The Corrupted Daughter Reference:

Piaget`s View of the Child`s Mind

Quantitative Science in Evolution of Humanity References:

1) Bell, Marilyn Powe and Leithauser, Gladys Garner, The World of Science - The Anthology for Writers, Holt, Rinchart and Winston, Inc. The Dryden Press 1987

2) Blatt, Frank J., Modern Physics, McGraw Hill International Edition 1992

3) Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, Bantam Press, Transworld Publishers Ltd. 1996 Edition

4) Murray, Gell-Mann, The Quark and the Jaguar, W.H. Freeman & Co. New York, 1994

5) Russell, Bertrand, Religion and Science, Oxford University Press 1935

6) Skolimowski, Henryk, The Participatory Mind, Penguin Books Ltd., 1994

Two Poems: Attention Please and Say What? Re: # 23

Dude, which language is this?

The Corrupted Daughter shank you!

Take-Two ... News Re: # 7

thanks!

The Globalization of Spirituality interesting...

Take-Two ... News Re: # 5

`sensible nonsense` huh? i like that. thank you.

The Singing Box Bodies in black, swaying,
Like wild swans,
Floating on diverging ripples,
Fingers meditating,
Eyes closed, wondering,
Under shut lids,

As if praying on a water-mat. My knees are weak.

The singing box,
Connecting with warm breath,
Someone in the crowd dying,
Others being born,
All awakening.

And when the heart sings in purity, the mind is free; death and life happen at once and one can see the only thing you learn from it is change. Beautiful, beautiful.

Anonymity for Sexual Assault Victims Nauman, I never knew about these laws. Are they crazy? This is just great, keep the identity of the victim anonymous. Why? Why can`t she get up on her own and say, ``It was ME they have messed with!`` Where is the option of the victim`s choice? Especially, if s/he is the one hiring a prosecutor to fight the case. Why should they be ashamed, as you say. I just don`t understand. People who choose to abandon the victim when her case becomes publicized are cowards. If the victim is brave enough, she should know better. The world is full of cowards.

It is laws like this that discourage assaulted people from raising their voices, and encourage voices around them to quiet down the assaulted.

It doesn`t mean I don`t understand why they might have come up with it. I have met women in Pakistan who get molested/raped in public but prefer to stay quiet because of all the harm it will bring to their families and friends, and the fear that the molester/rapist will get away with it no matter what she does. We all know how seriously flawed our laws are. I still don`t think she should be quiet. A crime is a crime, no matter what its nature; it should be treated like a crime, not a secret.

One of the viable solutions is to make your own laws to deal with such crimes. Because frankly, to whom does the Law(s) apply these days? The point you have raised about the Media is extremely valid and important though, and I wish to God, people involved in Journalism are reading this:

Media must act in a responsible fashion to protect the identity of victims. Avoidance of public scrutiny and undue media attention would greatly lessen the social onslaught on them. The rehabilitation and assimilation back into mainstream of society would be easier. With any luck, they might be able to live relatively normal lives even after the assault.

It is imperative that appropriate legislature be passed in order to protect the identity of victims of sexual assault. Dissemination of personal information, release of which is detrimental for the victim or her family, should be outlawed. Similarly, defendants should not be identified till the formal charges are brought forward or preferably at indictment. A media trial should be avoided at all costs.

Media organizations should formulate internal policies that would prohibit publicizing the names and personal details of the victims. Journalists should ask the victims for their permission to use their names. They should write about the crime, not the victim.

A very thought-provoking read.

A Lot is Rotten in the State of Denmark Please refer to this article also. I think this is important too. Think sensibly.

(DV) Leupp:Exposing Incitements - Those Danish Muhammad Cartoons

Muslim Profanities Kyla, this was a very good read. These are difficult times for the Muslims indeed. We are after our own shrines and holy places. As you say, we are damaging our own interests while the bigots are defending their so-called freedom of expression and saying that its more important than their business interests. Which means they are laughing at our reaction. And honestly, I am laughing too.

About 20 Muslim countries have boycotted Danish goods which is causing them a loss of around 1.6 billion USD. What are the other Muslim countries doing? I had the opportunity to see Danish cheese and butter in one of the local stores here. No one`s bothered to talk to them about boycott while the folks next door are shattering windows of American food-chains and banks. It can`t get more insane than that now, can it?

As for Iranians drawing Holocaust cartoons, I would like to ask if you are allowed to write freely about the Jews in American newspapers. I think not. One must also remember that Iran`s nuclear program is under threat. And all of us know what`s happening in Iraq. How many of us are on Iran`s side? I might sound blasphemous but I think Muslims needed this blow. I would like to ask a few questions:

- What is the importance of the Prophets in our daily life besides reverence and respect?

- Do we know how he dealt with people when they made fun of him? He was stoned in Taif to the point of bleeding and he answered them with prayers, not fatwas despite God asking him to pray against them.

- Have we thought what he would`ve done in a situation like this? I guess most of us are still busy glorifying our pasts and that`s the saddest thing in the world today according to Fatima Mernissi (in her book The Veil and The Male Elite you had once suggested. The review by Mohammed Gill is available here at Chowk.)

I’ve had the opportunity see works of other cartoonists who’ve made funny caricatures of Prophet Musa (PBUH), Prophet Isa (PBUH) and Prophet Nuh (PBUH) that can be found on www.cartoonstock.com, and by comparison, it becomes evident that the cartoons on the Last Prophet were meant to provoke ill feelings and resentment.

Our reaction shows we are giving importance to opinions of people who don’t know the ethics of religion. Are we telling them we know the ethics of religion? If so, are we getting the message across properly? Laugh again.

As far as the descendents of the prophets are concerned. Let me tell you there is some serious mis-conception amongst them that somehow allows them to do whatever they like under the holy surname of the Prophet. They drink, they beat and suppress their women, they sleep with prostitutes, they act like gods to people of the community and the community worships them. When asked are you not afraid of what God will do to you on the day of judgement, they say:

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has yet to say his final prayer on the day of judgement and that final prayer would save his children from the fires of hell when the Prophet himself said deeds depend on intentions.

What I mean to say is that our intellectuals, progeny of the prophet or not are not doing enough to bridge the gap between the masses and the seculars. People can only stop when they are told these things. When you ask about the religion of the bombers, I would say; they have none; they may claim to but they are misquided people. We need to think of sane ways to stop them.

Every time there`s a bombing in places like London or America, the Pakistani government launches a baton charge on the madrassahs and the local mullahs to tell them: see, we are on your side. And then, forget about the issue and go about to fulfill their own interests in the name of democracy.

How then, as Pakistanis can we call ourselves the followers of the Prophets when we can`t even react like them?

Once again, bravo for the write.

Distorted Image of the Untrue Self It felt like a journey through limbo with a melancholic ending which leaves you feeling sad somehow and then comes the last line which is excellent and just does it. Bravo! :) Koop it up.

Flying Spaghetti Monsterism Giant Spaghetti Monster, eh? Wow. Where was I all the time?

In Praise (and Defence) of Blasphemy Re#129

Created by a giant spaghetti aka siwayyan monster? String theory gone phuss? Dude! Now that was funny, lol

In Praise (and Defence) of Blasphemy Jawahara, truly enjoyed reading this, but there is a certain sense of carried-away in this article.

To think we can progress by having a little sense of blasphemy sounds like a sexy idea but one needs to hold it. When curiosity supercedes established beliefs, new ideas come naturally (as happened in the case of Galileo and Copernicus, I`m sure they were not against religion or God at all; just curious to derive correctly from their own observations. When I say correct, I mean tested and re-tested concepts). And Newton`s case was hilarious, he came up with a new idea (about time as a variable and not a constant) in an oopsy fashion (oopsy because it opposed his beliefs and he wasn`t willing to accept). Curiosity does strange things and one needs to learn to tame its powers.

I am not familiar with Hinduism that much but since its prime focus is on idol worship and dieties, I don`t see any reason why it would be blasphemous to insult a man-made diety. I mean to say, if you know Shiva and Ganesh, what`s the use of the idols, if you really do know? You tend to get angry at your parents, at your friends, at people and utter words that you later regret, don`t you? Anger too, does strange things and one needs to know how to express it effectively and that requires time and intelligence.

If you know your God, blasphemy becomes pointless but that doesn`t mean you can say whatever comes in your mouth and ``blaa!`` If you have monkey brains, then that`s a different story.

Your article would`ve made happier sense if you had used words like divine inspiration or innovation or positive variety etc. We`ve been through a very tough year, yar. Lighten up. We need to grow in a new direction.

:) But seriously, thank you for writing this.

Words of a Woman Um, sir/ma`am (I`m sorry I don`t know Revathy`s gender), I have a question: What happened to mythos? People often forget that logos is a progeny of mythos. And it`s understandable when you are a specialist, especially in this day and age. Specialists are too focused and tend to classify a lot. Why do women write? Okay. Why do we pee? Why do we pick our noses? etc. I`m sure you get my point.

I have trouble digesting your article yet I can`t critique it because I don`t know most of the writers you have mentioned here. Your own insight seems weaker than the writers you have quoted. Here`s a quote by Peter Hoeg from Miss Smilla`s Feeling for Snow (courtesy: Saeed-ur-Rehman)

On the gender of desire: It is only what you do not understand that you can come to a conclusion about.

I will also dare to quote Michel Foucalt because I feel it`s relevant too:

Women have always been seen by [heterosexual men] as their exclusive property... Heterosexual men felt that if they practiced homosexuality with other men this would destroy what they think is their image in the eyes of their women. They think of themselves as existing in the minds of women as master. They think that the idea of their submitting to another man, of being under another man in the act of love, would destroy their image in the eyes of women. Men think that women can only experience pleasure in recognizing men as masters

Cheers