Arts and Cultures
Breaking the spell of Religion
“Religion is a powerful force in the world. Now more than ever. We need to study it scientifically so that we can anticipate its changes”. Daniel Dennett with Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (Penguin Group 2006), almost seems to be answering Benedetto XVI’s volume. The Philosophy of Science director of Tufts University of the Centre of Cognitive Studies is turning hierarchy upside down: even religion is a natural phenomenon and as such should be studied with scientific tools. An evolutionist approach applied to a non-scientific theme which Dennett has already experimented with in other areas such as conscience, in The Mind's I: Fantasies and reflections on self and soul (Bantam, Reissue edition, 1985), and free will, in Freedom Evolves (Viking Press, 2003).
“We must cure tyranny with the medicine of democracy”
The Arabic version of tyranny has generated corruption, fanaticism and terrorism. To get out of this political and socio-economical stalemate we need to democratize the Arab world from within, pacifically. This is the opinion of one of the most important and committed Arabic intellectuals in recent years: Ala Al-Aswany. The author of the bestseller ‘The Yacoubian building’ is a member of the opposition movement ‘Kifaya’ (Enough!). Ala Al-Aswany is 50 years old and is a dentist. He has recently published his second novel entitled ‘Chicago’, which bravely deals with religion, politics and sexuality.
Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. Where The Da Vinci Code Scares
Banned in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, Ron Howard’s film has faced strong criticism not only in Catholic countries, but also in several Muslim states. Currently Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are the only Middle Eastern countries scheduled to show the screen version of Dan Brown’s bestseller ‘The Da Vinci Code’. “In the Holy Koran it is written clearly that Jesus is one of our prophets” claimed an Indian Muslim representative “this film says that Jesus was a married man. That is blasphemous”. But, for Rana Abu Ata, an Arabic journalist and columnist for al-Hayat, Muslims could learn a lesson from this movie. A lesson on women’s rights.