Do you find yourself belonging to a certain religious denomination, or finding the rituals appealing, without subscribing to their most central tenets?

Such is my experience with religion. My father is agnostic, my mother Catholic, and I spent a total of ten years in evangelical mission schools, during which my religious beliefs underwent a topsy-turvy journey, oscillating between Catholicism and Protestantism, religious fervour to apathy, bigotry to tolerance. It is quite amusing how hot-headed evangelical preachers in particular criticise modern science without understanding the least bit of it - like the dismissal of evolution as such: 'if we were descended from monkeys, then why has no monkey given birth to a human?'

It is said that most people experience a peak of religiousity at the age of seventeen, and it probably holds true in my case. My disillusionment with organised religion started when noticing that in the last mission school I went to, in Singapore, all students, regardless of religious background, were required to attend weekly sermons, with the exception of the Muslims, due to cultural sensibility. To my surprise my reaction was a slight envy - it's not fair that they could skip this drudgery while other non-Christians, specifically non-evangelicals, have to burden it - and I began questioning my beliefs; prior to that I had always thought of myself as a liberal Christian/Catholic, in that I did not believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible but accepted the idea of a Christian God.

I appreciate religions now at an intellectual, cultural level. It is the appreciation that even non-religious people could feel towards religious paintings, carried into religious rituals themselves. My favourite type of service at the moment is the Catholic Latin mass, this despite Roman Catholicism being the second-lowest scoring religion in my Belief-o-Matic test score from Beliefnet. I am likewise interested in Sufi poetry and music, as well as Tibetan Buddhist chants, without necessarily subscribing to all their beliefs.

It is quite saddening (and to be honest, maddening) talking to fanatics who refuse to countenance the possibility that other religions might be equally valid (the contention being that in such a case, all religions would be invalid), this black-and-white, all-or-nothing belief. Such a belief, alas, is not limited to the Taliban and Saudi Wahhabis; a growing number of Christians subscribe to this mindset as well.

Was Huntington correct in his prediction of citizenship being replaced as people's main identity with their religious preference? Or would most people become more accomodating of other religions as globalisation brought people of different cultures and beliefs together? From anecdotal experience, alas, both seem to be happening simultaneously; I know Christian evangelicals going on missions in Peru (already a Catholic country), and Singaporean Christians having a 'Vision 2000' of converting half the country into evangelicalism, and know of Hindu and Muslim fanatics; likewise I know of moderate Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Jains.

What is your take on religion; could one consistently belong culturally to one religion while holding privately a different set of beliefs?

Tue May 20 Update: Found an excellent on The Atlantic Monthly on religions and civilisations: "I'm Right, You're Wrong, Go To Hell" by Bernard Lewis, an excerpt of it below:

To what extent is a religiously defined civilization compatible with pluralism--tolerance of others within the same civilization but of different religions? This crucial question points to a major distinction between two types of religion. For some religions, just as "civilization" means us, and the rest are barbarians, so "religion" means ours, and the rest are infidels. Other religions, such as Judaism and most of the religions of Asia, concede that human beings may use different religions to speak to God, as they use different languages to speak to one another. God understands them all. I know in my heart that the English language is the finest instrument the human race has ever devised to express its thoughts and feelings, but I recognize in my mind that others may feel exactly the same way about their languages, and I have no problem with that. These two approaches to religion may conveniently be denoted by the terms their critics use to condemn them--"triumphalism" and "relativism."

SCO sues IBM with very flimsy, untenable accusations; SCO stock price shoots up. Now this might be due to traders expecting a massive settlement from IBM and all other parties concerned, or

<paranoia mode="conspiracy">a pact with Microsoft whereby they buy X numbers of SCO stocks for every statement issued against Unix vendors and Linux</paranoia>

IANA stock broker, though I have a rough idea of how the financial markets work; once in a while we see these examples of the herd mentality; someone assumes SCO would get a payout and bid up the stock price, soon everyone else follows, without analysing the merits of the case.

Stock trading has become very volatile and short-termist; a friend of mine took advantage of this speculating against British Energy which was heavily in the red due to its unprofitable nuclear energy operations.

There is a solution I can think of: companies have to pay a divident of at least 10% net profit; in exchange, investors are tied down to their shares for at least a year or so. If shares that have not matured are sold, the profit if any would go towards sponsoring a market watchdog, or third-world aid, or paying down the national debt - whatever.

Anyone cares to comment on the feasibility and impact of such a rule?

Found this little gem of an article while reading the International Herald Tribune today:

The mail we love to hate

By Amy Harmon/NYT (NYT)

Monday, May 12, 2003

...

But as the determination to crack down on unsolicited e-mail surges along with its volume, it may be time to acknowledge an online heresy: It's kind of fun to hate spam. Hating spam has, in fact, become something of an international pastime.
...

There are some gems in that article, including the links:

1. SpamRadio.com
2. SpamLetters.com
3. Spamku (spam haiku)
4. George W. Bush's Nigerian Scam

An interesting discussion on how spam is becoming water fountain conversation stimulus, replacing television shows and sports. Well worth a read :)

To block all this junk from reaching you, of course, there are many anti-spam filters. I personally prefer the ones based on Paul Graham's Bayesian filter research paper, like Bogofilter for Unix users. For Windows users, there is Spammunition, and the latest Mozilla and Netscape mailers have Bayesian spam filters too. Oh, and for those new to this concept, Bayesian spam filters are trained based on the emails you receive what is spam and what is not.

Yes, I know most Slashdotters know that, this is for the benefit of non-Slashdot people out there :)

There have been two bombings of note in the past few days; the attack on Russian government buildings in northern Chechnya, and the more recent bombing in Riyadh in anticipation of US Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit.

As a humanist and not being a journalist, I do not keep track of bombing attacks, and plot their frequencies against time - it is just a ghastly thing to do 'for fun' - so I could not make an assessment as to the relative frequency of symbolic, grand attacks before and after the recent campaign in Iraq.

Granted, the conflict in Chechnya has nothing to do directly with the USA - though US criticism of Russian actions there certainly is much toned down post-9/11. The Saudi attack is rather surprising though, coming after the announced closing down of US military bases there, removing one of Osama's purported grievances against America (the main other being the Israel-Palestinian conflict).

Given the spread of radical Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia, it is certainly interesting to observe US foreign policy in the medium term as the fall-out of the war continues. If Iraq was meant as a warning for other 'state sponsors of terrorism' behave, Saudi Arabia is in a very uncomfortable position; a close US ally (though relations are a bit strained at the moment), its pro-Western (but very traditionalist) government under siege from its populace that due to the lack of any popular representation is turning increasingly into radical Islamism.

Democratising the Middle East would mean the end of Saudi Arabia as it is today, yet that would be the outcome consistent with claimed US policy. Maintaining the status quo, probably desirable in the short-term (stability of oil supply and all) would weaken the last remaining justification for war (bringing democracy to the region) as a hoax.

A way out would be to stop meddling in Middle Eastern internal politics and let events take its course. Without the US-Britain intervention against then-Prime Minister Mossadegh of Iran, the 1979 Islamic Revolution might have never come to pass, and arguably even with the revolution Iran is today a far more democratic place than it is under the Shah. Current US policy that Iraq could have any form of government its people want as long as it is not an Islamic Republic carries a lot of risk, in that the USA would be seen as even more of a colonialist power than it is at the moment.

Again citing Iran as an example: in Iran a woman's vote carries half the weight of a male's vote. Note that until the Fourth Republic in France women could not even vote, and in some cantons of Switzerland this persisted until the late 80s. Perhaps if American administrations do not believe they are the most knowledgeable when it comes to governance, the world would be a peaceful place.

A random snippet from a political dabbler's mind.

From New York Times (free registration required):

Herbs? Bull Thymus? Beijing Leaps at Anti-SARS Potions

...
  Nevertheless, the lively market in SARS nostrums rolled along, with hot items like Xiong Xian Tai, an extract of newborn bull thymus that is given by injection and costs more than $100, and Zhuan Yi Yin Zi, a drink made from the spleens of healthy animals.
...

Sometimes I am really embarrassed of the land of my ancestors. Quack medication is still all the rage, what with so-called 'self-made' businesspeople not having a proper understanding of science; in fact, often looking down on it.

And it is always some poor animals that falls prey; the ignorance combined with the hunger for the exotic. The basking sharks are going extinct in British waters mainly due to export to Asia, and monkey brains and bear paws are delicacies.

Not to mention tiger penises for virility, vinegar for foiling SARS, and you get the picture.

At least the French don't tend to go for endangered species... then again, to think about it, Europeans did manage to exterminate quite a few species themselves, either for sport or through negligence.

As a disclaimer I should add that I am no vegetarian. Oh dearie, I think I can expect to be flamed to death over this. Is there any culinary group I have not insulted in some way? And I do mean every word I just said...

Your meat-eating, pro-animal-welfare contrarian

I stumbled unto an impressive-sounding recipe for searing a steak:

Seared fillet mignon

The treatment given is a bit basic, so it might be worthwhile combining it with this recipe:

Tarragon and Garlic Fillet Mignon

I shall be trying this tomorrow - time for a bit of shopping, *and* going to the gym. Keep in touch and I'll let you know how it goes

Votre sous-chef,

Michel Alexandre

For fans of dark, slightly haunting melancholia, The Black Heart Procession might be what you are looking for.

For more info, you could find reviews for their latest album, 'amore del tropico' courtesy of Google.

The album revolves around a murder investigation, apparently - I must confess I listen to songs more for the melody than the lyrics, and BHP's combination of violin and a saw (yes, a saw) is just unique.

And it just occured to me that while I bought their latest album on the strength of the Did You Wonder video, I have not downloaded the sample MP3s from their previous albums... time to download when I get home this evening.

Update: Lhasa de Sela MP3 samples here - as recommended by Elwood - thanks!

I was reading rec.music.iranian on Usenet when I saw a post by Peyman Nasehpour, a tonbak (Persian drum) player, about the availability of classical Persian music he converted to MP3 format.

Visit Peyman at his website here for links to MP3s of him performing on the tonbak as well as the classical archive, graciously hosted by the DoveSong Foundation, which also archive Chinese, Indian and Western traditional music.

Persian culture is very rich in tradition, and I find myself really impressed by the civility of the arguments at soc.culture.iranian. I would recommend Persian music to connoiseurs of Indian music, it is not too different - in fact a few million Zoroastrians currently live in India, having moved there after Persia embraced Islam.

It is sad that the common misperception of Iran consist of demonstrators chanting 'Death to America'. Extremists exist everywhere, but music can hopefully help in partially bridging different communities.

More
Middle Eastern music on Shoutcast.

The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably
not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.

                                -- H.L. Mencken

It appears al-Sahaf is back, or has a kindred soul writing for the Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean information service.

This is evidenced from their statement regarding their preparedness to defeat the Americans, as I quote:

As military experts said that a war between North Korea and the U.S. will end with the delightful victory of North Korea, a newly-emerging, military power, in 100 hours, the aggression troops will be annihilated by the lightning counter-attack of the North Korean army at the initial stage of war, the heart of the U.S. be enveloped in flames by the attack of powerful strategic weapons and the arrogant empire of a devil will breathe its last.

Sometimes, abhorrable as any war is, especially preemptive ones, one wonder how shocking it would be for an Afghan or Iraqi to suddenly get less biased (I won't say unbiased) news from the outside world.

With the caveat that I still don't believe the end justifies the means. We don't even know what the "end" is, in the Pentagon scenario. Hopefully it won't be Pax americana.

If you live in the UK you would have recently seen infomercial ads night after night from the Internal Revenue about filling in your self-assessed tax forms.

Thankfully my period of internship employment falls in the current tax year, so I do not have to sort out the paperwork for another few months, but it brought back to mind a jarring point:

Everyone gets the first £5000 or so tax free, so for people like me whose tax get deducted automatically from my paycheck, how hard is it to only start deducting when I get over the limit?

One would think that would save them a lot of paperwork. But bureaucracies... heard GW Bush's exemption of dividend tax is already full of complicating exceptions. And that's from a small government, let's simplify tax collection President!

One must truly wonder whether the civil service chooses its newcomers to perpetuate its incompetences and thus maintain their bloated presence...

Spent a couple of hours yesterday going through the entire Megatokyo anime strip, and half an hour today touching up the nice Megatokyo wallpaper I found here.

That, and reading about the Khazaria Kaganate and the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict - for this I must blame myself for being curious about who the Circassians are.

Hard to do work when the Internet beckons :p. Right, back to the functional programming puzzles :p

- Michel the closet historian

Did not notice it until I went to Mycroft to browse for new Moz/Phoenix search plugins, but Google has recently added a new experimental site: Google Glossary.

Seems to be rather good at covering various possible meanings for a search term - for example, the first search result for 'java' is actually Java the coffee bean (Java Arabica), and 'local group' returns both Windows and astronomical definitions.

Way to go Google :)

So I wanted to try out Evolution 1.2 beta2 (1.1.2), got frustrated at it being available in binary form to Red Hat 7.2/3 users, and decided to rebuild packages from Rawhide instead.

Built everything, even re-enabled Pilot support, thanks to some snooping at Ximian's spec file, and.. my apt repository went down. Turns out there are enthusiastic users out there and while it's fine with small apps like Gaim and Rhythmbox, it's no-no with Evolution; my daily quota was only 50MB.

Arrgh, should have checked. In any case, the repository is back up, with more decent set-up instructions, at MessLab

Your friendly neighbourhood package maintainer,

Michel - MessLab Chief Test Rat

If you think there is nothing wrong with that, let's have a peek at what cereals me and my housemates have in stock:
- Kellogg's® Ricicles®
- Kellogg's® Rice Krispies®
- Nestlé® Cinnamon Grahams(TM)

Kellogg's products mention that they are low in fat (under 3%), and saying it is ideal for maintaining a healthy weight, and proclaim their usefulness for mental concentration and physical energy due to their high carbohydrates content. Left unsaid is the fact that almost half the carbohydrates is sugars , their bad effects on teeth and the waistline, and that starch actually makes you sleepy!

On to Nestlé. They have this box top promotion, "Earn Cash for your School!", basically exploting children to act as their marketing agent and persuading their schools to sign up to the scheme. Money for the school depending on the amount of box tops, to be spent as the school wishes - for full terms and conditions please write. Hmm.

Wonder whether the time will come when the government-sponsored luncheons will be catered for by these corporations. Already we have themed school canteens - I used to think they were present only in the States but horror oh horror, recently I saw a TV documentary in Britain about a branded school canteen in Liverpool. Parents up in arms, especially since they were not consulted.

I would take the Hacker's Diet anytime. Oh wait, I already am on it *grin*. Bless my mom for high metabolism and ... whichever ancestor, for strong teeth...

Michel, concerned for the children

Switch Different, from O'Reilly's Open Source Conference
Bill Gates - in Flash format. Check out the punch line!
Monkey by Jason Gottlieb

I would have shot my own Switch parody but I traded in my iBook because it's too slow running Transcode...

I am Michel Salim and I am... err.. an ex-Apple user