anni
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Post by anni on Sept 22, 2009 18:58:05 GMT -8
Jeanne asked Brian to post this flyer here -- so he asked me: Perhaps Jeanne will add some words to go with it.
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Post by Jeanne on Sept 22, 2009 19:44:17 GMT -8
Thanks for getting the flyer up, Anni. It was beyond copying and pasting and I admire and appreciate your skill.
It's for an event on 10/25 about the connection between Islamophobia in our culture since 9/11 and the apparent willingness of the majority of Americans to accept the atrocities of torture as necessary. I recall that Bush said it was worth it if it "saved American lives." The discussion is being organized by Virginia Classick who has organized local events for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. There are other local interfaith groups involved. I think it will be informative for those who would like to understand the problem better, encouraging for those who are frustrated by the outrageous practices and are looking for ways to express that. If anyone wants to carpool, let me know.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 1, 2009 1:08:54 GMT -8
Anni and I have been talking about going on Oct. 25, not just because it's on a Sunday at a convenient time and we can drive there with Jeanne. Dr. Maher Hathout is speaking. We'll be able to plan for sure in a week or two. That's one beautiful flyer that we had to reduce to fit in this thread. Here's the complete list of organizations: Sponsored by the Los Angeles Region Religious Campaign Against Torture, the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California and the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group of Southern California. Co-sponsored by ICUJP (Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace), PCU (Progressive Christians Uniting), the Program Group on Ecumenical and Interreligious concerns of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the Peace and Justice Program Group of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 14, 2009 23:05:46 GMT -8
I've had this event in mind since Jeanne sent us this flyer digitally last month -- and Anni and I want to go. However, I checked my calendar, aka the Major League Baseball schedule online, and I cannot commit. Oct. 25 is the date of the seventh game of the World Series. If the Dodgers are eliminated next week, I can definitely plan to hear Dr. Hathout that Sunday. What a horrible thing to hope for. Meanwhile, here's some more background from Virginia Classick's e-mail that brought us that fine image: History is full of examples of how atrocities have been committed against people who have first been demonized and scapegoated. Since 9-11, phrases such as “Islamoterrorist” and “Islamofascist” have become commonplace. Since 9-11, many people from the Middle East, and many Muslims, in U.S. custody have been tortured and treated in a cruel, inhuman and degrading way. While there have been pockets of outrage, many people in this country have been silent. How will history judge us? This program will raise our awareness about Islamophobia and torture and provide resources and opportunities for moving forward together in confronting the twin evils of Islamophobia and torture. Dr. George Hunsinger, founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, has said, “Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear. Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation." It is around the issue of torture that we look clearly at the erosion of our national soul, and where people of faith and conscience examine their deepest values and beliefs.
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Post by Jeanne on Oct 16, 2009 19:38:22 GMT -8
I've had this event in mind since Jeanne sent us this flyer digitally last month -- and Anni and I want to go. However, I checked my calendar, aka the Major League Baseball schedule online, and I cannot commit. Oct. 25 is the date of the seventh game of the World Series. If the Dodgers are eliminated next week, I can definitely plan to hear Dr. Hathout that Sunday. What a horrible thing to hope for. It's not on the level of Sophie's Choice, Brian, but I feel your conflict. I like to imagine a world where the Great American Pastime is baseball and not torture. If your boys are playing that day, perhaps you could encourage that peaceful endeavor and I will look into the darker expression of our culture.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 18, 2009 23:00:08 GMT -8
Jeanne, I totally misread the baseball schedule. It's embarrassing, but the National League will be done Saturday at the latest, unless it rains on Chavez Ravine. So Anni and I will attend and we'd like to carpool.
Anybody else want to go? Here's most of the e-mail sent by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture last Thursday on behalf of its Los Angeles Region -- I posted the list of sponsors earlier in this thread:
The Intersection of Islamophobia and U.S.-Sponsored Torture Sunday, Oct. 25 3:00-5:00 PM St. John's Cathedral, 514 W. Adams (at Figueroa) Los Angeles
Please join us as communities of faith and conscience come together to confront U.S.-Sponsored torture. This program will consider how the demonizing of Muslims and others from the Middle East since 9-11 has contributed to attitudes toward torture of detainees in U.S. custody. Resources for interfaith dialogue, including the new Standing Together curriculum produced by the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group of Southern California, will be introduced. A variety of ways that individuals and faith communities can take action in relation to U.S.-Sponsored torture will be presented. Speakers will be Dr. Malek Moazzam-Doulat, Professor of Religious Studies at Occidental College, and Dr. Maher Hathout, Senior Advisor at the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Mu'azzin Abdelwahab Ben Youcet, Rabbi Lisa Edwards, Imam Jihad Turk, The Rev. Canon Dr. Gwynne Guibord and The Rev. Canon Daniel Ade will lead us in interfaith prayer. For further information contact: Virginia Classick, Coordinator, LARRCAT (Los Angeles Region Religious Campaign Against Torture) at vclassick@aol.com or 818-225-0410.
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Post by Paige on Oct 19, 2009 6:36:34 GMT -8
I'm planning to go, too, Brian. Also probably Mary Ann from our church - have you met her? Part of the Read & Practice Peacemaking group - with a story that gives her a specific perspective on this topic.
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anni
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Post by anni on Oct 24, 2009 17:54:30 GMT -8
This sounds informative as well as good company! We're meeting in the parking lot of the Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church, at 2:00pm Sun. Oct 25!
We're going to:
The Intersection of Islamophobia and U.S.-Sponsored Torture Sunday, Oct. 25 3:00-5:00 PM St. John's Cathedral, 514 W. Adams (at Figueroa) Los Angeles
Meet us at the church at 2:00 if you wanna car pool, too!
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 25, 2009 23:51:22 GMT -8
We first heard Dr. Maher Hathout speak last February. He opened his talk Sunday afternoon by saying he's "alarmed this torture business is still unfinished." The cosponsors and organizers of the interfaith gathering in St. John's Cathedral at Adams and Figueroa -- "The Intersection of Islamophobia and Torture" -- seek to finish it by furthering ties among different religions locally and raising the consciousness of their congregants, a program started in 2006 by the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group of Southern California. Dr. Malek Moazzam-Doulat of the Occidental College's religious studies department read portions of the International Red Cross report that came out early this year to bring home how our government treated Muslims we regarded as both superhuman and subhuman. Here's the link to the nine-minute You Tube video, "Planet of the Arabs, that he mentioned: Besides the chance to meet and hang out with others who want to do something to address this "crime committed by all of us," to quote Dr. Hathout, we came to hear the doc, who filled my notebook with truths worth repeating in only ten minutes. I'll have to follow up tomorrow to keep this post from running too long -- and I welcome everything anyone else has to say. Thanks to Jeanne for letting Anni and me know about this event, and Paige and Mary Ann for going with us. We were delighted to met Jenny and Edmond from Paige's church. And kudos to Virginia Classick for advancing this cause with her insightful and incisive programs.
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Post by Jeanne on Oct 26, 2009 20:02:46 GMT -8
Thanks for the report on yesterday's gathering, Brian. It was good to hear the well informed, passionate talks and to be among so many already working on the problem. I was impressed by Dr. Hathout's statement that torture and democracy are incompatible and that a country that practices torture will not be able to maintain democracy. His experience is Egypt in the last century. I am wondering about other examples of democracies gone bad.
Preparing for our peacemakers presentation, I was glad to know that Julia Ward Howe in her efforts at prison reform spoke out against the flogging of prisoners. "...no man could be made better by being degraded."
Good news on Mott the Hoople. Reconciliation Rocks.
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