Tuesday, January 24, 2006
  wrong priorities
Well, Alito looks to be a shoe-in, Canada seems to be headed down the tubes... Argentina anyone? Actually, I have no idea if Argentina is a good country to be in or not. American news reports almost nothing about Argentina. Which makes me think, it must not be a bad place at all...

People have been talking about the rise of the religious right for a long time now, and talking about how it was a backlash against the moral laxity of the 60's and 70s. Since this backlash started back in the 80s we've had some 25 years of it. And since the phenomenon it supposedly was a reaction to only lasted 20-25 years, maybe we're ready for the next sea change -- back to a more liberal, tolerant, civil rights focused bent. One can only hope!!

Unfortunately relgious fundamentalism and extremism seems to be on the rise all over the world. And I'm afraid it is going to get worse before it gets better, with rampant commercialism and nationalism, and people killing and hating based upon nothing more than the language one speaks, the clothes one eats, the beliefs one holds dear.

It seems like so many unimportant things come before human life, and particular before ensuring that all humans can live with a dignity that goes beyond mere survival. It is shameful, what we are wreaking in this age. Completely shameful. One wonders how priorities can get placed on such unimportant matters! Like Trump, who is suing an author for $5 billion because he claimed Trump's net worth is not what Trump claims it is. Who the heck cares whether he's worth 150 million or 10 billion -- he ought to give enough of it away that he's got enough to live decently and be done with it. Or how about the billions of dollars that's been spent on plastic surgery in this country? I'm not talking reparative surgery after someone has been severely burned or in a terrible accident, I mean the kind that is supposed to keep you younger looking or sexier. How can you justify liposuction when children's stomachs are bulging not with fat but malnutrition?

It's quite enough to make one want to go hide in a cabin in the woods and never talk to a human being ever again.
 
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Progressive Muslim, feminist, mom, writer, mystic, lover of the universe and Doug Schmidt, cellist, theologian and imam.


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Cane River
An interesting exploration of the gradual whiting of a family through slavery to modern days.

To see an archive of all the books I've read (well the ones I've read and review since I started the blog) with comments, please click here

Causes Worth Supporting

This is just a short list -- a few of my favorites.

English Language Islamic Fiction. We need more of it. Lots more.
Pay a Teacher's Salary in Afghanistan. The Hunger site actually has a lot of worthwhile programs. You can find them all here .
Muslims for Progressive Values. My organization. We can always use donations, of time or money!
Human Rights Campaign for the glbt community
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
The ACLU I'm a card carrying member. Hope you'll become one too.
MoveOn.org. The organization that has done the most, as far as I can tell, to pull the countries progressive side together.
Network of Spiritual Progressives. Working to reclaim religion and morality for the religious left.

Blogs Worth Reading

Wanda Campbell also known as Nochipa A very gifted poet and a gentle, compassionate soul. Nochipa and I are on the same page on sooooo many things
Writeous Sister Aminah Hernandez, she's got some excellent latino pieces and always has good writing info on her blog.
Sister Scorpion aka Leila Montour - Leila is a fount of energy, quirky humor, and bad attitude. She's also a talented poet.
Muhajabah Very interesting commentary here. I don't always agree with her, but her pieces are always thought-provoking.
Georgie Dowdell Georgie is a great writer and a good friend.
Louise Marley Another great writer. I think Louise is one of the best sf writers exploring faith themes.
Ink in My Coffee Devon Ellington (who has numerous aliases) who is also the editor of Circadian Poems. A truly inspiring woman with a seemingly endless supply of energy.
Ethnically Incorrect With a name like that, isn't a given I'm going to enjoy this writer?
Freedom from the Mundane Colin Galbraith, another excellent writer, from Scotland.
The Scruffy Dog Review This is a new e-zine with an ecclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and non-fic, some really enjoyable pieces here.
Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom Lara, another gentle soul, very thoughtful.
Circadian Poems A journal of poetry, new stuff up all the time.
Ye Olde Inkwell Michelle writes romance and is one of my writing buddies.
Muhammad Michael Knight The original punk Muslim writer. Like him or love him, Mike is always coming up with the unexpected.

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