making and planning, we call upon the Synod to recommend to all dioceses the establishment or consolidation of family apostolate and women affairs offices, making them operational and fully effective.
* * *
H. Exc. Mons. Philip SULUMETI, Bishop of Kakamega (KENYA)
This is moment to make an honest reflection and ask, what concrete programs have we put in place to make women participatory, responsible, authentic and actively visible in our Church. We have taken things for granted and slowly we are losing out on this precious group.
It is from women that we have the image of the Church as a family God. It is here that sacraments are alive and active, it is here that vocations and careers are in offing.
Women in Kenya are the prime collaborators in the Church's evangelizing mission, this gift of commitment must be strengthened to eradicate the suffering taking place on the continent. The enlightenment of women has lasting effects on well being of the family unit on which the church is founded. Women present the unique female image of God which still needs to be developed in the African church.
Women in Kenya do perform 80% of all agricultural and 90% of all domestic labor. Remember that most of them perform this work without access to modem tools, training and essential facilities yet their work is rarely given any monetary value. This is a sign of one of the major forms of structure of "sin" engulfing our African family.
Women are capable of doing anything positive if they are given the right to attempt. Remember that if you educate a man you educated an individual, if you educate a woman you educated a family but if you educate women you educate a nation.
My request to this special assembly of Bishops for Africa is that women should be given quality formation to empower them for their responsibilities and to open for them all the social careers from which traditional and modern society tend to exclude them without reason. To make this a reality, men are called upon to undergo a radical change and a fundamental conversion.
Interventions From Synod's 10th Congregation
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 11, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here are the English-language summaries provided by the Vatican press office of the interventions given Saturday at the Tenth General Congregation of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.
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H. Exc. Mons. Almachius Vincent RWEYONGEZA, Bishop of Kayanga (TANZANIA)
Evangelization of the family involves taking the family seriously as the "domestic church" where encounter with Christ is on a constant daily basis. The family is a vehicle by which the Catholic faith is nurtured through reading and meditating on the Word of God, praying together, receiving and celebrating the sacraments of life. Unity of the family is cemented and safeguarded by sharing common spiritual values and exercises.
Here are some of the key reasons for revisiting the catechesis and practice of contracting of mixed marriages within the set ups of the local church in Africa:
First, mixed marriages have been a source of fuelling misunderstandings between Catholic priests and pastors of the various Christian communities. Besides the persistent problem of insufficient knowledge of the obligations of the Catholic partner, arguments about where the Sacrament has to be celebrated create early backgrounds of division with regards to practicing of one's faith.
Second, in most of these marriages, parents get divided as to in which faith the children should be baptized and raised.
Third, there has been a growing tendency that parents in most mixed marriages lack a common tradition of imparting Christian values. Disunity that evolves from differences in prayer life ends up affecting love, justice, reconciliation and peace within the family.
As we seek ways of building reconciliation, justice and peace in Africa by rightly defining the family as the most complete primary agent of justice, reconciliation, solidarity and peace, it is important not to underestimated the issue of mixed marriages. Unless efforts are made to revisit the contracting of mixed marriages, there is a risk of continuing to experience the tragedy of Christian disunity even at the heart of the family.
Differences with regards to values of faith including the meaning of marriage can become sources of fuelling tensions and confusing the education of children. This has been at the heart of increased religious indifference (CCC, No. 1634). Mixed marriages can easily be like building faith on sand whereby it will be hard to produce fruits of love, reconciliation, justice and peace. It is high time that the position of the Church on contracting mixed marriages be revisited and that Catechesis on mixed marriages be refocused. Unless bold steps are taken to safeguard the family, efforts of promoting reconciliation, justice and peace will remain inadequate.
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H. Exc. Mons. Fridolin AMBONGO BESUNGU, O.F.M. Cap., Bishop of Bokungu-Ikela (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO)
The exploitation of natural resources is one of the conditions for lasting peace in RDC. In fact, the repeated wars we have lived through revealed that the natural resources that make the RDC a “geological scandal” is at the same time a good, that is an important economic asset for the country’s recovery and an evil, that is a permanent source of coveting, conflicts, corruption of an international mafia with some Congolese accomplices. The main causes of these economic wars which unbalance the principle of a people’s sovereignty over their resources are: the lack of an international juridical framework that might restrict multinationals and trans-national extracting industries; the militarization of the mining sector; the increase in demand for certain now strategic minerals; the subordination of international interests of the Great Powers; the lack of respect for the dignity of the Congolese people whose riches we do not appreciate; the wish to balkanize the RDC for the benefit of the easily manipulated dwarf states, etc... The CENCO intervenes in three main domains. The CENCO created an Episcopal Conference ad hoc for natural resources, entrusted with the task of following the question of the exploitation of resources closely. With regard to education, the CENCO published a vademecum for the citizen on the management of natural resources. This document places man at the center of the exploitation of natural resources; it helps citizens to organize themselves at the base to reclaim the respect of social responsibilities of companies from the multinationals; to ensure human and community rights are respected. Given the international dimension of the problem of exploitation of resources, the CENCO waits for its sister Churches to raise their voices, in solidarity with the people who have suffered so much, so that the management of these resources with respect to the law may become an occasion for fraternity and development.
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H. Exc. Mons. Zacchaeus OKOTH, Archbishop of Kisumu (KENYA)
Healing and Reconciliation are God-driven, without the Gospel nothing shall be achieved. Ordinarily as we know it, human nature without the grace of God is vengeful and so it is odd for anybody to imagine that the many tribes in Kenya shall not go after each other's throat again, given an opportunity for antagonism in future, unless the healing and reconciliation are given a priority.
Our Country Kenya has been torn apart, neighbors have turned against neighbors, daughters against fathers, brothers against brothers, mothers against children, tribes have turned against tribes. In short, people have fought, people have died, women and girls have been raped, property has been lost, life savings and investments have gone up in smoke within days if not hours. This sequence of tragic and deliberate wanton destructions, willed and executed by sections of some people is still very fresh.
The church in Kenya strongly feels the need to provide a clear direction on reconciliation process. The Bible and Church teachings provide as a vision on the reconciliation process. It is the faith that gives you what Jesus calls the new standard higher than the old (Mathew 5:20-48). Reconciliation has to be a process of healing the impossible hatred and can be achieved through five stages:
-- Remember the sins, wrong actions and utterances we have committed in full without excuses.
-- Feel sorry about them and promise ourselves not to repeat them again
-- Repent in freedom from the depth of our being
-- Confess them openly and experience remorse
-- Make reparation for the evil we have done and the damage we have caused to ourselves, community, environment and God.
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H. Exc. Mons. Telesphore George MPUNDU, Archbishop of Lusaka (ZAMBIA)
This intervention refers to Instrumentum Laboris , #s 20, 32, 59, 114 and 117, all of which touch on the dignity of women, their giftedness to humanity, their potential massive huge contribution to the Church but that their charisma is not being adequately recognized, sufficiently utilized and suitably celebrated.
There is no meaningful development if at least 50% of the already marginalized population known as women is systematically excluded. Without true justice between men and women, development remains only a pipedream, simply a dangerous mirage.
We are clearly told in Genesis 1:27 that God created humanity and male and female he created them in his own image and likeness. Full and equal participation of women in all spheres of life is therefore essential to social and economic development. Denial of equality to women is an affront to human dignity and denial of true development to humanity.
We sadly admit with shame that in Zambia women are too often the victims of abuse, domestic violence sometimes leading to death, discriminatory cultural or customary practices, and statutory laws clearly biased against them. We bishops must speak more clearly and insistently in defense of the dignity of women in the light of the Scriptures and the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Yes, it was a woman, Mary, who first brought Jesus to Africa as a refugee [Mt. 2: 13-15]. Today in so many ways it is the woman who brings Jesus to us in Zambia. Women religious and lay women help our Church truly to be at the service of reconciliation, justice and peace, with special concern for the poor.
To promote respect for women and their integration into church structures of responsibility, decision making and planning, we call upon the Synod to recommend to all dioceses the establishment or consolidation of family apostolate and women affairs offices, making them operational and fully effective.
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H. Exc. Mons. Philip SULUMETI, Bishop of Kakamega (KENYA)
This is moment to make an honest reflection and ask, what concrete programs have we put in place to make women participatory, responsible, authentic and actively visible in our Church. We have taken things for granted and slowly we are losing out on this precious group.
It is from women that we have the image of the Church as a family God. It is here that sacraments are alive and active, it is here that vocations and careers are in offing.
Women in Kenya are the prime collaborators in the Church's evangelizing mission, this gift of commitment must be strengthened to eradicate the suffering taking place on the continent. The enlightenment of women has lasting effects on well being of the family unit on which the church is founded. Women present the unique female image of God which still needs to be developed in the African church.
Women in Kenya do perform 80% of all agricultural and 90% of all domestic labor. Remember that most of them perform this work without access to modem tools, training and essential facilities yet their work is rarely given any monetary value. This is a sign of one of the major forms of structure of "sin" engulfing our African family.
Women are capable of doing anything positive if they are given the right to attempt. Remember that if you educate a man you educated an individual, if you educate a woman you educated a family but if you educate women you educate a nation.
My request to this special assembly of Bishops for Africa is that women should be given quality formation to empower them for their responsibilities and to open for them all the social careers from which traditional and modern society tend to exclude them without reason. To make this a reality, men are called upon to undergo a radical change and a fundamental conversion.
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