The day before yesterday marked the beginning of the holiest time of year for Christian’s worldwide. But Christmas, isn’t that in December? Yes, Christmas is in December, and with all the snow the U.S. received these past few weeks it might have felt like December.  In actuality, however, the holiest holiday for Christians is Easter. Easter is the focal point of Christianity, based on the belief Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of the Father, was crucified on the cross (Good Friday), and on the third day rose again (Easter). Easter is on Sunday, so what happened the day before yesterday? Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of Lent.

Lent is a forty day period during which Christians fast in what is considered to be the preparation of the believer. Historically, observing lent meant all animal products were forbidden and even went as far as to require only bread was to be eaten. With that said, as civilization evolved so did Christianity. Present day Irish Catholics like myself are required to abstain from the consumption of meat on Ash Wednesday and on each Friday during the holy period. The forty day fast is meant to signify the forty days Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the Devil. 

Catholic credence aside, religion, regardless what the belief system it may represent, is on the outs with the younger generation; and not just here in the United States, but the world over. Increasing fanaticism within all of the prominent religions has overshadowed the positive place religion has in our cultures. The Catholic Church has been marred by numerous counts of child molestation, the Jews are frowned upon for their abhorrent treatment of Arabs in Gaza and Palestine, and Islam is viewed with negativity and even fear throughout the world for the horrific actions of only a few. Today, more than ever, it’s clear being religious not only carries a stigma, but requires one to constantly defend their beliefs.

It is hard to get the whole picture when we constantly see only one side. Being Irish Catholic, this week was another wake-up call, as the Pope meet with Irish bishops about a widespread cover-up over abuse reports. Perhaps if we were to take a look at Religion from another view point, it would change your perspective.

I often hear the argument that religion is outdated and that modern constitutions and laws have taken its place. However, in looking at the pillars of modern law it is hard to find anything that hasn’t been influenced by religious text. Far before formal governments, religion guided one’s life. Religion is a vessel that offers interpretations and explanations for many of life’s greatest questions. 

Religious texts offer us a guide by which to live our lives. Many of the lessons we teach our children, “Turn the other cheek,” or “Do onto others as you wish done onto you,” are rooted in religious texts. Religious texts are rich with lessons to help guide one’s life and manage interactions with others.

Religion has a very constructive place in our society, but the modern media chooses to ignore positive stories and impact of religion to do good in the world. With its constant trumpeting all that is wrong with religion, the media has played a large part in turning many Americans against religiosity as a whole. Gone are the days of a quality Christian education bringing together mind, body, and spirit – at least in the United States. Even Christian soup kitchens and homeless shelters have come under fire.

Older people often have a tendency to believe that to be religious one must strictly adhere to all that a religion requires, whatever that religion may be; but I’m not so sure.

So many times I’ve heard people say I was raised Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, but I’m not anymore. That being the case, they still continue to hold on to the core values and beliefs found within their Holy Scripture. When we’re young, religion provides the black and white structure needed to give our lives a moral compass. When we grow older, religion evolves with us as well - regardless if we choose to accept this. Some of us might not agree with the organized faction of a religion, or the path upon which a religion choose to relay its message.  With that said, so much of what is good within us is derived from faith and religiosity.

And for those of you who think we would eventually learn the moral essence of humanity within a secular vacuum free of religion, I ask you to consider Thomas Hobbes.  The politcial philosopher believed people were in fact inherently evil, and if given the opportunity, would act devilishly in the name of hedonistic self-preservation.

So the next time you’re walking around and happen to see someone wearing a cross, don’t assume they support priest abuse, are abortion fanatics, or gay bashers. If you see someone wearing a yarmulke, don’t think they’re an Arab hating Zionist. And if someone is wearing a hijab or a kandora, don’t assume they’re going to blow something up. Why not ask about their beliefs and what their religion means to them. Because if you just walk by blindly, and continue to believe in the preconceived notions you hear in the news, you are no-less of a fanatic than the people you criticize.

Your fanaticism lies in your prejudice. 

From Gibbs Burke…

Writer’s Note: In the spirit of Lent, I would like to wish everyone good health, love, and prosperity. I know that I am not without sin, so I am sorry to all those whom I’ve offended.

From Lute Wa Lutengano…

So I was in Dar es Salaam. Like it or not this formerly sleepy and maybe sleezy city is now catching up with the modern cities of the world. Its illuminated electronic billboards, international restaurants, modern night spots, glitzy and ugly cloud kissing structures and bumper to bumper traffic jams are testimony to this.

Naturally, like all third world cities, there is the other side of its life. The stinking and overflowing open sewerage, the cardboard, rat and cholera infested wobbly structures which go for homes, the hordes of beggars, lepers, prostitutes and all that which goes for a rotten and hopeless life in this world.

This is the ugly truth which is so glaring to everyone. One would therefore hope that deliberate moves were taken to bridge this gap. Because like it or not this is a time bomb. Empires have collapsed under such realities.

But then what did I notice. Every high flier, be it a politician or businessman, is steeped deep into practicing ostentation. Remember I once mentioned in this same third rate column about some parents who gave their newly married daughter a gift of two fully furnished houses with full wardrobes and two carports with two flashy Mercedes Benz fuel guzzlers. That seems to be the norm in Dar es Salaam.

People vie with each other to host flashy and vulgar weddings and functions as beggars fight for their pickings outside. It reminds me of a book I came across the other day, ‘Downfall of an Autocrat’ by a famous Polish writer, Ryszard Kapuscinski.

In one of the chapters, Kapuscinski, who once covered Africa single-handed for the Polish press in the early 60s, describes a reception that the Ethopian Emperor Haile Selassie threw for visiting leaders that he attended.

A sumptuous feast was on inside the venue. Outside, Kapuscinski writes, “in the thick of the night, a crowd of barefoot beggars stood huddled together. The dishwashers working in the building threw leftovers at them. I watched the crowd devour the scraps, bones and fish heads with laborious concentration.”

The rest is history, Haile Sellasie, whose title included King of Kings, Elect of God, Lion of Judah, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness, the Emperor of Ethiopia, was soon after deposed and died a lonely and miserable death in solitary confinement in a dungeonl in the basement of one of his palaces.

Other notorious leaders who practiced ostentation with a vengeance include, the former big man of Congo, Joseph Desire Mobutu, a.k.a. Mobutu Mutu wa Mikolo Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Zabanga, roughly translated as “the all-conquering warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake.”

In his signature leopard-skin cap and carved wooden scepter topped with an eagle, Mobutu who at one time lived on his luxurious houseboat, the Kamanyola, on the Congo River, built a palatial home inside the deep Congo forest in the northern town of Gbadolite which had all the trappings of the Napoleonic era glitzy. This was a time when people were dying of hunger and poverty in most parts of the vast Congo.

Again in the end the big man who could “go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake” was toppled and also died a miserable and lonely death. He was buried by a handful people in a remote Moroccan cemetery, thousands of kilometers from his own people.

Many are the examples of the ‘Mutu ya Mokolo’ in our world. But then mankind seems not to learn from these vital teachings. And Dar es Salaam definitely seems to be full of ‘Muto ya Mikolo’.

From Abdullah Abdulsalam Belal…

I’m an Emirati, but I think there are still a lot of people who don’t’ know exactly from what that means. There are still many people in the world who’ve never even heard of the United Arab Emirates. The city of Dubai, however, is slowly becoming a place that people know. With that said, all anyone ever really hears are stories about what new project is being developed. The Internet is filled with information about the latest super-mall, the next tallest tower in the world, indoor ski resorts, and man made islands. What people don’t hear a lot about are the people and their ideas about life and living in the UAE.

I come from a very traditional part of the world, where society teaches us to be close to our families and religion. With all the changes happening around us, people sometimes ask me how the modernization of Dubai has affected my culture. I’m a teenager about to start my first year of college, and the world I grew up in is a lot different than that of my father. Not that long ago, nobody could have imagined my little country would achieve so much. In the old days, which for the Emirates were only twenty-five years ago, things were different. Teenagers went outside the house wearing our galabias, which are kind of like pajamas. They played football, barefoot in the open desert, not a tower in sight. Kandoras were also worn by everyone – a long, bright white one piece robe. They visited each other’s homes, played card games, or just sat and talked, and the world outside the UAE was so very far away.

Nowadays, life is so very different. We wear Western style clothes, surf the Net, hang out at the mall with our friends, eat MacDonald’s, line up to see the latest Hollywood movies, and watch MTV. In the end, we’re not much different from other teenagers around the world. Not only has our culture become tremendously influenced by outside forces, but also by the huge expatriate population. Eighty-seven percent of the people living in the United Arab Emirates are not Emirati, as foreigners from around the world come here to work and live. With only 900,000 Emirati citizens, I am a minority in my own country and even speaking my own language can make life difficult. We teenagers love talking in English but the reality is we simply have to, if we want to go out into society. Sometimes we even forget our own language and make mistakes when speaking Arabic.

With our country growing so fast, we teenagers sometimes feel out of place and not sure where we belong. The people that have come from across the globe, at times, dominate my country. Sometimes it’s me and my friends who feel like foreigners. Emiratis have had to learn how to embrace our new surroundings, as the old replaces the new. And its not only the old traditional villas being replaced with towers, or the empty spaces in the desert being filled with modern architecture; its old traditional values being replaced with new ways of thinking and empty spaces of thought being filled with the influence of the outside world. We’ve had to adapt top the changes and share our country with those who came to help build our society. We have learned from them and we continue to learn, as they have learned from us.

I guess I wear Western clothes because it’s a way to blend in with the other communities and not be an outsider. In a country like United States or Canada, newcomers blend into the home culture, but I think it’s the other way around here in the Emirates. If I go to the mall with a Kandora, I find myself surrounded by foreign teenagers wearing the latest fashion and I can feel all the eyes on me. Many stare and some even laugh. Even though I’m in my own country, I feel like I’m from another planet. Changes like this are a sacrifice, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices in life if we want to achieve more. And even though our lifestyles are changing, it doesn’t mean that our values and beliefs have to change. Yes, I have to admit, it has for some, but not for me. I still go to the mosque, still pray, still respect and love both my parents and siblings. I also still study just as hard as ever, to chase my dream of attending a college overseas.

I still love to wear my Kandora, but only do so occasionally. I still like listening to Arabic music, but also listen to R&B and Hip Hop. I still enjoy traditional Arab food, but also love KFC. I believe we must change if we want to move forward with the rest of the world and achieve greater things, but this doesn’t mean I have to leave behind who I am in the process. I’m only growing; only becoming more than I was before.

 I am very proud to be an Emirati. For me, the word equals my identity. A sense of pride always runs through when I say “I’m an Emirati,” the same way Americans feel proud of being American. I am happy to be an Emirati teenager. We grow up in one of the safest places in the world and are given so many opportunities to succeed. Where else can you find a government that pays high school kids to attend school? Where else in the world can you find country that pays for all post-secondary education at home or abroad, whether it’s a BA, an MA or a PhD?

A bright future lies ahead of us and I am proud of my homeland for coming so far, so fast. We’ve made the desert green and built an educated modern society. The United Arab Emirates is a diamond shining in the desert and a role model for other countries in the region. With that said, although we have come a long way, we still have much farther to go to reach the goals we have set.

Because of all the success my country, people sometimes think every Emirati has money – this is simply not true.  There are many poor or low income Emirati families in our society, who simply cannot afford the high cost of living. Many live in old villas, with little or no furniture and struggle just to survive. Often many of receive aid from the UAE Red Crescent Society, in order to provide food and housing for themselves. Some receive money from his highness Sheik Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s vice president. Many locals have debts because they want to keep up the appearance of an upper-class life. Many feel obligated to do so. They buy the nice new cars, the most expensive cell phones and clothes, take trips to Paris, all with money they don’t have. Soon, the banks come after them. Burdened by debt, some take the wrong path by forging checks, abusing alcohol, and taking drugs. This creates family problems and most of the time the husband and wife divorce. The ones who truly suffer are the children, especially those who come from homes where the father beats and abuses both them and their mothers. Addict and alcoholic fathers burdened by financial pressures of the luxurious lifestyle they feel obligated to have, results in the children not getting the guidance they need.

Even those families who are financially stable often have a two income household. With the father and mother both working, they often don’t have time for their children and try to make up for it, by buying them expensive gifts, giving them money, and letting them do whatever they want. Being abused or neglected, sometimes results in teenagers turning to theft, drugs, gangs, and violence. 

Another issue that can arise in families is when a man marries more than one wife. In my religion, a man can marry up to four wives. When the second or third wife joins the family, sometimes the husband will forget about the first wife and her children. After a time, he may re-focus on his first wife, but then forget about the second and so on. Many issues can arise from this situation and it’s one not many people talk about.

Finally, the rapid modernization of our country has changed our family structure. In many ways, it seems everybody is leading a new life. As little as a generation ago, women were uneducated, didn’t work, and stayed home to raise the children. Now, most young women want to go to university and have a career. They want to step out of the shadow of their husbands, so they to can enjoy their share of our country’s wonderful success. As a result, there are fewer women who would ever accept being one of two, three, or four wives. These days, I think most Emirati girls want to be their husband’s one and only.

As we move forward as a nation, education will be the key to our future success. Even though our country’s education system has come a long way in a short time, there are still many issues that need to be resolved and we need to work harder to improve our system. I am confident we can overcome the obstacles in front of us and achieve our goals, because our country has wise leadership in place. With that said, it will take time.

Looking at our education system, many locals prefer to give their children North American or United Kingdom style educations, but only a few can afford to send their kids to these private and very expensive schools. Locals who don’t have the money, send their children to government schools, and these schools simply must improve. Some of the schools here advertise and promise change, but in the end it’s all about money and not the education itself. Government schools need more qualified teachers, stronger management, and better means of discipline. The time for caning students should end. Textbooks should be up to international standards, core subjects like science and math should be taught in English, and English should be taught only by native speakers. The schools need to modernize their equipment, install computer labs, and other modern teaching tools wherever needed. The local high school I attended is making all the efforts to be the best system in the country, and I am proud to be a graduate of this shcool, but more can always be done.

As you know, our country is an Islamic country, but perhaps after reading this you’ll understand that we are not so different from the rest of the world. We might speak a different language and have different beliefs, but we’re not so different from people in other parts of our wonderful planet. We’re proud of our country and the great successes we’ve had, but also have problems, just like anybody else. People should try not to judge us from the outside, and certainly not from what you see on your news. Get to know us beyond the CNN image, and maybe you will discover… we’re really not all that different.