Ignorance can only be overcome through exposure to new ideas, and the people who represent those ideas, and through education.
And, the Media has failed to properly educate citizens regarding cultures, becoming a conveyance for the propagation of myths and half-truths.
I posed the topic, "Discuss the influence of religion within the Southwest Asia realm," to my world geography class. Responses were typical of people's impressions today. I'm not being critical, but a lot of what students stated in their responses are based in myth and half-truths, propagated by ignorant media who espouse propaganda and no facts, ignorant teachers at lower levels of education, and just ignorance of the general population. We tend not to process what we hear in church, in classes, or via media. If society could actually do that, we would be able to recognize inconsistencies when we see them.
Most people forget that Christianity has a very violent history. Consider the Spanish. Spanish Conquistadors forced native populations to convert to Christianity or die, whether those people be Aztecs or Jews (The Spanish Inquisition). Consider the racism practiced against Africans during slavery, and even thereafter. They were seen as non-Christian pagans and therefore white Christians could treat them, or any people of color for that matter. any way they wanted.
The Christian Crusaders who sought to evict Muslims from the Holy Land their ancestors walked away from would kill Jews along the way in order to practice for anticipated battles later. The Jews killed Jesus the Christ, right? Christians killed Jews and Muslims along the way. In many portions of the Southwest Asian realm, the Muslims protected Jews and Christians from each other. Think about it: the Hebrews/Jews have existed along side Palestinians for over 4,000 years. Jews and Christians have existed along side each other for about 2,000 years. Jews, Christians, and Muslims have existed side-by-side with each other for about 1,400 years.
People forget the history of Christianity is founded within this region. The People of the Bible were not Caucasians. Most of them were Semitic people, the ancestors of the Hebrews, and Persians, and Arabs. Moses was a Hebrew, a Semitic person. Abraham probably was from southern Iran or southeast Iraq. His first son, Ishmael, born of Hagar, would go on to parent the Arab people. Another son, Isaac, born of Sarah, would go on to parent the Hebrews. Because of Abraham's place in religious history, he is seen as the Father of Three Religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These three religions are therefore termed, "Abramic" religions.
Islam and its adherents, Muslims, see themselves as the next stage within the Abramic religion framework. Muslims acknowledge the Tanahk, the Bible, and then add the revelations of the Mohammad, whom they see as the last prophet. Jews and Christians are People of the Book, the Qu'ran, and thusly have a special place. Islam recognizes all of the people found in the Old and New Testament, only they add an additional work, the Qu'ran. To clear up another myth, Allah is not the name of the Islamic "God." Allah is the Arabic word for God. Jews call God, YHWH (Yahweh), or Jehovah. Regardless of what you believe, as it really makes no difference, Muslims believe in the same God as the Jews and Christians.
Throughout history, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have been able to live together in relative peace. In recent history, since the late 1880's, the Zionist movement had been a leading cause of conflict within the realm. The movement for the creation of a Jewish homeland created controversy that persists today, and for the foreseeable future. Part of the problems of today can be tied to the way in which the British and French created the boundaries of the modern Middle East, without the consent of local populations.
One must also bear this in mind: Religion exists across cultural and ethnic boundaries. What do I mean by this? What I mean is this: An Arab can be Jewish, or Christian, or Muslim. A Palestinian can be a Jew, a Christian, or a Muslim. An Israeli can be a Jew, a Christian, or a Muslim.
None of the three religions can hold themselves up as bastions of Peace. Each religion has portions of violence that contradict the teachings of their holy people. Unfortunately, people have bad memories, politicize spirituality, and states institutionalize bigotry. What we must always keep in mind is how people use, manipulate, and corrupt religion towards their own goals. Remember, religion is a human construct, the set of cultural traits, rules, and ceremonies that humans undertake honor to their respective deity/deities. The conflict in Israel is not a religious conflict; it is a conflict over space, over landscape, and who has the right to control a scarce resource. When Israel fires on Palestinians, the possibility exists that those people could be Christian Palestinians, Jewish Palestinians, or Muslim Palestinians. Conversely, those Palestinians that create problems could be Muslims, Jews, or Christians. The media glosses over the complexity of cultures found in the Middle East. Rarely does a news network discuss the cultural complexity. As a result, the majority of populations, not just within the United States, but global populations, do not adequately understand the forces at work.
As a result, individuals form beliefs from erroneous information, myths, half-truths, our own bigotry, or propaganda. I personally have known people from most religions, Shinto, Hindi, Muslim, to name a few. Most people, by-and-large, go about their daily business, to satisfy their basic human needs, food, shelter, comfort. Look at the Christians around you. How many of them go to church regularly? Tithe regularly? Pray regularly? How many do you know that attend church only at Christmas or Easter? Read their Bible every day? Muslims are the same way. The vast majority do not read the Qu'ran every day, or attend mosque. They are humans, too, and susceptible to the same characteristics as everyone else. And, yes, there are Muslims that are more traditional. Christians can be that way, too. Pentecostals, Foursquare, some Southern Baptists, for example, seem extreme to more liberal or moderate Christian faiths, like Methodists or Episcopalians.
Do not let the media or talking head nitwits fool you: Usama bin Laden and his criminal organization is NOT representative of Islam. Most everything his group espouses is, in fact, anti-Islamic. The Taleban is the same way. The Taleban is an organization of tribes who feel their crude, misogynistic, and traditional way of life is being threatened. They also happen to be Muslims. However, again, nothing they present or espouse is supported in Islam. I understand what the media broadcasts, and much of what I have said contradicts the media. Remember that any literate person can read a tele-prompter.
Something must be said about religion versus customs, i.e. head scarfs, burqas, chadors, or any of the other full-length garments women, and sometimes men, wear. The wearing of veils, head scarfs, and body-length robes began well before Islam. Greeks, Persians, and Romans wore them long before Muslims. Body coverings of these types served a few purposes. Robes block the sun. Robes block dust and blowing sand. Robes also provided a way to show ones status in society. Women who wore robes and veils tended to be in the middle to upper class within society. Common women and prostitutes did not wear veils and wore less elaborate robes. Indonesia is the world's 4th largest country, in terms of population, a Muslim country, and women commonly dress as any Western person might.
Exposure and education can overcome ignorance. Ignorance is neither a bad thing or a good thing. Ignorance is curable, through education, unlike Stupidity, which is cannot be fixed.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Do I really want my boss to know I’m at the baseball game?
Apple, Facebook Get Into Geolocation – PCWorld
I’ve been rambling on for a few years about the burgeoning growth of location-based services (LBS). A few years ago, I read a report regarding the use of LBS in Japan. The Japanese have been enjoying (that maybe too broad of a characterization) LBS since 2001, when the first GPS-enabled phones were introduced.
America is finally catching up.
Geolocation certainly is an interesting technology. I am not going to say the technology is good or bad. Technology is a TOOL. Technology is AMORAL. Not IMMORAL but amoral; a complete absence of good or bad. How technology is used depends on ethics and morals of the wielders. Machetes can cut down shrubs and bushes, making an effective path. Machetes can also bludgeon and amputate limbs.
Businesses around the world are looking to further push their goods and services into the market. What better way than to push out coupons to people within a few blocks of a store? If you are in town, and need to find a restaurant, check your phone; the restaurant will TELL you where it is and give you a map and driving directions! Awesome, huh?
Many parents are installing apps in their children’s phones to make sure the kids are where they say they are. Or, at least aid in finding a lost phone.
On the other hand, with the ubiquity of cell phones, coupled to the right apps, your presence could be discovered by lots of people, friends, family, Macy’s, BestBuy, and all law enforcement agencies, and maybe even people that do not have your best interests at heart.
The possibilities cannot even be imagined, really, not fully.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Hey! Who Turned Off My Gene!?
Human Culture Plays a Role in Natural Selection - NYTimes.com
I’m tolerant of a lot of stuff, gays, Republicans, Keanu Reeves; and there are a few things of which I am not tolerant: ignorance, racism, bigotry, and milk. I cannot help milk, though. My lactose intolerance is genetically coded into me. My ancestors decided some thousands of years ago that raw milk was not for them – can’t say that I blame them, I loathe milk – which had the effect somewhere along the way of turning off the gene that contains the instructions for digesting lactose.
People that live in Northern Europe, a society that still maintains a rich Milk culture (pardon the pun, I am not referring to yogurt), have switched-on genes for digesting lactose. They do not suffer the same gassy, cramping, and bloating that other Europeans and people of European ancestry tend to suffer from, like myself.
People in Africa, especially south of the Sahel, also tend to be lactose-friendly. The Maasai in Kenya are an example of a culture where lactose tolerance lasts throughout life.
Genetics difference between people and cultures is not limited only to whether or not they can digest milk, though. East Asians and Native Americans have variant genes that provide them with hair that is thicker than European or African hair.
Scientists hypothesize that variation among humans derive from a variety of responses, from climatic stimulus, dietary changes, and changes in geography.
Geneticist and Evolutionary Biologists are faced with many research problems. Of the 20,000 or so genes in the human genome, most are not understood. The genes can be broadly classed but specific functions and interrelationships with other genes is still a mystery.
Culture makes us who we are today. According to some scientists though, cultures 20,000 years ago or more, also had a hand in making us who we are today, too.
Up In The Sky! Is it a Bird? A Plane? Oh, God! It’s a Helicopter Toilet!!!
For Pennies, a Disposable Toilet That Could Help Grow Crops - NYTimes.com
Imagine living in rural Kenya; or, rural India; or, rural China, and Nature rings you up, and says, “Hey, you need to evacuate your colon, pronto!”
Facilities in the developing world can be crude, few, and far-between. In rural areas facilities become a tree or a hole in the ground. And, perhaps, a plastic shopping bag. Once your mostly-digested breakfast from yesterday, or chicken from lunch and the associated fecal coli-form bacteria that is happily munching away on what your body could not use, is placed inside said plastic bag, and tied closed, that bag is then tossed aside, or flung. The “flinging” then becomes known as a “helicopter toilet” or a “flyaway toilet.”
I imagine the “helicopter”-effect arises from the difference in weight and the effect that has on the bag’s center of gravity, causing the bag to rotate through the air as if a propeller. Yay! Kids probably think this is great fun. Much like buffalo chip throwing contests here in the States, I envision places having Flyaway Toilet Competitions. Maybe they even have medals! Get your name in the local paper. I wonder if they would calculate a handicap; some people generate large stools that would translate into greater distances. Against people like me, they would have an unfair advantage. Perhaps classes, like flyweight, welterweight, bantamweight, and heavyweight, similar to boxing, would make for a fair Flyaway Toilet Competition. Winners could receive the Golden Sack.
Seriously, though, 40% of the world’s population does not have access to a toilet, according to the United Nations. Taking care of human waste becomes an issue of sanitation and therefore human health.
A Swedish inventor has devised biodegradable bags to hold human excrement. Anders Wilhelmson’s new Peepoo bag takes human excrement, neutralizes harmful biotics, and converts it into fertilizer. When the Peepoo bag is buried the resulting fertilizer can be used to support agriculture.
I honestly had no idea there was a World Toilet Organization or a World Toilet Summit 2010. I can imagine driving past the Hampton Inn and seeing, “Welcome, World Toilet Summit 2010 Attendees! Please Do Not Leave the Seat Up,” on the welcome sign. I want the “Please Poop On My Day” t-shirt and the other cool swag I bet they have.
But these diligent and thoughtful people are concerned with handling human waste (HW). Can we convert HW into biogas and cook with it? I would hope so; lighting a match in some men’s rooms would probably result in 1st and 2nd degree burns, loss of eyebrows and facial hair, and significant property damage.
What about composting HW? Sure, why not. Kill the harm pathogens, and some chemicals, bury the bag, let it decompose; then, wah-la: fertilizer to help feed the masses.
Great stuff!
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