Posts from — October 2006

I’ve just returned from a weekend in New York. I flew from London to JFK on Friday and flew back overnight last night (Sunday night-Monday morning).

Midtown Manhattan is much cleaner than I remember from my last visit (which was before 9/11) and it was really wonderful see that amazing city again. I was really there for meetings, but had a chance to walk the streets and do some shopping (I bought a really nice pair of shoes for 90 bucks at Florsheim - it was such a pleasure to be served by someone who could engage in an educated conversation; in London shoe-shop staff are nothing like as articulate).

My hotel room (shared with a colleague) was a corner room on the 31st floor and had a view of the East River in one direction and the Empire State Building in another. A tremendous storm of wind and rain struck New York on Friday night and persisted part way through Saturday. The hotel room creaked and I swear the building swayed in the wind, which gusted up to 60 mph. The rain lashed down and the streets were running like streams on Saturday morning.

My colleague and I breakfasted both mornings in a diner on 2nd and 44th. On Saturday morning we were amazed to see Keith Best, the Chief Executive of the Immigration Advisory Service, whom we both know. So we sat and talked with Keith over our pancakes, bacon and eggs over easy ($8). Keith was in New York on World Federalist Movement business.

Saturday night was Hallowe’en and there were some strange sights walking the sidewalks - angels, devils, ghosts and ghouls. And a brightly decorated bus filled with party-goers, who were leaning out of the windows shouting and gesturing at pedestrians, zoomed past as a group of us were standing on the sidewalk drinking double-shot lattes from Starbucks.

After the meetings finished Sunday lunchtime, three of us took off and walked over to Times Square. On the way we saw an extraordinary parade of about 20 NYPD police cars, all lights flashing and sirens going, turn left from 42nd into Madison Avenue, drive to the next intersection but two, make a couple of lefts and drive back down Fifth Avenue. We got some pizza in one of New York’s less salubrious eateries before heading on to Times Square. On the way back, not finding a Starbucks where we could sit down, we sat at a cafe table on the mezzanine level overlooking the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal drinking hot chocolate (two of us) and tea (one of us). Grand Central must be one of the grandest and most beautiful of railway stations anywhere in the world. It was heaving with people that Sunday, many of whom were there for the wonderful food market, restaurants and shops that make the Grand Central building such a pleasure.

I now regret I didn’t take my camera. Sunday was a delightful autumn day. A cold wind whipped around corners, but there was still some warmth in the sun and I kept seeing wonderful shots. I took some pics on my mobile, but I can’t figure out how to get them off the phone and into my computer - the phone isn’t a bluetooth device.

My colleague and I flew back overnight, arriving at Heathrow around 8 this morning. It was a long way to go for a weekend of meetings, but great to be back in New York, no matter how briefly.

Technorati Tags: New York, Manhattan, Empire State Building, World Federalist Movement, Hallowe’en, Times Square, Grand Central, railway

This story on the BBC News website shows that the present debate about the Muslim veil has some interesting resonances in English religious history.

The story quotes Steve Tomkins, author of A Short History of Christianity:

In the days of Elizabeth I and James I/VI, the English church was riven by the Puritan controversy. The main issue - at least on the surface - was what ministers should wear: traditional robes or ordinary clothes. The difference is that then it was the establishment that demanded distinctive clothing and the radicals - the Puritans - who insisted on everyday wear.

The government came down fairly strongly on the dissidents. Religious ministers who refused to back down and button up were sacked.

This controversy did not blow over quickly, as the then Bishop of London thought it would. On the contrary, it dragged on for many years and, as Tomkins says,

… exploded spectacularly in the English Civil War in the next century.

As with the Muslim veil today, so then the issue of religious clothing was a lightning rod for much deeper issues:

Religiously, Puritans saw the robes as a revival of Roman Catholicism by the back door - a religion they violently opposed as anti-Christian blasphemy. For the establishment, the robes represented a moderate religion that combined the best of old and new.

This provides a valuable perspective on today’s debate. Seemingly trivial disputes about religious togs can mask a conflict between whole world views. To one side, it was obvious that good religion is moderate, middle of the road and orderly. To the other, it was equally apparent that true religion demands radical purity and commitment, and so-called “moderation” meant compromise with the powers of darkness.

Politically, the most radical Puritans came to see the robes as an emblem of a whole godless society, while the government increasingly saw non-conformity as dangerous fanaticism, capable of overthrowing the state.

The government of the day refused to compromise and the Puritans split into the moderates, who accepted the status quo, and the separatists, who split from the Church of England and established “non-conformist” denominations, such as the Baptists.

The English religious separatists were peaceable but were damned by association with violent religious separatists in Germany. And the more society shunned them, the more extreme and implacable they became in their condemnation of society. Some of the separatist leaders were executed and others fled to Amsterdam and eventually to North America.

Tomkins concludes:

On a more optimistic note, however unsympathetic the radical Puritan movement may seem today, it brought forth from one of its leaders, Robert Browne, the first defence of universal religious freedom in British history. A reminder, perhaps, that even those who seem to take indefensible positions on controversial issues can have something valuable to say.

Technorati Tags: Muslim, veil, Christianity, church, Puritan, Church of England, non-conformist, Baptists

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Young Jacob Weights with his parents

Tom and Vicky stayed last night. Hari and Doug came over for dinner. Jakey was already here - Erica looks after him several days a week so that Hari can get on with her PhD.

Vicky’s expecting, so here she is practising with Jake.

And Tom always makes faces for the camera.

It’s great having the family around. I’m only sorry Alex, Charlie and co weren’t here.

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Signs of autumn: berries on a tree in next door’s garden.

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According to the Science Daily website:

Whereas brain development during adolescence may initially serve to “safeguard” youth from certain effects of alcohol such as intoxication and [/tag]hangover[/tag], it will also likely make them more vulnerable to the longer-term effects of alcohol. A first-of-its-kind study uses rodents to examine development of acute tolerance to alcohol-induced social impairment among adolescents and adults. Findings show that younger rodents have nervous systems that quickly adapt to alcohol’s effects — called tolerance — which permits heavy drinking at an early age.

I drank alcohol quite regularly before I became a Baha’i and used to get drunk occasionally. When I was about 16 or 17 one of my friends was our doctor’s son. The doctor lived in a village a couple of miles from ours. One day, I had cycled over to see my friend; his dad offered us a drink, and I had a large measure of gin - I had developed a taste for gin, even at that age. My cycle ride home was very unsteady and I seem to remember singing loudly as I wobbled through the country lanes.

I enjoyed the spaced-out sensation I got from drink and could easily have become addicted to it, if I hadn’t become a Baha’i. I only ever drank myself senseless once. I was 17 and had been taken to a party in Cambridge. I drank and drank drank and had to be carried home. I lived in an attic and had to be pushed up the ladder to my room, where I wrapped myself around the portable gas heater I had up there. I could easily have set myself on fire, but the worst I suffered, God be praised, was a horrible hangover the next day.

I’m very glad that I gave up alcohol when I became a Baha’i at the age of 18.

Technorati Tags: adolescence, alcohol, intoxication, Baha’i

This post by Nick Seddon on the Civitas website makes some interesting points about the debate about the veil worn by some Muslim women.

First of all, some Muslims have welcomed Jack Straw’s intervention:

…by expressing concerns about the potential divisiveness of the niqab, Mr Straw has evidently spoken on behalf of a wide range of people identifying themselves as moderate Muslims. Notably, on Monday, Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, endorsed the intervention, saying: ?Mr Straw has opened a debate within the Muslim community and encouraged interaction. Muslims themselves have failed to create a mechanism to discuss these issues. That is why they have had to be discussed out in the open.?

Seddon refers to the article in The Times by Saira Khan (see my post of 11 October) and says:

Saira Khan argued that the veil is not a religious obligation but a symbol of the subjugation by men of their wives and daughters. She contends that the growing number of women veiling their faces in Britain is a sign of radicalisation ? or Talebanisation ? because it is an extreme practice based on culture not creed. For her, the veil should not even be a matter of choice. ?It is never right for a woman to hide behind a veil and shut herself off from people in the community,? she states. ?But it is particularly wrong in Britain, where it alien to the mainstream culture for someone to walk around wearing a mask.?

“But,” Seddon continues

perhaps the most illuminating comments have come from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, not a person I always find myself agreeing with. In the Independent on Monday she declared that she found herself ‘agreeing with his [Jack Straw's] every word. It is time to speak out against this objectionable garment and face down the Islamicists.’

Seddon says (and I agree) that Alibhai-Brown’s reasons for supporting Mr Straw, as outlined in an article for Time magazine, “warrant” closer inspection. In summary, they are:

1. practicality (and I would add humanity)
2. non-Muslims have a right to object to Muslim principles
3. the veil is divisive and its removal promotes integration
4. Britain should be a place where Muslim women are genuinely free from pressure to cover up

Do read the Time article to get the full flavour of Alibhai-Brown’s objection to the veil.

Says Alibhai-Brown:

But the most important reason for opposing the veil is one of principle. So long as it ensures genuinely equal standards for all, a liberal nation has no obligation to extend its liberalism to condone the most illiberal practices. State institutions as well as private companies should have the right to stipulate that a person whose face cannot be seen need not be served. That would not discriminate against Muslims; it would, for example, also affect men whose faces were obscured by motorcycle helmets. The principle expressed, in other words, would not be anti-Muslim, but one in favor of communication.

The niqab rejects human commonalities. The women who wear it want to observe fellow citizens, but remain unseen, as if they were cctv cameras.

Alibhai-Brown refers to herself as a modern Muslim woman who fasts and prays, but rejects the hijab “or to an opaque black shroud”. But in Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia women are forced to cover up to a greater or lesser degree:

In Iran, educated women who fail some sort of veil test are being imprisoned by their oppressors. Saudi women under their body sheets long to show themselves and share the world equally with men.

Alibhai-Brown concludes:

Exiles who fled such practices to seek refuge in Europe now find the evil is following them. As a female lawyer from Saudi Arabia once said to me: “The Koran does not ask us to bury ourselves. We must be modest. These fools who are taking niqab will one day suffocate like I did, but they will not be allowed to leave the coffin.” Millions of progressive Muslims want to halt this Islamicist project to take us back to the Dark Ages. Straw is right to start a debate about what we wear.

As Seddon makes clear in his Civitas article, this is not about banning the veil, but it is about freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Some Muslim commentators have thanked Mr Straw for opening up the debate in the Muslim community itself, and non-Muslims clearly should be able to discuss these things too, since they affect all of us in various ways.

Seddon’s conclusion is this:

To say that a practice is alienating or makes you uncomfortable is not unreasonable ? but to close down the debate is. Closing down the debate will enforce the very separatism that Mr Straw is trying to avert, and the fuss created by his comments shows how timely they were. In a democracy rights operate in a dynamic tension: the freedom to ask someone to remove the veil is surely the correlative of the freedom to wear it.

Technorati Tags: Civitas, veil, Muslim, niqab, freedom of speech

This story on the BBC News website highlights a report by WWF that claims that by 2050 we’ll need two planets to meet global demand at current levels.

Current global consumption levels could result in a large-scale eco-s ystem collapse by the middle of the century, environmental group WWF has warned.

The group’s biannual Living Planet Report said the natural world was being degraded “at a rate unprecedented in human history”.

Terrestrial species had declined by 31% between 1970-2003, the findings showed.

It warned that if demand continued at the current rate, two planets would be needed to meet global demand by 2050.

The biodiversity loss was a result of resources being consumed faster than the planet could replace them, the authors said.

They added that if the world’s population shared the UK’s lifestyle, three planets would be needed to support their needs.

If that’s correct, by the time my eldest grandchild, currently in infant school, is 45 or thereabouts Earth will not be able to support him or his children. Or, indeed, the rest of the world’s current population level.

The report’s authors warn that if we are going to move towards a sustainable society, significant action is required now.

It seems to me that this report brings Baha’u'llah’s stark prophetic admonition closer to reality:

The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.

But we must not feel helpless - as bleak as the outlook is. The answer lies in religion. As Baha’u'llah says:

The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure. Our hope is that the world’s religious leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requireth….

[Note: I apologize for the odd word split in "eco-s ystem". For some reason, my webhosting provider has blocked the words "sistem" (as usually spelt with a "y" rather than an "i") and "exyt" (as normally spelt with an "i" rather than a "y"). I just cannot include either of these words in any of my blog postings!]

Technorati Tags: WWF, environment, planet, biodiversity, Baha’u'llah

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The High Commissioner of Singapore couldn’t come to the Baha’i Centre after all. His office called to say that there was a Singaporean government minister in town and that His Excellency couldn’t come round for tea today.

Ah well, it meant I could give more time to finishing my departmental budget for the next financial year. Whoopee!

Technorati Tags: Singapore, Baha’i

“Are you all right?” A lady several steps higher up the escalator turned and looked anxiously down at me as I sprawled over several steps.

“I’m fine, thank you.” I smiled, pretending that it was nothing, pretendgin that my hands weren’t hurting from their contact with the sharp edges of the escalator steps, pretending that my shins weren’t in pain from being dashed against unforgiving metal, pretending that (and this was the worst of it) my pride was intact.

It had been such a good day up to then. Despite the queue at the station ticket office, I’d had time to get a large latt? from Brian in the deli he runs on platform 1. I’d made myself think benign thoughts about the mums and their half-term kids going off to London for the day to see Harrods. I’d even found a seat on the crowded train. What’s more, the train arrived just about on time at Kings Cross.

Full of energy, I bounded up the escalator from the platforms at the Harrods end of Knightsbridge tube station. About half way up, disaster. A mis-step, a foot not lifted high enough, and…

I smiled up at the concerned lady, picked myself up, and ran the rest of the way to the top of the escalator. Just to show I was in good shape, you understand, and to recover a smidgeon of my pride. Nothing wrong with this middle-aged man, I wanted to say. And to prove it, I strode from the escalator to the pavement and hoofed it to my office in the Baha’i Centre in about an hour and a quarter from home.

No, no, thank you. I don’t want your sympathy. I’m fine. It’s nothing that a few days’ bed rest wouldn’t cure - as if I had time for bed rest!

On the subject of half-term: how is it that no sooner than the kids have returned to school in September than it’s mid-October and they’re all out again, clogging up the trains and buses and pavements? Shouldn’t they be locked up somewhere? Kept at home? Put into camps?

I jest. Or do I…?

Technorati Tags: escalator, Harrods, Knightsbridge, Baha’i

The Week of Prayer for World Peace (WPWP) is an annual time in the UK for faith communities and peace organizations to come together to pray for peace.

This year it was the turn of the UK Baha’i community to host the main national WPWP event at the London Inter Faith Centre. The programme includes readings from the sacred scriptures or other writings of the various faiths and a prayer of thanks for the faith traditions and five affirmations for all participants to repeat. For example, this is the second affirmation, on human worth:

We affirm our common faith in the dignity and unique worth of the human person, irrespective of colour, class or creed.

And this year there was music from the Northamptonshire Baha’i Choir.

My job was to welcome everyone on behalf of the Baha’i community and to say a few well-chosen(?) words about faith and peace. I also found myself presenting the Wilson/Hinkes Interfaith Award for Peace to representatives of the Friends of the Bereaved Families Forum: Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace.

The London Inter Faith Centre provides an excellent collection of spaces for this and other events. The main meeting hall doubles as a parish church, but has minimal Christian symbolism, so can be used for the inter-faith meetings for which it was built. Followers of many different faiths sat together, reciting the affirmations and listening to the readings and music. A couple of the choir members had brought their young children, who were beautifully behaved. Through the east window we could see that the afternoon rain had given way for the time being to sunshine that served only to make the storm clouds look even blacker.

The affirmations, the readings and the music, and the accounts by a Jew and a Palestinian of how they had overcome the pain of their respective bereavements in the conflict, called forth a deep and reflective stillness, that was broken when everyone stood up to give a sign of peace (a handshake or some sign from within their traditions) to others in the hall.

The choir closed the ceremony by singing “God is the all-sufficing. In Him let the trusting trust.”

After a cup of tea, some cake and chats with various people - including my friend Rustam Bhedwar, a Zoroastrian Ervad (or priest), to whom I mentioned Baha’u'llah’s Tablet to Manikchi Sahib, relatively recently translated into Englished and published with some other of Baha’u'llah’s writings addressed to Zoroastrians in a slim volume entitled Tabernacle of Unity. Manikchi Hataria was a prominent 19th century Zoroastrian, who loved what Baha’u'llah taught and who had a Baha’i as his personal assistant. All my Zoroastrian friends in London know about Manikchi Hataria. Mr Bhedwar asked if I would send him a copy of the Tablet, and I promised to do so.

Technorati Tags: Week of Prayer for World Peace, Baha’i, London Inter Faith Centre, Jew, Palestinian, Zoroastrian

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