ICNA: ICNA Shariah Council Responds to Al Awlaki
Mozaffar's Moments: Short Open Letter to Anwar al-Awlaki
The American Muslim: Anwar Al Awlaki’s Latest Message of Hate
Hesham A. Hassaballa: An American Muslim Responds to Anwar Al Awlaki
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
thought of the day
From Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki:
.. I for one was born in the U.S., I lived in the U.S. for 21 years. America was my home. I was a preacher of Islam involved in non-violent Islamic activism. However, with the American invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. aggression against Muslims I could not reconcile between living in the U.S. and being a Muslim.
And I eventually came to the conclusion that Jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other able Muslim. Nidal Hasan was not recruited by Al-Qaeda. Nidal Hasan was recruited by American crimes and this is what America refuses to admit. America refuses to admit that its foreign policies are the reason behind the man like Nidal Hasan -- born and raised in the U.S. turning his guns against American soldiers. And the more crimes America commits the more mujahedeen will be recruited to fight against it. The operation of our brother Umar Farouk was in retaliation to American cruise missiles and cluster bombs that killed the women and children in Yemen.
... But imperial hubris is leading America to its fate -- a war of attrition, a continuous hemorrhage that will end with the fall and splintering of the United States of America.
[longer excerpt]
Lest anyone think I support all the above, let me start off by saying that I do not believe that terrorism is justified in any form. But, that said, I think that Al-Awlaki has put his finger on a critical issue: What is the relation between one's loyalty to the ummah and one's loyalty to the secular nation? Is the US currently engaged in a targeted struggle against Al-Qaedah or a broader post-Huntington civilizational conflict against the Muslim world and Islamic revival? And what is the consequence if the latter is true? It is definitely hard to be a Muslim in America these days. And a big part of the challenge lies in finding appropriate ways as Americans to make sure that our country acts morally in the community of nations.
And this challenge isn't just a Muslim issue either. It is fairly clear that the Bush doctrine and the conflict in Iraq is inconsistent with the Catholic teaching on Just War. So you don't need the Quran in order to argue that the U.S. is sometimes an unjust aggressor, you can just go back to Augustine.
more later...
post 9/11 interview with anwar al-awlaki
all terrorists are muslims... except the 94% that aren't
"they plan and allah plans..."
willie lynch: the next chapter
.. I for one was born in the U.S., I lived in the U.S. for 21 years. America was my home. I was a preacher of Islam involved in non-violent Islamic activism. However, with the American invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. aggression against Muslims I could not reconcile between living in the U.S. and being a Muslim.
And I eventually came to the conclusion that Jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other able Muslim. Nidal Hasan was not recruited by Al-Qaeda. Nidal Hasan was recruited by American crimes and this is what America refuses to admit. America refuses to admit that its foreign policies are the reason behind the man like Nidal Hasan -- born and raised in the U.S. turning his guns against American soldiers. And the more crimes America commits the more mujahedeen will be recruited to fight against it. The operation of our brother Umar Farouk was in retaliation to American cruise missiles and cluster bombs that killed the women and children in Yemen.
... But imperial hubris is leading America to its fate -- a war of attrition, a continuous hemorrhage that will end with the fall and splintering of the United States of America.
[longer excerpt]
Lest anyone think I support all the above, let me start off by saying that I do not believe that terrorism is justified in any form. But, that said, I think that Al-Awlaki has put his finger on a critical issue: What is the relation between one's loyalty to the ummah and one's loyalty to the secular nation? Is the US currently engaged in a targeted struggle against Al-Qaedah or a broader post-Huntington civilizational conflict against the Muslim world and Islamic revival? And what is the consequence if the latter is true? It is definitely hard to be a Muslim in America these days. And a big part of the challenge lies in finding appropriate ways as Americans to make sure that our country acts morally in the community of nations.
And this challenge isn't just a Muslim issue either. It is fairly clear that the Bush doctrine and the conflict in Iraq is inconsistent with the Catholic teaching on Just War. So you don't need the Quran in order to argue that the U.S. is sometimes an unjust aggressor, you can just go back to Augustine.
more later...
post 9/11 interview with anwar al-awlaki
all terrorists are muslims... except the 94% that aren't
"they plan and allah plans..."
willie lynch: the next chapter
Friday, March 19, 2010
journey to the end of islam
I just finished Michael Muhammad Knight's Journey to the End of Islam. It was an interesting read. Like his earlier book, Blue-eyed Devil, it was a travelogue, this time on a global scale, and culminating in his journey to Mecca and Medina for ummrah and hajj.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
"my pride is racist people say, but no one minds st. patrick's day"
I've blogged on this song before but the link has since died. The song is "Split Personality" by the alternative hip-hop group Basehead. The jam is topical because of the St. Patrick's Day line but when I listen to the lyrics as a whole they definitely have a pre-Obama feel. I don't mean we are in a "post-racial era", that's a myth... but if a brother can be president then dealing with double-consciousness is more a balance beam than a tightrope.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
check both! / ¡chequea las dos!
CAMPAIGN TO INCREASE THE AFRO-LATIN@ COUNT ON THE 2010 CENSUS
(New York, NY) In an effort to achieve an accurate count of Afro-Latinos in the United States Census, the nonprofit afrolatin@ forum has produced a series of public service announcements that call on Latinos of African descent to identify as both Hispanic and Black on the 2010 form. By proclaiming “Check Both!/¡Chequea las dos!” the bilingual spots highlight the importance for Latin@s of African descent to self-identify as such on the Census.
The count has far-reaching implications, determining how $400 billion in federal funds are distributed to local governments each year. Over 10 years, a community could lose a projected $1.2 million of federal funding for housing, health and education programs for every 100 persons that are not counted, according to the NAACP. Studies have established that despite a higher educational level, Black Latin@s are more likely to live below the poverty level than other Latin@s and have the highest unemployment rate.
Afro-Latin@s and Census 2010
Yo Soy
Y Tu Abuela
Facts
(New York, NY) In an effort to achieve an accurate count of Afro-Latinos in the United States Census, the nonprofit afrolatin@ forum has produced a series of public service announcements that call on Latinos of African descent to identify as both Hispanic and Black on the 2010 form. By proclaiming “Check Both!/¡Chequea las dos!” the bilingual spots highlight the importance for Latin@s of African descent to self-identify as such on the Census.
The count has far-reaching implications, determining how $400 billion in federal funds are distributed to local governments each year. Over 10 years, a community could lose a projected $1.2 million of federal funding for housing, health and education programs for every 100 persons that are not counted, according to the NAACP. Studies have established that despite a higher educational level, Black Latin@s are more likely to live below the poverty level than other Latin@s and have the highest unemployment rate.
Afro-Latin@s and Census 2010
Yo Soy
Y Tu Abuela
Facts
Sunday, February 21, 2010
on joe (joseph) stack
The article Terrorism: The Most Meaningless and Manipulated Word by Glenn Greenwald takes a look at the Joseph Stack incident and uses it to underline some of the hypocrisy behind how the term "terrorist" is used today (to delegitimize Muslims).
When I first read about Joseph Stack flying a plane into an Austin office building which housed the local IRS office I pretty much saw him as a Tea Party terrorist. After reading the Joseph Stack Manifesto I have to admit that he does have some left-wing elements to his "ideology" but on balance he seems more like an ordinary "Joe" who has had a series of frustrating Kafka-esque experiences with the bureaucratic IRS. At the same time,there do seem to be some tea party types embracing him as an American hero after the fact.
In any case, even if this particular incident isn't the responsibility of someone clearly in the Tea Party camp, there have certainly been other warning signs that anti-Obama conservative backlash has been becoming more and more aggressive and has the potential for moving in violent directions. (see pray for obama and the murder of george tiller)
See also: I Am Not Saying Joe Stack Is A Teabagger, But He’s A Little Teaish By Casey Gane-McCalla
When I first read about Joseph Stack flying a plane into an Austin office building which housed the local IRS office I pretty much saw him as a Tea Party terrorist. After reading the Joseph Stack Manifesto I have to admit that he does have some left-wing elements to his "ideology" but on balance he seems more like an ordinary "Joe" who has had a series of frustrating Kafka-esque experiences with the bureaucratic IRS. At the same time,there do seem to be some tea party types embracing him as an American hero after the fact.
In any case, even if this particular incident isn't the responsibility of someone clearly in the Tea Party camp, there have certainly been other warning signs that anti-Obama conservative backlash has been becoming more and more aggressive and has the potential for moving in violent directions. (see pray for obama and the murder of george tiller)
See also: I Am Not Saying Joe Stack Is A Teabagger, But He’s A Little Teaish By Casey Gane-McCalla
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
more on tato laviera
It made me terribly sad to hear about Tato's condition and I'm passing this along in hopes that it does some good:
Dear Colleagues,
I write to you with some urgency. You may have heard about Tato
Laviera’s condition. Recently, he had a brain operation to put a shunt
in his brain. Since then, he has been asked to leave his current
residence and is homeless. The attached New York Times article
explains his condition. Please give whatever you can to help provide
Tato with an apartment.
Send your contributions to:
Jesus Laviera
c/o Sanchez-Ramos
225 E. 93rd St. Apt. 8 H
New York, NY 10128
Sincerely,
William
William Luis
Chancellor's Professor of Spanish
Editor, Afro-Hispanic Review
VU Box 351617 Station B
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee 37235-1617
william.luis@vanderbilt.edu
Dear Colleagues,
I write to you with some urgency. You may have heard about Tato
Laviera’s condition. Recently, he had a brain operation to put a shunt
in his brain. Since then, he has been asked to leave his current
residence and is homeless. The attached New York Times article
explains his condition. Please give whatever you can to help provide
Tato with an apartment.
Send your contributions to:
Jesus Laviera
c/o Sanchez-Ramos
225 E. 93rd St. Apt. 8 H
New York, NY 10128
Sincerely,
William
William Luis
Chancellor's Professor of Spanish
Editor, Afro-Hispanic Review
VU Box 351617 Station B
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee 37235-1617
william.luis@vanderbilt.edu
tato laviera
Poet Spans Two Worlds, but Has a Home in Neither
by DAVID GONZALEZ
February 12, 2010
His poems, in countless anthologies and five of his own collections, are considered part of the Latino literary canon. His plays and lectures have earned him honors etched in flowery superlatives on plaques. But Tato Laviera would rather possess a more prosaic document, written in legalese.
A lease.
Mr. Laviera has known his share of troubles in recent years, including diabetes, blindness and dialysis. But in December, life became infinitely more complicated when he underwent emergency brain surgery. Too unsteady to return to his Greenwich Village apartment, he checked into a nursing home for physical therapy.
Two weeks later, he fled.
“You could feel the drugs in the old people, in their sentiments, and I knew that was not Laviera,” he said. “But when my foot hit the sidewalk outside the nursing home, at that moment I knew I was homeless. The honors I had didn’t mean anything anymore.”
Poets, even widely published ones, do not exactly roll in cash. Now, at 59, Mr. Laviera is struggling to find an affordable apartment in the city that has been his home since he moved here from Puerto Rico in 1960.
He has reached out for help to almost a dozen community and housing groups — some of whom were generous with praise but little else. Only one, United Bronx Parents, came to his aid. Lorraine Montenegro, its director, put him in a temporary room at a transitional shelter on Prospect Avenue. She saw it not as a favor, but her duty.
“I just think that when our writers and singers and artists run into hard times, we have to be there for them,” she said. “We can’t forget them. The community that has enjoyed their work for so long has to say, ‘Presente.’ ”
She lamented how fans in the city can be fickle when it comes to helping artists once the spotlight dims. Guadalupe Victoria Yoli Raymond — better known as La Lupe — went from being the Queen of Latin Soul to a destitute existence in the South Bronx. Héctor Lavoe, the Singer of Singers, wasted away penniless in a hospital on the edge of El Barrio, where his songs had once been the soundtrack to daily life.
Since emerging in the early 1980s, Mr. Laviera has been acknowledged as a singular voice whose life and work bridge New York and Puerto Rico. His writings, which pulse to the flowing rhythms of Spanish and English, deal with the tug of allegiances to culture and home, as well as race and language.
Juan Flores, a New York University professor and an early champion, said Mr. Laviera had influenced many others who came after him, “whether they admit it or not.”
“I found his best poetry to be a jewel of New York Puerto Rican expression,” Mr. Flores said. “His way of putting together the relationship between the island and the diaspora was more finely tuned and deeper than others. He took head on the issues of assimilation and cultural preservation and innovation.”
Though seen by some critics as past his prime, Mr. Laviera has kept himself in the public eye by teaching, lecturing and staging “sugar slams,” poetry events to raise awareness about the ravages of diabetes among minorities.
His own health problems deepened one day in December when he suddenly listed to the side and began to fall. Paula La Costa, who had shared her apartment with him since 2004, caught him before he hit the floor. Water on the brain was diagnosed, and the emergency surgery installed a shunt to drain the fluid. But it left him with difficulty moving his left leg.
Both he and Ms. La Costa agreed that he would need a place that was easier to maneuver around. He entered a nursing home, but soon grew alarmed at being surrounded by what he saw as people who were no longer engaged in life, but medicated and killing time.
“I just could not do that,” he said. “So I called my sister and asked her to liberate me.”
But relatives are not able to give him a long-term home. Besides, his urgency comes not just from needing a place to sleep, but a place to write. After a fallow period, his literary output resumed with the 2008 publication of “Mixturao and Other Poems,” his first new poetry collection in almost 20 years. He just completed the 700-page manuscript of a novel, “El Barrio.”
While he earns royalties from his books and anthologized poems, he has left the money untouched, hoping to tap it as a pension when he retires from teaching and touring. His income, he said, is limited. Just like his housing choices.
“It’s not like I’m looking to be subsidized in the realm of upper-middle-class elegance and comfort,” he said. “The terminology for me is ‘affordable.’ And in this city more and more people are just being moved out. My situation has given me whole new affinity for them.
“My eyes are thoroughly open.”
When he started looking for an apartment, he thought he could cash in some of the good will he had earned from a lifetime of community workshops and readings. Among those he approached were several politicians and advocacy groups in East Harlem, the setting of his novel.
The result? He answered with silence and a smile.
“I decided to come to the mainland,” he said. “The Bronx.”
While Ms. Montenegro searches for permanent housing, Mr. Laviera is settling in at the shelter. Over the last week he has slowly moved his belongings into a small room near the entrance of the building, known as Casita Esperanza, or Little House of Hope.
He becomes animated when he talks about his new neighbors, whom he hears as they walk past his room. He has already enlisted some to rehearse his play “Chupacabra Sightings.” He plans to give poetry readings.
“This has opened me up to even more feeling,” he said. “I can create here, and that makes me feel liberated. Being here has given me the spirit of continuity and centrality, and that’s better than a salary.”
by DAVID GONZALEZ
February 12, 2010
His poems, in countless anthologies and five of his own collections, are considered part of the Latino literary canon. His plays and lectures have earned him honors etched in flowery superlatives on plaques. But Tato Laviera would rather possess a more prosaic document, written in legalese.
A lease.
Mr. Laviera has known his share of troubles in recent years, including diabetes, blindness and dialysis. But in December, life became infinitely more complicated when he underwent emergency brain surgery. Too unsteady to return to his Greenwich Village apartment, he checked into a nursing home for physical therapy.
Two weeks later, he fled.
“You could feel the drugs in the old people, in their sentiments, and I knew that was not Laviera,” he said. “But when my foot hit the sidewalk outside the nursing home, at that moment I knew I was homeless. The honors I had didn’t mean anything anymore.”
Poets, even widely published ones, do not exactly roll in cash. Now, at 59, Mr. Laviera is struggling to find an affordable apartment in the city that has been his home since he moved here from Puerto Rico in 1960.
He has reached out for help to almost a dozen community and housing groups — some of whom were generous with praise but little else. Only one, United Bronx Parents, came to his aid. Lorraine Montenegro, its director, put him in a temporary room at a transitional shelter on Prospect Avenue. She saw it not as a favor, but her duty.
“I just think that when our writers and singers and artists run into hard times, we have to be there for them,” she said. “We can’t forget them. The community that has enjoyed their work for so long has to say, ‘Presente.’ ”
She lamented how fans in the city can be fickle when it comes to helping artists once the spotlight dims. Guadalupe Victoria Yoli Raymond — better known as La Lupe — went from being the Queen of Latin Soul to a destitute existence in the South Bronx. Héctor Lavoe, the Singer of Singers, wasted away penniless in a hospital on the edge of El Barrio, where his songs had once been the soundtrack to daily life.
Since emerging in the early 1980s, Mr. Laviera has been acknowledged as a singular voice whose life and work bridge New York and Puerto Rico. His writings, which pulse to the flowing rhythms of Spanish and English, deal with the tug of allegiances to culture and home, as well as race and language.
Juan Flores, a New York University professor and an early champion, said Mr. Laviera had influenced many others who came after him, “whether they admit it or not.”
“I found his best poetry to be a jewel of New York Puerto Rican expression,” Mr. Flores said. “His way of putting together the relationship between the island and the diaspora was more finely tuned and deeper than others. He took head on the issues of assimilation and cultural preservation and innovation.”
Though seen by some critics as past his prime, Mr. Laviera has kept himself in the public eye by teaching, lecturing and staging “sugar slams,” poetry events to raise awareness about the ravages of diabetes among minorities.
His own health problems deepened one day in December when he suddenly listed to the side and began to fall. Paula La Costa, who had shared her apartment with him since 2004, caught him before he hit the floor. Water on the brain was diagnosed, and the emergency surgery installed a shunt to drain the fluid. But it left him with difficulty moving his left leg.
Both he and Ms. La Costa agreed that he would need a place that was easier to maneuver around. He entered a nursing home, but soon grew alarmed at being surrounded by what he saw as people who were no longer engaged in life, but medicated and killing time.
“I just could not do that,” he said. “So I called my sister and asked her to liberate me.”
But relatives are not able to give him a long-term home. Besides, his urgency comes not just from needing a place to sleep, but a place to write. After a fallow period, his literary output resumed with the 2008 publication of “Mixturao and Other Poems,” his first new poetry collection in almost 20 years. He just completed the 700-page manuscript of a novel, “El Barrio.”
While he earns royalties from his books and anthologized poems, he has left the money untouched, hoping to tap it as a pension when he retires from teaching and touring. His income, he said, is limited. Just like his housing choices.
“It’s not like I’m looking to be subsidized in the realm of upper-middle-class elegance and comfort,” he said. “The terminology for me is ‘affordable.’ And in this city more and more people are just being moved out. My situation has given me whole new affinity for them.
“My eyes are thoroughly open.”
When he started looking for an apartment, he thought he could cash in some of the good will he had earned from a lifetime of community workshops and readings. Among those he approached were several politicians and advocacy groups in East Harlem, the setting of his novel.
The result? He answered with silence and a smile.
“I decided to come to the mainland,” he said. “The Bronx.”
While Ms. Montenegro searches for permanent housing, Mr. Laviera is settling in at the shelter. Over the last week he has slowly moved his belongings into a small room near the entrance of the building, known as Casita Esperanza, or Little House of Hope.
He becomes animated when he talks about his new neighbors, whom he hears as they walk past his room. He has already enlisted some to rehearse his play “Chupacabra Sightings.” He plans to give poetry readings.
“This has opened me up to even more feeling,” he said. “I can create here, and that makes me feel liberated. Being here has given me the spirit of continuity and centrality, and that’s better than a salary.”
Monday, February 15, 2010
worst. company. ever.
Just yesterday I thought I'd check out the online journal In These Times and instead got a Page Not Found error message from Comcast (I'm a subscriber). At first I started to wonder if In These Times had suddenly gone out of business but then I eventually realized that Comcast was deliberately blocking In These Times because because of the articles:
Comcast Launches ‘TV Everywhere’: Say Goodbye to Free Web TV — In These Times
and also: Comcast: Worst. Company. Ever.
It is a small reminder of the dangers of corporations and the limitations (and censorship) of corporate media. It makes me wonder how the current story of Toyota's car acceleration problems would be covered if Toyota was American-owned.
More on Comcast from The Consumerist
Comcast Launches ‘TV Everywhere’: Say Goodbye to Free Web TV — In These Times
and also: Comcast: Worst. Company. Ever.
It is a small reminder of the dangers of corporations and the limitations (and censorship) of corporate media. It makes me wonder how the current story of Toyota's car acceleration problems would be covered if Toyota was American-owned.
More on Comcast from The Consumerist
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Sunday, February 07, 2010
mami el negro (el africano) part two
Out of historical interest and a desire for completeness, here is THE ORIGINAL version of "El Africano" (which is the only one I've heard with a female vocalist)
And an interview with Calixto Ochoa about the story behind the song:
See also:
mami el negro esta rabioso (el africano)
And an interview with Calixto Ochoa about the story behind the song:
See also:
mami el negro esta rabioso (el africano)
all terrorists are muslims... except the 94% that aren't
Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Soil by Group,
From 1980 to 2005, According to FBI database
From 1980 to 2005, According to FBI database
A couple of interesting links:
From Loonwatch: All Terrorists are Muslims... Except the 94% that Aren't summarizes an updated FBI report of terrorist acts on US soil. As you can see for yourself from the above pie graph, among the counter-stereotypical results are: 1) Only 6% of the terrorist acts on US soil in the period covered were committed by Muslims. 2) In fact, slightly more terrorist acts were committed by Jewish groups. And finally, 3) the largest category of groups associated with acts of terrorism in the US is apparently Latino! (although this includes both far-right anti-Castro terrorist groups and left-leaning pro-Puerto Rican independence groups)
Also CNN recently reported in Study: Threat of Muslim-American terrorism in U.S. exaggerated the results of a study funded by the Department of Justice which looks at how to prevent the radicalization of Muslim youth in America. The original study can be found at: Anti-Terror Lessons of Muslim-Americans
And finally, Stephen M. Walt gives one of the more candid answers to the "Why Do They Hate Us?" question in his article: Why they hate us (ii): How many Muslims has the US killed in the past 30 years?
hat tip to the Anonymous Arabist
Sunday, January 31, 2010
imam luqman had been hadcuffed and shot 21 times
January 30, 2010. Late last night Fox news of southeastern Michigan reported they had uncovered confidential information into the autopsy report of Imam Luqman. After ninety-days of requests by the community, appeals by politicians and community leaders and many articles and press, the community gets some answers.
Fox revealed that the Imam was shot 21 times including the chest and the back. Most of the shots were below the waist and even in the groin area. They reported he was handcuffed.
There are some speculations by Fox as to why he might have been shot in the back, but also to what really happened to the dog. They raise suspicions by saying that "how do we know that the dog wasn't killed by a shot by the FBI." There is no known report of a necropsy conducted on the dog to help establish fact.
The Police Chief in Dearborn, Michigan will have a press conference on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 10:30 AM.
There are still many unanswered questions. Given the autopsy results, surely more questions will be raised.
see also:
remembering imam luqman
Fox revealed that the Imam was shot 21 times including the chest and the back. Most of the shots were below the waist and even in the groin area. They reported he was handcuffed.
There are some speculations by Fox as to why he might have been shot in the back, but also to what really happened to the dog. They raise suspicions by saying that "how do we know that the dog wasn't killed by a shot by the FBI." There is no known report of a necropsy conducted on the dog to help establish fact.
The Police Chief in Dearborn, Michigan will have a press conference on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 10:30 AM.
There are still many unanswered questions. Given the autopsy results, surely more questions will be raised.
see also:
remembering imam luqman
a political ideological perspective for afro-latinos
Black Thoughts: A Political Ideological Perspective for Afro Latinos by Kevin Alberto Sabioi is a brief overview of Pan-Africanism/ Afro-Centrism/ African Internationalism as it applies to Latinos along with some specific links and references.
Friday, January 29, 2010
legion
I also caught the movie Legion at a midnight opening last week. The film had its interesting moments but overall it wasn't very well made and I definitely could have waited for it to appear in the bargain DVD bin at Blockbuster.
Legion is a dark and twisted Christmas card on film. The premise: God has lost faith in humanity so He orders the angelic hosts to bring on the apocalypse. We see darkness, swarms of insects and other phenomena, but mostly we see angels possess other human beings (e.g. the foul-mouthed, wall-crawling old lady prominently featured in the commercials).
God has created a special child who will possibly be born to a pregnant waitress in a diner and could somehow oppose and counter-act the apocalypse. But then in a spectacular example of logic, He also orders the archangel Michael to kill this self-same child before it is born.
The interesting thing is that Michael ends up being almost a perfect inversion of the Islamic concept of the devil by refusing this command. At one point he even announces that when God made mankind he was the first angel to bow down to the the crowning glory of God's creation (as opposed to Iblis in the Quran who refuses to bow down to Adam). And to add another level to the inversion, just as al-Hallaj suggested that the commandment to bow was more a test of the purity of the devil's monotheism than a straightforward order, in Legion, the commandment to bring on the apocalypse was really a test of compassion (which Michael passes) by holding on to his faith in humanity.
see also:
the devil and al-hallaj
Unfortunately, this one interesting aspect is outweighed by the film's various flaws including: 1) There is way too much violence given that the film is ultimately a fable on compassion. 2) Unlike the film The Prophecy which was able to portray angels with a dark side with the right amount of tension, most of the "angels" in Legion just appear creepy and demonic. 3) More specifically, the angel-possessed crowds basically made Legion reminiscent of a zombie movie. But then the massive crowds clearly could have overwhelmed the heroes in the dinner and it isn't plausible that our heroes would last as long as they do.
Legion is a dark and twisted Christmas card on film. The premise: God has lost faith in humanity so He orders the angelic hosts to bring on the apocalypse. We see darkness, swarms of insects and other phenomena, but mostly we see angels possess other human beings (e.g. the foul-mouthed, wall-crawling old lady prominently featured in the commercials).
God has created a special child who will possibly be born to a pregnant waitress in a diner and could somehow oppose and counter-act the apocalypse. But then in a spectacular example of logic, He also orders the archangel Michael to kill this self-same child before it is born.
The interesting thing is that Michael ends up being almost a perfect inversion of the Islamic concept of the devil by refusing this command. At one point he even announces that when God made mankind he was the first angel to bow down to the the crowning glory of God's creation (as opposed to Iblis in the Quran who refuses to bow down to Adam). And to add another level to the inversion, just as al-Hallaj suggested that the commandment to bow was more a test of the purity of the devil's monotheism than a straightforward order, in Legion, the commandment to bring on the apocalypse was really a test of compassion (which Michael passes) by holding on to his faith in humanity.
see also:
the devil and al-hallaj
Unfortunately, this one interesting aspect is outweighed by the film's various flaws including: 1) There is way too much violence given that the film is ultimately a fable on compassion. 2) Unlike the film The Prophecy which was able to portray angels with a dark side with the right amount of tension, most of the "angels" in Legion just appear creepy and demonic. 3) More specifically, the angel-possessed crowds basically made Legion reminiscent of a zombie movie. But then the massive crowds clearly could have overwhelmed the heroes in the dinner and it isn't plausible that our heroes would last as long as they do.
Monday, January 25, 2010
the book of eli
I recently saw The Book of Eli on the Friday it opened. Personally, I really liked the setting and look of the film. The filmmakers managed to depict a really intriguing vision of a post-apocalyptic (some might even say post-Rapture) world. And Washington's character, Eli, is compelling as a sort of Christian Samurai who has been entrusted with a mission to take the last copy of the King James Bible out to the "West" in order to catalyze the rebirth of civilization.
One hole in the plot lies in the motivations of Gary Oldman's character, Carnegie (named perhaps after Dale Carnegie, author of the bestselling How to Win Friends and Influence People?) Carnegie is in charge of an unnamed desert town and is looking for the Bible as a tool and a weapon which will allow him greater control over the people around him. But what is surprising is that given Carnegie is so cynical, and given the widespread illiteracy, blindness and lack of memory in this post-apocalyptic world, why couldn't Carnegie simply make up a new religion? Or why wouldn't we see new religions fill-in the void left behind by the absence of the older faiths (along the lines of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Talents or Parable of the Sower)?
The other feature of the film which detracted from me enjoying it fully was the fact that it was ultimately too preachy. The film takes place in a world where some form of Christianity is evidently true. What is ironic is that the narrowness and exclusiveness of the film's perspective is actually most evident in a scene which was probably intended to be a PC "fig leaf" on the movie. At the end of the film we see a Bible being placed on a bookshelf among copies of the Tanakh and Torah (which are essentially already contained in the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible) and a Yusuf Ali translation of the Quran. On the surface this seems to suggest that the Bible is one great book among other great books. But on further reflection a subtle criticism is implied; after all those other books were apparently not sufficient to properly restart civilization. Which is why God found it necessary to supernaturally guide and protect Eli on his mission to preserve the King James version of the Bible.
Interview with Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis by Sara Shereen Bakhshian
Is Book of Eli A Christian Movie? An Interview with the Hughes Brothers
One hole in the plot lies in the motivations of Gary Oldman's character, Carnegie (named perhaps after Dale Carnegie, author of the bestselling How to Win Friends and Influence People?) Carnegie is in charge of an unnamed desert town and is looking for the Bible as a tool and a weapon which will allow him greater control over the people around him. But what is surprising is that given Carnegie is so cynical, and given the widespread illiteracy, blindness and lack of memory in this post-apocalyptic world, why couldn't Carnegie simply make up a new religion? Or why wouldn't we see new religions fill-in the void left behind by the absence of the older faiths (along the lines of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Talents or Parable of the Sower)?
The other feature of the film which detracted from me enjoying it fully was the fact that it was ultimately too preachy. The film takes place in a world where some form of Christianity is evidently true. What is ironic is that the narrowness and exclusiveness of the film's perspective is actually most evident in a scene which was probably intended to be a PC "fig leaf" on the movie. At the end of the film we see a Bible being placed on a bookshelf among copies of the Tanakh and Torah (which are essentially already contained in the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible) and a Yusuf Ali translation of the Quran. On the surface this seems to suggest that the Bible is one great book among other great books. But on further reflection a subtle criticism is implied; after all those other books were apparently not sufficient to properly restart civilization. Which is why God found it necessary to supernaturally guide and protect Eli on his mission to preserve the King James version of the Bible.
Interview with Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis by Sara Shereen Bakhshian
Is Book of Eli A Christian Movie? An Interview with the Hughes Brothers
the war before - safiya bukhari
I've blogged about Safiya Bukhari before (see: black cats who became muslim and imprisoned intellectuals) and have been curious to find out more about her for a while so I'm especially excited to add The War Before to my reading list.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
praise the lord and pass the ammo
A basic and central question which Muslims and Americans have to come to terms with is the following: To what extent is or isn't the US "War on Global Terror" a War on Islam?
I'm not going to pretend to answer that question here except to say that while I'm fairly certain that Barack Obama and other key individuals in his administration are clear on the distinction between the two "wars" and realize how important it is to maintain it, it is also clear that a good chunk of folks in the military-industrial complex are very confused about the distinction and are all too cavalier about letting one slip into the other.
This latter fact is most recently exemplified in the revelation that Trijicom, a Christian-owned manufacturer of military hardware which is currently providing equipment to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has been putting Biblical references on some of its products.
Alternet: Shocking Report: U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes
AFP: Muslim anger over US military 'Jesus' scopes
Military Religious Freedom Foundation's round-up of articles on the Trijicom story.
Planet Grenada: 10 ways the us military has shoved christianity down muslims' throats
I'm not going to pretend to answer that question here except to say that while I'm fairly certain that Barack Obama and other key individuals in his administration are clear on the distinction between the two "wars" and realize how important it is to maintain it, it is also clear that a good chunk of folks in the military-industrial complex are very confused about the distinction and are all too cavalier about letting one slip into the other.
This latter fact is most recently exemplified in the revelation that Trijicom, a Christian-owned manufacturer of military hardware which is currently providing equipment to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has been putting Biblical references on some of its products.
Alternet: Shocking Report: U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes
AFP: Muslim anger over US military 'Jesus' scopes
Military Religious Freedom Foundation's round-up of articles on the Trijicom story.
Planet Grenada: 10 ways the us military has shoved christianity down muslims' throats
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
remembering imam luqman
I had started to blog on this a few months ago and was tempted connect it to the Fort Hood shootings and was going to put together a series of thoughts on radicalization and Islam and the Black community. But to be honest, it just wasn't happening.
As I read the articles again, I'm struck by the resonances with Martin Luther King Jr's assassination. Context is everything.
Remembering Imam Luqman Abdullah By Imam Zaid Shakir.
And see also: Death of a Detroit Imam Leaves Many Questions Unanswered by Hamdan Azhar
As I read the articles again, I'm struck by the resonances with Martin Luther King Jr's assassination. Context is everything.
Remembering Imam Luqman Abdullah By Imam Zaid Shakir.
And see also: Death of a Detroit Imam Leaves Many Questions Unanswered by Hamdan Azhar
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