The "Softer" Side of Facebook, Islam, Diana's Baths and Church Signs

Facebook Taught Me Something Today, thanks to my cousin Steve, who posted a video on the proper way to use Reynolds Wrap. To keep the aluminum foil from rolling out of the box, you are supposed to punch in two pre-set “soft” points in the ends of the carton. Who knew!?!

Action, Not Words, Needed: There’s been lots of talk lately about the excesses of ISIS, the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq that is giving Islam a bad name, as if the religion already didn’t suffer from bad press given tumult (how’s that for a “soft” word on internecine bloodbaths) in Libya, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and barbarism in other parts of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa. 

Finally, Islamic leaders in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, among others, are condemning the terror tactics of ISIS, saying they do not represent the true values of their faith. But let’s be honest—for The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik, to declare the group Islam’s No. 1 enemy, is a bit disingenuous given his country’s strong support and export of the austere Wahhabi brand of Islam that has fomented much of the reactionary thinking among Muslim extremists. Moreover, Egypt’s merciless crackdown on The Muslim Brotherhood demonstrates again that an iron fist is the most effective governing tool across the sands of Arabia. Nothing “soft” in Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s approach. 

We are told that the rank and file Muslim cherishes peace. Assuming that is correct, it is time for the Silent Majority of Muslims, whether they be Sunni or Shia, to stand up and march for peace, as the war weary populaces of Northern Ireland and Argentina did to end the terror in their midst. 

It is painful to observe the deaths of non-combatants in Gaza from justified retaliation against a fringe group that wants to eradicate the state of Israel and its citizens, that fights behind a shield of civilians it is willing to sacrifice. If many of the 1.8 million Gazans want peace, let them stand up and march for it. Risky? No doubt. But far better to take action for peace than to give over one’s future to Hamas. Instead of preaching hate during Friday’s services, imams should rally the masses to march for peace. 

Not So Soft Landing: Our Forseter Family went on vacation to Bridgton, Maine, last week. A fine time was had by all, even by our matriarch who broke a not so soft fall on a boulder at Diana’s Baths waterfall in Bartlett, NH, and fractured her left wrist in two places. 

For those who aren’t aware, Gilda is a leftie, which means for the next four to six weeks I will be chauffering her to and from work (arising at 6 am for the drive to Manhattan is not my idea of the best way to enjoy retirement. Nor is the return trip during the evening rush hour a highlight of my day). 

I’m also handling all the cooking chores (I already do most of the shopping, laundry and vacuuming). Tonight’s dinner was barley, fresh cauliflower and what my friends Jane and Ken F. call “Murray’s fish.” It’s panko breaded frozen tilapia (bought at Costco). I recommended it to Jane a few months back when our trips to Costco coincided and they’ve been enjoying it ever since. 

Another friend, Ken G., sometimes orders my preferred drink, vodka on the rocks with a twist and just a splash of cranberry juice, and calls it a “Murray,” so I’m well on my way to compiling the Murray Handbook of Epicurean Delights. 

Religious Soft Sell: Posted outside a church in Lewiston, Maine: 

“You wanted a sign. Here it is.”

A Woman's Place (Is Up to a Man)

Ann Romney Blinked: Post-conventions, there was lots of talk about which candidate’s wife conjured up a more touching, if not so truthful, remembrance of the tough financial times she and her husband had starting out their lives together. 

Ann Romney pictured their struggle in a basement Boston apartment, eating tuna casseroles and pasta off an ironing board doing its best impression of a dining room table, while Mitt studied for his Harvard law and business degrees at a desk made from an old door propped up on two sawhorses. 

Not to be outdone, Michelle Obama related how she could see the pavement whizzing by from the holes in the floorboards of Barack’s car; his best pair of shoes were a size too small. 

Oh, how far the seemingly destitute have come!

I’m not sure if the First Lady has retracted any of her depiction, but Ann Romney fessed up to David Gregory on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, “We have not had a financial struggle in our lives, but I want people to believe in their hearts that we know what it is to struggle.” 

For sure they did, as Ann began suffering from multiple sclerosis in 1998. Good thing her husband can afford quality health insurance, or to pay for her treatment out of pocket in case a new insurance company would deny her coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Unless, of course, she’d choose to be covered under provisions of Obamacare that requires insurance companies to extend coverage even for pre-conditions. 

For the record, I was less than impressed by David Gregory’s big moment with Mitt. I watched Meet the Press after returning home from my weekly softball game. Gregory’s questions were softer than the pitches I hurled. What a wasted opportunity to pin Romney down to specifics. He tried once or twice, but for the most part he failed to ask probing questions. 

It also was interesting to hear Romney talk about the country’s Judeo-Christian heritage, considering many Christian sects don’t consider Mormons to be part of their faith. 

A Woman’s Place: Recent articles and events struck me as indicators the world is far from accepting women as equals with men. First there was the controversy in Missouri generated by Rep. Todd Akin on the issue of “legitimate rape” and the ability of a woman’s body to fend off uninvited sperm. That an elected congressman in this day and age could harbor such nonsense is beyond the pale. He’s a deeply religious man. I wonder how much his ignorance is engendered by his religious teachings.

Which brings us to the first article, (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/world/middleeast/05iht-letter05.html?_r=1&bl), a depiction of a woman’s place according to the new rulers of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood. In case you haven’t yet clicked on the link, here’s how the writer, Mona El-Naggar, started her article, “Women are erratic and emotional, and they make good wives and mothers — but never leaders or rulers. That, at least, is what Osama Abou Salama, a professor of botany at Cairo University and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, told young men and women during a recent premarital counseling class.”

The Muslim Brotherhood apparently does not believe such women as Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi, Benazir Bhutto, or Golda Meir were good leaders or rulers. It doesn’t look promising for the women of Egypt, many of whom protested last year in Tahir Square in the hope they would achieve equal status from a post-Mubarak government.

It doesn’t look too rosy to the northeast of Egypt, either. Israel made the desert bloom, but it cannot cultivate tolerance among its religious zealots. Even with their lives at stake, Haredim, the ultra Orthodox, adhere to dictates that endanger the Jewish state. A long-time deferment from compulsory military service has been lifted, so Haredim are now being drafted. The Israeli military has long been an assimilator and equalizer, but the Haredim are offering stiff resistance to modernity, as can be seen in last Sunday’s Review submission in the NY Times by Shani Boianjiu, “What Happens When the Two Israel’s Meet” (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/opinion/sunday/what-happens-when-the-two-israels-meet.html?partner=rss&emc=rss). 

No, the world does not look very egalitarian these days.