Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Film Gratismario Salieri

urging us to interfere in the dialogue between Senator Marcello Pera and BENEDICT XVI


There are historical moments in which ideas seem to follow the flow of movements and wave breaking on the shore as if not if they had ever gone. Although aware of the many momentous changes, there are world views that seem to prefer the eternal return of the most systematizations certain ideological and doctrinal fidelity in the name of which makes the numerical majority of us poor mortals, sinners and morally unwise. Certainly, our era is complex, certainly the historical coordinates on which we move, sometimes seem to be very messy. Despite this, every historical interpretation that makes the present era of humanity and a total area of \u200b\u200binconsistency, where, according to this view, all walking ambiguously, dazzled by the light of superficiality, I think it really reprehensible, as well as raise in me a deep sadness. Who do I mean? Eco already arrived there via the Corriere della Sera, in a letter from Benedict XVI that gathers the main plot of the book's publication senator and philosopher Marcello Pera, entitled: Why do we call ourselves Christians (Mondadori Editore).
I do not want and I can not even go into details of the contents of the book, but I want to do about the letter that accompanies the text by Marcello Pera, published Nov. 23, a few days ago, and is probably at the same time, cash Resonance and inspiration, as it is not the first time that the two authors do a concert for four hands on socio-cultural and religious issues (See: No roots. Mondadori 2004). For now, therefore, is only the letter of Joseph Ratzinger that provoked in me some feelings and some thoughts. So I pick up some chips, then vacate the echo within that aroused in me.
The first fragment is with regard to the roots of liberalism, which feed the second-Ratzinger - Christian image of God I do not want to summarize what is meant by "liberalism" and above all its multiple facets taken throughout history , but I feel unusual to say without a shadow of criticism that liberalism is the ideal condition for a truly Christian culture. Perhaps this is even more strange to me, knowing Benedict XVI's comments on the text by Marcello Pera, one of the leaders of those political movements that have chiseled liberal ideals to make them in the image and likeness of those neo-liberal economy. The Italian liberalism, great grandson of the Anglo-Saxon liberalism born at the end of the seventeenth century and represented in England by David Hume, Adam Smith, Edmund Burke and others. How can
hurry to find harmony between Christianity and liberalism and doubt, however, on possible dialogue with other cultures and religions of historical geography and existential? How can I search for complicity, without a shadow of doubt and without fear, between the Christian message and that of European liberalism and have, instead, so many doubts and fears when it comes to read the historical part of whole societies and cultures, given the complexity of its new and vital needs?
How can bless and assist those who think the dream of a European constitution in which Europe does not become a cosmopolitan reality, but is, from its liberal-Christian foundation, its own identity? Perhaps the concept of the ecumene
Gospel is not true cosmopolitan Europe questioned by other cultures and other religions? Perhaps Benedict XVI has forgotten that this ebb and flow of people, cultures and religions is also due to the ideals set of a liberal cultural and political and economic neo-liberalism of our days, that propel whole nations into submission to the imperatives of social and cultural myths so-called developed countries?
What happens? How can those who, as a representative of a religious denomination that would support the extension of the dream thoughts, ideas and understanding of the harmony of gestures, supports, however, with conviction, that interreligious dialogue in the strict sense of the word is not possible? What Ratzinger is the second inter-religious dialogue in the strict sense ...? Why, maybe there is one in a broad sense?
In fact, the true dialogue is not played in the spheres high, because life is not in play at the highest echelons of our political institutions, political and religious, in itself already died. Life is at stake in the depths of this most ordinary European society in which people try to talk not to maintain the privileges and powers, but simply to live, day after day. And these are the areas where there is faith, however, between different world view and actions, because there is a will to live and the constant quest to inhabit the world in another way.
It 's true, perhaps Christianity might contribute to this new face of Europe, but I wonder about Christianity? Reading between the lines, I realize that Ratzinger, had he written more long, would have made further distinctions and not only religions, but in particular on the only Christian who, according to him can help, that is Catholicism.
And then the other, with their wisdom, experience with their search for God, self, history, and these others? Perhaps their evolutions, revolutions and revelations are not necessary, do not count, are absurd? But this postmodern world is so bad?
But Catholic theology, never doubt of his failure? What a privilege we have? Never mind that these details are not captured by Senator Pera, but a representative of a church and a theologian's more: how is it possible?
So, if examined and I stop, I come back to mind the words of the daughter of a friend of mine (a girl of about 9 / 10 years) that one evening he asked me what they meant the shadows in the allegory of Plato's cave. It 's true, perhaps we need to remember this allegory groped and semantics of the text, to understand what happens in the theology of the Catholic Church.
Prisoners are linked so that they can only see the wall of a cave. A great fire, from behind, projecting shadows on the wall. What do they see the prisoners? They see the shadows cast by their bodies or any object or shape that is projected on the wall. In short, the prisoners can not see real objects, but note only two-dimensional shadows cast by objects that in reality, can not really see. And that is why they can not see the real causes of the shadows, the prisoners believe that the shadows are the only true reality.
We know that the ancient philosopher, in proposing the allegory, he hoped to discover some properties of the "world of forms." Today, this allegory has become very important in physics, and physics, helps us understand that what they see the prisoners are two-dimensional images, so that they, think that the world is only two-dimensional. This, in my opinion is the problem of theology and Christian European culture of today. We plan to continue to live in a two-dimensional world which we make sure to know everything, even though they are only shadows, reflections. But today, the history, specifically in quest'autoriscoperta identity, is displayed in all its complexity and hence diversity. The cultures are an expression of a variety of individuals, social groups, subjects of different gender, worldviews. The claim that the world today is its maturity and its impulses, is not a deplorable sin, but rather a 'mystical initiative, from within the human being, that we rediscover worthy to take the initiative and especially eager not to give up history to reach the essence self, truth and the whole world. The world today is no longer two-dimensional and perhaps science could tell us something about these religious and cultural concerns of Europe.
's why we remain perplexed by the opinions of a representative of religion that does not support the people who dared to dream of in the history of today, with hard work, dare to come out from the idea or experience gained in the cave and out, feels other dimensions. I personally think that trying other people, other ideas, other features, not only historical but also transcendental to re-weave the web of social, emotional, spiritual and political life of mankind, does not mean losing one's identity of their faith. Whereas it seems to me that does not preclude a dialogue is a true prevents the mystery, the revelation at the complicity of God with humanity and its biodiversity cosmic. Certainly this is not an easy road, surely this is not the result of social and political meetings, as well as religious, which are based on the logic of the privileges to which the Catholic Church throughout the world, has always used; economic logic , power in name recognition of their faith.
It is a birth, a real pain in childbirth, are daily efforts, including those who are perhaps in some places and read the story from a certain point of view, you forgot or did not ever known. Experience the diversity of the coast, has some very high prices. Certainly it is easier to be approved or better dominate, with a single thought and witness the sparks of truth with a single experience. When this is so, perhaps end the pain of childbirth of human creativity, but also, end the dreams of all those real exchange rates and, instead, it brings back all the eternal divine powers Olympians religious and social.
However, until we could discuss endlessly about this reading and interpretation of history and life, but at least we did something very simple memory, which concerns its cosmopolitan roots of early Christianity, as told in Acts of the Apostles, as told by Paul. Perhaps even more two-dimensional contexts all of those that we know today, but that nevertheless, allowed to feed to Christianity even in the most complex and diverse in its very fundamental characteristic of deep passion for reconciliation. A passion that makes the most apophatic theology, in its language and not enough in this research, including vision, hearing and nostalgia for the absence, the absent and the absent. A progressive journey of revelation of alternative languages, which should see the wrinkles are not only humanity but also of this Catholic community of believers captive shadows. I hope that someone out the cave, come back and tell us the multiple dimensions of reality and thus continue to look for, ourselves and God, according to the vision of Ratzinger and Marcello Pera, seems so alien to our efforts and tentative understandings of life. Personally I hope that, once again, all those who yearn for and dare the world in another way, you may be forgiven for having loved too much and for having dedicated his life to look for each other and seek. If today, the daughter of my friend, come back to make my question, the answer to every shadow evokes something more, not just what's behind it, but what lies ahead and who is outside and that she and only she, to be faithful, and others will discover with others.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Chemical Formula Of Paint Used On Cars



something more than simple news


Antonietta Potente Cochabamba


The stalactites hang from the roof . The stalagmites grow from the ground. All crystals are fragile, born from the sweat of the rock, deep in the cave that the water and the time they dug into the mountain. The stalactites and stalagmites are sought each other by moltti years in the darkness, drop by drop, down some more climbing. Some million years later still before touching. No hurry ...
(Edoardo Galeano. Espejos. Buenos Aires 2008)


is not easy to make a synthesis of what has happened in Bolivia in recent days. Each
current events, in fact, brings a long history, a mixture of official and unpublished; individual and collective. And perhaps it is the individual stories, the only ones to have the right to speak, to tell, to say ... probably tell what remains hidden to any outside observer. The stories of people, beyond any political or sociological category, perhaps they are the only eloquent witnesses.

And so, as normally occurs every piece of human history, the same happens again, here in Bolivia. That is the facts do not explain anything, or maybe just explain, the information gathered here and there, biased or not, they too are simply the echo of a very complex history, woven from threads of human life, his desires, its initiatives, strengths, its struggles to be simply life. In this perspective, the stalactites and stalagmites, are history and history major. ... Born from the sweat of rock crystal. Historical tensions we would say, efforts made from within the being of every creature, every item that is part of life and therefore of human history. Time is complicit with the history, so, as I firmly believe, is complicit in the Spirit.
But neither the time nor the Spirit, are in a hurry ... the rhythms of this inner tension toward something, they are slow, while we, as the Psalm says, astonished and panic .. if we could escape.

tried to resist and therefore, as written by the prophet of the apocalypse, we continue to look ... Tell what is vision, directly or indirectly, not only facts, not just episodes, but vision. Everything has a meaning, everything has an inner story, highlighted by moments only for a few fleeting, for others, terribly long.

our history is really a snap pictures, colors and shadows. The slowness of the time does not seem to worry, because this is the story of a people strong, rebellious and unworthy. The immediacy of the news can only describe a part of this reality, but can not tell the truth, because its dynamics are very thin. And as always, questions in order, each classification: left-wing government, right-wing opposition, manipulation, bases, powers and foreign affairs, national or international politics ... all of these attributes are insufficient to describe this part of Latin American history. Yet there are constants which return faithfully doing the good and bad weather, but these constants does not overwhelm what we call the variables specific to this context.

So yes, we try to give some news. I state that many of those who are part of the Christian community and religious life, since we are not only saddened the country socio-political lives, but the position that the official church has taken in this last period since the beginning of the process of change . A very ambiguous position, which grows secretly privileges, which is blind analysis in the name of social peace (status quo) and that the majority of the people he sees as an ally of those who do not support the change process.

a nerve center Sta Cruz Santa Cruz has become the emblem of the opposition, an opposition that the government may be low, and that was force to find another space. This space has been found in the East Bolivian geography, its history and most certainly not indigenous mestizo, in the richness of its natural resources, in its political tradition that always has made it the cradle of the preferred power to the right. The excuse most obvious: the autonomy, conceived more as a federalism that as a real autonomy. The desire not to lose power over natural resources and manpower that makes fruitful. That 's what Sta.Cruz wants, or rather a privileged few in this area. It is they who cultivate the dream of a small republic where they can have a legislative and executive autonomy with madato to protect the great terratenientes of private ownership of land which are those that are at the head of the prefectural movimiento Civic Sta Cruz.E 'so that Sta Cruz begins to drag behind other provinces: Beni, Pando and Tarija ... Strategic geographies to claim the supposed autonomy, as are the territories where they are the largest natural gas reserves. In this way, you thought winning the institutional weakness of the opposition in parliament and even weaker than that of the Constituent Assembly, a body which is output from the new Costituizione policy of the state, although still subject to a future with a national referendum vote. This part of "separatist" in the country, it is called "media moon. "Referring to the eastern half of paese.Le other provinces, La Paz, Chuquisaca, Potosí, Oruro and Cochabamba form the other side of the moon, even if at this moment in a state of eclipse, since last year Chuquisaca had undertaken a policy contrary to that of the government. It 'clear that until these recent events, President Evo Morales and his government, was obliged to govern in an almost entirely separate from 4 autonomy prefects, recovering space and authority in the area after the people of Cochabamba prefect Manfred Reyes Villa is disqualified, this ambiguous character was doing the same dirty game of autonomy prefects. It 'so easy to see that the process exchange began three years ago, has slowed down and the strategy to stop it, we could say that almost succeeded. In addition to not wanting to lose privileges, groups of regional oligarchies, they do not want to change the Constitution. So, for them, it is important to spend 5 years, with violence, death, state of siege and economic crisis, but without allowing passage of the new Constitution. In fact this new constitutional document, would reinforce this process of change in all its legitimacy and democratic logic, take on new colors, and certainly more Latin Americans would say, Bolivia. The company would get new features and certainly less classist. The redemption of the wisdom of communities indigenous, would emerge a new authority and a new management of natural resources is that of social and legal. But what this new constitution does not guarantee they are existing privileges for certain groups in society who have always managed the politics, society and the economy, even the clergy. Meanwhile, even the means of PRESS, directly or indirectly involved in this process that seeks to curb the exchange rate, making a subtle campaign against the Government, and grassroots organizations. We must remember that government policy is Article introno recovery of natural resources and, nowadays, the forces opposed to this recovery using the same natural resources as an excuse to divide the people and the nation. Many analysts compare the situation with that of Bolivian ex-Yugoslavia, a real process of violent fractioning, a nation made to bits. And 'this is what he wants and what the opposition also wants the U.S. government, given that this process of change that has opened new horizons in much of the continent, weakens the U.S. world strategy. Not surprisingly, the former U.S. ambassador, Philip Goldberg's expulsion from the country immediately after the attempted coup of the opposition, according to his curriculum vitae, an early involvement in the Yugoslav civil war erupted in the 90's, until the fall of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Before being used in Bolivia, Golderberg worked in Kosovo for the separation of the states of Serbia and Montenegro. A history of Bolivia with respect to distant war, but in any case a history of blood of a civil war managed with progressive strategies of decentralization and autonomy, which will then be imposed by the military intervention of the UN and U.S. troops accompanied por OTAN. There is nothing else to say that: let's hope not ... I hope that these types of analysis are not true ... we hope to be wrong, we hope, we hope ... But meanwhile, the Sept. 11, the date is also significant, was put in place a real and its armed attack, against what until now has been a process of democratic change, was born with all the socio-political, which made us really think that something was emerging alternative. The attack this time it was really violent. They were taken by storm installations, institutions and public enterprises in cities and provinces.

people were murdered (in the province of Pando), direngti base, farmers estrategia taken by surprise when we were moving from place to place for riunirsi.In these days the government has summoned the prefectures in the dialogue ... Yesterday and the day before yesterday, some ministers and government delegates have been waiting all day the arrival of the Prefects concerned ... No, tomorrow, Sunday, would have to sign a national agreement. The government has already sold enough on issues of regional autonomy, but the ghost of the new constitution is a ghost too big for those who have for centuries maintained its privileges, so., These guys will do anything because the shadow of this phantom secenda the four richest of the rich owners and owners of large estates of more than 50 000 hectares of land.

Hence one can understand why, because they want autonomy and regional fuel violent riots at the risk of fracturing the country just to protect the great properties of a few descendants of feudal lords, as well as all of Europe, Croatian and Turkish. (Cf. Viceministerio Tierras de Unidad de Promoción Indigena y Campesina. La Paz, 11 de septiembre de 2008. Boletín No. 67) These then, some news, but: it is to remember that all news is rhetorical point of view. So even this news, of course, are a point of view. Remains in us, then, the desire to have a kaleidoscope ability to understand, not to deceive us anymore. Remains in us, in the midst of confusion, the desire to cause a twisting motion in order to discover, distinguish and do not feel deceived or misled. Yes, because you will not want to move only the strength we would not take part in the story only handled by the thought of others. But it so happens, here and elsewhere, and for this reason, we feel the need to convert our vision in which an optical tips, observing shooting pictures and then cleans the thought, inspiration and language as well as faith.

LATEST: today we have to add that the dialogue between the government and the opposition has failed. The prefects of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Chuquisaca refused to sign the document proposed by the government to revise some aspects of the new constitution on autonomy and other details. This proposal was accepted by five governors in line with the government but not by others. The barrier was as expected, the new constitution that the "half moon" does not accept. Despite this, the government will seek support from the National Congress to pass legislation that will convene referendum to approve a new constitution. But the biggest problem are the basics, from both sides: those who support the government is willing to do anything to move this process forward and so do not accept this new policy. Who then is once again in disarray and the people. But what brought the prefects ... succeeded: split the country. Meanwhile prepare protest march demanding that the president carries out his own agenda ... the other side ... we'll see ... symptomatic: the prefect of Sta Cruz to end the dialogue, he did not want to shake hands with the President. Thank goodness that is a devout Christian.