Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Radical People and their radical thoughts

I was recently reading someone’s personal blog about the State of Israel and the plight of her people. I was reading through the many different articles, and associated comments but was perturbed by the radical tone of the author. Now, I am all for free speech and commentaries and all that jazz, but when they are so polarised they often scare me. The author was describing the movie “The Passion of Christ” which was directed by Mel Gibson and discusses the death of Christ. The movie has not hit the screens as yet, but it certainly has generated enough media publicity with its contentious topic. The gist of the story is that Christ died at the hands of Jews – simple as that – that was the Coles Notes version, so bear with – Anyhow, the author continues by saying that Christians are,

“…Playing on the favorite Christian game of conspiring to incite hatred against the Jewish People, Gibson's latest release goes out of its way to demonise Jews.”

I don’t disagree with the author that SOME Christian fundamentalists (or any religious fundamentalists for that matter) may have an agenda, but to say they are playing some favourite game is simply biased and completely unfair. Now, as a pretext, remember that I am a proud Gay-Canadian-Asian-male (the order doesn’t really matter), who was raised as a Roman Catholic (no longer following), who lived and breathed in a Jewish community in Toronto for over 10 years (quite the experience). As you can see, my cultural experience and interaction is not limited to "one-world" or to "one culture". So, it is with no wonder that I found the depth of stereotyping and prejudice in the authors’ voice about Christians and other groups of people, all that more interesting.

The authors’ comment was also curious in that, if the New Testament (Bible) was pitting Christians against Jews for their beliefs, then one has to question any other parable or biblical story that seems somewhat contradictory. For example, the Old Testament (Torah) is notorious for stories about a wrathful and jealous god, one who will not allow images of other gods be produced, lest they be “smote”. Does this mean that Hindus who are polytheistic are going to Hell? If this author is saying that the New Testament is a fabrication and a lie, who is to say that the Old Testament, the Torah, Koran are not fabrications? The author continues by saying,

“The New Testament, written by a Roman Agent, Paul, is essentially a fabric of lies, written from the standpoint of a Roman lackey who is angry at the Jews for not accepting his fibs. This is why Paul eliminates almost all mention of the Romans and their brutal occupation of Judea and Jerusalem, and tries to frame the Jews (the ones being occupied and brutalised!!) for the murder of one of their own people- who was trying to get rid of the Romans….Logical? No.”

Well, not to rain on your parade, but “no” that is not logical. For this author to claim that another person’s belief system is false and full of lies is like the pot calling the kettle black. If this argument is to hold water, then one could argue that the whole bible is simply a story. As an example, to the orthodox Christian or Jew, the Genesis is the foundation point of all life. It is the beginning and the validation that God is life giving. But who truly believes that the world was created in 7 days? Does this then put into question the validity or truthfulness of the Genesis? Who am I to say that you should or should not believe in it? Sure we can commentary and analyse, but who are we to judge?

Honestly, I am not a big fan of fanatical religions for this very reason and am in no way saying Christians are right in this commentary. If I were to believe this mode of thought, I would likely be some militant fag painting the town pink with slogans to bring down the establishment of all Religious and government institutions that go against me as a gay man. Note earlier that the author says Christians are “conspiring to incite hatred” Those few words alone were enough to indicate that this argument was bereft of any fairness or any semblance to truth, but was simply an outpouring of radical thoughts. It’s like saying all Muslims are terrorists, that all fags have lisps, or that all Chinese drive poorly. It’s ludicrous, irrational and downright offensive, except for the Chinese driving poorly. I can say that because I’m Chinese.

Mind you, this was a blog (a personal take on things, much like mine) and not an article, but I think every author or writer has a duty to the truth and to proper research.


Let me try to explain –
We are all in our own ways, formed of opinions which are based on our cultural, religious and social experiences. A Jew will have thousands of years of history fueling their need to find "right" and "justice" in a world that persecuted their people. I as a gay Asian male will be doing the same – the 2 are obviously different and I’m not trying to lessen their validity, but the 2 are fundamentally the same. So, when I read or hear about commentaries that are based on emotional and judgmental views, I have to question how we perceive and twist things so that they represent our own views. It all comes down to the context it has been warped into. One person may see something one way, and another person, will see it from a different angle. It is about a person’s responsibility to be fair and to be educated in the topic they wish to argue.

People are too quick to judge when they should not. Uninformed opinions make a dangerous environment that fuel fear, hatred, and secularism. It is also true that people take things out of context within the environment and historical period they live in. And as a person intimately familiar with racism and homophobia and many other forms of "isms" I question every ones point of view, including my own. A healthy dose of introspection and curiosity for the truth is instrumental in learning how another person feels – like stepping into their shoes.
I worry that a world of radical thoughts will bring about laws and conditions that will favour and harbour these beliefs, because secularism is not a healthy choice.
Distancing ourselves from other cultures is not a healthy choice; it’s a form of racism in its own right.

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