Turkey lifts its ban on the hijab: long live women's power to choose!

If you want gender equality, let women be free to choose whatever they want to wear. It’s as simple as that – forcing a woman to wear something is just as bad as forcing her to give it up. Turkey has realized it too, finally, after years and years of banishing the hijab, the traditional headscarf. Ever since the founding father of the Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, took power, anything that could be related to the “old fashioned Islam”, the Islam of the obsolete empire, was, at the very least, strongly discouraged.

For years, women have been fighting for the right to wear the hijab everywhere – especially universities. It has nothing to do with religious fundamentalism; it’s just about women taking the power to decide what to put on their own bodies. It could be a headscarf or bunny’s ears, it just shouldn’t matter, as long as it’s not offensive to anyone.

As Shalina Litt, a popular Muslim radio presenter in Birmingham says, “Much of the negativity about headscarves and veils comes from a lack of understanding about what they mean and why women choose wear them. […]Wearing the veil can be surprisingly empowering”, especially when talking to men, who “are having to listen to my words, not judge me by my clothes or my face, but paying attention purely to what I have to say." One could or could not agree with this statement, it doesn’t really matter. The point is, let women be free to choose! No one ever tells men what they can or cannot put on their own bodies -  and God knows, sometimes it wouldn’t be such a bad idea – so why should anyone feel he or she has the right to tell a woman what to wear?

"A dark time eventually comes to an end," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech to the parliament. "Headscarf-wearing women are full members of the republic, as well as those who do not wear it."

Sources:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131011-hijab-ban-turkey-islamic-headscarf-ataturk/

ITALY: THE EXPOSURE OF THE CRUCIFIX INTO SCHOOLS

In 1924 and in 1928 the fascist regime issued two decrees which provided the presence of the crucifix in the classrooms. In the following decades, in spite of the collapse of the regime and the entry into force of a lay Constitution, the new republican governments did not repeal these laws. In this way the problem of their validity arose. The exposure of the crucifix into schools was questioned because some people perceived it as a symbol which protected the traditional values but for others its presence was a sign of discrimination towards people who had a different cultural identity.

Since the 80s the citizens have raised to the courts some appeals against the presence of the crucifix in the classrooms. In spite of this, the judges have always dismissed these actions asserting that the crucifex did not limit everyone’s freedom to manifest his religious convinctions. Besides the courts proclaimed that the crucifex had not only a meaning connected to the Catholicism but it was also an universal symbol of western culture and identity.

In 2004 the most important italian court case about the crucifix began. The case was faced by a lot of newspapers and TV programmes and it started when Soile Lautsi, a finnish citizen living in Abano Terme (near Padua), complained that the exposure of the crucifix in his son’s classroom violated the principles of laicity and impartiality recognised by the Constitution. Therefore she raised an appeal to the Veneto’s TAR. In 2005 this court dismissed the action proclaiming that the crucifix transmitted values like freedom, equality and religious tolerance. At this point Soile Lautsi raised an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. She complained the violation of the parent’s right to educate a son in accordance with his/her values. It is a right recognised by the “Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”. The Chamber composed of seven judges examined the case and in 2009 it issued a judgement establishing that the presence of the crucifix in the classrooms discriminated people who had a different belief. Taking note of this the italian government decided to present an appeal to the the Grand Chamber made up of seventeen judges. The action of the government was successful: in 2011 the court proclaimed that the crucifix was a “passive” symbol because its exposure was not connected to forms of religious indoctrination. Consequently the State can continue to adopt the praxis to show the crucifix into schools. Nevertheless this topic is debated again and it continues to divide the public opinion of our country.

Sources:

http://www.olir.it/areetematiche/75/documents/palma_lautsi.pdf

http://www.camera.it/application/xmanager/projects/leg17/attachments/sentenza/sintesi_sentenzas/000/000/422/sintesi_Lautsi_e_altri_c._Italia.pdf

QUEBEC SECULARISM PLAN

Last year in the Canadian region of Quebec a controversial plan to abolish religious symbols in public places was being discussed. The problem had been  discussed for months, and tension was very high. The two opposing factions clashed harshly without arriving at a solution.

The bill proposed by “The parti Québécois” (PQ) in 2013 provided that all the public employees couldn’t show conspicuous religious symbols. Example of prohibited symbol were headscarves, yarmulkes, turbans, and big crucifixes. Instead little crucifixes, rings and other small items could be worn.

The people in favour of this plan argued that it was “essential” and “reflect who we are as a society”. According to them Quebec had always adapted to the influences of the various religions losing its identity.

The people against this plan thought it was “ discriminatory and unnecessary” and forced a lot of public employees to choose between work and faith. They recognized the importance of a secularism however they didn’t agree with this solution. They proposed an alternative, in which the ban concerned only those who had a position of authority.

This project died in 2014. The liberal won the election in April and the plan was abandoned.

The issue of religious symbols affects not only Quebec but different countries. In 2004 France abolished all religious symbols in public places. On one hand, there is the pressure of increasing secularism in society. On the other hand, this pressure responds to a perceived fear among the population towards minorities especially Islamic considered different and dangerous. Islam is often associated to ISIS and terrorist acts.

The discussion of this paper is in fact accompanied by a widespread Islamophobia. There have been several cases in Quebec of vandalism against mosques.

The problem is not solved yet, but it should address the issue in the right way to avoid violence.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/14/quebec-proposal-yourheadscarforyourjob.html

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/11/11/quebec-ottawa-islamophobia.html

WEEK 3: RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS

In the western world religious symbols have increasingly become a reason for discussion as consequence of massive immigration and multicultural societies.

Anyway it is necessary to divide the West in two parts: in many western countries where the immigration is not recent the discussion about that subject has been part of public opinion for many decades; in other western countries where the problem of immigration has been faced in recent years, the question of religious symbols is more delicate and potentially explosive.

The study of disputes over religious symbols proposes two schools of thought: negative and repulsive school, and inclusive and welcoming school

These two different approaches are based on different cultural paradigms: the first model concerns the mentality of the religious divisions of Europe, the other one is about the culture of human rights, pluralism and dialogue between religions.

The two orientations use terms and vocabulary that are opposite to one another, one reflects suffering, opposition while the other proposes acceptance of dialogue between differences and mutual respect.

Some scholars make a distinction: religious symbols are always aggressive while civil symbols are instead positive and peaceful civilians: in a pluralist democracy, the official symbols, like the national flag, do not represent an absolute truth, but demonstrate a sense of belonging to a shared value.

In this situation we can affirm that the coexistence of different cultures in society pushes the western public opinion to face complex situations.

Almost every day there are case of violence, intolerance and discrimination about religious symbols all over the world. Unfortunately the chronicle is full of examples of that.

According to Italian press on August 2014 in Milan a Jewish person sitting on a bus was offended and spat by an Arab because of his kippah.

This event created large argument on social network, demonstrating how religious symbols and their meanings are felt in our society, usually in a not correct way.

What happened in Milan probably confirms that some people have a deformed approach to the religious symbols depending on their education, prejudicial approach, or distorting point of view about religion.

The way to reach harmony and mutual respect is a very difficult path, but there are also good and very good example to tell.

In Sweden, trying to deal with this situation of tensions between different cultures and religions, Professor Rubin Dranger, art teacher at Kronstadt Academy of Stockholm aims to create new emoticons (small faces used to communicate emotions) for many other ethnic faces including Religious caps as the Muslim hijab and Jewish kippah.

Professor Dranger said digitizing means communicating with the images that are very important in this historical moment we are living.

In my personal opinion this case shows how religious symbols are not only big political and social issues but also something that is part of our daily lives.

SOURCES:

Stato, Chiese e pluralismo confessionale Rivista telematica (www.statoechiese.it), Carlo Cardia Il simbolo religioso e culturale (pdf)

http://www.milanotoday.it/cronaca/ebrei-insultato-tram-27.html

http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/tgtech/2014/notizia/la-svezia-propone-emoticon-multiculturali-con-velo-e-kippah_2036352.shtml

PUTIN'S SPEECH

This speech was addressed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin. It’s an interesting consideration about European’s Christian roots and how, apparently, Europe is trying to get rid of those roots, almost “ashamed” by them. According to Putin, we – and by we, I mean us Europeans – are rejecting these roots, and by doing so, we are “denying the moral basis and any traditional identity”. It’s interesting how the President of a former (or not so former) communist country suddenly appears as the savior of Christianity. He goes even further than that, linking the homosexual partnerships that are being acknowledged all around Europe (sadly, not in Italy.. yet) to our “faith in Satan”. Yes, Satan. It was supposed to be an official speech, and he was supposed to talk about Russia's relations with other countries, especially Europe, and yet, it somehow became the speech coming from an angry pastor chastising his followers. Europe has lost its sense of morality. According to our pastor Putin, we are promoting a real propaganda of pedophilia.. by allowing same sex couples to get married? By trying to keep the Church – any church, really – firmly separated from the State?

Putin strongly believes that Europeans are “frightened to admit” their being Christians. Christian holidays are being “abolished”, and yet we are all about to start our Christmas holidays.. or did something change without any of us noticing?

My sincere opinion about this speech is one and only: Vladimir Putin is trying to get on the good side of the Christian majority of Europe. He must be tired of always being the “bad guy”, compared to our strongest ally, the US. His final sentences are quite clear: “Such a unipolar world – of the USA – would mean the surrender of one’s own identity and of God-created diversity”. So THIS is what he was truly getting at.

 This one has probably been a smart move: there are, indeed, Christians that are protesting against what I would call progress, like equal rights and such. I am sure these people appreciated this speech. Me? Not so much.

Source:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSX2ALtIejw

POPE FRANCIS'S SPEECH

Last November 25 Pope Francis visited the European institution. During the visit he made a speech in front of the European Parliament. The last pope who had addressed to this Assembly was Pope John Paul II.

In this speech the Pope spoke about various issues affecting the European community, including religion.

Often in his speech, the Pope spoke of religion indirectly in several ways. In some cases he reported quotes not directly related to religion but which are taken from the speeches of previous popes ( John Paul II and Benedict XVI), or from other religious sources.

In other cases the Pope used typical values of Christian culture for example the Manichean vision of the world divided between good and evil, or the idea of creation when he talked about ecology. Also the idea of transcendence that means something stands beyond the objective reality.

In the central part he faced directly the issue of religion. He gave some advice.

According to the Pope it is important for Europe to take into account the religion not as a threat to secularism but as an enrichment. Europe should also promote its diversity, even its religious one, and respect religious minorities.
In the last part of the speech he focused on Christianity. For the Pope there is a strong link between Europe and Christianity, not always positive, but that is still part of its identity.

Analyzing the speech we can see different features. In the first part of the speech the Pope repeated several times the same expressions: first when he referred to the message he wanted to give, he kept saying “it is a message of..”, after when he spoke about the various problems that hinder respect for human dignity he kept repeating "what dignity" at the beginning of three sentences. These repetitions are used to make the speech more incisive and in the second case are used as claptraps. Other claptraps arguments are “poorest and starving people”, “religious minorities” ,”migrants and helpless people” in general.

In the last part he kept repeating who he was addressing to, to draw the attention of the audience (for example "Ladies and gentlemen, members of the European parliament").

Sources:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/november/documents/papa-francesco_20141125_strasburgo-parlamento-europeo.html

KENNEDY'S SPEECH

In the competition for the White House religion has always been very important especially in a country like the U.S. where the religion’s appurtenance is really important for American electors: if you want to be voted topics like religion, faith are essential.

In many presidential elections the religion has played a key role, here some episodes from the past:

in 2004, the Methodist George W. Bush won the confirmation thanks to a campaign focused on the ethical and religious values: in that situation Bush was voted by a good part of the Catholic electorate, traditionally democratic.

In the presidential elections of 1960 the Democrat candidate John Fitzgerald Kennedy defeated the Quaker Richard Nixon, becoming the first Catholic president in American history. During the election campaign, Kennedy was under attack because of his catholic faith and

already during the primaries for the Democratic leadership, the Massachusetts senator was forced to redouble his efforts because of religious.

After the party's nomination, Kennedy thought the problem of religion was solved but it wasn’t.

For that reason in September 1960, two months before the vote, he had to return to the subject.

On day 12, the candidate of the Democratic Party went to Houston ,Texas, to participate in a debate organized by the Association of ministers of religion, which is a group part of the American Protestantism. The main theme was the religion of the future President.

At the beginning of his speech Kennedy affirmed that in 1960 the problem could not be the religion of the President because America had more important problems than this: the spread of communist influence, the hungry children in West Virginia, the old people who couldn't pay their doctor bills and the families forced to give up their farms.

According to JFK these topics were the real problems of the election campaign. Anyway JFK knew the importance of the subject and he said it was necessary to declare once again what kind of America he believed in.

JFK said that he believed in an America where the separation of church and state was absolute: in this kind of America a catholic priest could not tell the president how to act, and a protestant minister could not tell him for whom to vote.

He believed in an America without religious intolerance, where all men and all churches were equal, where every man had the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice.

According to Kennedy the religion of the president should be his private affair, and he declared the appurtenance of the Catholicism at the history of the United States.

It’s remarkable what JFK declared, a very sensitive phrase: “But if this election is decided on the basis that 40 million Americans lost their chance of being President on the day they were baptized, then it is the whole nation that will be the loser, in the eyes of Catholics and non-Catholics around the world, in the eyes of history, and in the eyes of our own people.”

We can consider the election of JFK as a turning point in the history of U.S; in fact for the first time the WASP paradigm (White Anglo-Saxon and Protestant) was not respected.

Sources:

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it

DALAI LAMA'S SPEECH

This is the video of the Dalai Lama’s speech that he pronounced accepting the Nobel Prize for peace on the 10th December 1989, in Oslo. The Dalai Lama was awarded because he was leading a movement of non-violent protest against the Chinese government.

The Dalai Lama (the word means “Ocean of wisdom”) is the most important spiritual authority of the Tibetan Buddhism. For many years he was also the political leader of Tibet, a Western-China region which wants to grow away from the Chinese Popular Republic to become an independent State. For this reason in 1950, when the maoists took the power and their aim was to repress the buddhism, the Dalai Lama escaped from his land and found refuge in India. In this way he began to live in exile, becoming an important religious leader for the people from all-over the world.

The Dalai Lama “acceptance speech” reveals us his position about Tibet and and his ideals about the society and the religions. At the beginning he thanked the Nobel Prize Commitee for the recognition received, then the religious leader expressed the big suffering of the Tibetan people for the Chinese occupation and he remembered the students’ mobilization from the whole country against the regime of Beijing. He said that this mobilization was inspired by Ghandi’s action in India. The Dalai Lama affirmed the necessity to start negotiations between China and Tibet with the aim to live in peace and to stabilize the respect for everyone. Infact all the people have the right to their self-determination and no one can block this process using force. Subsequently he began to talk about more general topics. In particular the Dalai Lama affirmed the necessity to spread, in the societies, values like love and compassion. He thinks that all humans have the same right of freedom. Therefore in his opinion the humanity should develop a common sensibility for the world's destinies and the religions should help the society thinking and operating positively for the future. At the end the Dalai Lama said that all the religions have the same God and the faithfuls of one can not be considered as enemies by the followers of another. With this speech the Dalai Lama wanted to send a message of hope. Infact his tone is conciliatory and his register is confidential. In some moments the speech is similar to a prayer. In this way the Dalai Lama is able to attract the attention of the public and to receive a strong applause.

Sources:

http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1850

http://www.dalailama.com/messages/acceptance-speeches/nobel-peace-prize

WEEK 2: RELIGIOUS SPEECHES

This week we are going to analyze several speeches about religion. Each member is going to analyze a specific speech - two of them are going to be speeches made by politicians talking about religious issues, the other two speeches are going to be made by religious authorities who also have a great impact on politics. It's interesting that even though the speeches we found come from different times, people and places, religion plays an important role in each one of them. It's pretty safe to say that religion was, is and will be an important issue in past, present and future society.

MUSLIM IN MYANMAR

A veritable exodus of Muslims is in progress in Myanmar for the persecution made by Buddhists. Thousands of Muslims have left the territory of Burma to head in neighboring Bangladesh and India.

Myanmar is composed of a majority of Buddhists. Many minorities are persecuted in the country, particularly the Muslims. Many attacks and violence happened in central and western Myanmar. In March 2013, 43 people were killed and  1300 houses were burned by Buddhist in the Muslin neighborhood in Meiktila in central Myanmar. This violence were instigated by a monk member of the “969 Movement” (969 symbolizes the virtues of the Buddha, Buddhist practices and the Buddhist community). This nationalist movement opposed to the Islam expansion in Myanmar. It encouraged for example the boycott of muslim shops, pressuring people to shop in stores which show the number 969.

The situation is even more worrying  in the region of Rakhine in western Myanmar.  In this region, a Muslim minority, the Rohingya, has been the target not only of a religious persecution but also of a real ethnic cleansing. The Rohingya is the bigger Muslim group in the country, and for the UN labeled it’s one of the most persecuted religious minorities in the world. They have been denied Myanmar citizenship. They were subjected to rape, arbitrary arrests, destruction of villages and mosques. 8000 Rohingya left the country in September and October 2014 creating a real humanitarian emergency. Many people have been arrested and tortured for alleged collaboration with the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation. Rakhine state spokesman denied any knowledge of arrests or abuse.

 Although the situation is changing, and they have made some democratic reforms the violence doesn’t decrease. The  leader of Human Rights Aung San Suu Kyi during a BBC interview condemned the attack of Muslim minorities, but on the other side she tried to justify the Buddhist community: “I think the problem is due to the fear felt by both sides”.

Can this really justify Muslim persecution?

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/10/no-place-islam-buddhist-nationalism-myanmar-2013101710411233906.html

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/10/some-100000-rohingya-now-fled-myanmar-2014102581531289651.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11685977

FORCED CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM IN PAKISTAN

Once upon a time, Hinduism was one of the top three religions in modern Pakistan, together with Buddhism and Sikhism. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the majority of Hindus left for India. Those that remained and their descendants now make up a tiny fraction of Pakistan - estimated 190 million citizens, mostly concentrated in Sindh province in the southern part of the country.

This definitely is what we can call a religious minority. Nowadays, the main concern of this “forgotten community” is one and simple: to stay alive. To preserve its traditions, its culture, its values, its integrity. The Hindus in Pakistan happen to be from the less privileged economic castes of society: this is the main reason why they are more vulnerable to discrimination, both by unjust laws and abuse of state policies, as well as through social behaviors.

 Recently, there have been several cases of forced conversions, where Hindu girls were forced to marry influential Muslim men and subsequently were asked to change their religion. According to the BBC, “every year in Pakistan, several hundred young Christian or Hindu girls are forcibly converted to Islam, and sometimes married off. The growing radicalization in the country is making life increasingly hard for the 10% of non Muslim Pakistanis - and they have little recourse in the face of violence.”

A report from the Movement for Solidarity and Peace states that about 1000 non-Muslim girls are converted to Islam each year by abduction and mandatory marriages. This number is very approximate because a large majority of the crimes go unreported.

No real effort from the government is being made to resolve this issue: as Sanaullah Abbasi, the Deputy Inspector General of Police of Hyderabad, told Al Jazeera, “Pakistan was built in the name of Islam.”

Sources

https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/forced-conversions-torment-pakistans-hindus-094111771.html

http://defence.pk/threads/lets-talk-about-hindu-condition-in-pakistan.233326

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-29008267

CHRISTIAN COPTS IN EGYPT

Copts in Egypt are the largest Christian community in the Middle East and the most important religious minority in the region, and many of them are part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

During their history Christians in Egypt have suffered because of persecution, and in fact they have always been a target of several attacks.

In the spring 2013, after the change of regime and the clash between the military forces and supporters of President M. Morsi, tensions between the Brotherhood and Christians have increased and many Coptic churches were attacked.

According to The Guardian article, Christian leaders blame Muslim Brotherhood supporters for arson and many other attacks also against teenage girl.

Coptic members condemned the violence and accused the Brotherhood of making a war of retaliation.

The West has always been interested in Copts' conditions and in August 2013 United Nations special advisers expressed serious concern about violence against churches and institutions in Egypt.

Christians have continued to be hit by Islamic militants because of their supporting the President of Egypt el-Sissi, especially in the south, where many Christians live near strongholds of Islamic groups.

According to the Daily Mail, two Christians were kidnapped in the Sinai Peninsula by men suspected to be Islamic militants in two separate incidents. Northern Sinai is an area where more or less 10.000 Copts live.

According to the Italian press, the region most hit by Islamic violence is the region of Mynia where a large minority of Christian Copts lives. By now, Mynia is considered the capital city of kidnapping.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

http://www.theguardian.com/uk

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it

THE CATHOLICISM IN NORTH KOREA

The Popular and Democratic Repubblic of North Korea has about twenty-five million inhabitants. It is the country of the world where the religious freedom is more denied. Infact the regime declares that religion has negative effects on the people, besides it imposes on the population the divine cult of the leader and the ideology of “Juche” which is connected to the Marxism, the Maoism and the nationalism. This regime took power in 1945: in that period in the country there were almost three hundred thousand christians and fifty-thousand of them were catholics. Nevertheless they were persecuted and killed during the years of the war against the South (1950-1953) and also in the following decades. Fifty thousand christians are still imprisoned.

Today there are three-thousand catholics officially registred by the authorities and other seven thousand citizens that practise the religion secretly (many of them are not baptized). The regime has only recognised the Church of Jangchung and has expelled all the priests and the missionaries. Infact the celebrations in that Church are presided by a lay. The totalitarian government only recognises one catholic association: Josean. It usually requires economic supports to the “Commission for the reconciliation of the korean people”. But since 2010 the government of South Korea has interrupted every project of cooperation with the North. In spite of this many North Korea citizens are attracted by traditional religions, hanging down the faith from a generation to another.

In August, before the pope visited Seul, in Kaesong, a town near the “kurtain of bamboo”, a group of Northern-korean citizens had taken part to a mass with Southern-korean people. Considering all this, it seems clear that a kind of government that is able to completely delete the religious feeling of everyone can not exist .

http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2014/08/13/news/monsignor_kim_corea_chiesa_del_boom_100mila_battesimi_l_anno_essere_cattolici_uno_status-93673080/

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/nel-mondo/dettaglio-articolo/articolo/corea-del-nord-north-korea-corea-del-norte-25469/

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/nel-mondo/dettaglio-articolo/articolo/corea-del-nord-north-korea-corea-del-norte-35717/

WEEK 1: RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

This week we are going to analyze the topic of religious repression. Each member of our group is going to write about a case of repression in a specific country. Even though we are entering 2015 in a month, there are several countries in which the freedom of religion isn't acknowledged and religious minorities are being persecuted.