An Assassination’s Long Shadow

TODAY, millions of people on another continent are observing the 50th anniversary of an event few Americans remember, the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.  READ ON:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/opinion/17hochschild.html

Where Having It All Doesn’t Mean Having Equality

France ranks 46th in theWorld Economic Forum’s 2010 gender equality report, trailing the United States, most of Europe, but also Kazakhstan and Jamaica.


READ ON:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/europe/12iht-fffrance.html

Martin Guerre, the movie, and the historical record

Facts (and some suppositions), from the historical record, about the Martin Guerre story…

• Martin's family –the Daguerres--moved from Basque country to Artigat in Languedoc (over the Pyrenees) 
• They were barely literate—Basque language complex and not generally amenable to writing; never signed contracts with family name 
• They changed Daguerre (Basque) to Guerre (to fit in) Guerres were prosperous; owned a tileworks 
• Martin was not a usual name in Artigat: it would have attracted ridicule Martin was 14 years old when he was married; i.e. he was still a boy 
• Bertrande was married to Martin at the age of 8 or 9. This was younger than usual and probably a violation of canon law. But the marriage was sanctioned by the local curate—this permissiveness can be partially be explained by the fact that Artigat was somewhat independent: it had no seigneur (lord) Artigat was prosperous and to a large extent self-governing-- more or less outside the orbit of the feudal French church and state
• Bertrande's family, the Rols, were well- to-do peasants and prominent in the region Bertrande would have stayed at home helping her mother spin wool until marriage, with little exposure to the outside world 
• The Guerres would have been eager to marry their only son up into her family. 
• The very fact of their marriage is a demonstration of the openness of Languedocans to newcomers
• Bertrande's dowry was likely the equivalent in value of a vineyard or a field
• Her failure to become pregnant would have been cause for ridicule by the townsfolk (e.g. the "charivari") 
• Martin's impotence was blamed on powerful "outside" women – as was typical--who were perhaps jealous of his good fortune of marrying well
• Bertrande was also "bewitched"—(or was she just very young and in a strange house…perhaps she was relieved that she could not have intercourse). She refused to leave Martin and have the marriage annulled, which her mother was pressuring her to do; when SHE was ready, the witch "appeared from heaven" to undo the spell… 
• Can Martin's flight be partly attributed to his being uncomfortable with the new language, his dominating father, as well as his longstanding impotence? It was typical for young peasant men to take some time for "sowing oats" –as shepherds (or in Basque country, going to sea, whaling)—Martin, married young, did not have this opportunity
• Joining the army was another option and there were plenty of chances to do that under King Francois I. 
• After the theft of his father's grain, Martin ran away and ended up a "lackey" in the Spanish court of the Catholic Cardinal of Burgos.
• Martin joined the Spanish army of Philip II; he fought against the French (this was high treason!)—and lost a leg at the 1557 Battle of San Quentin, an important Spanish victory over the French in the Franco-Valois Wars

Why did Pierre Guerre and others "turn on" the new "Martin"?

• "Martin's" practice of selling off parcels of family land, while common in Languedoc, was contrary to Basque custom
• The Village was split over Martin's identity: NZD speculates that perhaps the split was along Catholic-Protestant lines
• Some people suspected him of utilizing magic to assume another's personality and life…this must have created tremendous unease
• NZD speculates that in the traditional interdependent world of the village, relationships built on big lies were not sustainable… 

The movie deviates from record: 

• "Martin" is convicted in his first trial in Rieux, after the court hears testimony from 150 people—under threat of excommunication if they lie. Forty-five testified he was Pansette; 30-40 said he was MG –including his four sisters--and the rest (60 or so) were uncertain. 
• The trial in Toulouse was "Martin's" appeal of the guilty verdict (paid for by him) 
• Coras is convinced by "Martin" and considers torturing Pierre to see whether he will admit to conspiring to kill "Martin." 
• According to NZD, the movie portrays Bertrande as a 19th century "romantic" who acts without practical concern for her own (or her children's interest), following only her heart.
• The real Bertrrande plays a double role. She is concerned about protecting her honor (and inheritance) and hedges her bets regarding the outcome. She becomes a party to the lawsuit against him. She then tells the judge she was coerced into it by Pierre—but refused to take an oath that "Martin" was her husband. 
• NZD does not think Bertrande was a victim at all. Far from it; all indications are that she was a party to the deception: she was making independent choices about what she wanted in her life and her body She speculates that this was (at least partly) a result of the fact that there were new ideas (Protestant ideas) about...including new ideas about marriage. "It was no longer a sacrament" – an abandoned wife could divorce.
• Also, Martin and Bertrande, living as "true married people" could "tell their story to God and need not communicate it to any human intermediary" There is good reason to believe Bertrand and "Martin" were touched by the new ideas. We know that the Rols family converted to Protestantism. It is significant that NO priests from Artigat played a role in the trial.
• Unlike the public spectacle of the film, trials in 16th century France always heard testimony in secret. They were intended to be "fearsome" for the defendant not forums for grandstanding speeches. They were also apt to torture the accused to get them to confess.
• Jean de Coras was already becoming attracted to Protestantism when the trial was in progress. He was expelled from the Toulouse Parlement in 1568 for his sympathies and was among those Protestant judges who were lynched in 1572 by a Catholic mob. NZD , analyzing his book about the "Prodigious Imposter, " sees a degree of admiration in Coras' attitude about "Martin"/Arnaud du Tilh (his real name). He admires his intelligence and especially his "self-fashioning" behavior.
• There were other minor deviations from the record in the film--for cinematic and financial considerations (e.g. color of judges gowns)

Thomas More in Mexico

A couple of winters ago, while vacationing in Patzcuaro, a small town in Michoacan Mexico, I took this photo of a magnificent and intriguing mural in the town library. It was painted in 1942 by Juan O'Gorman and depicts some of the town's history and mythology regarding the conquistadores.

The priest in the center is a local hero, Father Vasco de Quiroga, a follower of Thomas More's Utopia, as you can clearly see. I was reminded of the mural while reading Chapter 14. Why do you think Thomas More's book is so prominent in the mural?

You can find a fascinating description of the mural on the web (follow the link), including an explanation of the mural's evident ambivalence towards the Conquest.

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1243-did-you-know-the-centenary-of-the-birth-of-artist-juan-o-gorman

Here's a brief excerpt:

"From the right, the Spaniards arrive, led by the allegedly barbarically cruel Nuño Beltran de Guzmán. They attempt to destroy the Purepecha culture, but it survives in a "mummified" form. The native American princess Erendira, the first Indian woman to ride a horse, breaks the siege of Pátzcuaro and rides for help from people living in nearby settlements and on the islands. A feminine Paul Revere! But her efforts are in vain and the Purepecha are tricked into surrender.

Elsewhere, scenes suggest the good and the bad sides of the Conquest. Overlooking the Spanish Inquisition, and a bonfire of Indian idols and codices, is a surrealist figure of a grotesque hand-with-eyes, symbolizing an empty head, a brain that doesn't think, an intelligence without control, an invasion.

The good is shown by several priests who brought education and crafts. They include, in a white tunic and red cloak, the first Bishop of Michoacán, Vasco de Quiroga, who had been influenced by the Utopian ideas of Thomas More. Vasco de Quiroga introduced large fishing nets and encouraged many crafts.

Careful study of the faces of those accompanying the invading Spanish forces will reveal portraits of Mussolini and Hitler. The Conquistadores, Fascists and Nazis are all considered equals..."

Read the rest: http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1243-did-you-know-the-centenary-of-the-birth-of-artist-juan-o-gorman

Park 51 imam speaks

September 7, 2010 Building on Faith NY Times OPED By FEISAL ABDUL RAUF AS my flight approached America last weekend, my mind circled back to the furor that has broken out over plans to build Cordoba House, a community center in Lower Manhattan.I have been away from home for two months, speaking abroad about cooperation among people from different religions. Every day, including the past two weeks spent representing my country on a State Department tour in the Middle East, I have been struck by how the controversy has riveted the attention of Americans, as well as nearly everyone I met in my travels. We have all been awed by how inflamed and emotional the issue of the proposed community center has become. The level of attention reflects the degree to which people care about the very American values under debate: recognition of the rights of others, tolerance and freedom of worship. Many people wondered why I did not speak out more, and sooner, about this project. I felt that it would not be right to comment from abroad. It would be better if I addressed these issues once I returned home to America, and after I could confer with leaders of other faiths who have been deliberating with us over this project. My life’s work has been focused on building bridges between religious groups and never has that been as important as it is now. We are proceeding with the community center, Cordoba House. More important, we are doing so with the support of the downtown community, government at all levels and leaders from across the religious spectrum, who will be our partners. I am convinced that it is the right thing to do for many reasons. Above all, the project will amplify the multifaith approach that the Cordoba Initiative has deployed in concrete ways for years. Our name, Cordoba, was inspired by the city in Spain where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed in the Middle Ages during a period of great cultural enrichment created by Muslims. Our initiative is intended to cultivate understanding among all religions and cultures. Read on: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/opinion/08mosque.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Muslims in the Middle

NEW YORK TIMES 8-17-10 By WILLIAM DALRYMPLE PRESIDENT OBAMA’S eloquent endorsement on Friday of a planned Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center, followed by his apparent retreat the next day, was just one of many paradoxes at the heart of the increasingly impassioned controversy. We have seen the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to ending “unjust and unfair discrimination,” seek to discriminate against American Muslims. We have seen Newt Gingrich depict the organization behind the center — the Cordoba Initiative, which is dedicated to “improving Muslim-West relations” and interfaith dialogue — as a “deliberately insulting” and triumphalist force attempting to built a monument to Muslim victory near the site of the twin towers. Most laughably, we have seen politicians like Rick Lazio, a Republican candidate for New York governor, question whether Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the principal figure behind the project, might have links to “radical organizations.” The problem with such claims goes far beyond the fate of a mosque in downtown Manhattan. They show a dangerously inadequate understanding of the many divisions, complexities and nuances within the Islamic world — a failure that hugely hampers Western efforts to fight violent Islamic extremism and to reconcile Americans with peaceful adherents of the world’s second-largest religion. READ MORE

The Rights of Woman

The Rights of Woman

     Man, are you capable of being just? It is a woman who poses the question; you will not deprive her of that right at least. Tell me, what gives you sovereign empire to opress my sex? Your strength? Your talents? Observe the Creator in his wisdom; survey in all her grandeur that nature with whom you seem to ant to be in harmony, and give me, if you dare, an exampl of this tyrannical empire. Go back to animals, consult the elements, study plants, finally glance at all the modifications of organic matter, and surrender to the evidence when I offer you the menas; search, probe, and distinguish, if you can, the sexes in the administration of nature. Everywhere you will find them mingled; everywhere they cooperate in harmonious tpgetherness in this immortal masterpiece.
     Man alone has raised his exceptional circumstances to a principle. Bizarre, blind, bloated with science and degenerated--in a century of enlightenment and wisdom--into the crassest ignorance, he wants to command as a despot a sex which is in full possession of its intellectual faculties; he pretends to enjoy the Revolution and to claim his rights to equality in order to say nothing more about it.

Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen

For the National Assemby to decree in its last sessions, or in those of the next legislature:

Preamble

     Mothers, daughters, sisters [and] representatives of the nation demand to be constituted into a national assembly. Believing that ignorance, omission, or scorn for the rights of woman are the only causes of public misfortunes and of the corruption of governments, [the women] have resolved to set forth a solemn declaration the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of woman in order that this declaration, constantly exposed before all members of the society, will ceaselessly remind them of their rights and duties; in order that the authoritative acts f women and teh athoritative acts of men may be at any moment compared with and respectful of the purpose of all political institutions; and in order that citizens' demands, henceforth based on simple and incontestable principles, will always support the constitution, good morals, and the happiness of all.
     Consequently, the sex that is as superior in beauty as it is in courage during the sufferings of maternity recognizes and declares in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following Rights of WOman and of Female Citizens.

Article I

     Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights. Social distinctions can be based only on the common utility.

Article II

     The purpose of any political association is the conservation of the natural and impresciptible rights of woman and man; these rights are liberty property, security, and especially resistance to oppression.

Article III

     The principle of all sovereignty rests essentially with the nation, which is nothing but the union of woman and man; no body and no individual can exercise any authority which does not come expressly from it (the nation).

Article IV

     Liberty and justice consist of restoring all that belongs to others; thus, the only limits on the exercise of the natural rights of woman are perpetual male tyranny; these limits are to be reformed by the laws of nature and reason.

Article V

     Laws of nature and reason proscibe all acts harmful to society; everything which is not prohibited by these wise and divine laws cannot be prevented, and no one can be constrained to do what they do not command.

Article VI

     The law must be the expression of the general will; all female and male citizens must contribute either personally or through their representatives to its formation; it must be the same for all: male and female citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, must be equally admitted to all honors, positions, and public employment according to their capacity and without other distinctions besides those of their virtues and talents.

Article VII

     No woman is an exception; she is accused, arrested, and detained in cases determined by law. Women, like men, obey this rigorous law.

Article VIII

     The law must establish only those penalties that are strictly and obviously necessary...

Article IX

     Once any woman is declared guilty, complete rigor is exercised by law.

Article X

     No one is to be disquieted for his very basic opinions; woman has the right to mount the scaffold; she must equally have the right to mount the rostrum, provided that her demonstrations do not disturb the legally established public order.

Article XI

     The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights of woman, since that liberty assures recognition of children by their fathers. Any female citizen thus may say freely, I am the mother of a child which belongs to you, without being forced by a barbarous prejudice to hide the truth; (an exception may be made) to respond to the abuse of this liberty in cases determined by law.

Article XII

     The gaurantee of the rights of woman and the female citizen implies a major benefit; this guarantee must be instituted for the advantage of all, and not for the particular benefit of those to whom it is entrusted.

Article XIII

     For the support of the public force and the expenses of administration, the contributions of woman and man are equal; she shares all the duties and all the painful tasks; therefore, whe must have the same share in the distribution of positions, employment, offices, honors, and jobs.

Article XIV

     Female and male citizens have the right to verify, either by themselves of through their representatives, the necessity of the public contribution. This can only apply to women if they are granted an equal share, not only of wealth, but also of public administration, and in the determination of the proportion, the base, the collection, and the duration of the tax.

Article XV

     The collectivity of women, joined for tax purposes to the aggregate of men, has the right to demand an accounting of his administration from any public agent.

Article XVI

     No society has a constitution without the guarantee of rights and the separation of powers; the constitution is null if the majority of individuals comprising the nation have not cooperated in drafting it.

Article XVII

     Property belongs to both sexes whether united or separate; for each it is an inviolable and sacred right' no one can be deprived of it, since it is the true patrimony of natire, unless the legally determined public need obviously dictates it, and then only with a just and prior indemnity.

Postscript

     Woman, wake up; the tocsin of reason is being heard throughout the whole universe; discover your rights. The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies. The flame of truth has dispersed all the clouds of folly and usurpation. Enslaved man has multiplied his strength and needs recourse to yours to break his chains. Having become free, he has become unjust to his companion. Oh, women, women! When will you cease to be blind? What advantage have you received from the Revolution? A more pronounced scorn, a more marked disdain. In the centuries of corruption you ruled only over the weakness of men. The reclamation of your patrimony, based on the wise decrees of nature-what have you to dread from such a fine undertaking? The bon mot of the legislator of the marriage of Cana? Do you fear that our French legislators, correctors of that morality, long ensnared by political practices now out of date, will only say again to you: women, what is there in common between you and us? Everything, you will have to answer. If they persist in their weakness in putting this non sequitur in contradiction to their principles, courageously oppose the force of reason to the empty pretentions of superiority; unite yourselves beneath the standards of philosophy; deploy all the energy of your character, and you will soon see these haughty men, not groveling at your feet as servile adorers, but proud to share with you the treasures of the Supreme Being. Regardless of what barriers confront you, it is in your power to free yourselves; you have only to want to....
     Marriage is the tomb of trust and love. The married woman can with impunity give bastards to her husband, and also give them the wealth which does not belong to them. The woman who is unmarried has only one feeble right; ancient and inhuman laws refuse to her for her children the right to the name and the wealth of their father; no new laws have been made in this matter. If it is considered a paradox and an impossibility on my part to try to give my sex an honorable and just consistency, I leave it to men to attain glory for dealing with this matter; but while we wait, the way can be prepared through national education, the restoration of morals, and conjugal conventions.

Form for a Social Contract Between Man and Woman

     We, _____ and ______, moved by our own will, unite ourselves for the duration of our lives, and for the duration of our mutual inclinations, under the following conditions: We intend and wish to make our wealth communal, meanwhile reserving to ourselves the right to divide it in favor of our children and of those toward whom we might have a particular inclination, mutually recognizing that our property belongs directly to our children, from whatever bed they come, and that all of them without distinction have the right to bear the name of the fathers and mothers who have acknowledged them, and we are charged to subscribe to the law which punishes the renunciation of one's own blood. We likewise obligate ourselves, in case of separation, to divide our wealth and to set aside in advance the portion the law indicates for our children, and in the event of a perfect union, the one who dies will divest himself of half his property in his children's favor, and if one dies childless, the survivor will inherit by right, unless the dying person has disposed of half the common property in favor of one whom he judged deserving.      That is approximately the formula for the marriage act I propose for execution. Upon reading this strange document, I see rising up against me the hypocrites, the prudes, the clergy, and the whole infernal sequence. But how it [my proposal] offers to the wise the moral means of achieving the perfection of a happy government! . . .
     Moreover, I would like a law which would assist widows and young girls deceived by the false promises of a man to whom they were attached; I would like, I say, this law to force an inconstant man to hold to his obligations or at least [to pay] an indemnity equal to his wealth. Again, I would like this law to be rigorous against women, at least those who have the effrontery to have reCourse to a law which they themselves had violated by their misconduct, if proof of that were given. At the same time, as I showed in Le Bonheur primitit de l'homme, in 1788, that prostitutes should be placed in designated quarters. It is not prostitutes who contribute the most to the depravity of morals, it is the women of' society. In regenerating the latter, the former are changed. This link of fraternal union will first bring disorder, but in consequence it will produce at the end a perfect harmony.
     I offer a foolproof way to elevate the soul of women; it is to join them to all the activities of man; if man persists in finding this way impractical, let him share his fortune with woman, not at his caprice, but by the wisdom of laws. Prejudice falls, morals are purified, and nature regains all her rights. Add to this the marriage of priests and the strengthening of the king on his throne, and the French government cannot fail.