I am going to declare myself Pope for the Next Ten Minutes. What?! I have not that right?! Why not? What makes my own declaration any less valid than that of a bunch of elderly Cardinals in Rome? If it helps, I will send forth a puff of smoke first. There. I am Pope.

Now, for my first Papal Pronouncement, I am going to sit on my Official Battered Second Hand Swivel Chair and name the Greatest Female Vocalist Who Ever Lived. She is a Japanese girl named Asuca Hayashi. Further, her best album released to date is the one entitled “Chou”. I am the Pope, anything I say must be Absolutely Right. Therefore Asuca Hayashi IS the greatest female vocalist who ever lived, and her best album released to date IS the one entitled “Chou”.

What? You say that naming the Greatest Female Vocalist Who Ever Lived is beyond the purview of the Pope? That I should stick to things that are within the purview of Papal concerns and duties? Hmmm. I guess you are right. I now un-declare myself Pope.

My opinion on female vocalists and other matters are now only opinions. My opinion on the Pope and the Catholic Church cannot be quickly or simply summarized. The Catholic Church has always been about Keeping Up Appearances… which is not to say that they are the only ones playing games of political one-up-man-ship.

It would be wonderful if the Catholic Church would stick to saving souls and leave politics to politicians. Then again, the Catholic Church has always been about politics as well as Keeping Up Appearances, like most churches above the lowest level, I might add.

Conversion to Catholicism does not require literal baptism. Even if it did, it certainly does not require Papal action. As was pointed out above by Mona, these things are beyond the purview of the Papal office.

So, to answer Mona’s question; yes, it does appear that the Pope, and therefore the Catholic Church, is indeed trying to play hardball. They are in fact drawing a line in the sand and daring somebody to cross it. It has less to do with saving souls and more to do with money, power, and politics.

Oh, and for anyone who actually cares; I do, in fact, think Asuca Hayashi is the Greatest Female Vocalist Who Ever Lived, and I don’t even speak Japanese.

Dale,

you convinced me to check her on you tube. She’s good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyj7HjTHUtk

She should sing in English to be able to reach a wider audience.

You are making a lot of sense in this article Mona. Surprisingly, I find myself agreeing with you fully !

Dale

Thank you for that wonderfully entertaining journey along your path to Popedom! I must check that singer out, especially if Alex agrees!

Offended

I’m worried now. Perhaps I should rewrite my article!

Alex,

I guess this isn’t the place to sing Asuca’s praises (pun intended), but what the heck. Maybe she’ll develop a following in the Middle East.

First time I heard Asuca sing, she was 13. I came into the living room and beheld the image of a skinny little Japanese girl who couldn’t have filled out a training bra singing in this Great Big Voice. I was stunned. I once thought the same; that if she sang in English she would have a wider audience. Currently, she can sing in both Japanese and Mandarin.

I don’t honestly think she would sing any more beautifully in English, though. My autistic son seems to be learning Japanese… (his word for “music” is “Asuca”) perhaps I should take his example. Some things of beauty transcend language and culture.

From what I have read, though, Asuca hopes one day to go to New York and learn to sing gospel music. While this is not my favorite music genre, I do look forward to her debut there.

I doubt that I shall ever visit Japan or hear the young lady sing live, but if it ever happens that I do visit Japan, she’ll have a bearded old American in the audience with all those Japanese kids. I’m not getting any younger, though, I’d better hurry up and get rich and famous so I can still make that trip while I am able to hear.

Perhaps I should convert to Catholicism and endeavor to become the Pope.

Mona, as to your concerns regarding Offended’s agreement… truth is truth no matter who says it. If Osama Bin Laden put out a tape that said “two plus two equals four”, I would have to sit down, consider the math, conclude that he told the truth and agree with him.

Offended probably did the same thing with your statements. Politics and strange bedfellows, you know. Now don’t you just love that image?!

Dale,

Thanks for the background on Asuca. I look forward to hear her attempt to sing Gospel … with Japanese accent perhaps?

Offended,

You’ll find that Mona makes sense, roughly every other article

Dale and Alex

Asuca really does have a good voice! I’m in Boston right now to speak about Egypt five years after the Iraq war but I looked up one of the links Alex posted.

Perhaps Asuca could sing for peace and sanity.

Wilders’ film has been posted online – here’s hoping for peace and sanity!

Oh Mona, I’m really hoping for peace and sanity too. I just watched Wilder’s film and I find it to be very lame, unconvincing, and boring. I’m proud of how the Muslims in the Netherlands are handling the situation with respect and dignity. On the other hand, it’s very pitiable to hear other Muslims around the world demanding Danish products to be boycotted. Subjecting a collective guilt on Danish citizens would mean it’s acceptable to subject Palestinians with collective guilt. Not to mention that every time a terrorist committed a crime in the name of Islam, all Muslims would share the guilt. What a paradox, that we condemn others for the slightest offences while the terrorist (who abuse Islam far more) are treated far more leniently. A stupid movie does not compare to the loss of a HUMAN LIFE. It would be impressive if we Muslims gave these same protests against terrorists who insult Islam. How will that ever happen when we didn’t even protest against the Genocide in Sudan? So many lives lost, but I guess it doesn’t matter because 1.) we’re black and 2.) it’s not committed by the non-Muslim. A stupid movie is getting all this attention from Muslims. O.K. fine, if we give our time to protest THIS, than we should also express strong disapproval of all the anti-Semitic books we have.

Mona you should consider the significance of the Easter Holiday and of baptism for Catholics. For the days leading up to Easter (holy week) we read the accounts, aloud and in unison, of Peter’s denial of Christ. We read of Christ’s lone passion where he is beaten taunted and crucified publicly at the hands of violent men because of his refusal to be silenced. We literally walk the “stations of the cross” re-enacting the crucifixion of Christ. We are told specifically that baptism is a symbol of our death with Christ. We renew our baptismal oaths every year as a congregation out loud and are sprinkled with holy water. By doing so we reiterate our willingness to die with Christ, to suffer like Christ, to be unlike the apostle who denied him and to be like the Blessed Virgin Mother who accompanied him. When you ask us to be discrete on this day because violent unreasonable people will want to kill us for practicing our faith you should understand how that will be perceived. The Pope and Magdi participated in this baptism with full consent and freedom of conscience. The rite was performed with sincerity and reverence. You have no basis to accuse the Pope of “gloating” “one-upmanship” or playing a “numbers game”. None of these sentiments were conveyed during the Mass. You cannot say “There is no compulsion in religion” and fault those who refuse to submit to compulsion. You cannot say that those who threaten murder and those who are not deterred by murderous threats are morally equivalent. You should not expect Christians in the west to practice in the same way as those who are oppressed in Egypt or Turkey. When others worship freely and responsibly you should examine your conscience in the light of the ideals you profess in this article before you accuse them of ill-intent.

Hey Chris,

Do you want to know something interesting, I watched a video of Mona on youtube, DEMANDING help for the Coptic Christians in Egypt. I believe she even discussed the difficulties that the Coptic’s face on a daily basis. Please Chris, watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyhEDI2AORw . I think a lot of people understand the significance of Easter Holiday. What I’m saying is, it toke me a few times of re-reading this article to understand the message. I found it to mean that Magdi Allam stole the show away—that their was more emphasis on him and his conversion than on Easter, and that a lot of people including the Pope took too much pride in it, considering that Allam said many nasty things about Muslims and Islam, and that this wasn’t good for dialogue. I thought it was balanced and that Mona considered the negative hurtful things we do.

I thought that her article took alot of liberties ascribing intent to Catholics and to the Pope. It is not as if we watch the Easter Mass like it is a religious Superbowl, eating chicken wings & yelling “Take that Anglicans” and “Who’s your daddy Agnostics” as the water is poured over each Catechumens head. To us it is a sacrament. It is sublime and holy. We rejoice with converts, we dont gloat over them.
BTW I will watch the video.

Amina, I really appreciate your comment #8. If there were more Muslims writing and discussing issues like you and Mona do, there would be far fewer Fitnas being produced. Most of what I am reading from male Muslims so far is the expected name-calling, without addressing issues. The watching world sees through that smokescreen.

I am a Christian, btw, living in the Middle East, and quite fear that moderate Muslims are losing the battle to define their faith beause they are not engaging in it. I am beginning to think the best voice of reason for the Muslim world is a feminine one.

What is this thing you speak of “Peace and Sanity”? War and insanity I see aplenty. Has there been a link posted? Did I miss it?

Hey Kinzi,

Your right! Thank you Mona for speaking. Many people think this is a mythical argument. Many Muslim men are dismissing it, calling it secularist ideas, or Western garbage. They can call it whatever they like, because they can feel it to the marrow of their bones.

We (Muslim women) are a “Sleeping Giant”, soon we will awake. And then, these men are going to CATCH a FIRE.

Amina, ARISE! I wonder if Muslim men will not engage because they feel their honor is compromised to even enter the discussion.

But Muslim women, who have unfairly born the brunt and weight of ‘honor’ that should belong to men, do not allow that feeling in the marrow of their bones to replace the knowledge in their heads. You guys run with the fire, and shame them into action! I’ll be cheering you on .

I wonder if Magdi Allam, the Egyptian-Italian who the Pope converted to Catholicisms will be taking up the cause of his Catholic brothers and sisters in the Congo?

I doubt it because Magdi Allam is a strong supporter of Israel.
Israel has a major role in fueling and benefiting from the violence in the Congo. See http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_keith_ha_080207_the_gertler_steinmet.htm

Dear Mona,
This is my first time to comment. Your article is right on target and I agree with it totally. If leaders on both sides of the coin just carefully consider their actions before taking them, the world would be a better place.
Egyptian in Germany

Mona,

Read this comment

http://www.fitnamovie.net/test/#comment-46

Hey Mona,

May I ask you a question? Well, this question is neither here nor there but you are distinguished and outstanding journalist, who has worked and traveled throughout the Muslim world, well the word on the street is that the “International Muslim Media” is isolated from the rest of the world.

Is the Muslim media really living in a vacuum? Is our Muslim Media really that intolerant of the rest of the world? Here’s the site:

http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/international_muslim_media_has_to_look_at_the_bigger_picture/0016052

OMG, Guys sorry if this is comment is irrelevant, I had a anxiety attack after reading that article. So I called my cousins in Yeman and asked them if they knew who Hugo Chavez from Venezuela was and they said they didn’t know him. But they told me they knew how to get to Venezuela, by simply taking a bus from Germany all the way to Venezuela.

I hoped this article was exaggerated. The world is moving forward, are we that behind?

Many thanks to everyone who commented above!

Sorry I wasn’t jumping in and discussing as much as I like to. I’ve been traveling so time was a bit tight and now I’m in the middle of writing a new piece on Geert Wilders anti-Islam film and preparing a talk I’ll be giving next week on religion and the media in the Arab world.

But I will be commenting on your comments more now and look forward to discussions.

Amina – regarding the media in the Muslim world, I’d like to draw your attention to the media in the Arab world in particular because I’m most familiar with it. I took part in an episode of The Doha Debates on the media in January 2006. Although it’s been two years, it’s still quite relevant and unfortunately many of the issues we debated are still very much relevant – e.g. Danish cartoons, Dutch films, etc.

Here’s a link to the episode. I encourage you to check out as many of the past episodes as possible. You’ll find they are frank discussions of subjects you’d be suprised to hear being discussed so openly in the Arab world:

http://clients.mediaondemand.net/thedohadebates/index.aspx?sessionid=6&bandwidth=hi

The most recent episode debated whether Muslims are sufficiently fighting extremism. Guess what the audience voted for:

http://clients.mediaondemand.net/thedohadebates/index.aspx?sessionid=31&bandwidth=hi

WOW! These debates are amazing. Thank you