Marriage Equality and the Supreme Court

I just finished reading the entire ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States on the topic of marriage equality and legalizing the same sex marriage in all 50 States. I approach this as a strong proponent of gay marriage and as someone who was particularly pleased when my beloved Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2003.

I am not a lawyer and reading all 103 pages of legal opinions was a challenging intellectual task for me. To my utter shock and disbelief I found myself actually more understanding of the dissenters ... the following are arguments that resonated with me:

1. The wave of legalization of gay marriage was taking place everywhere through democratic process. I fear the ruling will take the steam out of it and will now leave us like with Roe v Wade fearing the balance in the Court and hoping for Obama to get the opportunity to name one more progressive judge lest we get a Republican for president and end up with a conservative majority that would cause reversals for both them right to chose and the marriage equality issues.

2. I found and this was particularly shocking for me great logic in Justice Thomas argument about liberty how it can be encroached upon by the State but not be given by it. His argument about dignity and how the State can't bestow it or deny it was also interesting.

3. The argument of the likely encroachment on the religious rights of those who oppose same sex marriage also resonated with me. How would religious colleges deal with this issue without breaking the law when it comes to same sex married couples demanding on campus accommodation for example.

4. I was puzzled by why Justice Alito did not join Chief Justice Roberts dissenting opinion and why Roberts did not join Alito's. Would love to understand a bit more about that and I assume re read of both may help.

5. The dissent from Roberts was very strong and covered multiple facets legal, political and conceptual. The point on polyamorous marriages was particularly powerful and resonated with me.

6. I wish there would have been a way for the Supreme Court to take a narrower view, forcing the States to recognize the marriages of other states and countries. I doubt this would have been possible without the broader acceptance of the intent of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

The elegance and the beauty of the US system of government are displayed at their best in rulings such as this. I don't really believe in the concept of national pride for any nation, but if I were to become such a believer, it is something like this ruling and its dissenters that would be making truly proud of being an American.

Ayman S. Ashour

June 28, 2015

On Blasphemy And Freedom!

Years ago, I watched “Life of Brian”, a Monty Python movie mocking Jesus Christ. I remember laughing in the movie theater along with a majority Christian audience in England. Over the years, as my Islamic faith deepened, I would no longer watch this movie let alone laugh at or own it, I find it objectionable for its portrayal of the Jesus like character.  As a Muslim I consider Jesus, like Mohammad, sacred, both are human beings chosen by God to be His prophets and messengers to all of humanity.

Commencing on September 11, 2012 we have seen days of angry protests and violence following the, peculiarly timed, airing of a video clip titled “Innocence of Muslims” by a Salafi TV station in Egypt. The violence was combined with demands by religious and political leaders in Egypt for action against the makers of the movie in the USA. The angry convulsions turned into loud demands for legal action and changes to international law to ban insults to religions and religious figures.

In an attempt to understand the so-called “Muslim rage”, I watched the “Innocence of Muslims” video on YouTube. Needless to say, I found it as offensive as any cheap insult or remark one receives from hateful or ignorant types. It did not mean a great deal to me that someone who hates Islam produces a movie that insults my Prophet in a vulgar manner. Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, is sacred and beloved to me, I hold him in unparalleled esteem; but I also accept that some 80% of humanity do not believe in him, his message or believe in Islam.

To many Muslims, the word “prophet” carries huge religious meaning, a sacred or revered messenger from the almighty God. Many Muslims are unaware that, for most Christians, saying “we respect Jesus as prophet…” is sacrilege.  While the core beliefs in Christianity of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and his divine status are not accepted by Islam, most Christians take “prophets” to mean wise men, inspired by God, but not divine!  So it can be clearly seen how religious beliefs, especially historical ones, are incompatible and how easily acceptance of one belief can be blasphemous of the other. In other words to deny the divinity of Jesus and simply label him a wise man maybe as offensive to a Christian as telling a Muslim Mohammad was a wise and good man but not a messenger of God. Belief in Islam by definition is blasphemy of Christianity and vice versa, the same applies to Judaism and other religious beliefs.

“O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah (God)  is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah (God) is Knowing and Acquainted.”  The Holly Quran 49:13

“There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah (God) has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah (God) is Hearing and Knowing.” The Holly Quran 2:256

The beauty of Islam, with its fundamental advocacy for equality, justice and freedom is virtually absent from the language of those who speak in its name calling for punishment of atheists and whose language focuses almost exclusively on the limitation of equality, limitation of freedoms and selective justice.

So, as I look at my personal belief in Islam and the recent Muslim rage events, I find myself reflecting on two very different but related questions: first is there a distinction between representation of religious figures, offensive or not, and incitement against the killing of fellow human beings of whatever faith? And a   second question: would a new international law banning blasphemy towards Jesus outlaw the teaching of Islam to our kids in the west? Answers to both questions are blatantly obvious: incitement to kill someone for their beliefs, no matter how distasteful to others, is wrong! And so would be banning the teaching or preaching of a religion because it disagrees with the basic tenants of another majority faith.

So while many call for change in international laws to punish those who publish material deemed offensive to religion, I find myself wondering how Islamic is it, to ban such material and punish its makers. Thus, I actually call for changing Egypt’s laws to allow such cheap rubbish as the Innocence of Muslims to be made in Egypt itself.  And for its makers to go about their sorry hateful lives in peace as long as they are are not inciting violence. Would such freedom hurt Egypt or Islam? Would Muslims anywhere rush away from Islam believing the trashy material shown on the video? Would Egyptians then not have the right to boycott people, businesses and TV channels that promote such insulting material?

Would a disgruntled unhappy Islam hater take advantage of this law then produce more hateful anti Islam material? Maybe, but let them! We each have our own narratives and our Islam becomes stronger not weaker with freedom!

Legalize offending religious beliefs for the sake of Islam, please!

AA

September 23, 2012

On Minerates, Switzerland, Egypt, America and Saudi Arabia too!

The new Swiss Law is nothing new! The reason only four Minerates exist in a country of over four hundred thousand Muslims is that the Swiss Cantons have refused for many years to grant building permits for mosques; only four minerates have managed to get through. Of the four minerates that exist one or maybe two qualify for a "real" minerate, the others are like a small rises, accidental architectural feature that few people would recognize as Islamic. Before the referendum, this was one of the main reasons I personally decided not to move my primary residence to Zurich despite my commuting back and forth to Switzerland since 2003. Once, I had sought a mosque near me for the Eid prayers at the end of Ramadan and stumbled across a lot of information about the problems with the planning permits; I was shocked, saddened and hurt. It is good that the referendum finally brings out much publicity, so this shameful issue is finally out.

Switzerland, a country I do very much love, has never been a bastion of political correctness on issues of freedom and equality; its brand of referendum based democracy means that it is often out of step in its laws. Swiss women had the right to vote over fifty full years after their Egyptian counterparts. In some Cantons in Switzerland women got the right to vote in 1990's ...so being in the heart of Europe does not necessarily mean being free and progressive. While Egyptians male and female have had the vote for decades, they continue to await for the these votes to count through free and fair elections, only then will we Egyptians be able to show what racism, bigotry and small mindedness really mean. My American side has an insurance policy against such stupidity, known as the United States Constitution. So, when Americans vote freely to mix church and state or vote their racist prejudices, sooner or later, the courts overturn such votes in favor of a more equal and tolerant society. In short, the Swiss are no more racist than others, arguably a lot less. The liberal party in Switzerland is indeed racist; it gathered the signatures to bring the minerates issue to a referendum and very few people actually bothered to vote. I hope that sooner or later, not only would the referendum be overturned but also the planning permit issue at the Cantonal level will get better.

Saudi Arabia is often brought into this discussion; Islamophobes point to Saudi Arabia’s abhorrent restrictions on religious freedom as a way to explain away newly imposed restrictions on Islamic expressions in different parts of Europe and Saudi apologists argue that laws such as the minerates ban are a vindication for Saudi’s stance. I have heard the argument that Muslims can’t be expected to give churches and synagogues the same level of freedoms that Muslim demand for mosques in the West. An argument of “unequal and we mean it!” or “no reciprocity and deliberately so!” The argument is based on Islam believing in Christianity and Judaism while Christianity and Judaism have no theological space for Islam. Such arguments trouble me as much as the original Swiss Cantonal planning restrictions did. Saying that Muslims believe in Christianity is misleading, Muslims believe in their own versions of Christianity and don't believe that the Christians beliefs practiced today are valid. In short, Muslims do not believe in Jesus being the Son of God or that Jesus was crucified for the salvation of mankind and those who believe in him. Muslims can define Christianity as we wish but that is not Christianity as seen by its adherents.

Some Egyptians have used the Swiss Minerates referendum to argue for more (or less) freedom for the Coptic Churches. In down town Boston Muslims hold their Friday prayers at the basement of a Church. In the aftermath of 9/11, the archbishop of Catholic Church in Boston along with leaders of many Protestant churches came to our Wayland mosque and prayed and kneeled with us in solidarity, this would never happen in Saudi for now certainly not Switzerland nor Egypt.

Manzanar

eid now makes alert go orange
them ayrabs no longer slaughter goats
stay alert …
vigilant …not just in the air
see veiled girl cleaning snow off her shoes …
could be after your hotel
beardy over there …
could blow your building
the waitress heard them ..

it’s the season to be bombing
la la la la la la
it’s the eid of sacrifice
la la la la la la
from yellow we go orange
la la la la la la

back then we sent’em japs to Manzanar
pack them herders ship’em far
back to Manzanar
its safe in death valley

should they pack
thinking about it
writing on the wall
not just mutterings
another transfer …for safety

orange ain’t red
Manzanar..will it be cold
separated…
half breeds too

it’s the season to be bombing
la la la la la la
it’s the eid of sacrifice
la la la la la la
from yellow we go orange
la la la la la la

Manzanar not too bad
California dreaming
days on end writing
essays, poems, letters
Manzanar not too bad
edamame kosher halal hummus and curry
eid moubark stamp …show unity
on sale in Manzanar

it’s the eid of sacrifice
la la la la la la

AA

Feb 7, 2003