20 January 2007

Zeus, Armenian Assasination, and corruption in Genoa




Freedom of religion is more than just lip service. If we truly value ones ability to worship as they please, or not at all, we must enforce the rights of those of other faiths to follow the tenets of their faith (unless of course it oppresses its own members, damages surrounding communities, or harms our cities, land, or planet physically). An AP article carried by Yahoo! News reports that, "Zeus worshippers demand access to [the 1,800-year-old Temple of Olympian Zeus]. The Greek government is trying to bar them from their holiest of holy sites, claiming that is protecting it from potential damage, but it is really strict social pressure applied by the vast majority of the population, Greek Orthodox by faith. This is similar to the problems faced by many smaller religions across the world, such as Druidic pagans in the UK, native Americans in the Americas, Zoroastrians in Iran, and thousands of others.



Next, we have the assasination of an Armenian dissident in Turkey. Hrant Dink (link to Wikipedia) was a Turkish-Armenian editor, journalist and column writer who was well-known for writing controversial articles about the mass killing of Armenians by Turks during World War I. (BBC). He was "was shot dead in broad daylight outside his newspaper offices in Istanbul on Friday." The main suspect and others have been swiftly arrested, but the damage is already done. This is what happens to those that daree dissent in Muslim countries and is a key reason why Turkey cannot be permitted to join the EU. The cultural divide is simply too far.



Finally, in what comes as no shock to us on the left (as it has happened over and over for generations), Key evidence in the trial of 29 Italian police officers charged over violence during the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa has vanished BBC. For those who dont remember, this brutal suppression took place during peaceful anti-globalization protests in Genova, Italy during the G8 summit in the summer of 2001. Two Molotov cocktails allegedly planted by police in a school used as a base by anti-globalisation protesters mysteriously vanished from the heavily guarded evidence bunker, imagine that. A violent right wing instigated crackdown on a peaceful leftist protest followed by evidence vanishing. Face it, conservatives everywhere are crooks.