Hey JC, won’t you smile for me?

halur, does your parish priest have a gift for me??

Farzana, you deserve one, but sorry. I do not get along with him and avoid him whenever possible.

halur, does your parish priest have a gift for me??

Farzana, you deserve one, but sorry. I do not get along with him and avoid him whenever possible.

Dear dost-mittar

Where have you been? I saw you in chowk after a long time. I intend to visit India soon, which has been my life`s desire, availing the oppotunity of visiting my grand-mother land offered by Indian Government`s recent announcement of allowing viza-free visit to citizens of Pakistan above 65. Can I see you there? If so please let me know your contact addresses - home, email, phone number, etc. at my following email address: -

talawat_shah@yahoo.co.in

As for the article I have the same feeling as expreesed by you. Farzana is indeed a great thinker and a great writer. But I won`t suggest her to write in the same vain about the Prophet of Islam. Though he had called himself a `Bashar` (a human being) and was in fact more human than any other prophet, but the Madrissa-production of today, at least in Pakistan, may treat it as a blasphemy with very terroristic consequences.

Very interesting article. Can`t really leave an educated comment, as Jesus and Christianity are two subjects (or is it one subject?) I know very little about. But thanks for the book recommendation.

``To those who might be remotely curious: I am interested in religions as political entities, as socio-psychological phenomena and how they impact our daily lives. Religion as religion is a deeply private matter and should be confined to the deep recesses of one`s mind and heart.``(FV)

Amen to that -- Farzana Versey -- with all my heart -- WISH you a great and a very HAPPY -- refreshingly rebellious -- inimitably iconoclastic -- pedestal breaking -- hero toppling - prophet humanizing -- YEAR 2005...

indeed -- we can take religion out of politics -- but we can never take politics out.......

Happy new year to Chowk readers, writers, inter-actors, and staff. May you see many more.

Mohammad Gill

Before this board disappears...I really wish I had been more active here, instead of fruitless acitivity elsewhere. But no point in regretting. I can only reiterate that to make prophets human gives divinity a greater accessibility, for those who wish to touch it. Those who want to stay afar and look up to it, it is a choice you make.

The very fact that the term prophet is used in common parlance should adequately convey this humanising fact.

To those who might be remotely curious: I am interested in religions as political entities, as socio-psychological phenomena and how they impact our daily lives. Religion as religion is a deeply private matter and should be confined to the deep recesses of one`s mind and heart.

Thank you all for the different points of view, the secular carols, the odes (nah, no one thanked me for the po`m on Mo!)...and I won`t wish only one community...I think all of you need to have a ball and kiss the mistletoe! (``only the lonely know...``)

Of course, I am not taking a break nor giving you one, so grin and bear it...

Regards,
Farzana

PS: For a `blasphemer`, I managed to get one person to go to Church...halur, does your parish priest have a gift for me??

re. digit #63

Hey, by no means is it an open-and-shut case that the bible considers Jesus the Son of Gos in the sense that it is now generally understood by 99 percent of practising Christians.

You write:
``I mean, we Muslims recast Christ all the time, however a fundamental link to God is still there...that`s simply undeniable. Naw, the idea of the Gospels espousing a Christ that was just another priest seems more far fetched to me than virgin births and miracles do to others here... ``

Well, Heres something you might find an interesting read, on the subject.

re. ``So what`s the deal here? The media stunts and books...sounds more like Jesus as a prop for entertainment or an imaginary drinking buddy rather than iconoclasm. ``

Well, forget iconoclasm (presumably for it`s own sake?) -- maybe some of us are jsut looking for the truth? Or at least the truth as was perceived by those who were actually touched and moved by the historical figure?

A very Happy Christmas to you too, halur. Hope whatever good feelings it brings your way lasts well into the new year!

M.B.Z.Isphahani

Do you have an L K Advani fetish?

For your information, true Vedantist does not have any prophecy of evil. Do what you want with your language but keep your facts straight.

I attended christmas service after years of not having stepped inside a church. Farzana, you are responsible -:).
Happy christmas everybody.

nasah #80 Ha! ha! Good one! Just for this, all your past sins on chowk are forgiven.

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dost mittar #75 Far be it for me to come between a man and his search for divinity - whether it be sufi music or any other form of music the ``food of the gods`` or anything else.

I dont know what services they provide at ajmer - but I would never trust an organization that claims to multi-task by providing spiritual as well as temporal relief. As such, I suspect that the ``overhead costs`` of that langar would be much greater than a well run run-of-the-mill charity and so I would rather give money to a charity which holds honesty to be more important than spirituality. As for masjid funds, I stopped contributing to them more than a decade ago - for the same reason I tossed away the fund-raising letter from ajmer: there is no accountability, and from all indications the money is misspent. True faith does not require money to prop it up. Only the man who makes money out of people`s fears by claiming to bring them closer to God needs such donations.

SR: The secularized christmas carol (a contradiction in terms of course, but what the heck) was certainly something one can drink to - even if the drink is non-alcoholic in case of us muslims as well as the more enlightened non-muslims :-)

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