Julia Frugoli wrote in message ...
>>(I'm not sure it accomplishes much more than awareness-raising, but
there's
I'm not quite sure what awareness is raised, except to perhaps add to/deepen
the Euro-western misconceptions about Islam. Some of the wording ["extreme
Islamic society", "right-wing fundamentalist Islam" ] in the petition is
highly inflammatory. What is going on in Afganistan is worth addressing
certainly, but let's take care as to what we attribute it!!! Think about
the wars that have been waged in the name of a prejudiced and inappropriate
label.
What is alluded to as 'fundamentalist Muslims" does a grave injustice to
Muslims across the world [btw - the second largest religion in the world].
Let me mention some principles from a Muslim's Holy Qur'an:
* A woman cannot be married without her permission.
* If she desires the marriage to be dissolved, it can be.
* The money earned by the man is his and he is FULLY responsible for the
appropriate upkeep of his family.
* The money earned by a woman is hers, and if she shares it with her
husband, well, isn't he blessed. [Hard to earn money without working, eh?]
* It is the responsibility of BOTH men and the women to act in moral,
virtuous, and righteous manners. They are encouraged to avoid contact with
the intent to incite passion except with one's own spouse. And yes, this is
a society that does not believe in premarital sex.
* A person's reputation is protected and he/she is not to be maligned.
The Prophet Muhammad's wife, Alisha, was accidently left behind on the road
and sat to wait for someone to find her. Someone started an untrue rumor
accusing her of sinful acts.
According to the Holy Qur'an, the word of any person who, with intent,
falsely testifies about something or someone is to NEVER be trusted again.
[Now, wouldn't that wreak havoc right now in the US!!]
I wonder how the 'letters-to-the-editors" would read if articles were put
forth calling IRA actions in Ireland as 'fundamentalist Catholics' or
'Catholic terrorists'. By the way, the "deep south of the 1930s" must
have extended to just south of the North Pole, don't you think? I know that
there was an active KKK in Portland, ME as late as the '50s and '60s.
Just do an exercise with what you know in your own [there is a reason this
is the 'bionet.women-in-bio newsgroup isn't there?] life, in what you read
in the newspapers, the weeklies, the nightly news, etc and reword the
script.
Try labelling the characteristics of the people being mentioned ..... and
if you find major corporations which have society-based %age representations
of color/culture/sex in their upper management, please let me know.
How would you define the 'labels' for the US Senate, the US Presidents, the
US House of Reps; the breakdown of sentencing for rapes, drugs .... well,
how about Noriega, oops, but I think we have voted at least one of his
accomplices into public office, haven't we?
There are a LOT of educational, legislative, judicial, hiring and
promotional practices which give a slow [and sometimes a not-so-slow] death
to the abilities of "minorities" in our very own country to work and produce
to their best abilities and to support and bring up families in what many of
our 'average' citizens take for granted. This undercurrent which erodes the
US' alleged equality kills our brothers, our sisters, our unborn, puts a
strangely disproportionate number of our non-whites in jail, unemployed, on
the streets, hooked on drugs and on and on and on. This has been going on
since way before 1996.
Please take the time to read King Leopold's Ghost. King Leopold [remember
Leopoldville in the Congo] of Belgium 'discovered' - probably a surprise to
the Africans who lived there! - the Congo. He 'advertised' to the western
world that he was only a humanitarian trying to stop the blacks from being
sold into slavery to other countries. In place of out-of-country slavery,
he excelled in subjugation in-country and during his reign there were more
Congolese killed than people killed during WWII's Holocaust. Did you all
know, that King Leopold sent a former American Ambassador to Belgium back to
the US to wine & dine the US senators and president to get the US approval
on Leopold's 'rights' to the Congo. We were the first country to recognize
his ownership of the Congo.
I would encourage people to NOT sign and to NOT forward until the person who
has written that, I am assuming Ms. Buckheit, modifies the introductory
text.
Ann Rathbun
