World of a Pariah

Admirable work, Kinza

Hope the fire and passion isn`t doused in the probable mediocrity of a CIS job later :)

Thanks, an please keep writing/sending to chowk.

rgds,

PM

Salvation Army Against Gays `

http://uspolitics.about.com/library/weekly/aa071001a.htm?PM=n3071101a

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Salvation Army`s Anti-Gay Partners

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Exclusive from About.com:

The Salvation Army and anti-gay groups of the religious right have a closer relationship than was previously realized by the majority of the world`s gay community, in addition to other civil rights supporters.

In addition to the front-page news in today`s Washington Post that the Salvation Army cut an under-the-table secret deal with the Bush Administration to ensure the President`s support for the Salvation Army`s policy of discriminating against gays and lesbians, it was discovered today that the Salvation Army is a ``partner`` of a Christian Web portal, Christianity.com, that not only houses the Salvation Army`s US Web site, but also the Web sites of lead ex-gay organization Exodus International and Pat Robertson`s Christian Broadcast Network. And it appears that Christianity.com is not simply a warehouse for the Web sites, but that there is in fact some commingling between the Christianity.com partners - for example, Christianity.com`s home page has a lead story about converting gay people to heterosexuals, and it is written by Bob Davies, the Executive Director of Exodus, another Christianity.com partner.

[FYI - The Salvation Army`s main international Web site posts the link to the US-based subsidiary (bottom of the page), and that link takes you directly to Christianity.com. network.]

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Even without the anti-gay Web portal story, the Salvation Army was already in hot water as a result of breaking the news that an internal Salvation Army document obtained by the Washington Post details how the White House has made a ``firm commitment`` to the Salvation Army to issue a regulation that would in effect overturn local civil rights laws protecting individuals from being fired based on their sexual orientation, and providing them domestic-partner benefits, at least as the laws apply to ``religious charities`` such as the Salvation Army. In turn, the Salvation Army agreed to support Bush`s troubled faith-based initiative that even conservative Christians have expressed concerns about. The Post also reports that this deal is indicative of the fact that ``President Bush is willing to achieve through regulation ends too controversial to survive the legislative process.``

The internal Salvation Army document makes no bones about it`s anti-gay policy. The Post quotes a senior Salvation Army official saying that the hiring of gays and lesbians ``really begins to chew away at the theological fabric of who we are.``

However, that justification seems at odds with Bush`s charitable choice proposal implementing his faith-based initiative, as the proposal already includes language banning religious charities from discriminating against individuals based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability - but not sexual orientation. By telling religious charities that they can not discriminate against individuals based on those minority characteristics, the Bush Administration is already impinging on the religious freedom of organizations who do not want to hire other minorities. So, the ``freedom of religion`` argument as it pertains to hiring gays seems to be a bit of a red herring, as that freedom was already lost in Bush`s proposal. The Bush proposal endorsed by the Salvation Army appears to single out only one minority group, and that is gays and lesbians...

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The question remains to what degree these revelations will hurt the Salvation Army. It is a distinct possibility that gay and lesbian contributors, and their families and friends, will be less likely to help the Army in the future, but private companies such as Sequoia Capital (who also funded Apple, Cisco and Yahoo), Christianity.com`s lead investor (see second to last paragraph of release), could feel some heat as well, as the public becomes aware of Sequoia`s links to Christianity.com.People of faith may be concerned about the Christianity.com link as well. Christianity.com in its mission statement (see third to last paragraph) specifically states that ``Christianity.com focuses on helping Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox organizations do more online.`` No word on what happens when people of faith from other mainstream religions like Jews and Muslims attempt to join the community run by the Salvation Army`s partner. This is particularly ironic as one would suppose the Salvation Army is at least in part motivated in the sexual orientation debate by a premise that people of faith should not face discrimination based on their religious beliefs. Gays and lesbians are also likely to find little solace in Exodus` Christianity.com home page that includes stories such as ``Is AIDS God`s Judgment Against Homosexuals?`` and ``What Can I Do To Make a Gay Person Change?``In the end, even the Salvation Army acknowledges that their anti-gay position could hurt their public image if it even became known. The Post notes that the leaked Salvation Army report says: ``The Salvation Army`s role [in the anti-gay effort] will be a surprise to many in the media,`` and the report urges efforts to ``minimize the possibility of any `leak` to the media.`` Their anti-gay stance could also hurt the Salvation Army in an unlikely endeavor. The organization`s affiliation with a Web site that appears to favor some religions over others - not to mention the Army`s desire to use its religious status as justification for discrimination - would seem to contradict the position the organization has staked out in its battle against the Russian government. The Times of London reported that the Salvation Army is in danger of being kicked out of Russia because, among other reasons, the Russian parliament passed legislation requiring all but four mainstream religions to re-register with the government, and apparently the Salvation Army is not included among the four prefered religions listed in the legislation. If the Salvation Army wants to consider itself a religious group, and enshrine the right of religions to discriminate, then why not extend that same right to religiously-motivated discrimination to the Russian Orthodox church as well? Not to mention, the Salvation Army`s partner, Christianity.com, also seems to favor some religions over others, so what`s the difference when the Russians do it? Perhaps the difference is that the Salvation Army is now on the receiving end of prejudice.

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AAmir # 22

Great people, great talent, great use of that talent! Kudos.

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Reply #: 12

Aamir

Nooo aamir i didnot forget to fast this ramadan :P

``May be not to that extent ,but we do try to appreciate the absence of food ,water & some luxuries for a month ,for which it is intended.``

Yes i know thats why i wrote *often *.. we only appreciate the absence of food,water etc in ramadan .. or when theres some shortage of these things in our household... but these homeless ppl live each day thinking if theyd get any food tomorrow... and when they do get food .... its not enough to satisfy their hunger!!..

`Pervez did salute Vajpayee`

Mubashir Zaidi

Islamabad, July 9

GENERAL PERVEZ Musharraf and the other two Pakistani services chiefs did salute Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the latter`s visit to Lahore in February 1999, the information minister in the then Nawaz Sharif government, Mushahid Hussain Syed has cla



Dwelling on the controversy over Musharraf`s alleged refusal to receive the Indian Prime Minister during his Lahore visit, Mushahid wrote in an article in Herald`s July issue that when Vajpayee`s chopper landed in Governor House, Lahore, all the three services chiefs saluted him.

“The three services chiefs, attired in uniform, were waiting to greet him (Vajpayee) on the lawn. All three — General Pervez Musharraf (Army Chief), Air Chief Air Marshal Pervez Mehdi and Navy Chief Admiral Fasih Bokhari — smartly saluted the Indian Prime Minister. Strangely enough, there were no cameras to record this scene.

“They escorted him to the living room, where they joined him for tea and withdrew after he (Vajpayee) retired to his room. So the salute did take place, not at Wagah in the full public glare, but in the intimacy and serene sarroundings of the Governor House lawns,” Mushahid claimed.

Hinting that the Army was against the Sharif-Vajpayee initiative, the former minister said Musharraf would be negotiating with Vajpayee in Agra from a position of greater domestic strength.

“Sharif was then subject to a double jeopardy of sorts, having to ‘sell’ the India initiative to a doubting establishment and its political allies who were already crying ‘treason’ before coming out on the streets to protest Vajpayee’s arrival in Lahore.”

Lauding Vajpayee, Mushahid said he showed tremendous gra-ce during his visit. ``He had dem-onstrated goodwill for Pakistan in 1978 as well, when he visited the country as foreign minister of the Janata government.”

Summit may unite divided Kashmiri families: Bhutto

PAKISTANI OPPOSITION leader Benazir Bhutto has said the coming summit between India and Pakistan would not bring peace to Kashmir, but could allow movement between the peoples of the divided state.

“I hope that I am proved wrong, but I do not see any breakthrough (in the Kashmir dispute),” Bhutto said in an interview with Pakistan`s Dawn newspaper in London.

“As a result of the talks, only the divided families of the Kashmiris on the two sides of the Line of Control would be able to meet each other,” said Bhutto, in exile in Britain.

Bhutto said Musharraf was not an elected leader and therefore could not represent the people of Pakistan.-IANS, Islamabad

Aamir - ``A self confessed indian,determining ``genuine Pakistani``???!!!!!!``

so am i right??

waisey am of the opinion that food knows no boundaries - y/ours whats the difference as long as it is palatable. But somehow ours tastes much better : )

Mona - i was going to put up an ``Ajit`` joke - one of my favs but am v baad at relating jokes and oft forget the punchline so ok will respect your wishes : )

Kinza - Nice poem! In India I always thought poverty was something you are born into. Anyone with a decent livelihood could never descend into taht hopelessness - here that is not the case - you find educated people somehow taking a wrong turn and keep heading in that direction. Well atleast society offers tjem a shot at pulling themselces out whereas in III world countries they really dont stand a chance.

aicha

Dear Kinza!

Thanks for speaking for those who can`t. It is noble. Welcome to Chowk; looking forward to more of your work.

Nice thought! Keep the spirit high!

U know Kinza everyone can justify himself in life. Yes everyone!! We never bother to hear what the other person has to say or what pain he is going through.

In this fast life of today if only we STOP for a second and look around us with eyes that want to see the truth and understand it. But who has time today when the worldly affairs are so indulging and tiresome... All this pain and misery attached with life has no humanly cure except with the end of it.

As they say :

`` KAID -E- HAYAT WA BAND -E- GHAM ASAL MAIN

DONON AIK HAIN ------- MAUT SE PEHLE AADMI GHAM

SE NIJAT PAYE KYON``

regards

Irfan

Aamir #12

``That you cansee why animals stops once his stomach is full,but man needs higher achievement & satisfaction worthy of ADVENTURE ,curiosity,a path less travelled,experimenting ,BOLDLY GOING WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE LIKE THE SPACE.Have you wondered why ?????``

Oh yes! I have wondered about it. Ever read Maslow`s Motivation Theory. Read it. It might interest you. Could be found in any management books. Man and incidently woman starts craving for higher things only when his/ hers basic needs are fulfilled.

And pleeeese, I am sick of Ajit jokes.

Mona

Aray waha,

i didn`t know, my pala pala bacha was that good in english and poetry:) VEry nice poem.

Btw this is me Rehan from ure MSN list

Laterz

Rehan

Kinza,



Here is the origin of the word pariah.

pa·ri·ah (p-r)

n.

A social outcast: “Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village, Huckleberry Finn, son of the town drunkard” (Mark Twain).

An Untouchable.



[Tamil paaiyar, pl. of paraiyan, pariah caste, from parai, festival drum.]

Word History: The word pariah, which can be used for anyone who is a social outcast, independent of social position, recalls a much more rigid social system, which made only certain people pariahs. The caste system of India placed pariahs, also known as Untouchables, very low in society. The word pariah, which we have extended in meaning, came into English from Tamil paraiyar, the plural of paraiyan, the caste name, which literally means “(hereditary) drummer” and comes from the word parai, the name of a drum used at certain festivals. The word is first recorded in English in 1613. Its use in English and its extension in meaning probably owe much to the long period of British rule in India.



From: http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=pariah

In deference to the `paraiyars` of Tamil Nadu, who happen to be an existing community, I would hope we desis would desist from using the word pariah, even though `angrezi` has appropriated this word.

Regards.

``What’s a genuine Pakistani?``

someone who not only goes ``I-luuuhhve-MANGOES`` at the drop of a hat but can come up with a 101 dreamy ways of slicing&dicing one.

aicha

What’s a genuine Pakistani?