Bartholomew's Notes

In the wake of the “Anonymous” internet war against Scientology, a further move against the Church, this time in Russia:

More than 700 activists of Rossiya Molodaya (Young Russia), a youth group, were joined by students and lecturers of Moscow’s Bauman State Technological University (MGTU) in a rally on Friday to demand that a Scientologist office located in the vicinity of MGTU be shut down.

The claim, as ever, is that Scientology wants to “brainwash” people, which is rather ironic given that Young Russia is one of several “Putin Youth” movements. Mishchenko has led nationalistic protests on various issues (recently he was burning Estonian flags); a recent article from the Los Angeles Times explains the MGTU connection:

Across town, in the headquarters of Young Russia, students are shooting pool and plotting their next scandal.

These are radical Putin activists…They have taken over a prime piece of real estate, a sprawling building that was once a bar at the edge of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University campus.

“We kicked the owners out,” leader Maxim Mishchenko said casually.

Mishchenko doesn’t mind boasting about the influence and wealth commanded by his group members. His power flows from thuggery and connections.

Barely out of law school, Mishchenko is expected to get a seat in the parliament this coming term.

“We’re talking here about a civilised protection racket,” Mishchenko says, cool as ice. “If they don’t give us money, we attack them.”

Attacks, he explains, entail blocking roads or holding protests outside shops until they are forced out of business.

It would be interesting to know the extent to which the MGTU has been brought under the control of pro-Putin elements; as I blogged last year, to the disgust of students the Moscow State University is now a propaganda outlet for pro-Putin conspiracy theories and ultra-nationalism.

Name variations: Maksim Mishchenko, Maxim Mischenko, Maksim Mischenko, Maksim Mishenko

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A bit of Easter theatre, from the AP:

Italy’s most prominent Muslim, an iconoclastic writer who condemned Islamic extremism and defended Israel, converted to Catholicism Saturday in a baptism by the pope at a Vatican Easter service.

An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam infuriated some Muslims with his books and columns in the newspaper Corriere della Sera newspaper, where he is a deputy editor. He titled one book “Long Live Israel.”

How someone can be both “non-practicing” and also “Italy’s most prominent” Muslim is rather perplexing. Allam was featured on this blog last year, when I noted his organisation of a march through Rome in support of persecuted Christians (a march which brought together Abraham Foxman, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, and “post-fascist” politician Gianfranco Fini, among others).

Despite glee from some quarters at the thought of angered Muslims (“I hope the musslemans choke on it”, according to a commentator at Rod Dreher’s blog), Italian Islamic organisations have responded sensibly:

The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy – which Allam has frequently criticized as having links to Hamas – said the baptism was his own decision.

“He is an adult, free to make his personal choice,” the Apcom news agency quoted the group’s spokesman, Issedin El Zir, as saying.

However – and not unreasonably:

Yahya Pallavicini, vice president of Coreis, the Islamic religious community in Italy, said he respected Allam’s choice but said he was “perplexed” by the symbolic and high-profile way in which he chose to convert. “If Allam truly was compelled by a strong spiritual inspiration, perhaps it would have been better to do it delicately, maybe with a priest from Viterbo where he lives,” the ANSA news agency quoted Pallavicini as saying.

Zenit has translated Allam’a conversion narrative here (the Italian original can be seen here). It contains a call for Christians to follow the Pope’s example and be more assertive in trying to convert Muslims in the face of violent threats:

His Holiness has sent an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too prudent in the conversion of Muslims, abstaining from proselytizing in majority Muslim countries and keeping quiet about the reality of converts in Christian countries. Out of fear. The fear of not being able to protect converts in the face of their being condemned to death for apostasy and fear of reprisals against Christians living in Islamic countries. Well, today Benedict XVI, with his witness, tells us that we must overcome fear and not be afraid to affirm the truth of Jesus even with Muslims.

Allam already has a Catholic wife, Valentina Colombo, an academic who is connected to various neo-conservative think tanks. They have a son, and Allam has two children by a “previous relationship” – it is unclear whether that relationship was a marriage, which might have complicated the conversion process.

Perhaps the most dramatic Italian conversion to Catholicism from a non-Christian religion in modern times occurred in 1945, when the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, was baptized following years of study and a religious vision (which apparently his wife also saw). Pope Benedict’s recent support for a prayer for the conversion of the Jews has caused controversy, although some sources claim the objections were based on misunderstandings.

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From Xinhua, China’s government-approved news agency:

China garners broad international support over Tibet riots

And which countries are offering the “broad international support”? Xinhua’s choice of first place is rather weird:

A spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday strongly denounced the unsavory elements of their moves to seek “the independence of Tibet” and scuttle the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

I usually avoid blog-jargon, but I’ll allow myself a “LOL!” One wonders if someone working for Xinhua is deliberately subverting Chinese propaganda efforts – although the recent sight of Tibetan protestors being physically coerced into signing confessions on TV suggests that the Chinese leadership really doesn’t have much of a clue when it comes to “hearts and minds”.

Most of the other countries listed are either China’s regional neighbours or African nations now dependent on Chinese investments:

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Zainab Hawa Bangura said on Tuesday that her country sees clearly the intention of the Dalai Lama clique to instigate violence in Tibet to promote separatism of the region, and to disturb the Beijing Olympics.

Funny how Sierra Leone is using exactly the same phraseology as Beijing; is this a paraphrase, or did Bangura (known as a human rights activist) simply sign off on a statement prepared by the Chinese embassy? Ditto Benin:

A Benin government spokesperson strongly condemned the violence which was planned and instigated by Dalai Lama, saying that Dalai Lama uses these despicable methods to separate China and destroy the Olympic Games to be hosted by Beijing in August.

Also backing China is Fiji, Serbia (obviously seeing the parallels with Kosovo) and Syria.

A second report adds:

…The International Daily News of Indonesia appealed for a vigilant watch on attempts of such separatist forces as “Tibet independence” to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games.

The newspaper said in a commentary that, like in Indonesia, separatist and terrorist forces are also the major enemies of the Chinese government and people at present.

The criminal acts of beatings, vandalism, looting and burning, plotted by the “Dalai Clique”, were aimed at attaining the “dirty” political purpose of the clique, and should be resolutely condemned, commented the Chinese-language World News newspaper of the Philippines.

This report also mentions a “Zambia Council for Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China”; this is actually the “Zambia Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification of China”; it was formed a couple of years ago and is run by a Taiwanese businessman living in Zambia named Roger Lee. Such councils exist in more than thirty African countries, and in Zambia the organisation has been praised by information minister Mike Mulongoti.

Meanwhile, the Australia Broadcasting Corporation’s Religion Report (ABC has the best radio coverage of religion available anywhere, by the way) has an interview with John Powers, an Asian Studies scholar at Australian National University. Powers explains that the “Dalai Lama clique” rhetoric is completely off-base:

…There are many, many factions within the Tibetan community. There’s a younger generation that’s highly radicalised and many of them are very upset with the Dalai Lama’s middle-way approach. And the monasteries have always followed their own way. Since very early times in Tibet the monasteries have often been at odds with the Dalai Lama, and that’s the case today, the monasteries see their own interest as being somewhat different from his. And he’s trying to push for this middle-way approach for conciliation and for negotiation with China. A lot of the younger generation is just fed up. It’s been over 50 years of this sort of approach and the Chinese are not even talking to the Tibetans now. And they also look at other liberation movements; they look at the Palestinians and the amount of concessions that are being made as a result of violence in the Gaza Strip and so forth, and they say, ‘We ought to be doing that, too.’

…[The Dalai Lama] has been saying for years now that he wants to retire as a public figure and be a truly religious figure. He really I think is very tired of the political struggle, because it hasn’t gone very well. He’s tried to follow Buddhist principles in negotiating with China. The Chinese aren’t Buddhists, and they don’t respect these principles, so it really hasn’t had any resonance on the other side.

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An interesting UK libel action is in the offing. The Socialist Unity blog carries a message from far-left activist Tony Greenstein:

On February 13th 2008 I initiated proceedings in the High Court for libel and defamation against Gilad Atzmon, who will be well known to many people.

…I have therefore issued proceedings in respect of:

False allegations of serious criminal conduct and fraud. concerning alleged offences over 20 years ago, contrary to s.8 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

False allegations of violent crimes, in particular against Jewish people

False allegations of race hate crimes against Jewish people

False allegations of vandalising church property

Greenstein and Atzmon are both Jews known for strong anti-Zionist views; however, Atzmon also expounds weird “Jewish power” conspiracy theories. Here’s a taster:

We must begin to take the accusation that the Jewish people are trying to control the world very seriously…American Jewry makes any debate on whether the Protocols of the Elders of Zionitic forgery are an authentic document or rather a forgery irrelevant. American Jews do try to control the world, by proxy. So far they are doing pretty well for themselves at least.

This kind of discourse has had a baleful influence over pro-Palestinian (and anti-war) activism in the UK in recent years, and Greenstein’s polemics against it prompted Atzmon to compose an essay which claimed that Greenstein had had some minor criminal convictions in the 1980s. Without going into the details (readers can look for those themselves), the alleged crimes were personal rather than political matters, and Atzmon has apparently raised them simply as an ad hominem argument.

In the UK, minor criminal offences become “spent” after a period of time, which means they need not be disclosed to employers except in certain circumstances, and the person concerned no longer has a criminal record. The law also says that a person can be sued for libel if they publicise a spent conviction for “malicious” reasons, meaning that something can be true but also libellous, depending on the motive of the person doing the disclosing. Unfortunately, however, this part of the Act raises numerous questions: how exactly does one prove or refute a charge of “malice”? What counts as “disclosing” a spent conviction when something may have been reported in newspapers at the time, and be well-remembered in certain circles anyway? Can one publish some details of a case, but not others? At the moment, even when someone is confident that they are not malicious and that they can justify mentioning a spent conviction, the possible legal hassles may result in self-censorship; someone wishing to write about the history of a political movement or of certain individuals with a public profile may find themselves unable to give a full narrative due to fear of the Act, and this has had an impact on Wikipedia.

As far as I am aware, this will be the first time that the 1974 Act will be tested in court, and hopefully the case will provide some guidance.

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Nine heads of state present; chaotic scenes

Time to discuss Uganda, where Colonel Gaddafi has just opened a new mosque – the largest in sub-Saharan Africa and modestly named The Gaddafi National Mosque. From Rwanda, the Kigali New Times gives us the VIP list:

President Paul Kagame will today join nine other Heads of State in the Ugandan Capital Kampala during the inauguration of a mosque named after Libyan President Col. Muammar Gaddafi

…Organisers in Kampala yesterday confirmed that Presidents Mwai Kibaki (Kenya), Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi) and Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete had also confirmed their participation. Also expected to attend are Presidents Idriss Deby of Chad, Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan, Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal), Mali’s Amadou Toumani Toure and Mamadou Tandja of Niger.

The Kampala Monitor reports that Gaddafi tactfully decided to use the occasion to indulge in his favourite topic of Biblical deconstruction:

Speaking to the mammoth crowd that braved the afternoon heat in Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium after leading the Thuhur (afternoon) prayer, Col. Gadaffi said any Bible and Tora (Old Testament) that does not mention Prophet Muhammad was written by mankind and therefore a fraud.

“The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Tora and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him,” the Libyan leader, more known for his controversial statements than his piety, said.

“It means that it (Bible) has been forged. Prophet Muhammad was sent to mankind. Allah wanted mankind to have one religion. The Koran that we have is the only book that was sent by Allah. We believe in the Bible as well as the Tora.”

Gaddafi’s predictable diatribe included a question for the non-Muslim world:

“Why doesn’t the world use the birth of Muhammad as a dating process? He was the last prophet; the seal of all prophets. It is racist, its hatred.”

The Monitor observes that

Col. Gaddafi’s remarks, just like the similar ones he made exactly a year ago in West Africa are bound to court some controversy in a deeply religious Uganda.

I blogged those comments at the time, and added a bit of context.

The report also tells us that

President Museveni said he would put the Archbishop of Uganda, Luke Orombi and Bishop Cyprian Lwanga of Kampala Archdiocese to task to explain the omission of Prophet Muhammad from the Bible.

We’ll look forward to that. According to a second Monitor report, Gaddafi’s plans for a show of unity at the event didn’t quite go to plan:

THE Gadaffi National Mosque was opened yesterday amid chaotic supremacy battles between Libyan and Ugandan security officials.

The last of those battles played out at an entrance to the mosque, where President Yoweri Museveni watched in bewilderment as his guards battled the Libyans…Mr Museveni and Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi watched as reporters, diplomats and security officials created a melee…

The Ugandans then turned their attention to Kagame’s Rwandan security team:

When Kagame’s aide tried to open the door, Ugandan security operatives pushed him back. A scuffle ensued between the operatives until Kagame’s guard, forcefully got his master inside.

The police, meanwhile, held back the frustrated faithful. However, at least some of the crowd were happy:

Old women were seen carrying photos of “Brother Leader Gadaffi”, drawn from their purses, and they cried out in excitement whenever his name was called out on the microphone.

It was also a day for some Muslims to praise Idi Amin; one Muslim leader, for example, claimed the opening of the mosque was a realisation of Amin’s dream.

I blogged on efforts to rehabilitate Amin here.

The mosque opening comes just a few days after Gaddafi addressed an Afro-Arab youth conference. The youth were inevitably treated to a bargain bucket of pensées from the garrulous Colonel there, too:

Gadaffi…said term limits were alien to Africa and inhibited people from expressing their will.

He hailed leaders like President Yoweri Museveni and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe as African heroes, who should continue ruling.

An opposition politician named Ssebaana Kizito claims that Gaddafi persuaded Museveni to remove term limits for his position – although it’s perhaps just as likely that Museveni was encouraged by the likes of Morris Cerullo, whose 2007 Ugandan visit I blogged here.

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“We are heading into two of the most rearranging, realigning months that we have ever known in the history of this generation”

A bulk email arrives from Stephen Strang, editor of the neo-Pentecostal Charisma magazine:

I am personally inviting you to be a part of our first-ever teleconference onThursday, March 20th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. My special guest will be Chuck Pierce, President of Glory of Zion International Ministries. He has been used by God to intercede and mobilize prayer throughout the world.

Our focus during the conference call will be “Prayer and Intercession in Our Political Times.” I believe this conference call is pivotal and strategic to the current events happening in our nation. Chuck has recently stated “there will have to be a 21-day ‘push’ in the Spirit culminating on April 20 for … the atmosphere in our nation to shift so voters are not deceived by all the political rhetoric from the candidates and the media.”

Strang explains the importance of prayer:

I believe prayer and spiritual warfare brought about shifts in prior political campaigns—such as the narrow win in Florida for George W. Bush during the recount in 2000. Prayer was also responsible for the installation of certain Supreme Court justices when their appointments appeared to be politically unlikely.

There follows a letter from Pierce (a prominent neo-Pentecostal leader), who explains how God sent him a message during a nighttime trip to the toilet:

We are heading into two of the most rearranging, realigning months that we have ever known in the history of this generation. What occurs during these days will set a course for our lives and this nation. The Lord woke me at 1 o’clock on Tuesday morning. As I walked into the bathroom I noticed a calligraphy verse: Lean not on your own understanding. This verse lit up even though the light was not on in the bathroom. The verse became red and yellow like fire. When I went back in at 5 AM, I noticed that the verse was actually in navy blue!

During this second nocturnal visit, God revealed a 1,500 essay to Pierce, which he was able to write down verbatim afterwards. However, it seems that God was in a rather vague and rambling mood. Here’s a taster:

Abrasive circumstances will increase over these next 40 days. Lean not on your own understanding. I will show you things that you do not know during this time. I will cause you to see the pattern that I am forming. Do not fall into an understanding of the past, even the past 40 years, for in the next 40 days I am producing a new time of understanding in My people. For My wisdom is not your wisdom. I am creating a fear and an awe of Me! I will show you how evil is working. I will let you hear the voice of evil – that voice that has been distracting, confronting, and taunting you. My cause will rise up in you…Don’t miss your window of opportunity or fail to recognize the catalyst I am creating for rearranged momentum. Receive an anointing to leap over the mountain that has been deceiving and intimidating you…

Etc, etc. The full text is available here.

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From the Daily Mail:

The BBC is facing accusations of rewriting the Easter story by claiming Christ was nailed to the cross in a foetal position.

Actually, “the BBC” is claiming no such thing; however, a particular drama – The Passion – co-commissioned by the broadcaster (along with HBO) does apparently feature the crucifixion in such a position, as is historically possible. The drama also seeks intelligently to re-explore the motivations of Judas, Pilate, and Caiaphas. Cue – inevitably – Stephen Green of Christian Voice:

“Yet again a revisionist slant has to be put on a story that is transparent.

“It’s fine to have an alternative look at the motivation of people such as Caiaphas, Pilate and Judas, but the fact remains that these guys were instrumental in an innocent man meeting his death.”

So, it’s “fine to have an alternative look”, but Green has a Pavlovian need to complain anyway! Still, anything to keep the profile up.

For sensible commentary on the programme, the links and analysis on Mark Goodacre’s blog are probably the best starting place.

Meanwhile, Green will perhaps have something meatier to get his teeth into after Friday, when with perhaps unfortunate timing the soap opera Eastenders will feature an especially daft foray into Gothic horror. A character named Max is buried alive by his wife and her lover: does he die, or will his burial place be found empty in the next episode, to be broadcast on Easter Monday?

(For all your Stephen Green needs, check out MediaWatchWatch)

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From – inevitably – Xinhua:

The 11th Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu condemned on Sunday the lawless riot in Lhasa, saying the sabotage acts run counter to the Buddhism tenets.

“The rioters’ acts not only harmed the interests of the nation and the people, but also violated the aim of Buddhism,” Panchen said.

“We resolutely oppose all activities to split the country and undermine ethnic unity. We strongly condemn the crime of a tiny number of people to hurt the lives and properties of the people,” he said.

The teenage Gyaincain Norbu doubtless knows on which side his bread is buttered; he was infamously installed as a puppet spiritual leader by the Chinese authorities several years ago, and the Tibetan protests have reportedly included calls for the release of his rival for the position, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was chosen by the Dalai Lama and who has been under arrest in China since the age of six (last year, China famously declared that the reincarnations of such “Living Buddhas” must be approved by the government). Gyaincain Norbu also resides in China, although he makes visits to Tibet to dispense blessings – in fact, he appeared in a BBC documentary series, A Year in Tibet, just a few days ago. The inhabitants of Gyantse, the town featured in the programme, appeared to respect his status, despite reports that he is unpopular.

Supporting Gyaincain Norbu’s position on the protests is Dazhag Dainzin Geleg, a vice-president of the Tibetan Branch of the Buddhist Association of China:

“A handful of Buddhist monks didn’t study the scriptures, didn’t follow our religious canon, but echoed the Dalai clique in splittist efforts to undermine the stability in Tibet and destroy the order of the Tibetan Buddhism,”

The president of the Tibetan branch of the Buddhist Association of China is Zhukang Tubdain Kaizhub, who enjoys the spiritual status of “Living Buddha” and the worldly title of “vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of Tibet Autonomous Region”. The Association is a branch of the Chinese government, and he has been keen to stress that there is religious freedom Tibet.

Another vice-president of the Tibetan branch of the Buddhist Association of China (and “Living Buddha”) is Phagpala Geleg Namgyal, a prominent collaborationist and CCP official. Last year a young female refugee made certain allegations against him on the TibetInfoNet website.

Name variations: Erdini Gyantsen Norpo; Dupkang·Tupden Kedup; Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai. There is probably also an alternative transliteration for Dazhag Dainzin Geleg, but I haven’t been able to find it.

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Russian Orthodox church spokesman Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin unveils a new plan to encourage morality, via a subtle advertising campaign. Interfax reports:

we can make such an advert: here is a happy just married couple leaving the church after wedding, and here is night-clubber with a glass of cognac with prostitutes and pederasts. And “Part II”: five years have passed – the couple is among their children, while the marry-maker [sic] is in hospital dying from AIDS.

Just why “pederasts” would be in a night-club is not explained, but given the homophobia of the Orthodox Church it’s very likely Chaplin is using the word to refer to gay men. The following raises our suspicions further:

The representative of the Russian Orthodox Church cited results of Paul Cameron’s research. According to them [sic], life span of homosexuals and lesbian is 20% lower than that of ordinary people in Denmark and Norway.

Paul Cameron needs little introduction; the Southern Poverty Law Center has reviewed his work here.

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A couple of weeks ago on my Universal Peace Federation sub-blog I noted a UPI report from Nepal, which described how

two major business groups from Nepal — Pepsi Co. and the Chaudhary Group — have joined hands with two key nonprofit NGOs — Project Healing Touch of India and the Universal Peace Federation of Nepal — to offer a solution to a people in despair.

The project concerns micro-financing and business training; however, it is now clear (although unsurprising) that UPF theology will also be promoted. The Rising Nepal reports:

The project aims at enabling those in the most vulnerable sections of society to earn a respectable living, be self- supporting, make a contribution to society, and live in dignity inspired by three of the fundamental pillars in the UPF philosophy as-that sustainable peace can only be built on the principle of living for the sake of others, that irrespective of religion, language, cultural or ethnic background we are essentially “One Family Under God,” and UPF’s wholehearted support to fulfill the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

No mention is made of the “One Family Under God’s” “True Father” on earth: Rev. Moon. It should be recalled that Moon’s works and ideas were recently praised by Nepalese politicans.

What the rhetoric of “One Family Under God” actually means is made clear in this video:

This video is rather more slick than the following 1997 effort, recently unearthed by John Gorenfeld:

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