An open letter to Muslims

An open letter to Muslims

In light of the recent protests by many of your people, and the violence which has gone along with it, starting with the burning in effigy of His Holiness, Benedict XVI and the cursing of his name, continuing with the burning of Christian churches, some not even Roman Catholic, and culminating with the murder of a Roman Catholic nun whose only offense was in doing charitable work for the poor in Somalia, I feel that it is time to express what I, and what a great number of other westerners, think as regards your or your brothers’ actions.

First of all, I am given to understand that a lot of this response has been the result of accepting, on face value, what a large number of western media have reported in their headlines: That the Pope has somehow insulted or attacked Islam. I would first suggest that you look at the vastly inaccurate statements that this media has made about Islam and about Muslims over the course of many years. You may want to consider that this same media has repeatedly made many inaccurate statements about Christians as well. In short, as regards Western media, and at least insofar as religion is concerned, you may not want to believe everything that you read.

It also appears that some among you have actually read at least a part of what His Holiness has said, and have taken offense to a quotation which he made from a fifteenth century Byzantine emperor. At the risk of offending you again, I will recite the text of that quotation again.

“Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

I should point out something that any reasonable person would immediately understand: that quoting a person does not imply agreement with that person. I should also point out that any Muslim who had a knowledge of their own culture, and had any confidence in it, could proudly cite both Arab and Islamic contributions to civilization, from the passage of Greek philosophy to the West, to their contributions in logic and mathematics, to the development of the university, and could proudly and thoroughly refute the charge of the Byzantine emperor.

The fact that these many people could not says, at least to those of the West, that you or your brothers are in fact either ignorant of your heritage, or are acting on the belief that you are unable to repeat these glories of the past. To us of the West, their, and your, failure to use argument rather than threats and firebombs, rather than being an indication of your strength, are to us a sure sign of your weakness. Where we come from, we think that only bullies and blackguards try to compel by force what they cannot achieve by argument or persuasion.

I am given to understand as well that some among you have taken offense that His Holiness, and others, have characterized much of the Dar Al Islam, the House of Islam, as having been taken by the sword. If so, you are taking offense about that which is a manifest historical truth, spoken of by both Western and Islamic historians. The whole of Al-Maghrib, of northern Africa, from Egypt to Mauritania, was taken by the sword by the seventh century, as was Palestine and the Holy Lands, and all the land from Baghdad to Bombay by the thirteenth century. The whole of the Turkish empire, the former empire of the Emperor whose words were quoted above, was taken by the Islamic Turks in 1453. These all are indisputable facts. To take offense at that which is true does not speak much as regards your love of the truth.

In fairness, it must be admitted that some among you have avoided this general rush to judgment, like the Grand Mufti of Syria, who has quite reasonably requested further clarification; and further, there have been many who, upon hearing the clarification of His Holiness this last Sunday, have understood that he had not wished to cause offense, have agreed that there has been misunderstanding, and have relented from this course of violence. Those who have taken this action have our respect, and have preserved their own honor: we believe that it is an act of the wise and the good to admit it when they have been mistaken, and to turn away from their mistakes.

But as for those others, who act neither wisely nor righteously: know that you have spoken and acted falsely, and that you have attempted to malign a good and honorable man, one who is honored and respected as their spiritual leader by one sixth of the people of this world, and is honored by many millions of other people in the West. Know that by attempting to dishonor this good and holy man, you have in fact dishonored yourselves.

It is becoming apparent to us of the West that such people are attempting to pick a fight, or worse, to act like bullies, and to threaten violence unless we act in accordance with their wishes. While some among us are weak and foolish, and will wish to give in to such threats, know also that there are many more among us who will never give in to such threats, and who are willing to fight to their enemy’s death to make sure that those threats are never carried out. There are many, from Napoleon to Hitler, who have tried to impose their will on the West. They all now lie in the graves of failures, not martyrs.

One of our leaders once said that it was not our duty to die for our country, but rather, it was our duty to make our enemies die for their country. History has shown that we of the West have been very efficient at making that happen. Recent events have also demonstrated that same fact, even when led by as inefficient a leader as our current one. Know that the only effect of pursuing this present course of action would be to give us more resolve to prevail, and to replace our current leaders with even more ruthless and effective ones. Finally, know that we would prefer never to start such a fight; know also that once started, we will do everything in our power to finish it.

But history and recent events have also shown that we are quite good at putting aside differences, and becoming friends and partners with those who had once been our sworn enemies. We would much prefer having you as friends than enemies. We therefore invite you to continue the discussion which His Holiness had wished to begin, and to do as our common Lord and God has asked us to do, in the words of our Prophet Isaiah: Come, let us reason together.

Why I've not been posting much lately

I'm now at something of a breathing spot, and can mention a few things that I could not before, which have been preventing me from posting.

1. I've recently started a new job, and this has been occupying a great deal of my time for the last two months. As it is my practice not to discuss my employment in my weblog, this will probably be my last post about my work.

2. I have recently, and officially, changed my rite from Roman Catholic to Melkite and Russian Catholic. This was surprisingly easier than I had at first thought: I had heard horror stories of it taking two to four years to accomplish. This would probably still be the case, if the Eastern Catholic Code of Canon Law had not been changed. But Canon 32 of that Code states as follows:

1. No one can validly transfer to another Church sui iuris without the consent of the Apostolic See.

2. In the case of Christian faithful of an eparchy of a certain Church sui iuris who petition to transfer to another Church sui iuris which has its own eparchy in the same territory, this consent of the Apostolic See is presumed, provided that the eparchial bishops of both eparchies consent to the transfer in writing.

As my parish priest is also the Director of Ecumenical Affairs for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, he was able to tell me how to go about obtaining consent from his Eminence, Roger Cardinal Mahony, and from His Grace, Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton: I wrote what I thought was a polite letter to His Eminence, and within a week I received a very polite (and very kind) letter from His Eminence himself, granting my request and forwarding a letter with a copy of his consent to His Grace, Archbishop Cyril.

Within another week or so, and before I could write the letter to His Grace, Archbishop Cyril had already written to my priest, Fr. Alexei, granting my request. I was told that the change of rite would be effective when I acknowleged the change before two witnesses. And so, last Sunday, during the apodosis of the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, and the Feast of the Holy Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora at Nicomedia, with Deacon Irenaeus Dionne, and my good friend and choir director, Gabriel Meyer, as witnesses, and with my wife Elizabeth and my friend Mary Macdonald present, I became a member of the Melkite Eastern Catholic Church.

3. I've been looking into obtaining an appropriate theological education, and while I am looking with interest at both the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute(and its Formation Theologique par Correspondance) as well as the Pavel Florensky School of Theology and Ministry of Euclid University, I have presently applied to and have been accepted into the St. Stephen's Program of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, with an eye towards perhaps going on to their Master's and Doctorate programs at Balamand University.

In short, it's been somewhat busy around here. More later.

I'm on TV!

It appears that through the kindness of my friend Gwydion, I've been put on YouTube. While it also appears (from looking at his website) that some people have been kvetching about some of Gwydion's other productions, I think that considering the equipment that he's been using (including a video camera smaller than my fist), he's doing a fine job, particularly in editing and in putting music to his video clip.

The only really objectionable thing about the clip was the ugliness of the subject (me), and he even minimizes that by breaking up the painful experience with really neat shots of my church, St. Andrew Russian Catholic Church.

One note, though: the reason why I was grinning with almost a rictus was that I was trying to see whether I could break the camera with my ugliness. Strange- it works just fine with regular cameras and mirrors. I guess that I'll just have to try harder next time.

Various liquid pursuits

I've been rather busy lately, but I am not presently at liberty to discuss precisely what it is that I have been doing. More on that later.

In my copious free time, I've been indulging in various summertime vices. Alcohol in particular. Not so much the drinking of it (although there has been some of that) but more in the manufacture of various drinks. Flavored vodkas, mainly.

It seems that Stoli, Smirnoff and a number of other companies have been busy inflicting flavored vodkas on the unwary American public, and more particularly, inflicting premium prices for their manufacture and sale. While I enjoy flavored vodkas as much as the next man (and probably more so), I do not enjoy having to pay high prices for the privilege. Thus, my essays into practical alchemy. These are the results:

Vodka Vanil or Vanilla Vodka

-One vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and serated
-One bottle of vodka of your choice(750 ml)

Place the cut and serated vanilla bean in the bottle of vodka. Keep in a cool, dark place for a week. Remove vanilla bean. Keep in freezer until time to drink, at which time, drink neat, in shot glasses. It looks like amber and tastes like silver. (Note: at the Pascha party that my church throws after the Paschal Matins and Liturgy at around 3 a.m., I can be seen going up and down, and to and fro in the parish patio, with a bottle of this pulchritudinous potable, seeking whom I might to lead into temptation).

Vodka Piertzevka or Pepper Vodka

-Two tablespoons whole peppercorns (black, white, or pink)
-One bottle vodka (750 ml)

Pour vodka into a 1 liter mason jar. Pour peppercorns into jar after vodka. Screw on top to mason jar. Taste every two hours until vodka has all the flavor of the pepper, and a little of its heat. I find four to eight hours works for me. Then take a large funnel (preferably glass or stainless steel), fold a paper towel into fours and place in wide end of funnel, place narrow end back in vodka bottle, and pour decoction through the funnel until it is all back in the bottle. Put bottle in freezer until needed. Can be drunk neat, or makes excellent Bloody Marys.

Vodka Limonaya or Lemon Vodka

-Zest from one lemon (yellow part only; avoid the white pith; a zester or microplane work for removing zest quickly)
-One bottle vodka (750 ml)

Pour vodka into a 1 liter mason jar. Pour zest into jar after vodka. Screw on top to mason jar. Taste every two hours until vodka has all the flavor of the lemon, but stop before it starts to get bitter. I find four to twelve hours works for me. Then take a large funnel (preferably glass or stainless steel), fold a paper towel into fours and place in wide end of funnel, place narrow end back in vodka bottle, and pour decoction through the funnel until it is all back in the bottle (except for the zest, of course). Put bottle in freezer until needed. Can be drunk neat, or works wonderfully with sparkling or tonic water.

Vodka Oranzhievnii or Orange Vodka

-Zest from one orange (orange part only; avoid the white pith; a zester or microplane work for removing zest quickly)
-One bottle vodka (750 ml)

Pour vodka into a 1 liter mason jar. Pour zest into jar after vodka. Screw on top to mason jar. Taste every two hours until vodka has all the flavor of the orange, but stop before it starts to get bitter. I find four to twelve hours works for me. Then take a large funnel (preferably glass or stainless steel), fold a paper towel into fours and place in wide end of funnel, place narrow end back in vodka bottle, and pour decoction through the funnel until it is all back in the bottle (except for the zest, of course). Put bottle in freezer until needed. Can be drunk neat, or works wonderfully with sparkling or tonic water.

Vodka Izviestaya or Lime Vodka

-Zest from two limes (green part only; avoid the white pith; a zester or microplane work for removing zest quickly)
-One bottle vodka (750 ml)

Pour vodka into a 1 liter mason jar. Pour zest into jar after vodka. Screw on top to mason jar. Taste every two hours until vodka has all the flavor of the lime, but stop before it starts to get bitter. I find four to twelve hours works for me. Then take a large funnel (preferably glass or stainless steel), fold a paper towel into fours and place in wide end of funnel, place narrow end back in vodka bottle, and pour decoction through the funnel until it is all back in the bottle (except for the zest, of course). Put bottle in freezer until needed. Can be drunk neat, or works wonderfully with sparkling or tonic water.

Finally, while this is not a vodka, it's well worth trying:

Quinine Tonic Simple Syrup

-Six ounces sugar (by volume)
-Six ounces water (by volume)
-One 260 mg Quinine Tablet (you need a doctor's prescription for this, at least in the U.S.)

Pour water and sugar together into small saucepan. Heat and stir until sugar has dissolved and solution is clear. Turn off heat before bubbles start to appear. (At this point, you have what is called a simple syrup. This is great for putting in iced tea or other cold liquids without the sugar leaving crystals on the bottom of the glass).

Then crush quinine tablet into powder with a mortar and pestle, and stir powder into the still hot simple syrup until the powder dissolves (Note: Quinine melts at around 160 degrees Centigrade, so you should be okay if you don't allow the solution to boil). Let solution cool to room temperature. Then use stainless steel funnel and paper towel (see instructions above) to filter solution into a bottle with a lid. The simple syrup should be clear, and you should be able to keep it without problems for weeks.

Note that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sets the limit of quinine to water at 68 parts per million. Three ounces of this simple sugar per liter of sparkling water should do the trick quite nicely. I find, however, that pouring a jigger (One and one-half ounces) of this simple sugar into a glass, followed by a jigger of vodka (unflavored, or lemon, lime, or orange), then followed by twelve ounces of cold sparking water, also works quite satisfactorily, and tastes like Schweppes Tonic Water (or Schweppes Bitter Lemon, Lime, or Orange, depending on the type of flavored vodka you use).

Enjoy!