Granfalloon

I thought I’d post this. It makes me smile.

All those people gathered just to dance for this one guy’s video. So easy to unite.

We keep reminding ourselves of the shittiness of the world, and we forget to embrace the good. There are good people out there, who have good intentions. Unfortunately, they are overshadowed by the awfulness of the bad ones. I need to remember there’s good out there. I need to remember that for every slimeball, there’s a saint. Maybe one day I can be a saint. Insha’Allah.

Insha’Allah.

–oj

I have no reason for this post, but it’s nearly 5am and I can’t sleep.

I’ve been thinking about the emotion of guilt lately and how I’ve come to find its uselessness rather perplexing. Think about it. Think about the last time you felt guilty about anything. I mean, really felt guilty. Feel your heart empty. Feel your eyes water with regret. I’ll bet it was pretty awful. Now think about how that has benefitted you in your life. Did you really need to feel that awful? And was the reason for it even worth feeling that guilty over? Did you do anything wrong that warranted you to feel that way in the first place?

So, what good does guilt serve to us as a human race? Most people would say it serves to make us feel remorseful for immoral actions, so that we might not repeat them in the future. On the contrary, however, it seems that most offenses that illicit a sense of guilt are committed more than once. From terrible sins such as adultery, to popular sins like drinking alcohol, to simple, everyday sins like lying - guilt certainly succeeds in making people feel bad, but not bad enough to stop doing whatever made them feel that way.  

And then there’s the argument that guilt is felt by those who are good, because it reminds them of their humanity. In other words, to feel guilty is know you are human, that you have a conscience and a heart, and this is a good thing. I beg to differ. If I could choose to feel guilty and be a “good person” or not feel any guilt and be labeled an asshole, then elect me President of the United States and call me George Bush, cuz I will choose to be an asshole without hesitation. Besides, what good does the emotion offer to someone who already is a good person? The people who need to feel guilty are the ones out there doing all the bad shit. Murdering babies, raping women, and stealing elections. Those people need to be feeling the guilt, not me.

Ok, I get it. Yes, I know that if we didn’t feel guilt then we’d all be assholes and the world would be a very dismal place. But true, deep-seated guilt is debilitating. It’s paralyzing. It makes us regret our existence and sends us into a spiral of self pity that no one benefits from except, maybe, a psychiatrist. But why?

We are we the only species on earth who feel guilty. Animals have no use for it. It’s not biologically beneficial. Sure animals feel sadness. They feel loneliness. But they do not feel guilt. Reprimand a dog for eating your shoes and it will whimper, but that’s not out of guilt. That’s from fear.

But hey, maybe that’s where guilt comes from. Fear that God will punish us for not feeling bad for what we’ve done…or didn’t do (not fast, not pray, lying and telling the homeless man on the street you didn’t have any change even though you did, cuz you thought he’d buy crack with it…etc.)? So I can perceive the origin of guilt. But still, that fear isn’t enough to stop us from doing it again. Besides, there are atheists who have no fear of God and yet still experience guilt. Furthermore, isn’t guilt also a product of society? I know we’d feel guilty for committing adultery here, but in some states in Africa it’s a common practice for a man to have sex with several different women openly. 

So where does this meaningless feeling come from? Why must we experience this aching in our heart if it yields no apparent redeeming outcome? And most importantly, how do you get rid of it?  

–oj

Yesterday was the end of the three-day International Islamic Conference for Dialogue. The conference had about 600 “influential scholars” according to the Guardian UK. It is heavily backed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with the main purpose of creating harmony and tolerance between Muslims and non-Muslims from other monotheistic religions.

What struck me as odd was that the Guardian described King Abdullah as “seen as the bridge between the West and the Muslim world.” They even quoted Dr Ezzedin Ibrahim from the Ministry of Presidential Affairs in the United Arab Emirates saying that “Saudi Arabia is the cradle of Islam and only King Abdullah could be effective in calling Muslims from all parts of the world.”

I completely disagree with both statements. King Abdullah is after all a monarch, in charge of a country that one of my professors rightfully described it as a family business. And as far as bridging the gap between Muslims and the West, Saudi Arabia is the most restrictive regime towards peoples of other faiths. There is a steadily rising Catholic population of migrant workers — mainly from the Philippines — who have yet to be given a place of worship. Not only that, but in a country where there is constant discrimination against non-Saudis, even if they are Muslims, I strongly contest that its leadership should be the ambassadors of the Muslim world.

It is too bad that the royal family continues to reap the benefits of U.S. protection. I don’t hope for a coupe or violent revolution but there has to be room for dissent. A regime that’s too sure of its continued existence doesn’t usually stop to listen to the other side.

The IICD also covered issues such as terrorism and Muslim-Jewish relations. Luckily, there was consensus among the clerics and “scholars” that terrorism is to be condemned, however the issue of Jewish people was rather divided. The grand mufti and Saudi Arabia said that we cannot have dialogue with them because of the situation in Israel. His Egyptian counterpart, who was the most popular speaker, said that he will only talk to Jewish people if they denounce Zionism.

Reference: Guardian U.K. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/07/islam.religion?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews]

-Saria

An elderly man age 78 years was a victim of a hit and run near downtown Hartford, CT. He was hit by a car that seemed to be racing another and both sped away after the incident. What is more shocking is that a security camera captured footage of the accident and the apparent oblivion and inaction by pedestrians and drivers present at the seen. For nearly 90 seconds no one came over the accident victim and tried to help him. Several cars slowed down to see what has happened and just drove off. It wasn’t until a police officer arrived following a call to an unrelated incident that people gathered to see if the man was alright.

Police released the video tape of the accident in an effort to help identify the driver responsible. I have posted it here but be warned THIS IS VERY GRAPHIC. The victim was rushed to the hospital and he is doing well.

-Saria