Selamat Hari Raya

I'm two days late - but hey, I don't have internet. (Not yet.)


I was happy to be able to call back home and talk to my family and relatives. After I hung up, it all just kind of made me think of some things. Some things I didn't realise were important to me. Aurelie and I had a nice long talk that night.... (after watching Black Lagoon lol). And we talked a lot about separating religion from the public sphere. Fanatic religiousness, anti-religion, anti-religious-consciousness. It was all very spider-web-like. We were talking and talking and had some similar opinions, some very different opinions, some points where we just couldn't discuss any longer because neither of us wanted to give in until.... she said ... that 'political parties' that we were arguing for, were realisticly like that. Unbending. Unwilling to give in, because of their own beliefs. So nothing gets done. (Well, then again, it might be good that way too, at least both sides will have had time to think and cool down too....)

Even if, for example, in France. Where she says, the French want to separate religion from the state, theoretically because, in history, monarchs used to use the power of religion to control the state and such. Also, because religion is private (which was something I didn't agree with, it is very very public, but then again, we haven't grown up in similar environments so there must be some element to this that we're missing).

As to that issue with schools - as you all probably know about the banishment of religious icons in schools, scarves, crosses etc. "Schools are public, therefore religion should be separated," was the reality we both agreed to. But then again I personally think that schools are private but anyway....

You know how you can hide necklaces with crosses under your shirt anyways, but you can't hide your scarves? It's not just the Muslims but Sikhs too I suppose (though I don't know what the Sikh population is like in France). Anyway, because in some cases students could bring the cross (and hide it) but scarves couldn't be hidden, it felt like the Muslims were being singled out. Which brought on the big protest, some basing on religious discrimination. Heightened media attention, especially in these times.

There was a similar problem in Britain. It applies to people who use mototcycles/scooters. Riders should wear helmets. That was the rule. But what about those people (Sikhs? if I'm not entirely mistaken), who won't take off their turbans? They can't wear the helmets, so they get singled out, and that whole "We're being discriminated against," feelings are aroused again. Protest.

In France it was school regulations. In Britain, it was the law. In either case, there wasn't enough protection for the minorities. I suppose I can say, this is not entirely a religious debate anymore, but political, and it's minority vs. majority.



What started this episode was our discussing President Bush. (I think.) We were talking about what a poor representation of the US he is, considering his religion and all. The 'religion' that was brought up here is what struck me in one of my classes last year, and an article I found in Newsweek. (Or was it the Times?) I read that one article about the future elections in the US, and how low the possibilities, they said, there was for the Mormon politician had to actually win Presidency. (A little bit of a discriminatory sentence but that was what the article practically screamed to me.) So I thought that, yeah, America is definitely religious-conscious. Then a teacher mentioned last year, that Bush was... catholic? protestant? Anyway, that was a laaaarge political religious community backing him up which was partically why he became President. Therefore actually, truly, representing the politically-strong in the US. ..... Of course, another way to say this is that Bush does NOT represent the minorities. At all.



Well I'd love to continue this discussion but I have to go to class. So I'll goooooo...... I'd appreciate some comments? Anyone? I feel like this discussion Aurelie and I had could use some other opinions too!




Anyway, Selamat Hari Raya everyone! Maaf Zahir & Batin.