The Island-Features
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Child soldiers root causes and UN initiatives
Let me begin my talk to you today with a description of my visit to a Maoist army cantonment site in eastern Nepal in December. The cantonment was set up after a peace agreement. In this cantonment were child soldiers recruited by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in their struggle against the Nepalese state. We had earlier met many young people who had been recruited by the Maoists with false promises, who had run away because of abuse. But these were another group, those who for some reason or another had chosen to remain. We were allowed to meet these children to have a discussion about their future. They were teenagers and about a third of them were female. Initially they were hostile. One of them told us to go away. “We are soldiers, we want to remain as soldiers, we want to be part of the armed forces, we do not need your help,” he said. We had come to rescue them they did not want to be rescued.
Then we began a conversation with them about the future. We spoke of the many opportunities that are available to young people, opportunities that could be provided to them if they came to a civilian environment. We spoke of computers, of technical skills, of entertainment; we spoke of other child soldiers around the world and what they had done with their lives. After awhile their eyes stopped having that glazed over expression. They began to listen. When we left, they remained sceptical but no longer hostile. This would then be the beginning of a long conversation.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHILDHOOD
Before we begin our discussion of child soldiers, we must first ask– what do we mean by childhood? A great deal of discussion among academics has focused on the construction of childhood in different societies. For the most part, international law, influenced by the research of Piaget and his followers, accepts the fact that there is a link between chronological age and cognitive development; that there are stages in the development of cognitive thinking, especially the ability to make moral judgments, and that eighteen is the age where such development is complete. For this reason, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other subsequent documents has stated the eighteen is the age of maturity.
Academics who are anthropologists, influenced by recent work by psychologists such as Lev Vygotsky and others who point to the influence of everyday life experience in the formation of moral judgment, argue that childhood is a construction that differs from place to place. As David Rosen, Professor of Anthropology as Pfarleigh Dickinson, writes “adopting a single universal definition ignore that childhood is understood and experienced in different societies in divergent ways”. He argues that straight 18 is part of the modern politics of age” and an aspect of “norm entrepreneurship” that characterize humanitarian advocacy. At a UN gathering he presented a slideshow of children that voluntarily joined and fought with the military both in the war of independence and in the civil war in the United States. He points to the fact with regard to initiation rites in most tribes and ethnic groups, the age varies from 14-16 thus recognizing an early end to childhood.
Susan Shepler, Professor of Anthropology at University of California at Berkeley also concurs with this approach of childhood as a construction of a particular community. Focusing on Sierra Leone, she has outlined how the prevalence of child labour along with child soldiers was an acceptance that children could work, accept responsibility and need not ber protected as expected in other societies. She also points to the initiation rituals in secret societies for young adolescents, both male and female. Joining an armed group was often seen as an extension of that ritual. These cultural factors, once understood in Sierra Leone, helps us understand how, when the social framework disintegrated due to war, these bizarre manifestations could take place. For both Rosen and Shepler, understanding the cultural context was an absolute precondition to understanding the phenomenon of child soldiers.
via The Island-Features.
Blasphe-ME Event Planned for Convention « No God Blog
Blasphe-ME Event Planned for Convention
American Atheists will stage a mass-blaspheming event at the American Atheists National Convention in direct defiance of the new BINDING UN Resolution restricting people from ridiculing religion, specifically Islam. Those who try to squelch criticism are the ones who fear it, and Islam has a LOT to fear when it comes to open and honest discussion.
UNITED NATIONS – Islamic countries… won United Nations backing for an anti-blasphemy measure Canada and other Western critics say risks being used to limit freedom of speech.Combating Defamation of Religions passed 85–50 with 42 abstentions in a key UN General Assembly committee, and will enter into the international record after an expected rubber stamp by the plenary later in the year.But while the draft’s sponsors say it and earlier similar measures are aimed at preventing violence against worshippers regardless of religion, religious tolerance advocates warn the resolutions are being accumulated for a more sinister goal.“ It provides international cover for domestic anti-blasphemy laws, and there are a number of people who are in prison today because they have been accused of committing blasphemy,” said Bennett Graham, international program director with the Becket Fund, a think tank aimed at promoting religious liberty.“Those arrests are made legitimate by the UN body’s (effective) stamp of approval.”
During this event, those who so choose will defy the UN’s demands that we keep quiet about the absurdity of religion in the name of political correctness. We will, en-masse, recite a statement ridiculing God, Allah, Muhammed, and any other mythological being or false prophet and openly plead guilty to the victimless “crime” of blasphemy. People will be given the opportunity to speak their personal views and give their names. We will then challenge the US to arrest us for this crime, or openly rebuke the UN’s resolution. In the words of President Obama, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.” We all enjoy the right to openly criticize each other (as we often do), and we invite people of all religious and theological beliefs to join us in this effort by recording their own blasphe-ME event, or even a personal statement, and posting it on the Internet. Of course, those who believe in a deity are expected to blaspheme gods in which they do NOT believe, as is their right (unless/until the UN gets its way). This is one issue where every American of every religion should be on our side. The United States is a nation where freedom of religion, press, and speech are paramount. They are our First Amendment. We will not back down and bow to pressure from any governing body who seeks to take our freedoms away. We will not yield to terrorism cloaked in politics. I’ll go first: My name is David Silverman. I openly and freely state that religion is ridiculous, and all gods are fictional. I also state that Islam, specifically, is a barbaric religion, based on the teachings of a false prophet, that promotes ignorance, hate, and violence (including terrorism). I plead guilty to blasphemy and promise to do so in court if need be. I do this in direct violation of the UN resolution, and I personally challenge President Obama to rebuke this resolution, or order my arrest. United we stand.
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via Blasphe-ME Event Planned for Convention « No God Blog.
Liberals call for mandatory sex ed – The Local
Liberals call for mandatory sex ed
Published: 6 Mar 08 08:13 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/10298/20080306/
Dictionary tool Double click on a word to get a translation
The Liberal Party wants to remove the option for parents to request exemptions from sex education classes for their children.
* Councils fail in duty to provide mother-tongue instruction (25 Feb 08)
* Swedish for Immigrants to undergo overhaul (18 Feb 08)
According to the party, all students, irrespective of religious or cultural beliefs, should receive instruction in the same subjects.
In a debate article in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, three Liberal Party representatives propose changes to the law that would scrap any exceptions from lessons based on religious reasons.
“It’s inappropriate that a rule about freedom from obligatory lessons which was meant to be used in exceptional cases has resulted in that every fourth foreign-born girl doesn’t participate in an important teaching moment in school,” write Party Leader Jan Björklund, Integration Minister Nyamko Sabuni, and Party Secretary Erik Ullenhag.
The three point to a doctoral dissertation which shows that 27 percent of foreign born girls don’t receive instruction in athletics, swimming, or sexual education.
“Our belief in a tolerant society should never result in us covering our eyes when women are the victim of attacks or being denied their rights with the excuse that it is a part of their culture or religion,” the three write.
Current regulations allow for students to avoid certain lessons in the case of “special circumstances.”
The suggested changes to the law are due to be discussed at the Liberal Party’s council meeting in October.
TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)
via Liberals call for mandatory sex ed – The Local.
Why is Secularism essential? Sweden, 8 March 2009 | International Humanist and Ethical Union
Why is Secularism essential? Sweden, 8 March 2009
Submitted by admin on 18 February, 2009 – 17:22.
* Sweden
* Conference news
Meeting (people) Sweden
The Organisation for Women’s Liberation is holding an international conference in Sweden on thr occasion of International Women’s Day, 8 March 2009, called: Why is Secularism essential? The conference will focus on the detrimental effect of religion on women’s lives.
International Conference in Gothenburg/Sweden on 8 March 2009
Why is Secularism essential?
Organization for Women’s Liberation is organizing a one day conference in commemoration of 8 March, International women’s day on the impact of religion on the situation and status of women. Why is secularism essential? In this conference veteran women’s right activists and scholars are coming together to analyze the devastating effects of rise of religious movements and religion’s influence in the running of state in many countries on the situation of women: the effect of catholic church, orthodox church, Judaism and political Islam will be discussed.
Among the speakers will be:
Homa Arjomand; coordinator of No Sharia Campaign; Canada/Iran
Caroline Fourest; writer; journalist and women’s rights activist; France
Maria Hagberg; Chair of Network against Honour Crimes; Sweden
Lilian Halls French; sociologist, President of the European Feminist Initiative; France
Azar Majedi; President of OWL, writer; England/Iran
Layla Naffa Hamarneh; Director of Projects, Arab Women Organisation of Jordan
Frances Raday: Chair, Israeli Association for Freedom of Science, Religion and Culture; Israel
Nina Sankari; Polish Rationalist Organisation and EFI Poland
Sabine Salmon; President of Femmes Solidaires; France
Lisa Sorush; women’s right activist; Afghanistan
Moderator: Maryam Kousha; editor of Women’s Liberation,
We invite all concerned feminists, secularists and human right activists to participate in this event. We need to demonstrate a show of secularist strength against the inroads of religion in society.
Make a note of the date: 7 March 2009
Venue: Folkets Hus Göteborg
Olof Palmes Plats
Järntorget
Admission: 100 SKr or 10 Euros
For more information or to register please write to:
Majedi.azar@gmail.com
Phone: Azar Majedi:+44 (0)7886973423
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.iheu.org/trackback/3524
via Why is Secularism essential? Sweden, 8 March 2009 | International Humanist and Ethical Union.
Rights For Our Future: The New Child Health Insurance Bill Provides Momentum for the Systemic Reform of Child Rights in the US
In last year’s campaign for the U.S. Presidency, Barack Obama admirably deemed himself as “a champion for children.” Given his recent child advocacy plan, he has begun to show a serious intention to live up to that title. In the plan, he has promised that every child will be granted health insurance. The plan will also expand educational opportunities for children in low-income families, extend other necessary resources for these families, support and supplement the foster care system, and provide better protections for children within the U.S. from violence and neglect.
Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) states that it is the right of a child to enjoy the highest attainable standards of health. Consistent with this crucial Convention, on February 4, 2009 President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Bill. The recently passed Child Health Insurance Bill expands the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to increase coverage to 11.1 million children. Currently SCHIP provides coverage for 7 million children who are otherwise ineligible to receive Medicaid. This action is in line with an eventual goal to secure health insurance for every child within the U.S.
Dawkins says women will defeat militant Islam
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Richard Dawkins says that it is “the awakening of women” that will solve the problem of “the worldwide menace of Islamic terrorism and oppression”.
By Saeed Valadbaygi
His remarks came while praising Mina Ahadi, winner of this year’s NSS Irwin Prize for “Secularist of the Year”.
Mina Ahadi is an Iranian woman who was forced to flee her native country after leading a campaign against the compulsory veiling of women. Because of her resistance to the clerical regime, her husband and four of her colleagues were executed, and she only narrowly escaped the same fate.
She now lives in Germany and has founded the Committee of Ex-Muslims, a movement that is rapidly spreading across Europe. She has also founded the Committee Against Stoning, which now has 200 branches worldwide.
Richard Dawkins said: “I have long felt that the key to solving the worldwide menace of Islamic terrorism and oppression would eventually be the awakening of women, and Mina Ahadi is a charismatic leader working to that end. The brutal suppression of the rights of women in many countries throughout the Islamic world is an obvious outrage. Slightly less obvious, but just as outrageous, is the supine willingness of western liberals to go along with it. It is worse than supine, it is patronising and condescending: “Wife-beating is part of ‘their’ culture. Who are we to condemn their traditions?” A religion so insecure as to mandate the death penalty for apostasy is not to be trifled with, and ex-Muslims who stand up and fight deserve our huge admiration and gratitude for their courage. Right out in front of this honourable band is Mina Ahadi. I salute her and congratulate her on this well-deserved award as Secularist of the Year.”
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: “We are proud to have been able to give Mina this honour – she is a woman of incredible courage and tenacity. The suffering she has endured has not dimmed her determination to improve the lot of women oppressed by Islam and other religious traditions.”
Introducing Mina to the members and supporters of the NSS who gathered for the presentation in London last Saturday, Keith Porteous Wood, the Society’s Executive Director said:
“What can we say about this year’s winner – except to affirm our deepest admiration for Mina Ahadi’s courage and commitment?
“Mina Ahadi started her serious political activities when she was 16 and living in Iran. She was at university in 1979 in Tabriz at the time of the Iranian revolution and she began immediately to organise demonstrations and meetings to oppose the compulsory veiling of women. This courageous dissent got her noticed by the Islamic regime’s authorities and soon she had to go underground to avoid retribution.
“At the end of 1980 her house was raided by the police and her husband and four of their comrades arrested. Mina escaped only because she wasn’t at home at the time.
“Her husband and the four arrested were all executed by firing squad soon after. She lived underground for some time and then fled to Iranian Kurdistan in 1982, where she continued to struggle against the Islamic regime for the next ten years. In 1990 she went to Vienna. She moved to Germany in 1996 and has lived in Europe since then.
“In all that time, Mina Ahadi has struggled mightily for the rights of women. She founded the International Committee against Stoning – which now has over 200 branches throughout the world. She also heads the International Committee against Executions and is the spokesperson for the newly formed women’s rights organisation, Equal Rights. She formed the Central Council of ex-Muslims in Germany early this year to help people renounce Islam and religion should they so wish.
“This brilliant idea has now been replicated in several other European countries, including in Britain by our own Maryam Namazie.
“Undeterred by the inevitable death threats, Mina has pressed on, determined as ever to protect women from the ravages of Islam.
“Apostasy, of course, is forbidden in Islam and in some Islamist states it carries the death penalty – including in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and Mauritania. She calls such states “Islam-stricken” and her own experience of living and suffering under such regimes has made her ever more determined to rescue others from their clutches. I cannot tell you how proud the National Secular Society is to honour this wonderful, compassionate, kindly but strong-as-steel woman.”
Maryam Namazie, NSS honorary associate and winner of the award in 2005, and now head of the Ex-Muslim Council of Britain, sent this message of congratulations to Mina:
“Your winning the 2007 Secularist of the Year award is a cause for celebration for people across the world. This well-deserved honour reiterates your leading role in the battle for secularism, rights and a world worthy of 21st century humanity.
“You and your movement have always been about saving lives and putting people first. Thanks in large part to your efforts, it is this life-affirming politics that is finally gaining the recognition it deserves.
“Putting people first is revolutionary in a world where people are dehumanised and deemed to be represented by political Islam or US militarism and labelled by a million characteristics beginning with religion, nationality or ethnicity and never ending in human.
“In such a world, millions of often resisting and dissenting people are deemed to be represented by the likes of the misogynist and inhuman Islamic regime of Iran, the Muslim Council of Britain or the Islamic Human Rights Commission. In such a world, opposing the political Islamic movement and defending its victims is deemed to be in aid of US militarism whilst opposing US militarism is deemed to be in support of political Islam. In such a world, people, real live human beings, are absent from the equation.
“To bring people back into the equation, to give their dissent and resistance a voice, to defend humanity without labels, is what you and your movement have done. This recognition is a victory for all of us. I salute you.”
The whole event was an upbeat occasion with entertainment provided by singer Esther Williams and comedian Christina Martin. It was rounded off by a moving performance of an Iranian love song by Elizabeth Mansfield – by that stage there wasn’t, as they say, a dry eye in the house.
Mina Ahadi was interviewed on the Radio 4 PM programme on Thursday. Listen again here (32 minutes into the programme)
26 October 2007
See a video of the event here:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
See pictures of Secularist of the Year here: http://www.rowzane.com/0000_m_e/0m_e_2007/2710/e23mina-sekolaraks2.html
Johann Hari on Mina.
See also: Public hangings ratchet up state terror and suppression in Iran
The Ex-Muslim Council of Britain’s website:
Join Maryam and Mina Ahadi’s supporters on facebook.
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