Archive for April 19th, 2009
WOMEN IN ISLAM: Education (Part 3
Posted by: adonis49 on: April 19, 2009
WOMEN IN ISLAM: Education (Part 3, April 18, 2009)
Note: The political applications and practises by the various Moslem sects do not necessarily correspond to the intention of the message as originaly stated by the Prophet message.
Islam has given rights to women in all aspects of life. The spiritual equality of the sexes in Islam extends to equal value quality education for both sexes. The Prophet said: “Seeking knowledge is a duty for every Muslim male and female. Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”. In the sourat Fatir it is read: “Those truly fear Allah, among His Servants, who have knowledge.” Women had to be educated in order to shoulder their rights guaranteed by the message from consent to mariage, to setting the mariage contracts of conditions in writing, to equal inheritance, to managing her household, and to raising her offspring.
In sourat Al Nisaa (Women) it is said “Do not covet those things in which Allah has bestowed His gifts more freely on some of you than on others: to men is allotted what they earn and to women what they earn: but ask Allah of His bounty. For Allah has full knowledge of all things.” Islam bestowed upon women a legal economic entity. A woman could now own, manage, inherit, distribute and sell her own property as she wished and in her own right. Her assets remained hers, and marriage or divorce did not alter her rights. Islam brought these rights to women fourteen hundred years ago, long before equal rights were thought of or campaigned for in other lands.
Women’s emergence into the economic arena in the West took hold during the First World War to fill production gaps vacated by the conscripted men for the war effort. However, it has taken much heartache and a great deal of struggle and striving to bring women anywhere near a position of equal economic status. Even today, the Western woman is economically bound to her husband, who can demand a share from her earnings for ongoing domestic expenses and, in the case of divorce, can claim a share of her savings. In general, the Muslim wife is entitled to be supported by her husband, no matter how rich she may be in her own right; whilst she is a child, she is entitled to be supported by her father and in old age she is entitled to be supported by her children. The Muslim woman is relieved of the burden of having to earn a living, and she is allowed to dispose of her earnings in whatever manner she chooses.
In the sourat al Nisaa it is read “From what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women, whether the property be small or large -a determinate share.” Islam offers a “ready-made will” that no written will or local tradition can bypass for not allotting women at least half what the males inherit.
The reason for men being given a portion twice as much as that given to women if no writen testiminy is left is that men are responsible for taking care of their womenfolk: A man may be required to spend on his mother, sisters or other female relatives. A woman is entitled to dispose of her share of the inheritance as she wishes, and is under no obligation to support anyone, even herself. When these facts are borne in mind, the just and equitable position of Islam becomes reasonable.
“They Tortured me till Dawn”: Nothing changed since colonial times
Posted by: adonis49 on: April 19, 2009
“They Tortured me till Dawn” April 18, 2009
The French Midnight Editions published in 1958 “The Question” by Henri Alleg. The real name is Harry Salem.
Henri was the director of the daily “The Republican Algeria” and he was a militant communist. When the French government in 1955 gave the French army in Algeria wide authorities to squelch the Algerian revolution for independence then the daily “L’Algier Republicain” was shut down.
Henri went into hiding but was captured in 1957 along with Maurice Audin, an assistant in mathematics at the Algeria University. Maurice died during interrogation and succumbed to torture. Henri managed to survive and a copy of his manuscript was whisked to Paris.
The French government banned the book for hurting army morale, incitement to disobedience and defamation of the police force. Laurent Heynemann made a movie of “The question” in 1977.
“A young parachutist covered me with a blanket saying: “Why do you refuse to betray your friends? You must be very courageous to resist that long to torture” He offered me water but I barely felt like drinking. It was Friday evening and they had started torturing me on Wednesday. In the corridor I could hear orders being shouted and then terrible cries of a woman in pains were heard in the cell across of mine.
They tortured till dawn and I could hear howling, beatings, and curses. I realized that this was not an exceptional night; it was a routine night and the parachutists were getting used to their daily tasks. I cried my eye out for hate and humiliation as I heard for the first time the howling and pains of the agonizing detainees.
I was half conscious and slept only in the morning and was wakened up in the evening. I was offered a bowl of hot soup; my first meal in three days. I had difficulty eating because my tongue, palate, and lips were hurting from the electrical wires they inserted in my mouth to torture me. Many places in my body were burned and they were infected. My right arm and shoulder seemed paralyzed.
A nurse checked my pulse and declared to the physician “He is fine, just a little nervous. We can go ahead” They were experimenting with a “truth serum” injected in my vein drop by drop. That was the scientific method that I overheard during the torture sessions. I remembered from what read on the subject that if we had strong will then they would fail in their attempt and I tried to calm my nerves. I inserted my useless left arm in the pocket of my trousers and pressed on my thigh to refresh my spirit that this was not a dream. The physician ordered me: “Count slowly. Go“
The Russian author Vassili Grossman (1905-1964) wrote “Life and Destiny“. He was a reporter for the Bolshevik daily “The Red Star” during the Second World War and witnessed the horrors of the war and detention centers. Vassili took precautions to leaving two microfilms of his manuscript with Andrei Sakharov and Vladimir Dimitrijevic.
The KGB had confiscated the manuscript, the carbon copy, and the typewriter ribbons. “Life and Destiny” was published in 1980; it is in the genre of “War and Peace” of 800 pages that uncovers the resemblance of totalitarianism, the rejection of to all kinds of submissions, and the communication with “little people”. It demonstrates the tyranny of the “Good” and how it can become an epidemic worst than “Evil”
Karl Jasper wrote in his book “The German Culpability“:
“The one who remained passive knows that he is morally guilty every time he failed to respond to an action for protecting the threatened citizens, for reducing injustice, and for resisting infamy”
Note: Midnight Editions (Editions de Minuit) also published “For Djamila Bouhired” by Georges Arnauld and Jacques Verges.
Famous Manuscripts Banned by the Vatican: (Part 2, April 19, 2009)
Thousands of literary works were indexed by the Vatican from around 1200 to 1966.
Virtually no author was spared indexing. Pascal, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Rousseau, Kant, Diderot, Stendhal, Lamartine, Hugo, Flaubert, Balzac, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, Zola, Sartre, and even Gide were indexed for part of their work.
Voltaire was the most indexed: each of his manuscripts was automatically indexed before reading it. Voltaire would occasionally sign Ecralinf meaning (Let us crush the despicable infamous Church of Rome).
Ironically, Darwin, Karl Marx, and Hitler were spared INDEXING.
“The Defender of Peace” by Marsile of Padua (Rector of the University of Paris) is published in 1324 and banned by the Church. The manuscript said that the function of governance does not suit the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) because this urge for domination of the Church is the bane of all discords. Communities should be governed by their own councils.
Baruch Spinoza published “Treaty on Theological-Politics” in 1670. He is excommunicated (herem) by the Jewish Wise Men of the synagogue of Amsterdam and later indexed by the Vatican. Spinoza claimed that the Torah is false, that soul dies with the body, and that God exist only philosophically. Religions instituted a God with 7 main characteristics so that their logical scaffold can hold: God should be One, Unique, Omnipresent, has absolute authority and rights over everything, that obeisance to God consist in justice and charity, that Heaven and Hell are the consequences of our behaviors, and finally that God is forgiving because everyone is a sinner. Faith does not dwell on whether God is fire, spirit, light, or thought.
Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais published “The Wedding of Figaro” in 1781. This manuscript said of the aristocrats “You were given the pain of being born, and nothing else”; and thus was blamed for disturbing the social construct. Beaumarchais published also “The Barber of Seville”
“Praise of Folly” (L’Eloge de la Folie) by Erasmus of Rotterdam was indexed in 1511. Under the mask of irony, Erasmus creates a Foul dominating the World and supported by ignorant idiots with humongous Ego; he attacks the theologians and scholastic specialties whom thrive in adding subtlety over subtlety in order to obscure any kind of comprehension. In just the same century, the manuscript is re-edited 600 times.
“The Prince” of Nicolas Machiavelli is published in 1513 in Florence. The book explains how a Prince should behave to acquire and then retain power and would be one of the founders of modern political thinking.
“The Third Book” of Francois Rabelais was published in 1532. The previous publications “Pantagruel” and “Gargantua” were not spared indexing too. The art of mockery far exceed that of Erasmus and his farces scorch all the princes. Moliere would rely on Rabelais’ works for his comedies.
The Essays” of about 107 of essays by Michel Montaigne are published as of 1580 and was censured by the Church Inquisition. The Church didn’t like the offhandedness of mixing sacred topics with profane subjects and the manuscript was judged morally too permissive.
“The new Stories” succeeds the famous fables of Jean de la Fontaine and are published as of 1674 and mocks the clerics and was indexed for “corrupting the moral and inspiring libertine behaviors”. Before he dies, his confessor forced him to recant, and he did so that he may die in peace of that pest of cleric.
“The Spirit of Laws” by Charles-Louis of Montesquieu was published in Switzerland in 1748 to avoid censuring. The author demanded that the three branches of executive, legislative, and justice enjoy independent powers for check and balance in governance.
“Therese the Philosopher” by Jean-Baptiste Boyer was published in 1748, in the same year that “Fanny Hill” of John Cleland was published. This manuscript described in details the bacchant sacrilegious ceremonies that a Pope relished. The Marquis of Sade would imitate that genre of pornography. It is rumored that these kinds of books influenced the French Revolution more than any other manuscripts. The French National Library cataloged this book under “Hell” section.
“Emile” by Jean-Jacques Rousseau was published in 1762. Rousseau offered a new educational system for kids so that the natural kindness of humankind is preserved; that kids enjoy their lives as kids and refrain from reading before the age of 12; that they wear loose garments to play leisurely. The manuscript was indexed and publicly burned in Paris for inciting man to follow his instincts. Rousseau will publish “The Social Contract” in 1766 and Geneva Council banished it. In reaction, Rousseau abandoned his Switzerland nationality.
Accursed Indexing by the Vatican: Burned alive authors (Part 1
Posted by: adonis49 on: April 19, 2009
Accursed Indexing by the Vatican: Burned alive authors (Part 1, April 17, 2009)
Note: I intend to split this essay into two parts. The first part describes the authors who were burned alive for their works. The second part would tackle the famous works that were indexed by the Vatican till 1966 by Pope 6. In 1962, cardinal Ciriaci complained that the editors were not paying the rights due to the Vatican by affixing “Banned by the Vatican” which generated excitement from readership. The indexed Faustina Kowalska in 1958 was canonized by Pope Jean-Paul 2 in 1988.
I read the French special series of the magazine “Le Point” on the accursed texts (Les Textes Maudits) that the Vatican had indexed and forbade diffusion and reading since the 12th century. No sacerdotal caste in history enjoyed such power over the mind of its converts as the Christian Church of Rome. This power endured in what to become the most advanced societies since the 17th century and exercise the same influence even in so-called secular States.
The adventure started after the Crusade campaigns in the Levant had waned and lost its impetus for failing to capture Egypt, the shortest trade route for India and the Far East products of spices and perfume. In 1184, a tribunal of inquisition headed by Bishops was created to fight the Gnostic “heretical” Cathare sect. In 1231, the pontiff Gregory 9 entrust fighting heretical doctrines to the Dominican Order. In 1542, the Church endeavored to fight the Reformist sects (Protestantism) by founding the “Supreme and Universal Congregation for Inquisition” and headed by cardinals. In 1559, Pope 4 published the first Papal index that was instituted to confiscating the damned manuscripts and a congregation to that purpose was created in 1571. The Indexing of manuscripts was abolished in 1966. Many famous works were indexed and banished from circulation but a few suffered terminal punishment and were burned alive.
The Cathare (Pure) sect in the 12th century was crushed, its converts massacred, and their Books burned. This Christian Cathare sect was Gnostic and had a dualist conception of the Universe and man; the believers refused the Ancient Testament or (Jewish Bible) claiming that its God (Jehovah) is Satan; they refuted the incarnation of Christ and had confidence in the Church sacraments. They had their Bishops and Books and lived in penitence, poverty, and chastity. The “Interrogatio Iohannis (John)” is one of their books that was spared destruction.
The Franciscan theologian Pierre de Jean Olivi (1248-98) had his “The Commentary of the Apocalypse” censured; his followers were persecuted in 1316 and hundred of clerics and civilians put to death by Pope John 22. Olivi wrote that voluntary poverty and austerity of the Franciscans should not be restricted on lack of personal properties but must be verified by practice and on a daily basis; they should not be hording supplies in food. Olivi decries the carnal and luxurious tendencies of the Church (the Anti-Christ period) and proclaimed that the third coming is close; he commented that the Church will soon go on a rampage of persecutions which will be the precursor for spiritual rejuvenation.
Marguerite Porete was burned live in 1310. She wrote a mystic book “The Mirror of the simple souls” in a vernacular French language, and worst, did not follow the preferred Aristotelian logic. Marguerite claimed that when we conquer our wants and desires then the soul would be freed and yield to the total love of God and thus, the soul would not need any kind of faith to be saved. The Church didn’t like her manuscript or Marguerite.
John Pic of Mirandola was poisoned in 1493 at the age of 31. He published “900 conclusions”; his manuscript “Of the Dignity of Man” was published after his death. The Comte John Pic refused all kinds of seclusions in schools of thought and tried to assemble the common denominators of all schools as valid for human intellectual traditions such as the philosophies of Aristotle, Plato, Gnostic doctrines, Jewish cabal, and natural magi.
In 1498, Fra Savonarola was burned live in Florence for demonic pride after undergoing the cruelest and harshest of tortures; he was burned at the same place where the manuscript of Dante “The Hell” was burned. In 1494 the French troops of Charles 8 entered Florence and Savonarola reigned on that city as the sole power till 1498. He instituted in Florence a yearly ceremony of erecting huge bonfires of 5 meters high labeled “Bonfire of vanities” where luxury items, paintings of nudes, furniture, luxury books, and anything pertaining to human vanity. Savonarola was a tight, extremely reductive theologian and it happened that Alexander 6 Borgia was elected Pope. Alexander 6 was renowned to indulge in all kinds of carnal pleasures and had dozens of illegitimate offspring. Savonarola later inspired Martin Luther to revolt against the carnal conditions of the Church sacerdotal caste.
In 1600, Giordano Bruno alias “The Nolan” is burned alive because he denied Creation, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary, and more importantly for professing that the Universe is infinite and that earth turns around the sun. He sinned for liberating the human spirit and knowledge. Bruno wrote the comedy “Chandelier” and “The Supper of Ashes”; he claimed that an infinite God cannot create a closed universe without losing credibility; thus, he defined infinity to represent God. The secret societies of the “Rose-Crucifix” adopted Bruno as its prime member.
Note 1: No witch was ever burned live in Rome. The preoccupation of the Inquisition was focused on those authors who challenged the power and authority of the Vatican, its dogma, politics, morals and values.
Note 2: Pope Paul 4 initiated the indexing in 1544 by banning the entire work of any author who disturbed the authority of the Church; in total the index had 550 authors by 1564. In that year, Pope Pie 4 orders that only the “incriminated” manuscripts should be indexed. The problem with the Reformists was that their books were written in the German vernacular. The Latin Church was not equipped for the challenge of reading in other languages and thus, any manuscript that showed up at Frankfort trade fairs.
Note 3: La Place de Greve in Paris witnessed countless burning alive until the guillotine replaced this mania with a more efficient decapitation by mass series during the French Revolution. Claude Le Petit was burned in 1662 during the beginning of the reign of King Louis 14 for writing “infamous poems”; one of the poems is on the theme of “fucking” everything and everyone. A year before, Chausson was burned for tentative rape of a boy. Le Petit wrote a poem in honor of Chausson claiming that he uncovered his behind and bent it over to the masses of spectators.
Accursed Indexing by the Vatican: Burned alive authors (Part 1, April 17, 2009)
Note: I intend to split this essay into two parts. The first part describes the authors who were burned alive for their works. The second part would tackle the famous works that were indexed by the Vatican till 1966 by Pope 6. In 1962, cardinal Ciriaci complained that the editors were not paying the rights due to the Vatican by affixing “Banned by the Vatican” which generated excitement from readership. The indexed Faustina Kowalska in 1958 was canonized by Pope Jean-Paul 2 in 1988.
I read the French special series of the magazine “Le Point” on the accursed texts (Les Textes Maudits) that the Vatican had indexed and forbade diffusion and reading since the 12th century. No sacerdotal caste in history enjoyed such power over the mind of its converts as the Christian Church of Rome. This power endured in what to become the most advanced societies since the 17th century and exercise the same influence even in so-called secular States.
The adventure started after the Crusade campaigns in the Levant had waned and lost its impetus for failing to capture Egypt, the shortest trade route for India and the Far East products of spices and perfume. In 1184, a tribunal of inquisition headed by Bishops was created to fight the Gnostic “heretical” Cathare sect. In 1231, the pontiff Gregory 9 entrust fighting heretical doctrines to the Dominican Order. In 1542, the Church endeavored to fight the Reformist sects (Protestantism) by founding the “Supreme and Universal Congregation for Inquisition” and headed by cardinals. In 1559, Pope 4 published the first Papal index that was instituted to confiscating the damned manuscripts and a congregation to that purpose was created in 1571. The Indexing of manuscripts was abolished in 1966. Many famous works were indexed and banished from circulation but a few suffered terminal punishment and were burned alive.
The Cathare (Pure) sect in the 12th century was crushed, its converts massacred, and their Books burned. This Christian Cathare sect was Gnostic and had a dualist conception of the Universe and man; the believers refused the Ancient Testament or (Jewish Bible) claiming that its God (Jehovah) is Satan; they refuted the incarnation of Christ and had confidence in the Church sacraments. They had their Bishops and Books and lived in penitence, poverty, and chastity. The “Interrogatio Iohannis (John)” is one of their books that was spared destruction.
The Franciscan theologian Pierre de Jean Olivi (1248-98) had his “The Commentary of the Apocalypse” censured; his followers were persecuted in 1316 and hundred of clerics and civilians put to death by Pope John 22. Olivi wrote that voluntary poverty and austerity of the Franciscans should not be restricted on lack of personal properties but must be verified by practice and on a daily basis; they should not be hording supplies in food. Olivi decries the carnal and luxurious tendencies of the Church (the Anti-Christ period) and proclaimed that the third coming is close; he commented that the Church will soon go on a rampage of persecutions which will be the precursor for spiritual rejuvenation.
Marguerite Porete was burned live in 1310. She wrote a mystic book “The Mirror of the simple souls” in a vernacular French language, and worst, did not follow the preferred Aristotelian logic. Marguerite claimed that when we conquer our wants and desires then the soul would be freed and yield to the total love of God and thus, the soul would not need any kind of faith to be saved. The Church didn’t like her manuscript or Marguerite.
John Pic of Mirandola was poisoned in 1493 at the age of 31. He published “900 conclusions”; his manuscript “Of the Dignity of Man” was published after his death. The Comte John Pic refused all kinds of seclusions in schools of thought and tried to assemble the common denominators of all schools as valid for human intellectual traditions such as the philosophies of Aristotle, Plato, Gnostic doctrines, Jewish cabal, and natural magi.
In 1498, Fra Savonarola was burned live in Florence for demonic pride after undergoing the cruelest and harshest of tortures; he was burned at the same place where the manuscript of Dante “The Hell” was burned. In 1494 the French troops of Charles 8 entered Florence and Savonarola reigned on that city as the sole power till 1498. He instituted in Florence a yearly ceremony of erecting huge bonfires of 5 meters high labeled “Bonfire of vanities” where luxury items, paintings of nudes, furniture, luxury books, and anything pertaining to human vanity. Savonarola was a tight, extremely reductive theologian and it happened that Alexander 6 Borgia was elected Pope. Alexander 6 was renowned to indulge in all kinds of carnal pleasures and had dozens of illegitimate offspring. Savonarola later inspired Martin Luther to revolt against the carnal conditions of the Church sacerdotal caste.
In 1600, Giordano Bruno alias “The Nolan” is burned alive because he denied Creation, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary, and more importantly for professing that the Universe is infinite and that earth turns around the sun. He sinned for liberating the human spirit and knowledge. Bruno wrote the comedy “Chandelier” and “The Supper of Ashes”; he claimed that an infinite God cannot create a closed universe without losing credibility; thus, he defined infinity to represent God. The secret societies of the “Rose-Crucifix” adopted Bruno as its prime member.
Note 1: No witch was ever burned live in Rome. The preoccupation of the Inquisition was focused on those authors who challenged the power and authority of the Vatican, its dogma, politics, morals and values.
Note 2: Pope Paul 4 initiated the indexing in 1544 by banning the entire work of any author who disturbed the authority of the Church; in total the index had 550 authors by 1564. In that year, Pope Pie 4 orders that only the “incriminated” manuscripts should be indexed. The problem with the Reformists was that their books were written in the German vernacular. The Latin Church was not equipped for the challenge of reading in other languages and thus, any manuscript that showed up at Frankfort trade fairs.
Note 3: La Place de Greve in Paris witnessed countless burning alive until the guillotine replaced this mania with a more efficient decapitation by mass series during the French Revolution. Claude Le Petit was burned in 1662 during the beginning of the reign of King Louis 14 for writing “infamous poems”; one of the poems is on the theme of “fucking” everything and everyone. A year before, Chausson was burned for tentative rape of a boy. Le Petit wrote a poem in honor of Chausson claiming that he uncovered his behind and bent it over to the masses of spectators.
Adonis Diaries 