Lexiphane: Religion Archives

March 2007
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
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4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

March 28, 2007

MAZEL TOV!

To the right is the winner of the inaugural Matzo Sculpture Competition sponsored by Manischewitz and hosted by NYU. Sophomore art student James Donovan won $1,000 for his unleavened rendering of the Arch at Union Square. Art talk abounded:

The official theme was "Home," contestant Eric Goldberg said, and his three little matzo dioramas were meant to represent his parents' home, his grandparents' home, and now (the one with the matzo futon), his own home, as an NYU student.

"They gave me a foundation," he said of his family, and you just know that somewhere out there, there are two generations of Goldbergs very proud that their boy is spending his $39,000 education gluing matzos together.

Don't worry Eric, they're probably just relieved you're not a performance artist.

Tagged: matzo, sculpture

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February 28, 2007

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S--OR YOUR--DOOR

I thought this picture was amusing because it seemed to present the opportunity of knocking on Mormons' door and asking if they'd like to talk for a few minutes. It's from an article in The New York Sun about a new Mormon church that opened recently on East 87th St. While Mormons normally proselytize by travelling door to door in pairs, asking residents if they've heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, there's been a wise adaptation for the NYC market in building their 39,000 square foot, five-story structure.

The multimillion-dollar, Gothic-style structure, which opened to worshippers in October, houses two wards, or congregations: One is composed largely of young families, and the other is made up of singles ages 18 to 30. The brick church was built with ambitious expansion plans in mind — it could easily accommodate at least two more wards, each made up of 300 or more people.

Offering affordable housing in Manhattan almost seems like dirty pool for gaining converts.

While Mormonism is primarily associated with Utah, the religion (and I'm going to classify it as a separate religion apart from Christianity) actually got its start in New York. When Joseph Smith's foray into selling magic stones petered out, he was fortunately visited by an angel who told him the whereabouts of some buried golden plates. No one but Smith ever saw the plates but he translated them into English and came up with The Book of Mormon. Mormon's were generally persecuted in the early 19th Century and locals around the Eastern U.S. eventually chased them all the way to Utah, where they attempted to form their own sovereign territory. There were multiple scuffles with the law, a massacre of passing-through pioneers, and stand-offs with federal troops, but eventually everyone settled down and now the Mormons are the respectable people you might find on your front doorstep today.

For a hilarious but fair account of Mormonism's founding and its current practioners, see this episode of "South Park".

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February 26, 2007

MILITANT ISLAM IS THE PROBLEM

Indonesia is the fourth most-populous nation in the world and a majority of its inhabitants are Muslims, the majority of which are likely peace-loving people. As Islam has peacefully co-existed in the region for generations, however, neighboring nations are finding that new militant Muslim inhabitants proselytize by the sword and, G.W. Bush notwithstanding, have little interest in a Religion of Peace as the President described it. In Thailand, approximately 2,000 people have been killed in a religious war waged by Muslim zealots. The Thai government is beginning to throw up its hands in helplessness, as even conciliation only encourages its attackers.

It is a conflict the government admits it is losing. A harsh crackdown and martial law in recent years seem only to have fueled the insurgency by generating fear and anger and undermining moderate Muslim voices.

A new policy of conciliation in the past four months has been met by increased violence, including a barrage of 28 coordinated bombings in the south that killed or wounded about 60 people on Feb. 18.

“The momentum of violence is now beyond the control of government policy,” said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a political scientist at Prince of Songkhla University here.

The militant Islamists of Thailand are quite unapologetic about waging an explicitly religious war, not just against Buddhist communities in the south, but fellow Muslims who care to continue peacefully co-existing with their neighbors. Nearly half of the attacks in recent years have been against Muslims viewed as cooperative with the Thai government.

Now the insurgents seem to be taking their war to a new stage, pitting local Buddhists against Muslims by attacking symbols of Buddhism with flamboyant brutality.

The two religions had coexisted through the years here, often in separate villages. That mutual tolerance is breaking down now, and there are fears of a sectarian conflict that could flare out of control.

“Buddhist monks, temples, novices,” said Sunai Phasuk, a political analyst with the monitoring group Human Rights Watch. “Buddhist monks have been hacked to death, clubbed to death, bombed and burned to death. This has never happened before. This is a new aspect of violence in the south.”

Where are the voices of moderate Islam? Why are so many organizations acquiescent to the butchery by their co-religionists?

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January 20, 2007

PERISHING PARISHES

The Catholic Church released its list of churches it intends to shutter or fold into separate parishes as changing demographics, dwindling attendance at services, and a constant demand for more condos and CVS Drug Stores conspired to make the houses of worship superfluous in the grand scheme of things.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York yesterday issued a final list of 21 parishes that will close, ending a wrenching period of uncertainty for thousands of parishioners, some of whom had waited for several years to learn the fate of their church.

The tally was considerably fewer than the 31 parishes that were on an initial list, released last March, of those recommended for closings.

Ten parishes in the archdiocese will close completely — the parishioners will be forced to go elsewhere. Some among the other 11 will get a smaller chapel built for them, perhaps within another building, that is under the jurisdiction of another parish, or they will be able to keep their building and become missions attached to other parishes. But they will lose their pastor and many of the services that come with being a full-fledged parish, a bitter outcome for many.

I was disappointed to see that one of the church's slated for closing is St. Vincent de Paul, located on 23rd St. between 6th and 7th Aves. I wrote a piece about it late last year [see CHELSEA CLASSIC, 12/31/06], singling the building out as a gorgeous example of neoclassical architecture that was otherwise in need of a good exterior cleaning. A full-sized picture can be seen here. Its clergy took the news with some equanimity:

Across town at St. Vincent de Paul, which features a French-language Mass that draws French speakers from across the city, the Rev. Gerald Murray said he understood the archdiocese’s decision but expressed worries about reports that the Chelsea church, with its vaulted ceiling and images of angels, will be torn down.

“It’s sad to be losing this beautiful building,” he said. “I understand the cardinal’s reasons and I think it’s a reasonable decision.”

Looks like I better head over and get some pictures of the interior while it's still standing.

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December 13, 2006

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DOWNTOWN?

Sometimes the most random walks turn up the most fascinating stories. A couple of weeks ago, when I was gathering pics for my Block Beautiful, [12/11/06] piece, I wandered around in a southwesterly direction, back towards Union Square. Walking down 15th St., I was confronted with an odd site: it was a huge waving flag in the early morning light, flapping in the wind with the logo of the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Now that is interesting. Why is a mostly southern-based evangelical broadcast channel planting its flag a few blocks east of Union Square? I really have no idea; but coming they are. 111 E15th St. is now in the process of becoming a Trinity Broadcasting Theater, with full production and broadcast facilities.

The dichotomy of this Daniel-In-The-Lions'-Den / Dogooders-In-The-Belly-Of-The-Beast scenario barely scratches the surface of how weird this story gets. The true meat of this NYC story has less to do with a broad cultural division or urban ecumenicism and more to do with NYC.

Let's go to the Real Estate:
It wasn't even until 1988 that 111 E15th St. was recognized as a possibly significant historical building. At that time, the building between Irving Place and Union Sq. West was being used as a travel agency and was being considered for destruction. Then, architectural historians realized that it may be one of the only surviving H.H. Richardson-designed buildings in NYC, not to mention the original site of the Century Association clubhouse.

The Century Association was formed in 1847 as a respectable refuge for men of arts and letters. Famous poets and authors of the day kept their keep there. And with that type of attraction came the rich and influential and those that sought their patronage. Both Roosevelt Presidents were members, as were painters Frederick Church, Albert Bierstadt, and William Cullent Bryant. Mark Twain characterized it as one of those insufferably incestous places where the absurdly rich meet-cute with the ridiculously talented.

The Century Association is now located at 7 West 43rd St. Due to a street re-mapping, many people thought the original location had been destroyed. On the contrary, it's been sitting tight on E15th St. After the tourist agency, the property became the Century Center For the Performing Arts.

The Cushman-Wakefield press release pretty much does the whole transaction justice:

The Century Center for the Performing Arts is equipped with three main theatrical production spaces, including a theater that can seat about 300 people, a ballroom and a studio," said Mr. Rosenbloom. "These unique features will be useful for Trinity Broadcasting Network's production studios."

Trinity Broadcasting Network offers 24 hours of commercial-free inspirational programming that appeals to Protestant, Catholic and Messianic Jewish denominations. The company reaches every major continent, with 47 satellites and 12,000 television and cable affiliates. Trinity Broadcasting Network currently operates 3,000 television stations globally, and is the seventh-largest broadcast group owner in the U.S.

The Center for the Performing Arts, a historic landmark originally built in 1847 by architect Henry Hobson Richardson, was the original home of the Century Association, a members-only club of distinguished New Yorkers, including former Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt. The building received a complete renovation project in 1996 that faithfully restored the late nineteenth century to its original grandeur.

Two doors down from the Lee Strasberg theater and school, expect broadcasts of bible prophecy and panhandling that's gonna make Eddie Wise reevaluate his non-career choices. On the plus side, continued occupancy retards any efforts by developers to tear down what is a beautiful and historically significant building. Praise the Lord!

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February 6, 2006

STILL LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

The image above is considered graven in the religion of Islam. Not simply because it equates the prophet Mohammed with terrorism, but because it is an image of Mohammed himself, and any actual portraiture is considered a grievous sin against God. The publishing and republishing of this cartoon ignited protests around the world by angry Muslims, initiated the recall of ambassadors from Syria and Saudi Arabia from Denmark, and the Danish embassies in Lebanon and Syria were burned over the weekend.

Sensitivity to religious strictures is a good thing. If I'm making dinner for Jewish or Muslim friends, I would not be serving them bacon cheeseburgers, considered both un-kosher and non-hallal. Is there a limit to how far sensitivity must go though? UK tabloid The Sun ran an opinion piece explaining what was so offensive about this and other cartoons and it's a valuable perspective. Nonetheless, this was a cartoon printed in a newspaper in a western country, where certain ecumenical liberties are expected to be tolerated. There's toeing the sensitity line and then there's plain kowtowing to fundamentalist browbeating.

Ecumenism is the promotion of world-wide unity, tolerance, and understanding among world wide religions. It is something the western world has gradually adopted through centuries of painful (and recent) periods of religious intolerance and violence. While an ecumenical societal tone does not stamp out incidences of religious intolerance and disagreement, it generally frowns upon elevating these feelings to violent social protest. Americans may disagree vitriolically about things like abortion or gay marriage on religious grounds, but the practice of firebombing clinics or gaybashing is acknowledged as beyond the pale of acceptable behavior.

It seems that a good portion of the Muslim world currently demands a good dose of ecumenism. Even if within its own borders it desires a certain adherence to religious principles, eventually a tolerance for dissenting beliefs must be adopted. Otherwise, nothing short of burning the Mona Lisa in The Louvre will be considered acceptable. In the greater scheme of things I think this is all a tempest in a teapot, albeit a very hot teapot on fire. Moreso, however, it seems to be a symptom of a corrosive insularity among some Muslims unable to accept alternative ways of thinking even among others. It's a tendency that has seriously weakened that society over the past several centuries and one that should be tried to overcome in order to flourish.

UPDATE: For those of you who think I'm exagerrating about the preferred burning of the Mona Lisa, mentioned above, remember the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan in 2001 by the Islamist Taliban government. The Bamiyan Buddhas were the largest statues of Buddha in the world, nearly two thousand years old, and rightfully considered world cultural and religious treasures of the highest order. Yet, a bunch of intolerant religious fanatics thought it was a great idea to plant explosives on them and blow them to smithereens. At the time, a spokesperson for UNESCO tried to soft peddle the grotesquery:

Matsuura urged the international community not to take its anger at the Taleban action out on Muslim sites elsewhere.

"As inexcusable as this action is, I hope that it will not provide fanatics elsewhere with an excuse for acts of destruction targeting Muslim cultural properties," he said.

If only Muslim cultural properties could be so fortunate to have Matsuura's protection. Saudi-funded reconstruction projects in war-torn Bosnia and Kosovo have focused on destroying major Muslim cultural landmarks that don't adhere to fundamentlist religious aesthetics. Furthermore, even sacred mosques in Mecca and Medina have been destroyed by fundamentlists for their ties to Mohammed himself or anyone with non-fundamentalist leanings out of fear that it could inspire idolatry. This type of bizarre cultural cannibalism shows that fundamentlist Islam is not only destructive to outsiders, but to the religion and cultural history itself.

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March 28, 2007

MAZEL TOV!

February 28, 2007

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S--OR YOUR--DOOR

February 26, 2007

MILITANT ISLAM IS THE PROBLEM

January 20, 2007

PERISHING PARISHES

December 13, 2006

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DOWNTOWN?

February 6, 2006

STILL LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

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Lexiphane

Logorrhea and other ephemera.

Home

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March 28, 2007

MAZEL TOV!

February 28, 2007

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S--OR YOUR--DOOR

February 26, 2007

MILITANT ISLAM IS THE PROBLEM

January 20, 2007

PERISHING PARISHES

December 13, 2006

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DOWNTOWN?

February 6, 2006

STILL LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

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