Eye on Faith

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Music or noise? Ear of the beholder

(Photo by Pko)

It just goes to show: One woman's music is another woman's noise.

MSN News reports that a woman from Spain has taken her downstairs neighbor to court because of so-called incessant piano playing. The plaintiff (Sonia Bosom) accused the defendant (concert pianist Laia Martin) of tickling those ivories for "five-days-a-week, eight-hour practice sessions."

Now we're not talking Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture at top volume here. We're referring instead to gentler pieces that are played at an intensity no greater than 40 decibels.

Forty decibels is not generally thought of as excessively loud, considering that "normal conversation produces 55-60 decibels…" However, there has been a "30-decibel limit laid down for musical instruments" in the town where these neighbors reside.

Bosom is claiming "psychological injury" from "years of hearing constant playing." She allegedly told the court that "she now hates pianos so much she can't even stand to see them in a film."

Constitutional Law Professor Fernando Simon Yarza has claimed the following: Protection against noise and environmental quality is considered a human right.

The prosecutors of this case are requesting a six-year jail sentence "for noise pollution," plus "an additional one-and-a-half years for psychological damage."

At the end of this trial, someone will no doubt be facing the music. Who that someone will be remains a mystery for now.

Resources

http://news.msn.com/world/spanish-pianist-could-face-jail-for-practicing

Copyright November 14, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

For 'Black Pete's' sake, enough already

Time to quit? (Photo by Tenorio81)

Chances are if you aren't Dutch you've never even heard of "Black Pete."

Although many kids have been told that Santa has helpers, these helpers are often portrayed as Caucasian elves in green suits. And Santa? Well, let's just say that he generally resembles Kenny Rogers more than he does Duke Ellington.

However, since perhaps the 17^th century (when weathy Amsterdam citizens had African house slaves), pasty-white Santa

has had a uniquely-Dutch helper (think servant) known as "Black Pete."

Reuters reports that the role of Black Pete is "usually played by a white man in 'black face' with a curly wig and large, red-painted mouth" during the Dutch version of Christmas pageants. Now this might seem hilarious to many a ruddy-cheeked Dutch citizen, but not necessarily to those from minority groups within that country.

Eurostat explains that "out of a population of around 16 million people [in the Netherlands], more than 3.5 million are foreign-born Dutch citizens or the children of non-Dutch immigrants."

Maybe it's well past the time for cherished Christmas traditions to reflect actual human diversity.

Maybe it's also time to rethink "White Santa," along with "Black Pete…"

Resources

http://news.yahoo.com/dutch-self-image-shaken-black-pete-debate-125429340.html

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Brew-in-a-pew: Roll out the sermon

At the Cafe (Painting by Edouard Manet)

Next thing you know, folks will be toasting Jesus before gulping down a cold one. After all, wasn't it Jesus who turned that water into an alcoholic beverage?

Although wine has certainly been used within church life for centuries, beer has been mostly featured within pubs (Trappist monasteries notwithstanding). Therefore, if you can't bring the beer to the church, then why not bring the church to the pub?

John Burnett of NPR reports on exactly that latter concept. He describes a weekly Sunday-evening church service that is held at a brewpub in Fort Worth, Texas. Called Church-in-a-Pub (for obvious reasons), this service attracts a different type of congregant than you would typically pass the peace with on a Sunday morning.

If you're thinking that this pub service must be sponsored by some "new-age" group, think again. It is instead considered to be "an official – if edgy – Lutheran mission."

The "mission" part of these services occurs when, say, a patron nursing a beer by his lonesome happens to overhear a nearby Gospel reading. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but in this case it may have saved the patron from (pardon the proverb) crying into his beer.

In fact, it may have even saved him from a lot more than that…

Resources

http://wwrn.org/articles/41093/?&place=north-america

Monday, November 11, 2013

Parrot ministry: Sadie's sacred service

African Grey (Photo by Lmbuga)

Parrots are considered by Western science to be among the most intelligent of animals. They are also considered by Eastern religion

to be extremely loving and wise.

In his article "Secrets of the Parrot," Devdutt Pattnaik points out that the parrot is associated with Kama, the Hindu god of love. Plus, the gentle form of the goddess Devi "holds a parrot in her hand." Pattnaik also tells of a wise parrot that was said to have repeatedly convinced a wife not to commit adultery while her merchant husband was away for 70 days.

Back in 2006, Sarah Newman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote an intriguing account of Sadie the Service Parrot. This then-2-year-old Congo African Grey Parrot had been the service companion to a gentleman named Jim Eggers. Eggers had been diagnosed as "bipolar with psychotic tendencies" and had experienced "severe depression and potentially dangerous mood swings." He had also been "slightly hearing impaired."

Sadie amazingly knew just how to soothe Eggers when he began to feel anxious. She would literally say to him such things as "Jim, I love you. You're OK."

Sadie also helped to cue Eggers in on audio signals. When the phone rang, she would automatically say "Hello!" - and when the doorbell rang, she would inquire, "Who's there?"

Resources

http://www.mid-day.com/specials/2009/mar/220309-Parrot-Indian-mythology-folktales-Devdutt-Pattnaik-erotic-stories-Suka-Saptati.htm

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1173989.html

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Haitian Voudou: Some misconceptions

Voudou Banner (by George Valris)

The very word "Voodoo," which is often used by those who know little about this religion, is a misnomer. However, it is

relatively innocuous compared to some of the rampant misconceptions that exist about Haitian Voudou.

David Rosenberg of Slate reports on the direct experiences of photographer Anthony Karen. Karen has made many trips to Haiti, "often for medical missions and volunteer work." He also began attending, and later documenting, Voudou rituals.

Although sensationalistic accounts of Voudou focus upon its "black magic" aspects (which involve "conjuring evil forces") - Karen states that these aspects are exceptionally rare, and are often disdained by practicing Vodouisants.

Instead, Voudou hinges upon a "full compliance with the laws of nature." It is far more in tune with the blessings of Creation and with cosmic harmony than it is with evil forces.

Voudou has also been overly identified with animal sacrifice. Many adherents don't get involved with that at all; others afterwards share the sacrifice with the community as food. Karen compares this latter practice with the routine butchering and eating of meat that many other human omnivores engage in.

Resources

http://wwrn.org/articles/41132/?place=caribbean

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Anti-Semitism rising in Hungary

(Kristallnacht - Synagogue Burning)

Seventy-five years after Kristallnacht (Nazi Germany's "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom), anti-Semitism is still rearing its ugly head in Europe.

Fueled by social media and other Internet sites, hate propaganda against Jews is especially alive within France, Belgium and Hungary. According to the AFP, such anti-Semitism exists in politics, the media, and on the streets as "vandalism and open hostility."

The situation is becoming so bad in Hungary that "older Jews, Holocaust survivors and their children are afraid." Emigration is being talked about more and more, and applications for moving to Israel have "hit a record high."

During the Holocaust, Hungary lost approximately 600,000 Jews. There are now 120,000 left. Ironically, along with the increase in anti-Semitism comes a "growing Jewish renaissance" within Hungary.

One person who commented upon the aforementioned AFP article had this to say about Jewish solidarity in the face of persecution: "I for one want to thank all the anti-semitic… Your hatred has segregated us into ghettos and this backfired plan of yours caused us to stay together… You are just a pawn in G-D's plan."

Resources

http://news.yahoo.com/hungary-jews-struggle-rising-anti-semitism-144414731.html

Friday, November 8, 2013

Embracing disfigurement: Pope sets example

(Author: Klaus D. Peter, Gummersbach, Germany)

You might think that religion would help people to approach disfigurement with compassion. If so, you would often be disappointed.

The Torah, for example, declares that certain types of skin afflictions (Hebrew word: tzaraath) denote spiritual rather than medical impurities. The Talmud regards such disfiguring conditions as punishment for these types of sins: "gossip, murder, a vain oath, illicit sexual intercourse, pride, theft and miserly behavior." "Treatments" of these afflictions once

included the destruction of victims' homes and the banishment of sufferers from communities.

You might also think that such attitudes would never occur within modern times, but the following Chicago "ugly law" remained viable until 1974: No person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object or improper person to be allowed in or on the public ways or other public places in this city, or shall therein or thereon expose himself to public view… In other words, if you're disfigured, keep yourself well hidden.

Histories such as these make it all the more refreshing to witness Pope Francis' recent physical embrace of a gentleman with numerous large and visible tumors. MSN Now reports that this man then "buried his head in the pope's chest."

The photo of this embrace has gone viral – and this is one "virus" that hopefully everyone will catch.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzaraath

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_law

http://now.msn.com/pope-francis-embraces-ailing-man-photos-go-viral