On 8/25/06, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yoshie:
> ... we can quit being leftists, too. After all, what's the point?
hey, it feels good to be morally superior!
Or we can enjoy being on the Left as a kind of hobbyhorse. :->
Yoshie:
> Why does hijab become a symbol of Islam? I suppose that's the one
> thing that is visible to non-Muslims.
I was not thinking of the hijab as a symbol of Islam as much as an
item of clothing that might change _your_ life.
Clothing doesn't change anyone's life. When my partner and I attended
my brother's wedding in Japan, my partner opted to dress in kimono
(rental, of course) -- he turned out to be the only man dressed in
kimono at the entire wedding. I didn't wear kimono because I was too
cheap to spend money on renting such a thing. :->
I have some traditional dresses from other countries, given to me as
gifts from friends from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.
A Muslim woman friend of mine -- a beautiful and talented young woman,
whose father is Palestinian and whose mother is Korean, an interesting
combination! -- is just now attending the Fashion Institute of
Technology. Who knows -- America will soon see a true avant-garde
designer, specializing in fashionable hijab!
On 8/25/06, Doug Henwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Aug 25, 2006, at 12:18 PM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> Or become leftists, religious or irreligious, without any base
> communities, which describe most of us here perfectly.
There's really no broad cap-L Left movement in the US, but there are
plenty of left movements - labor, living wage, environmental,
feminist, GLBT, antiwar. Most would be unwilling to board your bus to
Tehran, though.
I've been involved in a number of such activities are on the Left,
broadly speaking. On the labor and anti-war fronts, a majority of
people I work with are mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Muslims.
Americans just are not irreligious, even on the Left.
As for Iran, there is nothing leftists, narrowly or broadly defined,
can do to prevent Washington from doing whatever it has, is and will
do.
The Iranian people have to defend themselves, which is the reason why
I'm interested in taking a close look at all sectors of Iranian
society, from top to bottom, officials to dissidents. Iran has a much
better chance than Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Afghanistan, etc. in its
confrontation with the empire, but there are a number of problems that
weaken it from inside, too.
--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>
