Garden at Baha'i Temple

In class on Wednesday, I mentioned that when I visited the Bahai temple in Haifa, Israel, visitors were not allowed to walk through the entire garden. There was a certain fence that we were allowed to go up to (and not past), and could only look down the slope (the temple is at the bottom of a big hill and the gardens are above it) into the rest of the gardens rather than walking through the many paths. I knew this restriction was not always in place because my mom had been to this temple years before and was able to walk through the entire garden. I didn't have a good answer in class of why this restriction was in place, besides "vandalism" which I vaguely remember hearing when I was there. I think there was also a security check point before we were able to go into the little section of garden/ viewing area (but security check points are all over Israel so that wasn't out of the norm).

I wanted a better answer than just "vandalism"- and I think I found one. An article,"Haifa's Baha'i temple - a tempting target for Hizbullah?" from JPost, or The Jerusalem Post, from July 21 2006, states that: "Fear of missiles has forced the Bahais to close their beautiful gardens in Haifa to visitors. "We don't want to risk the lives of our gardeners, our guides and, of course, our visitors."

But that is just a small quote and small point from an article on a very serious topic. The article talks about the violence against the Baha'i caused by Shi'ite Muslims. This shows that the persecution that occurred to Baha'ullah and other Bahais in the early days of the religion is still going on today. A quote from the article describes the hatred for the Bahais:

' "Shi'ites consider a Baha'i an apostate who can be killed for nothing," said Lincoln (secretary general of Baha'i international community). "There are 350,000 Baha'i in Iran. They are excluded from higher education, including the last year of high school. If a Baha'i is killed in a traffic accident he is ineligible for compensation, because a Baha'i's life is worthless." Members of the Baha'i community have been persecuted, and sometimes killed over the years by Muslims, especially by Shi'ites.'

Although there is hostility towards the Baha'i, members of the faith still view life with optimism, as the article states and from the information I gathered from Baha'u'llah's biography. Lincoln states in the article that:

" Baha'i believe in the basic unity of all peoples and that the world is heading toward more oneness and the disintegration of borders and prejudices. But this unity and peace will not float down from the sky in a magical way. It has to take root in the hearts and conscience of people," he said".

JPost Homepage

Terraces of Baha'i Faith/ Hanging Gardens of Haifa

Bahai

A picture I took of the Bahai temple in Haifa, Israel when I visited this past summer (famous for its amazing gardens).

A new religion comes about when a person, such as Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad the Bab, makes a change in an already established religion or puts forth a new belief system. Bab "dared to put forward religious claims" basically saying that, "he was the Gate to the Hidden Imam, the Messianic figure that all of Iran's Shi'i Muslims were expecting" (pg 11). This caused a lot of stirring among Iranians and people either opposed him (such as religious leaders and authority figures) or joined the new religion, like Baha'u'llah. 

One element that goes into founding a new religion such as Bahai, is having a leader who creates the ideas that cause the new thoughts or change in thought. Bab and then Baha were these leaders for the Bahai faith. Other elements in founding a religion and its process include: followers (otherwise the religion will die out quickly), good reasons for the change or creation of the religion, and most likely persecution of the followers. The reason I included the last point (persecution of the followers) is not because a religion couldn't occur without this aspect, but because most religions in history have experienced it. The Bahais were persecuted (jailed, tortured, killed) because that was how the Iranian government decided to deal with a group of people who broke from the norm and developed their own religion. I think persecution is part of the process of many religions before they are fully accepted, which also shows that the founding/creation of a religion is usually a long and painful process. It is also interesting to note that the persecution to the Bahais was committed by the religion that they originally came from, Islam. 

The Baha'i Faith international website

Baha'i Faith US website

texts of Bahai

The Rude Boys

A part of the reading that really stuck out to me was the information on "the rude boys." The book states that " the most disturbing phenomenon of this period, from the perspective of the status quo, was the emergence of the rude boys. As White points out, the term covers a wide range of individuals, 'from the anarchic and revolution minded youth of the poorer classes to the young political 'goons,' ... and Rasta-spawned 'cultural' rude boys who rejected the aping of white standards and continued existence of 'white bias.'"The rude boys "united in their attitude of defiance and posture of toughness" (pg 109). In uniting, music was created. The lyrics of rock steady songs, which is like ska but slower and with more bass and drums, spoke about the rude boys. The lyrics usually were in celebration of the "rude boy" attitude towards the world.

In doing some research on the rude boys, I first went to wikipedia, which states that "The first rude boys in the 1960s were associated with the poorer sections of Kingston, Jamaica, where ska, then rocksteady were the most popular forms of music. They dressed in the latest fashions at dancehalls and on the streets. Many of these rude boys started wearing sharp suits, thin ties, and pork pie or Trilby hats; inspired by United States gangster movies, jazz musicians and soul music artists. In that time period, disaffected unemployed Jamaican youths sometimes found temporary employment from sound system operators to disrupt competitors' dances (leading to the term dancehall crasher). This — and other street violence — became an integral part of the rude boy lifestyle, and gave rise to a culture of political gang violence in Jamaica. As the Jamaican diaspora grew in the United Kingdom during the 1960s, rude boy music and fashion, as well as the gang mentality, became a strong influence on the skinhead subculture.^"

^{The way of dress described here is interesting and very different from the Rastafarian dress, along with their influences ( US vs. Africa) The rude boys are interested in what is new, cool, and Western ( US, rather than African) while the Rastas are into their past and roots from Africa/Ethiopia. Both groups were protesting but in different way. The great part about both groups protests were that they involved music ( but the rude boys used violence as well). The rude boys seem to be disliked by the overall population in Jamaica because of their attitudes and how they acted. At first the Rastafarians were not liked nor tolerated by the government/establishments in Jamaica but that definitely changed over time- I don't think the same is true for the rude boys. I think they stand apart from the Rastafarians mainly because they tried to stir up trouble and use violence to solve their problems.}

Rastafari in Jamaica

             Rasta vs. Boboshanti

The version of Rastafari life shown in the video is different than what I expected after seeing the faith through Marley and his music. The sect of Rastafari shown in the video, the Boboshanti, are very conservative and strict in their rituals (traditional). They wake early every morning(3 am, then 9 am) and pray many times a day, along with getting work done (physically) to survive, such as taking care of fields, building homes, dealing with water, etc.

The video presents the Boboshanti as hard workers and spiritual people at the same time. The view of Bob Marley, his music, and the overall view of Rastafari people (that I had before watching this video) is definitely one of great spirituality, but not a huge emphasis on hard work nor such care in the details of the rituals. 

The system of symbols reflected in the video include the turban, or crown, that they wear over their dreads. Unlike the Rastafari that we see in popular culture, such as Bob Marley, the look of the Boboshanti does not include dreads. The way the Boboshanti dress is not as colorful and wild as the less tradition/popularized Rastafari; in the video, they are wearing solid bright colors (Red, green) or neutrals (black, tan, white).  The colors of Rasta were present in the video; the flag of black, red and green is seen and the houses are painted black, red, and gold. There was one symbol that we had not read in the book yet; a big "R"  in red on the chest of the men. Signs with the 'Bible's teachings' and the group's ideals are around the community. these values are the same as what we have read about as the overall view of Rastafarians (examples: black over white, good over evil, equality and justice for all). 

Overall, seeing this video make me realize that there is a real depth to the religion of Rastafari and varying degrees of the faith as well (just like in Christianity or Judaism). I enjoyed learning about the Boboshanti because they are more traditional and didn't look like the popularized, Bob Marley-like Rastafarian (not that there's anything wrong with that)!

Operation Solomon

After talking about and watching the videos in class about Operation Solomon , I wanted to learn more about it. Operation Solomon took place in 1991. It occurred when Jewish organizations were concerned with the well being of the Ethiopian Jews, who are also known as Beta Israel. The reason for concern was the political unrest from rebel attacks. The time for the airlift also worked out well because the Mengistu regime, the power who once controlled Ethiopia and was now losing it, had made immigrating to Israel difficult for the Ethiopian Jews. Because the Mengistu was losing their power, the Israel Defense Force could do the airlift. There were 34 planes transporting 14,325 Ethiopian Jews in 36 hours. Two other airlifts involving Ethiopian Jews before this one: Operation Moses and Operation Joshua, both involving rescuing Ethiopian Jews from famine in Sudan.

Maybe being Jewish and feeling about Israel as a religious 'homeland,' puts me at a different perspective, but I feel that these operations/ rescue missions were very important and possibly necessary to the lives of the Ethiopian Jews who were involved. In class, it was mentioned that there is a negative cultural effect on Ethiopia because they no longer have their Jewish population. While having a diverse cultural, especially when a group has been in a specific part of the world for centuries is important, the well being, life, and happiness is much more important. Saying that for cultural reasons, the Ethiopian Jews should not have been taken to Israel via Operation Solomon does not make sense to me. They were obvious not treated well by those in control at the time ( example- not allowed to immigrate to Israel if they wished= not free to go to their Jewish homeland) and by providing the airlift, the IDF was giving the Ethiopian Jews a chance to come "home" during a time of unrest. I think Israel provided a incredible gift to these people and should not be viewed as taking, forcing, or causing harm with Operation Solomon.

Also, in Israel, there are many different cultural and ethnic groups; obviously it would be hard to move from one country to another, as the Ethiopian Jews did, but I think Israel is one place that wouldn't be quite so bad. So many religions believe it to be where their origins are (and therefore people of many beliefs) and there are many immigrants who live in Israel.

Links:

New York Times Article on the Airlift

Beta Israel Info

Religion in Ethiopia

Kebra Negast

In reading Kebra Negast, I realized the Ethiopian religion is rich and complex, which would also lead to a long lasting and involved culture. "The country of Ethiopia" ( a phrase mentioned several times) establishes that the setting in Ethiopia is an important factor. Because this story is so tied to Ethiopia, I think it gives them a sense of national pride but the fact that it is a religious story adds another dimension. Religion is what ties the people of Ethiopia together, a sort of common ground- although we did learn in class that there are Christians,Jews, and Muslims all calling this country home. Because that confused me, I looked up on wikipedia (!) who exactly Kebra Negast would be bringing together (because of religious beliefs). Kebra Negast "is considered by many Ethiopian Christians and Rastafarians to be an inspired and reliable account." (link to more info here) 

When reading the section of the Ethiopian book, Kebra Negast, I kept seeing the similarities between it and the bible ( both Jewish and Christian).  This story gives a special significance to Ethiopia because it is an important story/explanation to many different religious groups. It also gives Ethiopia a sense of great historical and religious importance because the country is present in the events that religions consider crucial. 

some interesting links:

Rastafari online- Kebra Negast

Queen of Sheba

Religion in Ethiopia

An Ethiopian orthodox church

a Nun, a Rabbi, Ali G, a Priest,etc....

A funny Ali G video where he asks a panel of different people (with different religious beliefs) about religion.

Blending/ Metaphors

Throughout the Bible and the Psalms there are metaphors that are created through blending. A point that Fauconnier made in the article as that not only does this blending occur, but we don't usually realize its happening, just like the computer interface example with the mouse and then the arrow on the screen. when we talked about the psalms in class, we focused on the metaphors we didn't understand and how they related to history. What about metaphors that seem so simple or obvious we don't even realize they are there?

When reading about the examples in the article ( skiing, sailing, etc) I tried to apply it to big picture ideas of religion.

1. God is a metaphor.

2. Religion is completely blended and all/most? religions are blended.

3. Humans created religion because they need metaphors to explain the world around them.

4. Nothing, including religion, would be possible without blending.

Fauconnier writes that partial mapping " are mappings from one mental space to another ...(and) the possibility of building cross space mapping is .. made salient only by our own cognitive system and experience in the world"(pg 278). Our religious ideas and the religions themselves are possible because we create them in our minds. Religions and aspects in them are metaphors for things in the real world.

Information on Conceptual blending.

Information on the author, Gilles Fauconnier.