Farewell, Howard Zinn American historian extraordinaire ...

Howard Zinn, Historian who Challenged Status quo, Dies at 87

by Mark Feeney and Bryan Marquard


Global Research, January 28, 2010
The Boston Globe - 2010-01-27

Email this article to a friend
Print this article

StumbleUpon Submit

Howard Zinn, the Boston University historian and political activist who was an early opponent of US involvement in Vietnam and whose books, such as "A People's History of the United States," inspired young and old to rethink the way textbooks present the American experience, died today in Santa Monica, Calif, where he was traveling. He was 87.

His daughter, Myla Kabat-Zinn of Lexington, said he suffered a heart attack.

"He's made an amazing contribution to American intellectual and moral culture," Noam Chomsky, the left-wing activist and MIT professor, said tonight. "He's changed the conscience of America in a highly constructive way. I really can't think of anyone I can compare him to in this respect."Chomsky added that Dr. Zinn's writings "simply changed perspective and understanding for a whole generation. He opened up approaches to history that were novel and highly significant. Both by his actions, and his writings for 50 years, he played a powerful role in helping and in many ways inspiring the Civil rights movement and the anti-war movement."

For Dr. Zinn, activism was a natural extension of the revisionist brand of history he taught. "A People’s History of the United States" (1980), his best-known book, had for its heroes not the Founding Fathers -- many of them slaveholders and deeply attached to the status quo, as Dr. Zinn was quick to point out -- but rather the farmers of Shays' Rebellion and union organizers of the 1930s.

As he wrote in his autobiography, "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" (1994), "From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than 'objectivity'; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble."

Certainly, it was a recipe for rancor between Dr. Zinn and John Silber, former president of Boston University. Dr. Zinn, a leading critic of Silber, twice helped lead faculty votes to oust the BU president, who in turn once accused Dr. Zinn of arson (a charge he quickly retracted) and cited him as a prime example of teachers "who poison the well of academe."

Dr. Zinn was a cochairman of the strike committee when BU professors walked out in 1979. After the strike was settled, he and four colleagues were charged with violating their contract when they refused to cross a picket line of striking secretaries. The charges against "the BU Five" were soon dropped.

In 1997, Dr. Zinn slipped into popular culture when his writing made a cameo appearance in the film "Good Will Hunting." The title character, played by Matt Damon, lauds "A People’s History" and urges Robin Williams’s character to read it. Damon, who co-wrote the script, was a neighbor of the Zinns growing up.

"Howard had a great mind and was one of the great voices in the American political life," Ben Affleck, also a family friend growing up and Damon's co-star in "Good Will Hunting," said in a statement. "He taught me how valuable -- how necessary -- dissent was to democracy and to America itself. He taught that history was made by the everyman, not the elites. I was lucky enough to know him personally and I will carry with me what I learned from him -- and try to impart it to my own children -- in his memory."

Damon was later involved in a television version of the book, "The People Speak," which ran on the History Channel in 2009, and he narrated a 2004 biographical documentary, "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train."

"Howard had a genius for the shape of public morality and for articulating the great alternative vision of peace as more than a dream," said James Carroll a columnist for the Globe's opinion pages whose friendship with Dr. Zinn dates to when Carroll was a Catholic chaplain at BU. "But above all, he had a genius for the practical meaning of love. That is what drew legions of the young to him and what made the wide circle of his friends so constantly amazed and grateful."

Dr. Zinn was born in New York City on Aug. 24, 1922, the son of Jewish immigrants, Edward Zinn, a waiter, and Jennie (Rabinowitz) Zinn, a housewife. He attended New York public schools and was working in the Brooklyn Navy Yard when he met Roslyn Shechter.

"She was working as a secretary," Dr. Zinn said in an interview with the Globe nearly two years ago. "We were both working in the same neighborhood, but we didn't know each other. A mutual friend asked me to deliver something to her. She opened the door, I saw her, and that was it."

He joined the Army Air Corps, and they courted through the mail before marrying in October 1944 while he was on his first furlough. She died in 2008.

During World War II, he served as a bombardier, was awarded the Air Medal, and attained the rank of second lieutenant.

After the war, Dr. Zinn worked at a series of menial jobs until entering New York University on the GI Bill as a 27-year-old freshman. He worked nights in a warehouse loading trucks to support his studies. He received his bachelor’s degree from NYU, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Columbia University.

Dr. Zinn was an instructor at Upsala College and lecturer at Brooklyn College before joining the faculty of Spelman College in Atlanta, in 1956. He served at the historically black women’s institution as chairman of the history department. Among his students were novelist Alice Walker, who called him "the best teacher I ever had," and Marian Wright Edelman, future head of the Children's Defense Fund.

During this time, Dr. Zinn became active in the civil rights movement. He served on the executive committee of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the most aggressive civil rights organization of the time, and participated in numerous demonstrations.

Dr. Zinn became an associate professor of political science at BU in 1964 and was named full professor in 1966.

The focus of his activism became the Vietnam War. Dr. Zinn spoke at many rallies and teach-ins and drew national attention when he and the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, another leading antiwar activist, went to Hanoi in 1968 to receive three prisoners released by the North Vietnamese.

Dr. Zinn’s involvement in the antiwar movement led to his publishing two books: "Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal" (1967) and "Disobedience and Democracy" (1968). He had previously published "LaGuardia in Congress" (1959), which had won the American Historical Association's Albert J. Beveridge Prize; "SNCC: The New Abolitionists" (1964); "The Southern Mystique" (1964); and "New Deal Thought" (1966).

He also was the author of "The Politics of History" (1970); "Postwar America" (1973); "Justice in Everyday Life" (1974); and "Declarations of Independence" (1990).

In 1988, Dr. Zinn took early retirement to concentrate on speaking and writing. The latter activity included writing for the stage. Dr. Zinn had two plays produced: "Emma," about the anarchist leader Emma Goldman, and "Daughter of Venus."

On his last day at BU, Dr. Zinn ended class 30 minutes early so he could join a picket line and urged the 500 students attending his lecture to come along. A hundred did.

"Howard was an old and very close friend," Chomsky said. "He was a person of real courage and integrity, warmth and humor. He was just a remarkable person."

Carroll called Dr. Zinn "simply one of the greatest Americans of our time. He will not be replaced -- or soon forgotten. How we loved him back."

In addition to his daughter, Dr. Zinn leaves a son, Jeff of Wellfleet; three granddaughters; and two grandsons.

Funeral plans were not available.

Global Research Articles by Mark Feeney

Global Research Articles by Bryan Marquard

Malaysian students speaking up... may freedom of speech bring progressive changes

PHILOSOPHY: Epistemology, The Matrix, What is real?

On Cyber-terrorism

Remarks by

Barry C. Collin
Institute for Security and Intelligence

Terrorism to CyberTerrorism

The definition of "terrorism" has been well studied, defined, and documented. There is also a degree of understanding of the meanings of CyberTerrorism, either from the popular media, other secondary sources, or personal experience. This paper examines the future of CyberTerrorism - a term the author coined a decade ago, as the indicia of technological dependence and frailty were forming in our New World disOrder. Indeed, that future has come to fruition, today.
The face of terrorism is changing. While the motivations remain the same, we are now facing new and unfamiliar weapons. The intelligence systems, tactics, security procedures and equipment that were once expected to protect people, systems, and nations, are powerless against this new, and very devastating weapon. Moreover, the methods of counter-terrorism that our world's specialists have honed over the years are ineffectual against this enemy. Because, this enemy does not attack us with truckloads of explosives, nor with briefcases of Sarin gas, nor with dynamite strapped to the bodies of fanatics. This enemy attacks us with one's and zero's, at a place we are most vulnerable: the point at which the physical and virtual worlds converge. Let us first define theses two domains.

The Physical World

The physical world is matter and energy - light, dark, hot and cold, all physical matter - that place in which we live and function.

The Virtual World

The virtual world is symbolic - true, false, binary, metaphoric representations of information - that place in which computer programs function and data moves.
The physical and virtual worlds are inherently disparate worlds. It is now the intersection, the convergence, of these two worlds that forms the vehicle of CyberTerrorism, the new weapon that we face.

Reliance and Dependence

This convergence of the physical and virtual worlds, this lattice, is growing larger and more complex as we venture further into technological dependence. Each day, we move ahead with blinding speed into the computerization of every task and process that we face. We are becoming ever more inextricably reliant and dependent on the convergence of these two worlds.

Points of Convergence

What are some of the more obvious points of convergence?

• A garage door opener.
• A heart pacemaker.
• The computer chip in a late model car.
• A microwave oven.

These are all things taken for granted. Yet, as we progress into a far more technological world, what other points of convergence are taken for granted?

• Food processing plants
• Pharmaceutical processing plants
• Electric and natural gas utilities
• Train crossings and traffic control systems
• Next generation air traffic control systems
• Virtually all modern military equipment
• Military and public safety communications
• Civilian communications

Convergence Drivers

What is driving the convergence of these two worlds? There are three goals:

1.Access: the goal of universal, ubiquitous interface;

2.Control: the goal of remote administration; and
3.Mining: the goal of knowledge acquisition.

Convergence Vehicles

To achieve these goals, there are four vehicles:

• Transmission: longer lines across land and through space;
• Connections: more links to more points;
• Aggregation: more information centralized, and disconnected information linked; and
• Retrieval: more ways of retrieving information, and more importantly, knowledge.

Achieving CyberTerrorist Goals

So how does a CyberTerrorist achieve his mission? Like any terrorist, a CyberTerrorist actively exploits the goals of the target population in areas in which they take for granted.
There are three potential acts in CyberTerrorism at the point of convergence:

1.Destruction;

2.Alteration; and

3.Acquisition and retransmission (these are a unit).

As we will see, these three types of acts are most heinous at the point where the physical and virtual worlds converge.
To achieve a true terrorist goal, as we know, we must have scale and publicity. So how does the CyberTerrorist approach a new age - an age of convergence of the physical and virtual worlds? An age where, thanks to our goals, he can perform his CyberTerrorist acts from his living room, undetected, from 8,000 kilometers away?

Cracker or CyberTerrorist?

A great deal of "cracks" are committed for the purposes of anarchy, humor, or as often stated by the perpetrators, "to be annoying." However, is this the mindset of a CyberTerrorist? Does the CyberTerrorist make a garage door go up and down? Does he change an Internet web site to say a country's government is evil? Does he hack into a major corporation's voice mail system to make long distance calls? No - that is not the domain of the CyberTerrorist - that is the domain of the amateur cracker community that exists worldwide.
A CyberTerrorist's mindset is quite different. A CyberTerrorist would not alter a voice mail, or even abuse credit cards.

Potential CyberTerrorist Acts

Let us examine some example CyberTerrorist acts. Based on the definitions of terrorism, a determination can be made if they in fact constitute terrorism:

• A CyberTerrorist will remotely access the processing control systems of a cereal manufacturer, change the levels of iron supplement, and sicken and kill the children of a nation enjoying their food. That CyberTerrorist will then perform similar remote alterations at a processor of infant formula. The key: the CyberTerrorist does not have to be at the factory to execute these acts.
• A CyberTerrorist will place a number of computerized bombs around a city, all simultaneously transmitting unique numeric patterns, each bomb receiving each other's pattern. If bomb one stops transmitting, all the bombs detonate simultaneously. The keys: 1) the CyberTerrorist does not have to be strapped to any of these bombs; 2) no large truck is required; 3) the number of bombs and urban dispersion are extensive; 4) the encrypted patterns cannot be predicted and matched through alternate transmission; and 5) the number of bombs prevents disarming them all simultaneously. The bombs will detonate.
• A CyberTerrorist will disrupt the banks, the international financial transactions, the stock exchanges. The key: the people of a country will lose all confidence in the economic system. Would a CyberTerrorist attempt to gain entry to the Federal Reserve building or equivalent? Unlikely, since arrest would be immediate. Furthermore, a large truck pulling along side the building would be noticed. However, in the case of the CyberTerrorist, the perpetrator is sitting on another continent while a nation's economic systems grind to a halt. Destabilization will be achieved.
• A CyberTerrorist will attack the next generation of air traffic control systems, and collide two large civilian aircraft. This is a realistic scenario, since the CyberTerrorist will also crack the aircraft's in-cockpit sensors. Much of the same can be done to the rail lines.
• A CyberTerrorist will remotely alter the formulas of medication at pharmaceutical manufacturers. The potential loss of life is unfathomable.
• The CyberTerrorist may then decide to remotely change the pressure in the gas lines, causing a valve failure, and a block of a sleepy suburb detonates and burns. Likewise, the electrical grid is becoming steadily more vulnerable.

In effect, the CyberTerrorist will make certain that the population of a nation will not be able to eat, to drink, to move, or to live. In addition, the people charged with the protection of their nation will not have warning, and will not be able to shut down the terrorist, since that CyberTerrorist is most likely on the other side of the world.
Sadly, these examples are not science fiction. All of these scenarios can be executed today. As you may know, some of these incidents already have occurred in various nations. More of such acts will take place tomorrow. Are you prepared?

CyberTerrorists: Who, Where, and Why?

The purpose of this paper is to help you understand the threats that exist, and hopefully, to help you prevent these types of atrocities. But know this - there are people out there with very different goals, who are our real threats, and who are, or will be, attacking us. Make no mistake, the threats are real, today.
Who are the CyberTerrorists? There a great many poor movies and too many works of fiction about the hacker and cracker communities. In the popular media, there recently was the Kevin Mitnick incident, where one cracker broke into another cracker's systems. This spawned endless press and at least two best selling books. While this incident received much attention, the events amounted to meaningless children's games.
By and large, the cracker community, based primarily in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and in the nations of the former Soviet Union, is composed of individuals who see the cracking process merely as a challenge, a brain teaser, a puzzle. They view themselves as not only being innocent of any crime, but perhaps even doing something righteous, something to counter the dark monoliths of the corporate and government worlds. They believe they are being persecuted. These individuals believe that what they are doing is not doing any true damage. At its least harmful, these crackers just look at information. However, privacy issues and military secrecy can render such infiltrations acts of terror.
Sometimes crackers make minor changes, just for fun, to be annoying, or to make a statement. The potential for damage here is enormous.

Crackers as Facilitators

Individuals with a background in intelligence are aware that a frequent element of case execution is enlisting the indigenous, sometimes called "facilitators," to assist in a campaign. At the convergence of the physical and virtual worlds, the indigenous are the crackers.
There is the incorrect assumption in the cracking community that they, the crackers, are so sophisticated or so knowledgeable as to know when they are being approached for a truly illicit reason (e.g., to be enlisted as a facilitator to commit an act of terrorism). However, despite cracker arrogance, these individuals are easy targets for enlistment.
What about those crackers who actively wish to cross the line, or more basically, need money? To a teenager, a $1,000 U.S. can purchase a good many compact disks, a new modem, and a great deal of libation. Beyond youths, there are professionals in this arena as well.
Historically, individuals engaged in the practice of terror tended not to be people working upon a computer 20 hours per day. Terrorists have not been in the business of tracking the latest holes found in UNIX or an obscure government telnet opportunity. There are people, however, who are in that business - for illicit as well as good cause. As stated, just as indigenous people may be turned into soldiers, so can crackers be turned into CyberTerrorists. Sometimes such a transition may be motivated by money or prestige. Usually, this transition will occur without the cracker's cognizance. The potential threat from such transitions is mind boggling, considering the damage even one mis-directed cracker can cause.
Further, as young, educated people are brought into the folds of terrorist groups, this new generation will have the talent to execute the acts of CyberTerrorism of which we have spoken.
We are going to see increasing levels of in-house expertise, and concomitant exponential increases CyberTerrorism. Unlike other methods of terrorism, CyberTerrorism is safe and profitable, and difficult to counter without the right expertise and understanding of the CyberTerrorist's mind. Combine our increasing vulnerability, with the explosive increases in the level of violence, and increasing expertise available inside terrorist organizations through new blood and outside through facilitators, and we can see that at the point where the physical and virtual worlds converge, the old models of managing terrorism are obsolete.

Methods of Protection: No Easy Answers

We must consider the following elements when building a counter-CyberTerrorist program:

• We must accept that while the theories of terrorism stand true, the way in which we approach counter-terrorism, in this case, counter-CyberTerrorism, must change.
• We must cooperate and share intelligence in ways we have never have before.
• We must enlist the assistance of those individuals who understand the weapons we are facing and have experienced fighting these wars.
• We must learn the new rules, the new technologies, and the new players.

Unfortunately, one cannot learn how to fight this very unconventional warfare from someone who hasn't been there, nor from someone whose experience is in the old ways and old technologies. The old data processing, auditing, and computer security models in use today are obsolete. On this battlefield, against this weapon, the terrorist is already far ahead. The building of a counter-CyberTerrorist team must be real-time and dynamic, as the weapons will continually change, to morph, in an attempt to beat you, your systems, and your people. There is no re-machining, and unlike other terrorists, if the CyberTerrorist loses today, he does not die - he learns what did not work, and will use that information against you tomorrow.

Conclusion

If a computer security advisor states that you, your organization, and your country are safe behind firewalls, behind a system put into place by people who have never fought cyberbattles, behind audit trails, passwords, and encryption, then a great and dangerous fallacy (or fantasy) is being perpetrated upon you. The only solution is the quick deployment of a counter-CyberTerrorist - someone who knows what you are up against today, someone who lives in the world of the people who are, and will be, attacking - someone who can train the people who must fight the battles.

Ex Post Facto

An effective auditing system will only inform the target manager that they have taken a hit; perhaps a fatal hit. By that point, it is too late. Now is the time to take action. Unfortunately, due to this open nature of this document, specific counter-CyberTerrorism measures cannot be discussed. Those discussions must be reserved for secured facilities.
Counter-terrorists of all backgrounds are duty-bound to save property, and more importantly, save lives. However, we are not isolated. We are all increasingly connected, dependent, and vulnerable. The very basic things we take for granted (e.g., food, medicine, energy, air, freedom of movement, communications, freedom from violence) are being threatened by the new weapon of CyberTerrorism.
If we do not work together, we will be responsible for the outcome. If we fail to be ready when and where the virtual and physical worlds converge, then all that will be left is terror - in one's and zero's.

---

for further information

Institute for Security and Intelligence
P.O. Box 9877
Stanford, CA 94309-9877 USA

isi@hooked.net

Malaysian Art scene January 2010 -- 12 (Art Space Gallery)

12 (Art Space Gallery)


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3348939&id=38269667468#/photo.php?pid=3348939&id=38269667468&fbid=233801212468

Artists uncovered

Tengku Sabri and Mastura

Gunung Daik Dream Weaver (1993-1996), with wires, books and plastic bottles

Secawan Kopi Dan Badut (1998), mixed media on canvas, 91.5cm x 91.5cm

Tengku Sabri Ibrahim and his wife, Mastura Abdul Rahman, unveil themselves in a new exhibition, Archive. It has been a great experience, they tell RACHEL JENAGARATNAM
BASED in Setapak, Gallery 12 recently opened its second Archive exhibition, featuring Tengku Sabri Ibrahim and Mastura Abdul Rahman, under the guidance of curator Shooshie Sulaiman. As the two-decade long career of both artists uncovers, they take time to reflect on their journey so far as artists.

The couple first met at the Department of Fine Art of the then-Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM). Mastura was a painting major, whilst Tengku Sabri’s focus was sculpture. They graduated in 1986 and married a year later.

Tengku Sabri recalls: “At the time, I was living in Ulu Klang with my uncle and a few friends. In 1988, we returned to my hometown, Jerteh, in Terengganu.”

There, Tengku Sabri’s father, a Tokoh Kraf Negara (Seni Ukir Halus) or National Craft Master (Fine Carving), would play a pivotal role in shaping some of his earliest works, notably the Teleng series featuring wooden deconstructions of the traditional Malay keris hilt.

“I shared a studio with my late father, who specialised in making keris hilts,” says Tengku Sabri. As a teenager, he was picking up woodcarving skills and the essence of craftsmanship from his father.

Malay traditional arts were also not far from Mastura’s mind. She grew up in a family that produced bird cages and worked on textiles and embroidery, elements that were evident in her early works.

“In the 80s, we students were encouraged to look back into our culture,” says Tengku Sabri. He refers to the penerapan nilai-nilai Islam (the application of Islamic values) that students then were encouraged to adopt.

As such, both of them turned to Islamic art for references. Persian miniatures and Malay architecture inspired Mastura tremendously and this can be seen in her vertiginous paintings of traditional kampung interiors.

At the beginning of the 90s, they moved back to Kuala Lumpur and, for practical reasons, Tengku Sabri’s work took off in a different direction.

“There was no more wood and it was hard to get raw materials,” he notes. So instead of carving from wood blocks, he moved on to combined or assembled wood constructions (Gunung Daik series).

“I also looked at alternative materials,” he says. Wire became a choice and wirework didn’t disturb the neighbours.

His influences and works diversified too. “I was looking at Conceptual Art, in particular Fluxus (the art movement),” says the artist, whose works also featured onsite installations and found objects.

Meanwhile, Mastura moved to narrative themes in her paintings – the result of having children. Objects from her new role as a mother were embedded into her works, for example, dolls that their two children played with.

Will their children – now much older – be following in the creative footsteps of their parents? “Our eldest son is thinking about taking up New Media,” says Mastura.

Like its name, the current exhibition, Archive, required a hefty amount of excavation work, including poring through old documents and photographs.

Did this bring back memories? “Yes,” says Mastura. “And, as I said to my husband, it felt like we were membogelkan diri (stripping ourselves).”

Still, both attest that it’s been a good experience to not only express their artistic journey, but also their thoughts and processes. This marks a vital step towards instilling more intellectualism towards art practices.

The exhibition is also a sampler of a bigger exhibition planned for September. Included are some mind maps, illustrated by Tengku Sabri. These are works on paper, notable for their organised web of thought. In particular, a large piece details his definition of the “Malaysian Artist”. It features lists, pyramids and illustrations that validate its producer’s role as a “thinker”, and not merely a “doer” (artist categories in the work).

Facing this is his bookshelf, transported into the gallery, with books and objects intact. It too is beguiling. The books – they encompass literary and historical texts, art books, journals, sketchbooks and exhibition catalogues – are shielded within a grid of twine and the linearity is punctuated by other objects, chiefly smaller sculptures and, at the very top, rest suitcases.

The format recalls works from his Inside series — Pertemuan Dalam (Inner Encounter), 2000, and Lampiran Di Dalam 2 (Attachment Inside), 1999, for example. These challenge the viewer in multiple ways. For example, with the artists’ possessions corralled, one feels compelled to question the nature of art itself.

“This project is interesting because the artworks can be something else. Here, I have framed or frozen my books. It’s all in there, all my references. Artworks in a traditional exhibition are different. Viewers try to give meaning and question why the artist did this or that, but in the case of this exhibition, these items become artifacts,” says Tengku Sabri.

In a way, the bookshelf is emblematic of the Archive project as a whole — artists encasing, not just their artworks, but their entire lives for the public to see.

Should more artists unveil themselves in this manner? “Yes, I think sharing is important,” says Mastura, who credits their role as art educators as a reason for her view (both artists are attached with the Multimedia University).

What were the personal highlights in their career? “Dia banyak, dia banyak (she has a lot),” says Tengku Sabri, smiling at his wife. Mastura’s career has indeed been stellar. She was one of the first Malaysian representatives at the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art and her CV is dotted with awards.

Though his CV is equally luminous, Tengku Sabri feels that his biggest accomplishment was the publication of his book, Tanpa Tajuk (Untitled). It borrows its name from a short-lived series of journals published by the artist and the book features all his writings and notes to date.

Alongside ironing out minor bumps for Archive’s main exhibition, the two artists are also busy with a project with filmmaker, U-Wei Haji Saari, scheduled for April. “I will be producing five artworks based on his films,” says Mastura.

2010 is shaping up to be a busy year for the coupwle. And judging from their commitment to their art, they wouldn’t change this for the world.

Haiti Earthquake

The Bible Translator

The Bible Translator

On the origin of the Wahabbi movement

The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahhaab

On the Wahabbis and the Salafis

Malaysians, praying for peace in not enough

 

Azly Rahman
Jan 12, 10
3:12pm

 

There is a Buddhist lesson in how we ought to perceive Malaysia's emerging style of terrorism.

When one is bleeding after being shot by an arrow, the first step is not to look for the culprit that shot the arrow and pondering why was it shot but to pull out the arrow from the victim's body and to quickly put a stop to the bleeding. This is what Siddharta Gautama would teach as crisis intervention.

Malaysians might never know who carried out the series of church bombings, nor what organisations are behind them, and if there is a higher order involved in the long-term planning of terror.

Postmodern debates will be a tedious exercise on whether this or that name of a Universal God can be copyrighted or whether a pastor or an archbishop can be pushed to the ground or physically attacked for using the forbidden name of the Universal God during their sermons.

Malaysians can only speculate if the reign of terror they are entering will lead to more bombings, arson, and even attacks that will take innocent lives away or even, God forbids, people are actually willing to die in the name of religion.

Governments are voted into power to protect citizens so that life, liberty, and the pursuit of basic needs and next, justice and safety and security, and finally self-realisation and civility can be pursued.

What is left in the self-worth of a government when swift action to protect property and people cannot be carried out?

When churches are no longer safe and Christians will live in fear over their right to worship the Universal God they are accustomed to by name – when these are happening, why should peace-loving people of Malaysia of any faith continue to keep the current regime in power?

Buddhist solution

In these last few days of seemingly sectarian violence, Malaysians want to know how trustworthiness is the government in using it's machinery in making sure that the first order of the day is to be responsible and systematic enough to “pull the arrow out of the bleeding man and to quickly heal him” and next, to prevent more arrows from being shot.

Seemingly this Buddhist solution to a Christian-Muslim dilemma will have to be the logical step the regime will need to take.

In America, the mere receipt of a phone call of a terrorist threat will send the police, the bomb disposal squad, the fire engine, and perhaps a SWAT team to the scene to cordon the place in a “lock-down situation”.

The local government is strong and the police is highly efficient and every step is taken to ensure damage control, to provide both the perception and reality of providing safety and enforcing the law.

The citizens of the municipality or township pays high taxes that pay the salary of the police, the firemen, and also the teachers. As such, they expect their neighborhood to be safe in return. That is one key performance of a civil society.

In America, if there are even talks of one attempting to bomb a mosque, a fleet of patrol cars would be at the scene with helicopters hovering above.

Of course American democracy and the practice of it still has its flaws but in the case of providing assurance that things will be fine, I have seen numerous instances of the efficiency of the law enforcement agency.Deploy volunteers...

Malaysians must demand that the churches are constantly kept safe and the government must also ensured that the police force will not come up with lame excuses that they are short handed to do the job.
If needed, they should deploy the cadet police, youths trained in the National Service, Rela volunteers, and any citizen watch groups such as the Rukun Tetangga to ensure that terrorists, perhaps paid handsomely, don't throw Molotov cocktails into houses of worship.

Arrest the terrorists as fast as we can if we claim that our police force is one of the best in the world, and investigate who or what is behind these demonic acts.

We are in a crisis that might be a prelude to something bigger and will have us see our cities burning while Neros amongst us play the fiddle. We cannot allow this magnitude of violence to continue to spread.

We might even one day have, the Universal God forbids, suicide bombers blowing themselves up in our marketplaces or the pasar malam (night markets), if we do not act upon this fast and furiously.

We must stop all rallies that incite hatred and takes action against newspapers that invoke the ghosts of May 13, 1969.

Let our police and other law enforcement agencies be seen in public, patrolling the streets, the kampongs, the churches and other houses of worship – so that the rakyat that voted for this government will at least feel safe.

That was the sense of security Americans felt as the country was healing from the Sept 11, 2001 attacks - when two 'arrows' were plunged into the Twin Towers.

The healing process was painful one for Americans but healed they were and a new agency, The Department of Homeland Security, there was.

In Malaysia, what is the worth of a government if I cannot provide all the means necessary to guarantee safety.

Malaysians might as well vote in a new regime – that will not only ensure that no arrows will be shot and healing is in the form of administering holistic and preventive medicine.

That ought to be the solution. We cannot allow demons to rule, nor demolitions to define the democracy we dearly yearn for.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AZLY RAHMAN, who was born in Singapore and grew up in Johor Bahru, holds a Columbia University (New York) doctoral degree in International Education Development and Masters degrees in the fields of Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies, and Communication. He has taught more than 40 courses in six different departments and have written more than 300 analyses on Malaysia. His teaching experience spans both in Malaysia and in the United States and in a wide range of teaching context; from elementary to graduate education. He currently resides in the United States.

Question of the day

How much violence can Malaysians take? Is this the price of mis-education,  indoctrination, greed, power, manipulations, and ethnocentrism?

I wrote this in 2006:


---------------------------------------------

Demons and demolitions

Azly Rahman

"I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures." "The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao-tzu, "founder" of Taoism A human being. A squatter area. A Taoist temple. A hope for religious dialogue. These are demolished within the last 100 days. It seems that the last quarter of the year 2006 will mark the last 100 days that shook Malaysia. In the Mongolian model we see a human being murdered beyond our ability to comprehend what hideousness mean. In the demolishing of the squatter area of Kampong Berembang, we see the symbol of quick-fixing a complex social issue. In the demolishing of a 30-year old Taoist temple we arrogantly display our insensitivity towards the worshipers of a beautiful faith that honored the teachings of one of the world's greatest mystic, Lao-tzu. And in the Prime Minster's decision to stop the dialogue on interfaith issues, we see the demolition of a hope and possibility of beginning the difficult dialogue of religious reconciliation. What contradictions we are living by. As Chairman Mao would say, we are living in interesting times". The demons within What if the human being demolished with those C4 explosives is our sister or daughter? What if the housing areas we demolish are the homes of Malaysia's rich and famous, to make way for the homes of the poor and the unknown? What if the Bukit Mertajam Taoist temple is a masjid, a church, a wat, or a Hindu temple? And what if the ban on religious dialogue is a ban on spreading the ideology of Islam Hadhari or the free market economy? We must put ourselves in other people's shoes if we want to be respected as human beings living with others of different faith and skin colour? We instead hesitate to bring to justice those responsible in inciting racial violence in speeches that will breed hatred, especially in the last hurrah on Malay nationalism that has run its course. We failed to demolish the architecture of power and ideology that has enrich the few of the ruling elite; a system that is build upon the hope for racial tolerance and economic justice but is ending up with one that is trumpeting a form of dynastic despotic democracy that is full of contradiction and is corrupted to the core. We must exorcise the demons from our national psyche. But first, we need to understand what the divine in that psyche is. We must understand the close relationship between the self, society, and spirituality in the process of human beings socially reproducing themselves. In Lao-tzu's word from the Tao Te-Ching, we must understand "the way" – of the most natural and peaceful form of the self; of the self that is "formless", "spoken-less", and "boundless". In the case of the murdered Mongolian model, what kind of human being would be that demonic who would destroy another human being in that fashion? How could this have happened in a country such as Malaysia that prides itself in being the most gentle and accommodating of all multicultural societies? What image are we projecting in the international arena? What is the real story behind such a hideous and high-profile crime? In the case of the destruction of the houses in Kampong Berembang, what kind of government would destroy the homes of those who continue to live in such condition of urban poverty when we ought to have provided decent housing in a country that prides itself in its fight to end poverty? Why do we continue to see shantytowns and bantusaans and squatter areas mushrooming at time when we are spending billions buying submarimes, launching satellites, and sending our spaceman to do the teh tarik dance in zero gravity? Why do we have so many signature golf courses and local politicians and little Napoleons building their little istana in an economic system that promises social justice for all? In the case of the demolition of the Taoist temple in Penang, what kind of local government would oversee the demolition of a house of worship for the Taoists? Did we give them enough opportunity to build a new temple? The idea of demolishing a place that teaches peace and compassion shows that we still have a thousand miles to go in arriving at an interfaith dialogue. We need to make the first step towards such a vision. As Lao-tzu say, "the journey of a thousand mile begins with a single step." What then must we do Are we getting more violent as a people - nurturing the demons in us and turning ourselves into demolition men? Are we seeing the beginning of more politically-motivated murders, more destruction of the home of the poor and dispossessed, more demolitions of houses of worship, and more denials of our urgent need for interfaith dialogues? I hope not. Or else we will be leaving a legacy of violence and bloodshed to our children and grandchildren. Israel's fifty years of "founding" is leaving it losing grip of elusive peace. Let us work towards this thousand-mile journey. But we must identify which political vehicle to rely upon in order to bring us to where a hundred flowers bloom in our million men and women march towards this one utopia – a strong state that protects the weak and curb the appetite of the rich and powerful. This journey - will be the Tao of Malaysian politics. Until we arrive at such a utopia, we will continue to read about demons and demolitions.

Malaysia -- on CNN

Malaysian church bombings the work of demons

Church bombings the work of demons

Azly Rahman

http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/2006/12/97-demons-and-demolition.html

Peace, mercy, and blessings to all Malaysians.

My heart goes to those affected by the recent bombings. Today’s ‘World Briefing’ section of The New York Times carried the news.

The three attacks on the churches are terrorist attacks by definition. Thus begin a rough period of turmoil ahead beginning with the blowing up of the French-speaking Mongolian translator for Malaysia's arms dealings. Violence, Machiavellian-styled will be the order of the day -- we have entered a period of the emergence of  demons and demolition. I hope these are not the work of those out to create chaos; in view that the current regime is losing power and seriously challenged by the growing strength of the emergent alternative government. The ends justify the means. Violence is the means and the end as well. While physical violence is the means to cling on to power, structural or the unseen/hidden/structural  violence is the goal of the State.

We are entering "into interesting times," as Mao Zedong would say. You and I are part of the game – in the Malaysian matrix of complexities.

The immediate reaction for all of us should be to condemn these terrorist attacks, so that God forbids, when and if masjids, or and other houses of worship are being bombed, non-Muslim friends of ours will come to console us and help become vigilantes. Terror has no face, nor religious affiliation. Terrorists need to be smoked out of their holes and their hiding places. Organizations supporting them must be exposed and brought to justice.

Malaysians of all faiths must be united in condemning these terrorist acts. All NGOs  must issue a statement on this. These demons need to be incarcerated and the culture  of "demolitions in Malaysian politics" need to be destroyed.

God forbids any of your loved ones were nearby during the morning explosions.

I see this development as a consequence of race-politics, mass panic over a plausibly positive outcome of the next general election, and the implosion happening like a nuclear fission in the concept of Ketuanan Melayu. I have written quite extensively on the pathology of Malay-Muslim extremism. I hope the bombings are not a prelude to the creation of Malaysian suicide bombers. It will be a shame for a peaceful country such as Malaysia to be relegated to be a "Travel Advisory" country as defined by the US State Department.

Democracy in Malaysia is almost dead with the recent happenings. The government is powerless in face of this-- should have stopped those rallies and should have monitored the growth of hate-based NGOs, especially those championing idiotic pride.

Where are we going? What will happen to the future generation of Malaysians as we try to teach tolerance? What then must we do? How do we dismantle all these race-based parties that are using religion to create chaos and destruction? Is the country still safe -- or is Malaysia turning into a Pakistan -- out of our own Talibanization of ideas? "1Malaysia" is now "1Scary Malaysia"

We must speak up for peace and justice for all, and encourage others to leave organizations that are entrenched in racial and religious hatred.  We must console the Christians and Catholics affected by the bombings and address their fear, assuring that the bombings are done not by rational Muslims but by demons on Mat Rempit bikes.

I suggest Malaysians offer donations for the rebuilding of those churches. For me, I offer this piece of writing.

May the Universal God of Humanity grant us Mercy and Compassion in dealing with demons and demolitions. We will be strong, as a nation.

NOTES ON THE MALAYSIAN RELIGIOUS PROBLEMATIQUE, #1

1] Here is an entry from wikipedia concerning the concept of God:

List of Christian terms in Arabic


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The following list consists of concepts that are derived from both Christian and Arab tradition, which are expressed as words and phrases in the Arabic language. These terms are included as transliterations, often accompanied by the original Arabic-alphabet orthography. Although Islam is the dominant religion among Arabs, there are a significant number of Arab Christians in regions that were formerly Christian, such as much of the Byzantine empire's lands in the Middle East, so that there are over twenty million Arab Christians living around the world. (Significant populations in Egypt, Lebanon, Brazil, Mexico, Jordan, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, USA, Canada, UK and Australia.) Christianity has existed in the Arab world since the 1st century. Readers should also note that Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet, and that different individuals and Christian groups may transliterate certain Arabic words into the Latin alphabet in various ways.





Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z



[edit] A

al-Āb (الآبُ)

God the Father

Allāh (الله)

literally "God"; is also used as a religious term by Arab Muslims and Arab Jews.

Roman Catholics in Malta call God Alla in the Maltese language. The name Allah is also used by Christians in predominantly Islamic countries and countries where both faiths exist side by side regularly such as Indonesia, Israel (part), Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria.

2] Need to understand the Judaic origin of the word for Universal God, namely el-Lohi (Ellohim) and the Arabic version of it il-Lah.  

Muhammad's father is named Abdullah meaning servant of Al-Lah. (servant of 'the God'). As we know Jesus is of Jewish origin and speaks Aramaic and uttered the word "el-Lohi.. el-Lohi" when speaking about the Creator. (Indonesians used the word Illahi). Mu suggestion is for one to watch the movie "Passion of the Christ" -- on the events leading to crucifixtion of the person Christians believe was Jesus of Nazareth

It is useful to know philology and epistemology and understand how we form concepts and religious understanding is conceptual. 

Malay-Muslims use the words shurga, neraka, neraca, anugeraha, jiwa, raga, sembahHyang, puja, puji, pahala, dosa, durjanana, kala, tatkala, indera, panca indera, warna, -- all these are Sanskrit words used in the Hindu-Buddhist tradition.

The most degrading sentence for Malays are "Sembah patik harap di ampun"... and the address "Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sri Paduka Baginda"... Paduka/or Aduka means "slippers", owned by Prince Rama, placed on the throne by his brother Bharata when Rama was exiled for 14 years to the forest of Jataka; the slipper a symbol of awaiting for the return of Rama. That's the story from the epic Ramayana. The rulers used language to ceremoniously subjugate the dull and the ignorant.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Malaysia's Friday protests cancelled, all will stay home and watch movies

Instead of protesting on the streets, I'd like to recommend Malaysians to stay home and watch these movies on youtube. They are also on this blog. Malaysians need to evolve from this petty issue and start focusing on the realism of poverty, corruption, abuse of power, failing schools, etc.

Lecture: Edward Said

powered by

Lecture: Noam Chomsky

powered by

Lecture: Jacques Derrida

powered by

Lecture: Jean Paul Sartre

powered by

Movie: 1984

powered by

Movie: Animal Farm

powered by

Movie: Chicken Run

powered by

Poems: Rumi

powered by

Dialogue on Religion: Karen Armstrong

powered by

Dailogue on Religion: Huston Smith

powered by

Islam

powered by

Humanism

powered by

Jainism

powered by

Sikkhism

powered by

Hinduism

powered by

Bahai

powered by

Confucianism

powered by

Taoism

powered by

The Bhagavad Gita

powered by

Jesus of Nazareth

powered by

Siddharta Gautama

powered by

Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh)