"Her Name Is Zehra", a review

 A crazy but interesting story. The lives of Zehra and Hande mirror one another. One from a poor family ends up adopted into a wealthy family, the other from a wealthy family adopted by a poor family. Both are treated badly by men. Both run away, or talk of running away. Both are thought to have been killed, but actually survived. Ironically, each one ends up helping to save the other one. Both mothers kill the fathers or try to. The series begins and ends with men calling out 'Zehra'. First by her brother in pursuit of his sister for reasons of honour, custom and tradition, and in the end by her lover for reasons of romantic love... Zehra runs away from the first man, her physical brother, but runs into the arms of the second man, Genco. They were all trapped in lies and darkness. The truth sets them free. It sets Serkhan and Sule free from their fears, but also sets Zehra free from Zadir and Sule, and sets Genco and Zehra free from falsehood, and into the light and life. Like Judas, Nadir kills himself rather than repent and face up to his crime coming into the light. I am reminded of some things Mahatma Gandhi said: ‘My uniform experience has convinced me that there is no other God than Truth (Satya).’.

Watch here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ9ELR3AbgU&t=30s

The Tongan Castaways

Several years ago my experiences of chaos and disorder in the workplace and people getting picked on reminded me of a book I had read many years earlier called 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding.  

It is a fictional story about a group of children deserted on a island in the middle of nowhere and how, in the absence of adult supervision, they try to organise themselves, but over time they descend into chaos and disharmony.  Three of the children end up being killed or dying.  The story ends with the deserted children being found by a passing naval ship, and the adult presence restores order.

'Lord of the Flies' was written in 1954.  As chance would have it, there is a real life story in 1965 of a group of six school boys who were actually marooned on the island of Tonga for 15 months.  They were called the Tongan Castaways.  In this story of children deserted on an island things turned out differently to how they turned out in William Golding's story.  The Tongan Castaways were organised, well behaved and passed the time living in harmony.  They sometimes quarrelled but always managed to return to a state of harmony.  I noticed that there was one major difference in the way the Tongan Castaways lived compared to the boys in 'Lord of the Flies' that may help explain why their story went a different way - their days began and ended with song and prayer.

More information about this can be found here:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months

I think it is interesting to consider that Admiral Nelson observed something similar when trying to keep order on his ship 'The Victory':  

"In early September 1803 Nelson wrote to a society that had sent the 'Victory' bibles and prayer books, which had been distributed to the seamen:

 
'a ship where divine service is regularly performed is by far more regular and decent in their conduct than where it is not, and in this ship only 2 men have been punished for upwards of two months'. 

Public worship was necessary for welfare and good order."

(excerpt from 'The pursuit of Victory - The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson', by Roger Knight)

Buddha

 “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. "  

- Buddha

"..but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. " 

- 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Tony Benn, on religion:

'For Jesus was a prophet, like Amos and Hosea and many before him, and thought of in this way he is a very meaningful figure in the world in which we live today.

What Jesus said is that we are all brothers and sisters and should love one another as neighbours.  As I have got older I have come to realise that is exactly what all the major religions teach: treat other people as you wanted to be treated yourself – the Golden Rule.

In the Talmud, Judaism tells us, 'What is hateful to you do not to your fellow men.  That is the entire law and all the rest is commentary.'

'For Muslims, the Sunnah says, with equal force, 'No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself'

Buddhism teaches – 'Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful'

This teaching is of crucial importance in the world today but unfortunately the structure of religions have replaced the message, and these structures produce their own kings.  We should stick to the teachings and be careful of those who claim the right to interpret them in order to acquire control for themselves'.

The Scapegoat

 According to the French philosopher, Rene Girard, "new atheists and rationalists are dead wrong in describing religion as an ignorant archaic phenomenon. Religion is how we have contained violence and desire since the beginning of time and thus created civilization. Therefore we need religion to counter the scapegoat mechanism, perhaps even more so today in our interconnected world where tribal boundaries can no longer protect us from the possibility of existential armageddon."

https://parallax-media.eu/andrew-sweeny/ren-girard-tantra-and-the-scapegoat-mechanism-d9yr4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTdvSnj5LBk

Anarchy in the UK

In the Old Testament the book of Kings tells the history of the different kings that ruled the nation of Israel (beginning from Saul, who was the first king, and ending several hundred years later with Zechariah, who was the last king).

The introduction of a king ended up dividing Israel into two kingdoms.  There was the kingdom of Judah in the south (2 tribes) and the kingdom of Israel in the north (10 tribes).

This division of the Kingdom demonstrates that worldly kings are not able to unite a nation.  On the contrary they cause division.

None of these kings were perfect.  Some were better than others, but they all had flaws.

It was not really God's will for the nation of Israel to have a king.

Moses was not a king, he was a prophet, the mouth-piece of God.  But on reaching the Promised Land, some 40 years after Moses had led them out of Egypt where they had been enslaved for 400 years, Israel envied the other nations around them that had kings, and they asked God for a king.

Saul was the first king.  David succeeded Saul.  Then followed Solomon, and then his son, Rehoboam.  It was at this point that the kingdom divided in two.

David was a flawed individual.  For example, he committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband, Uriah, to be placed at the front of a very fierce battle so that he would likely get killed, and he did.

Despite his flaws, David is considered to be the best king of them all, and ever since King David, Israel looked back at his reign as the Golden Age, and looked forward to a new Golden Age when another king like David will reign, a son of David.

Christians believe this person eventually arrives several hundred year later.  His name is Jesus Christ.

But Jesus was not the kind of king that Jewish Israel was expecting.  Jewish Israel was expecting a worldly king, but Jesus said 'my kingdom is not of this world'.

As the story goes, Jesus was not flawed like all the other kings.  He was a perfect person, there was no sin in him.  His sword was not a physical weapon.  His goal was unity.

So the message for me from this is that all kings and political leaders are flawed people, sinful individuals.

'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Romans 6:23).

A nation may put up a monument to remember their political leaders, because they were significant movers of history.  

"The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution. But it will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require the protection of governmental power and by there being more and more people who will be ashamed of applying this power." - Tolstoy

There is nothing new under the sun

"The works of the contemporary historians of Baghdad in the early tenth century are still available. They deeply deplored the degeneracy of the times in which they lived, emphasising particularly the indifference to religion, the increasing materialism and the laxity of sexual morals. They lamented also the corruption of the officials of the government and the fact that politicians always seemed to amass large fortunes while they were in office.

The historians commented bitterly on the extraordinary influence acquired by popular singers over young people, resulting in a decline in sexual morality. The ‘pop’ singers of Baghdad accompanied their erotic songs on the lute, an instrument resembling the modern guitar. In the second half of the tenth century, as a result, much obscene sexual language came increasingly into use, such as would not have been tolerated in an earlier age. Several khalifs issued orders banning ‘pop’ singers from the capital, but within a few years they always returned.

An increase in the influence of women in public life has often been associated with national decline. The later Romans complained that, although Rome ruled the world, women ruled Rome. In the tenth century, a similar tendency was observable in the Arab Empire, the women demanding admission to the professions hitherto monopolised by men... Soon after this period, government and public order collapsed, and foreign invaders overran the country. The resulting increase in confusion and violence made it unsafe for women to move unescorted in the streets, with the result that this feminist movement collapsed."

from page 15, The Fate of Empires, by Sir John Glubb:

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf

'There is nothing new under the sun' - Ecclesiastes 1:9