If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.
Art by: Rhads
Quote by: William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Quote provided by: CZ
By duongquocdinh
We have all heard that no two snowflakes are alike. Each snowflake takes the perfect form for the maximum efficiency and effectiveness for its journey. And while the universal force of gravity gives them a shared destination, the expansive space in the air gives each snowflake the opportunity to take their own path. They are on the same journey, but each takes a different path.
Along this gravity-driven journey, some snowflakes collide and damage each other, some collide and join together, some are influenced by wind… there are so many transitions and changes that take place along the journey of the snowflake. But, no matter what the transition, the snowflake always finds itself perfectly shaped for its journey.
I find parallels in nature to be a beautiful reflection of grand orchestration. One of these parallels is of snowflakes and us. We, too, are all headed in the same direction. We are being driven by a universal force to the same destination. We are all individuals taking different journeys and along our journey, we sometimes bump into each other, we cross paths, we become altered… we take different physical forms.
At every given moment we are absolutely perfect for what is required for our journey. I’m not perfect for your journey and you’re not perfect for my journey, but I’m perfect for my journey and you’re perfect for your journey. We’re heading to the same place, we’re taking different routes, but we’re both exactly perfect the way we are.
Photo by: Nelleke
Quote by: Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
Quote provided by: CZ
By Michail Vorobyev
Taken: August 25, 2013
The moon had been observing the earth close-up longer than anyone.
It must have witnessed all of the phenomena occurring – and all of the acts carried out – on this earth.
But the moon remained silent; it told no stories.
All it did was embrace the heavy past with a cool, measured detachment.
On the moon there was neither air nor wind.
Its vacuum was perfect for preserving memories unscathed.
No one could unlock the heart of the moon.
Art by: AshenSorrow
Quote by: Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
Quote provided by: CZ
While the constitution in Angola guarantees freedom of religion to all of its citizens, this right no longer seems to apply to the followers of the now banned religion of Islam.
According to numerous newspapers in Angola, the African nation has banned the Islamic religion.
It has become the first country in the world to take such a harsh stance against Muslims.
On November 22, the Angolan Minister of Culture Rosa Cruz e Silva said that:
“[t]he process of legalization of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights [and so] their mosques would be closed until further notice.”
Why the religion needs to be legalized has not been definitively stated by Cruz e Silva.
Cruz e Silva has also said that the closing of mosques is the most recent move in Angola’s effort to put a stop to so-called illegal religious sects. Under new laws in Angola, many religious sects have suddenly become criminal.
According to the minister:
the action was necessary to fight relentlessly against the emergence of congregations whose worshipping is contradicting with the customs of the Angolan culture.
Same as Islam, other faiths which were not legalized will face closure of their houses of worship.
“All sects on the list published by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in the Angolan newspaper ‘Jornal de Angola’ are prohibited to conduct worship, so they should keep their doors closed,” she was quoted by Cameroon Voice.
On November 24, Angola President José Eduardo dos Santos said that:
the country is working toward putting an end to Islamic influence in Angola once and for all. Again, there is no word of what or who has been influenced and why it needs to stop.
President José Eduardo dos Santos was quoted by Osun Defender newspaper on Sunday, November 24:
“This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country.”
The Governor of Luanda, Bento Bento, attended the destruction of the minaret of their mosque Zengo. Bento Bento, has also said on the airwaves of a local radio that:
“radical” Muslims are not welcome in the country and that the Angolan government will not be legalizing mosques or other places of worship for Muslims.”
The African country of Angola’s citizens primarily practice indigenous religions. Recent surveys show that 47 percent adhere to traditional indigenous beliefs while another 38 percent of the population practice Roman Catholicism and 15 percent practice Protestantism.
The now banned religion of Islam is practiced by a very small percentage of the 18.5 million inhabitants of Angola. Only about 80,000-90,000 Angolans practice Islam. These Muslims are primary migrants from West Africa and Lebanon.
While the means of becoming a “legal religion” is Angola is not clear at this point, the government is very harshly cracking down on the illegal sects.
Minister of Culture Rosa Cruz e Silva has made it known that there are nearly 200 different illegal religious sects in Angola so it is not just Islam that has been banned in Angola.
Rosa Cruz e Silva has also said that there are more than 1000 applications that have been submitted by religious groups in an effort to legalize their sects. Islamic groups have made up some percentage of these many applications but it is not clear when or if they will ever be approved.
Rosa Cruz e Silva said that the legalization process of Islam has simply not been approved and, therefore, mosques must remain closed “until further notice.”
While some mosque could theoretically reopen again in the future, some are gone forever.
By _Nicci Mende_
Sources:
1. http://guardianlv.com/2013/11/islam-banned-in-angola/
2. http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/466297-angola-bans-islam-destroys-mosques.html
#Islam #Angola #Islamophobia #Africa #ReligiousPersecution #Racism #Xenophobia
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Photo by: Ivan Andreevich
Poem by: T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
Quote provided by: CZ
Location: Terra Nova, Richmond, Beautiful British Columbia, Canada.
Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem. [Howard Zinn]
—
The challenge remains. On the other side are formidable forces: money, political power, the major media. On our side are the people of the world and a power greater than money or weapons: the truth.
Truth has a power of its own. Art has a power of its own. That age-old lesson – that everything we do matters – is the meaning of the people’s struggle here in the United States and everywhere.
A poem can inspire a movement. A pamphlet can spark a revolution. Civil disobedience can arouse people and provoke us to think, when we organize with one another, when we get involved, when we stand up and speak out together, we can create a power no government can suppress.
We live in a beautiful country. But people who have no respect for human life, freedom, or justice have taken it over. It is now up to all of us to take it back.
[Howard Zinn, A Power Governments Cannot Suppress]
—
We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.
[Howard Zinn]
A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.
Photo by: m-eralp
Location: Ladun Maja, Jyväskylä Finland
Quote by: Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Quote provided by: CZ
O ye who sit in bondage and continually seek and pant for freedom, seek only for love.
Love is peace in itself and peace which gives complete satisfaction.
I am the key that opens the portal to the rarely discovered land where contentment alone is found.
Photo by: 45SURF Hero’s Journey
Taken on: May 22, 2013
Quote by: Leo Tolstoy
Quote provided by: CZ
Note: The title is mine. The original title is Malibu Storm
cavalierzee 