One’s relationship with the Unknown should always be dialectic in nature. For once it is formalized or ritualized in any way, it instantly becomes “idolatry.” The problem with idolatry is that it sets arbitrary “metaphysical ” limits on the definition of right and wrong, not only in the theological sphere, but in the political, social and even economic ones as well. Indeed, it sets limits on free thought and free speech on both the individual and communal levels. So, while individuals are free to be idolaters, their existence, their idolatry, is bound to “taint” us all. But since, they, perhaps unfortunately, tend to represent the preponderant majority of humankind, “our” relationship with “them” has to be dialectical as well. Of course, at point or another in “our” lives, we might have easily been “them.” In life, everything is dialectical.
Author: Ammar
A Syrian dreamer & dissident, not necessarily in that order.
The Pious Heretic!
If life were perfect, I’d be dead by now. For in a perfect life, there would be no room for an idol-smasher like me. In a perfect life, illusions rule supreme. Oh, thank heavens we live in an imperfect world. If these sentiments should sound strange at first, coming from someone like me, one should bear in mind that my ir-religiosity, my atheism, has always been more anti-idol than anti-God. For I can only reject the evil I see, I cannot reject the unknown.
Why Minorities?
Tharwa Editorial
One of the main criticisms that the Tharwa Project has received focuses on its emphasis on the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in the region, noting that this could easily conflict with other avowed goals of the Project, namely: the interest in democracy promotion in the region and raising the standards of civic awareness and citizenship therein. The emphasis on minorities, we are told, could eventually increase the feeling of non-belonging and separation among minority groups, further isolating them from the rest of society and further feeding the growing ethnic and sectarian suspicions that exist between minority and majority populations in the region. As such, wouldn’t it be better to simply focus on democratization and citizen rights? Continue reading “Why Minorities?”
Heretical Time
Only Time will tell what remembrances really mean – whether they are simply nostalgic fragments of the Self crying for fusion, or shattered moments of an all too fragile time seeking to be whole again. Or could it possibly be that I am Time and Time is me? That our co-terminality is the source of all confusion, because it needs to be continuously discovered?
