activism | Rami Ungar The Writer

Posts Tagged ‘activism’

Why the Revolt Against Morsi Doesn’t Surprise Me

Posted: July 3, 2013 in Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
Tags: activism, government, human rights, living and life, politics and leadership, predictions, proper decisions

A few years ago in January 2011, the people of Egypt began a mass movement for their freedom and for true democracy in their nation. The movement, the growing number of protests, and the backing of the military led to the ousting of Hosni Mubarak. Afterwards the military took control until a government of, for, and by the people could be set up.

In June of 2012, Mohammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected to the Egyptian presidency. In hindsight, many said that Morsi was elected because his Muslim Brotherhood was better organized than other, newer political parties that wanted progressive reforms for the country. Almost as soon as Morsi took office, he took steps to solidify his power, passing a decree in November of 2012 that would allow for Morsi’s actions to be free of any judicial action, as well as imposing harsh Islamist policies on the nation.

Another dictator had been brought into power. But I wasn’t surprised. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood had stated as such that they were anti-Zionist, pro-Islamist policies, and wanted a government with Islam at the center. Excuse me, but it’s very hard to have a true democracy with religion at the center of it, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s policies go against most of what Egypt wanted: more freedoms, including freedom of speech; women’s rights; protections for Coptic Christians; and more government accountability, among other things.

But when Morsi created trumped-up charges against a TV comedian often compared to Jon Stewart for criticizing Morsi and went back on a number of promises he made, particularly on those of free speech and government accountability, people noticed. And this is a country that has gotten used to fighting back against their government, even when faced with death.

So now demonstrations have taken hold of the country, the military is (quite wisely) backing the protesters, and Morsi has been given an ultimatum to leave office either by choice or by force. Of course Morsi has said he won’t leave office, saying that he was elected democratically and “will protect his legitimacy with his life”.

It’s when people in power say stuff like that you know they’ve gotten too big for their proverbial britches and need a reality check. Of course, with Morsi’s supporters, particularly those in the Muslim Brotherhood, saying they would gladly become martyrs to protect Morsi’s presidency, it looks like that reality check may take a while to come. And if the military does oust Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, things could be explosive in ways we have no way of predicting.

But whatever happens, I have no doubt that it won’t lead to a democracy similar to the United States (and to compare the US as stable when it comes to Egypt is saying something). Egypt is one of those countries that is still experimenting and trying to become a real democracy while power-hungry politicians try and secure themselves a large slice of the pie. If anything, what will result from all this will be a shaky leadership, and I doubt that whoever is in charge will learn from the lessons of Mubarak and Morsi.

But hey, let’s wait and see. I’ve been known to be wrong on occasion. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Let Freedom Ring!

Posted: June 26, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Social Activism
Tags: activism, government, human rights, living and life, politics and leadership, proper decisions

Today I woke up to some wonderful news: the Supreme Court of the United States had declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and had struck down Proposition 8, both laws that had negative consequences for same-sex marriage. The former, signed into law in 1996 by Bill Clinton, prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, even when legalized by the states, while Proposition 8 was a ban on same-sex marriage in California that was overturned by the state courts.

At this point, it’s unknown what the exact ramifications of these rulings are. However at the very least, the government in Washington will have to recognize same-sex marriage when legalized by the states, whichwill mean a lot more people will be filing joint tax forms. I’m not sure what Prop 8’s ruling will mean exactly, but I think it may affect all gay marriage bans across the nation, of which there are more than a few.

As a long-time supporter of gay rights, let me just thank The Supreme Court for siding with liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is unfair to so many when their marriages are recognized by the states but not by the government that’s supposed to have their best interests at heart. Your ruling has been a great success for gay rights, civil rights, and human rights everywhere. I can only hope that this leads to more tolerance and more good news as time goes on.

And to those who have worked tirelessly to see that these laws were struck down, the lawyers, the activists, and finally the people filing the suits in the first place, I cannot congratulate you enough. Your hard work has helped many people, and I salute you. Because of your efforts, I will be able to stand this Independence Day proudly and be glad I live in a nation moving towards tolerance for all.

Have a wonderful and hopefully colorful day, everybody.

Helping My School Out

Posted: June 4, 2013 in Social Activism
Tags: activism, blogging, college life, comedy, living and life, Ohio State University, politics and leadership, proper decisions, social media

Earlier this week, it came to light that E. Gordon Gee, the President of Ohio State University, had said some things about the University of Notre Dame and Catholics in jest at an athletics meeting. Some took the comments as offensive, He apologized for his comments and Notre Dame formally forgave him. Most of the Catholic students on campus and on Facebook have agreed that they didn’t find the comments offensive. Heck, I’ve heard more offensive comments from comedians on TV (Jeff Dunham and his dummies come to mind).

But today, President Gee announced his retirement, effective July 1st, because of the controversy his remarks led to.

Naturally, I and several other OSU students are devastated. President Gee was a positive influence on the campus. He brought a smile to us with his bowties and jovial nature and kind and quiet manner of speech. To many students, meeting President Gee was a milestone in their OSU careers. I even met one student who said she came to Ohio State just to meet President Gee, right before she took a photo with him at the student union. To us, losing him because of this little incident will be a big blow to the morale of the university and to the students.

This is me with President Gee back in my freshman year. He was an inspiration. I hope he stays that way.

Which is why, after discussion with some other students and a lot of thought about the subject, I started a Change.org petition to get the Board of Trustees at Ohio State to let President Gee keep his position and continue to serve Ohio State as he’s done for several years. So far, 125 people have signed, and I’m hoping that I can get that number up to 10,000, or about one-sixth of the Ohio State student population.

I’d appreciate it if you signed the petition, and possibly shared it on your own blog or Facebook. This means a lot to me, and I’m trying to make a difference as best as I can. If I can, I want to see this petition reach the goal count. If you can help me, that’d be great.

If you decide not too though, that’s okay. I respect your opinion and your choice and I hope we can find other things to agree on. But if you feel like it, please do sign the petition. You don’t even have to donate money to do it! And the best part is, you’ll be making a difference for about sixty-thousand students.

That, my friends, will be the best part.

Some Thoughts On Children Lost and Children Harmed

Posted: May 8, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
Tags: activism, gun control, politics and leadership, proper decisions

This week alone, several stories have surfaced in the news of American children being killed by guns in their homes. Two children, shot accidentally by their siblings. One child was killed by his uncle’s handgun hidden in a backpack. Another was shot in the crib while their 14-year-old brother was using his .22 rifle, which was given to him as a birthday gift.

The two cases listed above didn’t end in saved children. Instead, the children died en route to the hospital. The parents and siblings of these dead children, the rest of their families, the communities, and everyone who hears of these cases can only wonder, “Why?”

There are a million reasons why: negligence, misfires, simple intentions to see a gun, the belief that guns actually don’t kill, the crazy belief that giving a gun to a teenager is a good idea. However, debating the reasons why these tragedies happened won’t do any good. These children are wounded or dead, and it happened by weapons kept in the home.

Now I won’t try to argue the Second Amendment or the dangers of automatic rifles and machine guns this time. I believe that if it’s for legitimate reasons, people should have access to firearms like handguns or hunting rifles. However, when children are involved it’s a whole other issue. Children have a habit of getting into places they shouldn’t, and they think things that are dangerous are fun or sometimes cute. And even if a child seems mature, no child should be given something that’s main function is killing, be it animals or people.

The worst part of this is that these tragedies could’ve been totally preventable. The parents and adults could’ve locked up their guns better, or at least made attempts to lock them up. They could’ve waited until their kids were teenagers to teach them to use guns, and then only when they were 18 would they have been allowed their own guns. Or better yet, they could’ve never have bought the guns in the first place! After all, there’s a significantly higher chance that if you bring a gun into your home, it’ll do more damage to your family than any would-be intruder.

So the NRA may be having a party in Houston and saying that guns are here to stay, that taking away guns will lead to a dictatorship, and that the only thing protecting our children are guns. But they can’t shut out the facts, no matter how many senators they buy off. Guns are dangerous tools, and until we have some common-sense legislation, all this violence and death will only stay the same, or possibly get worse.

Some Thoughts During Holocaust Remembrance Week

Posted: April 12, 2013 in Reflections, Writing
Tags: activism, college life, human rights, Ohio State University, proper decisions, writing, WWII/Holocaust

This week at Ohio State University is Holocaust Remembrance Week. Like last year, I am giving a small speech to commemorate this sad occasion at OSU’s Jewish organization, OSU Hillel, during the Friday night service. Since I know most of you won’t be at Hillel, I’m posting my thoughts on the subject here. If there are any grammatical errors or misspellings that I missed, please forgive me, it was not my intention to leave those there.

I hope you enjoy reading this and that it affects you positively. Thank you for reading.

***

It’s been nearly sixty-eight years since the Holocaust ended and Adolf Hitler committed suicide, signaling the end of the war in Europe. The war left millions dead, millions more displaced, and thousands of questions unanswered, many still unanswered. The most important question though, at least for those of us who commemorate the estimated thirteen million dead, is how could the Holocaust happen?

As one of my majors is History, and my focus is on the war in Europe, I could go into all sorts of reasons as to why the Holocaust happened. I could go over for hours on the “Stabbed-in-the-Back” legend, Germany’s political and economic conditions during the Weimar era, Hitler’s underlings meeting at the Wannsee to determine the Final Solution, quotations from Mein Kampf—but the one reason I’d like to focus on can be summarized in one simple word: dehumanization.

Hitler made numerous insinuations about the Jews of Germany and the rest of Europe. However one thing that remained true of every insinuation, and that was the Jews were less than human, as if they were monsters with barely human form. As more people came over to Hitler’s side, more and more people were willing to see the Jews and all those that Hitler deemed “sub-human”, as not a human being like them.

And once you see something as non-human, it becomes easier and easier to discriminate against it. First the Jews and all “sub-humans” were discriminated against. Then legal measures were taken to turn “sub-humans” into second-class citizens. And then the “sub-humans” were turned into slaves. And finally, cattle to be slaughtered and thrown out with the trash. Such is the value of things considered less than human. It took the efforts of many Righteous Gentiles, risking their very homes, security and lives, to see past this illusion of inhumanity and protect many thousands from the gas chambers Hitler had built for us. If more had thought like the Righteous Gentiles, perhaps more people would’ve survived the Holocaust.

We often think that the events of the war couldn’t possibly happen today. Sadly, we are so wrong. As we all too well know, minorities in this country such as African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans were discriminated against for years, and even amendments to the Constitution haven’t totally brought those with darker skin to the same status as whites, whether it be educationally, economically, or socially. Stereotypes keep well-qualified workers away from jobs, and can even lead to them being imprisoned simply because of their race.

In addition, women the world over are given second-class status, and any actions to rise above that status can get them beaten, imprisoned, committed to insane asylums, or even executed, all in the name of “morality and modesty”. Even in countries where this is not the case, such as America, women still aren’t equal to men in the eyes of the Constitution, and their voices are often drowned out by government officials who do not represent their interests.

And we all know that many people in the LGBT community still lack the rights of straight people. In certain countries homosexual activity can get you jailed or killed, and even in today’s air of equality, there are those who will stop at no end to keep the LGBT community in the place they are now, simply because they are different.

One of the greatest teachers of Judaism, Hillel the Elder, taught that “what is distasteful to you, do not do unto others. That is the whole of the Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.” By “it”, Hillel does not refer to the Torah or commentary, but the lesson that we may derive from this main truth. So when you go out tonight, remember that you would not like to see happen to you, don’t wish it or perform it on others. And if you see someone less fortunate than you, don’t look down on them, but ask yourself, “How can I help this person whom I might be like if I were in a similar situation?” And then once you’ve thought about it, act upon your conclusion. That is the whole of Hillel’s teaching. It was applied by the Righteous Gentiles during the Holocuast, and it can still be applied today, by you and by me.

Thank you and Shabbat Shalom.

France and Uruguay and England Are Doing It. Why Not The United States?

Posted: April 12, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Social Activism
Tags: activism, government, human rights, politics and leadership, proper decisions

Today I’m checking the news on AOL and I see that France’s Senate has passed a bill allowing LGBT couples to get legally married. The bill was passed despite huge protests and opposition from conservatives and Roman Catholics wanting to preserve their definition of marriage. Yesterday I read how Uruguay had done the same thing, passing a bill allowing members of the LGBT community to marry and adopt. And quite recently, England voted to have same-sex marriage. So that’s three countries within the past three months that will allow same-sex marriage in their countires.

My question is, why hasn’t the United States jumped on board yet?

I know the Supreme Court is debating DOMA and Prop. 8 in its chambers these days, but even if the ruling is in favor of gay rights and same sex marriage, I’m a little worried aobout the outcome. First off, there are some justices on the Supreme Court who have called same-sex marriage “an experiment” that is “newer than cell phones” and may vote against gay marriage due to their conservative principles. And even if they don’t vote against it, I doubt the Supreme Court will mandate that same-sex marriage will be allowed nationwide, especially if they don’t want some states to sue the federal government for interfering in the states’ right to decide for themselves what legally constitutes as marriage.

Not to mention that in some areas the LGBT community still face horrible discrimination in the workplace, bullying is common for students who come out of the closet, and in Montana, a hospital forced a man out of his husband’s hospital room and treated him like just touching him could get them AIDS and later said they forced him out for being “loud and belligerent” (even though the patient’s brother was supposedly much worse than the husband). If we really want gay marriage to take hold in this country, first we need some serious attitude changes.

Luckily the gains made in the past four years for the LGBT community have been incredible, so I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 10-15 years gay marriage became legal nationwide and discrimination against the LGBT community was sought out and abolished. But like I said, it’ll take time and attitude changes. So whatever the outcome of the Supreme Court’s ruling, I hope it brings some positive change in the years to come.

Being Loud Does Not Give You The Right To Be Rude

Posted: April 3, 2013 in Reflections, Social Activism
Tags: activism, authors, human rights, proper decisions

As you all know, I’m a huge fan of Anne Rice, so when I got my Facebook back in December, I immediately subscribed to her page. As I quickly learned, Ms. Rice likes to use her page to talk about issues important to her, especially LGBT and women’s rights. Earlier this week though, something happened on the page that caused quite the cyber-ruckus: Ms. Rice posted about how female genital mutilation–sometimes euphemistically called “circumcision for girls”–is still practiced openly in many nations and secretly in some such as the US and Great Britain. The reason behind this practice, which causes women to have very painful sexual intercourse and in some cases can cause medical complications and infections? Not consecrating them to any sort of higher being or health reasons like male circumcision, but in order to ensure chastity and virginity. In other words, the sexist belief that women have uncontrollable sexual urges and unless men do something about it, they will have sex left, right, and center.

You wouldn’t believe the meshuggas that happened on her FB page.

When Ms. Rice posts about an issue on her Facebook, she usually does it to bring attention to the issue and cause discussion, hopefully to enact positive change. The unexpected effect though, was that several people on the page began railing against male circumcision and making it impossible to have any rational discussion unless all visitors to the page include male circumcision to their disgust to female circumcision. Some of these people went a step further, insulting anyone who tried to stick to the topic at hand or tried to defend male circumcision for religious and/or health reasons. My own parents, rabbis with many years of experience, were insulted and called nasty words after I tried to defend my religious beliefs against them.

The next day Ms. Rice said that the issue should’ve stuck to female genital mutilation, that she had no idea how the topic got so out of hand, and that those who had been especially insulting would be banned from her page forevermore (apparently she has the power to do that). Many of us, including myself, gave the woman a huge “THANK YOU!” and then started a rational discussion on female genital mutilation.

Now, this was an isolated incident, but it got me thinking on past incidents where people were loud and then incredibly rude. Foremost in my mind was when President Obama came to campus in October, and pro-life advocates showed up to protest with signs that were clearly Photoshopped. Whenever those there for the event tried to be reasonable with them, they jsut seemed to get louder, interrupting every sentence, and getting up in their faces.

And there are other incidents in mind, ones I’ve attended and others I’m happy to have been far away from. There are people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian debate who will say the worst things about whatever side isn’t their own. Gun advocates will often scream at the government trying to take away their Second Amendment rights. And just so I don’t sound like the liberal I probably am and turn off more conservative readers, there are advocates of environmentalism who are so aggressive with their beliefs that it can get out of hand and they will scare people with it. All of these things have a common thread: loud people being incredibly uncaring and callous in their treatment of those who don’t think like them.

Unfortunately, these sort of debates can bring out the worst in people. It’s not pretty, but it’s the truth.

Now, I don’t see anything wrong with being passionate in your beliefs. There’s nothing wrong with that. However I draw the line when those who are loud start to swear and call people who believe differently than them horrible names and blame them for the ills of society. That’s not the way to get people on your side, especially if people who are undecided one way or another on an issue. In fact, if I had to summarize what’s the way to get people on your side of the debate, it’s not to be virulent, angry and inflammatory. No, it’s to be calm, respectful, and only armed with facts. I believe that’s the way famous saints and leaders have won the masses to them and made great impressions on history.

And the people who are loud, rude and imflammatory…well, I hesistate to say anything about them, lest I get called nasty names by these exact same people for the examples I might bring up of people who were like them. But you see the effect these sort of people have on others. They thrive on anger and use fear as their weapon, hoping that fear will make those opposed to them at least quiet down for fear of their wrath (we sometimes see this with lobbyists and Congress, unfortunately).

The lesson here is not to let your anger get the best of you, but let it drive you to enact better change, no matter what your beliefs on any issue may be. That’s the only way to make change, and to try doing the opposite will only cause you and your cause problems that may not be overcome. And no cause wants that, right?

We Should Be Better Than This

Posted: March 18, 2013 in ideas, Journalism, Living and Life, Novel, Reflections, Scary Stuff, Social Activism, Writing
Tags: activism, human rights, ideas, journalism, novel, proper decisions, scary stuff, sexual assault, writing

To many, rape is just this: a hand reaching out of inescapable waters, but with no one to grasp it.

Over the past two days, I’ve read about four or five stories online about the Steubensville rape trial (for those of you unfamiliar, two teens from a small town in my state sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl while she was intoxicated and unconscious, urinated on her, and then posted the damning proof of it on Facebook). The two teens who committed the act were found guilty yesterday and sentenced to juvenile detention centers till they were 21. What upset me though, and what has upset many people as well, was not only that the poor girl was sexually assaulted, but the defense attorneys for the case tried to twist the concept of consent out of order by saying that since the girl was intoxicated, she never really said “no”; that there may have been a cover-up by the local high school, whose football team these boys belonged to and which is a source of pride among the local community; that those who witnessed the crime and were responsible for the photos on Facebook were not charged (though that might change pretty quickly, according to the Ohio AG); and that some of the coverage of the trial, which has gained nationwide attention through the Facebook posts, were actually in favor of the two boys charged.

The two rapists in question. They have no one to blame but themselves.

Yes, in favor. ABC News first reported the case not too long ago by saying the boys “took liberty” with the girl, which is definitely a new one if ever I’ve heard one. And yesterday, CNN seemed only able to lament the fact that these boys had promising futures stolen from them, that they could’ve made names for themselves at Ohio State and then in the NFL, that now they have to register as sex offenders, possibly for the rest of their lives. Underneath the spoken words, the silent implication: that the “good boys” weren’t to blame, but the victim for getting drunk and presenting an all-too-appealing oppurtunity for these boys to have a little bit of fun.

The same day, a story broke out about another gang-rape in India, where a camping couple from Switzerland were attacked, beaten, the wife raped, and then robbed. Arrests were made hours afterward (a record for India), but some public officials have blamed the couple for camping in that area. More victim blaming? I guess after the initial outrage of the bus gang-rape, some people still don’t know when to shut their yaps.

As an ardent supporter of women’s rights and of human rights, I’m abhorred, appalled, and disgusted. This victim blaming turns every woman out there who is the object of unwanted sexual advances into sex toys and shames them into being quiet, tells them they should accept what they get or they will be the ones at fault, that they will be scrutinized for their clothes and behavior and will be called sluts forevermore. Meanwhile, men can wear whatever and drink whatever and screw around as much as they want, and they’ll rarely be called a “man-whore”. This double standard mystifies me as much as it makes me ashamed to be a man. Yes, ashamed! I’m ashamed that my sex gets away with so much while the other half of the species is put down and turned into objects so much.

It also makes me think of a novel I plan to write in the future. I first came up with it by thinking to myself, “What’s the worst event that could happen to a singular person and then use whatever happens to them in the story to help them at least begin to heal?” Being so influenced by Law & Order: SVU (for better or for worse), my mind went right to rape. Only the victim can feel that terror and trauma that comes from rape, they often suffer in silence, and when they do come out, they are often at the recieving end of brutal victim-blaming and stigmas and questions about what they experienced that are never about clarifying the events as they happened. It fit what I was looking for to a tee.

At first though, I considered changing what that tragedy would be for this character. I mean, even I have my limits for what I’ll write, and that’s a lot for a horror writer. But I decided to stick with rape, though at the time I wasn’t sure why. But when I see articles in the news about victims of rape being blamed for what happened to them, even just subliminally, I’m reminded of why I kept rape as that character’s tragedy. Just like Reborn City has themes of the evils and lies of Islamaphobia, this novel of mine and this character can be a way to encourage women to come out about their attacks, to show men that rape, under any circumstances, is rape and their own fault, and perhaps a wake-up call for many readers that rape is a problem and our attitude towards it needs a major change.

I’m not sure if I’ll write an actual rape scene when I do end up writing this novel, but I do know that when I do write this novel, I’ll be channeling my rage, my disdain and my disgust for rape and rapists into it. Perhaps some will feel this underlying rage and learn something from it, like rape is never the victim’s fault. Or that the rapist is the only one to blame. Or there are no circumstances where rape is okay.

Savannah Dietrich was raped last year, but spoke out on Twitter and named her rapists when she felt the plea deal they got wasn’t enough. Sadly, she was nearly charged with contempt of court for naming her rapists.

And perhaps then, the world will change for the better. Because you know what? I shouldn’t have to be writing about this! I shouldn’t have to be telling people on my blog that I find rape and the double standards surrounding it disgusting, or that I plan to channel my rage over this insanity into a novel! I shouldn’t have to check my email and then see that another girl was raped, or that someone in an important position insinuated that the victim had no one to blame but herself. I shouldn’t have to, and neither should anyone!

But we live in the sort of world where all this happens on an all-too regular basis. And you know what? I’m not going to stop raging about it until it does stop, until change does happen, until that novel’s heroine is able to break free of her chains and start the move towards healing. Because I know the world should not be in this state, and I see a moral and an ethical duty to try and make it better. If what I write here does end up helping someone, then that’s great. In the meantime though, I have a lot of work to do, and I’m getting started right now.

For the victims who are blamed. For those who live in fear. And for those I can help before it’s too late, and this dark culture gets them into the wrong mindset.

What about you?

Rami Ungar The Writer

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Posts Tagged ‘activism’

Some Thoughts During Holocaust Remembrance Week