Category: Uncategorized

On Monday, October 10 from 6:00-7:30PM at the Bush School Fountain, a
coalition of campus and community groups is gathering for a peaceful
protest against the ideas of Samuel Huntington. That evening,
Huntington will be giving a Texas A&M University Distinguished
Faculty Lecture inside the Bush School, and our protest outside is a
response.

Our coalition:

* Opposes Huntington’s ideas and his disparaging views of
immigrants. We celebrate Mexican, Mexican American, and Latino
cultures, support a multicultural vision of American society, and
embrace America’s diverse immigrant heritages.

* Supports the rights of people with whom we disagree to express
their views, and we do not oppose Huntington’s right to speak.
We also assert our right to express our dissent.

* Believes that Texas A&M University should raise the
starting pay for all full time workers to a living wage. Samuel
Huntington, a man whose work disparages Mexican and Mexican American
culture, is being paid $10,000 for one evening’s work. At the same
time, over 800 of TAMU’s full time workers, many of whom are Mexican
American, are paid poverty wages. We urge Texas A&M to fully fund
the Living Wage Initiative. (For more on the Living Wage Initiative,
see http://jpi.tamu.edu/LivingWage/)

The protest coalition includes Faculty and Staff Committed to
an
Inclusive Campus, Make Aggieland Safe for Everyone, the League of
United Latin American Citizens, The Mexican American and Latino Faculty
Association, and Comunidad Luchando Unida Por La Educacion (Community
United in the Struggle for Education). Come join us!

Harris M. Berger
FSCIC Co-Chair

Faculty and Sttaff Committed to an Inclusive Campus

[See Countering Huntington below–gm]

Over the Easter weekend a Facebook friend posted links to a youtube archive of a BBC documentary about the possibility that Jesus lived out his post-crucifixion life in Kashmir.

A little research shows that the thesis has ancient roots, revived for example in modern times by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and more recently by Helger Kersten. Kersten also follows the evidentiary trail marked by Notovitch in arguing that Jesus traveled to India for a spiritual education during his 15 or more “lost years” prior to his campaign for Messiah, a thesis that is the subject of another film by Paul Davids.

Perhaps the most radical and most recent elucidation of the connection between Jesus and India is Christian Lindtner’s website, jesusisbuddha.com, “the first and only website devoted to the original Buddhist sources of the New Testament Gospels.” According to Christian Lindtner’s Thesis (CLT) the Greek Gospels are modeled upon classic Buddhist scriptures. Lindtner goes so far as to argue that there is no historical basis whatsoever for the Gospels other than the Buddhist literature.

Lindtner’s scholarship raises interesting possibilities for a history of theology, including a new way of thinking about the emergence of trinitarian dialectics.

Was there a historical Jesus? Did this historical Jesus travel to India for education and then return to Kashmir to work among the “lost tribes” of Israel? Or was there no historical Jesus, but simply a story created by inserting “Greekskrit” names into classical narratives about Buddha? The questions are fascinating and dizzying.

Even supposing that Lindtner is correct to identify Sanskrit and Pali models for the Gospel writers, it would not settle the question of fact or fiction, since the Gospel writers could have been seeking a perfect model of expression for an authentic spiritual journey.

At the very least, I think these approaches to the story of Jesus help us to understand that the world of ancient Palestine does not have to be approached provincially. Travel, commerce, and ideas were flowing in several directions.

From an ethical point of view, these researches indicate that the teachings of Jesus and Buddha have something important in common when they stress our duties to alleviate suffering in this world. In this case, the question for ethics remains the same. Is there a better approach than this?

And from a religious point of view, one could argue that the cross currents of swirling interpretations are exactly what Kierkegaard addressed when he said to the Christian that it hardly matters what are the facts of the matter, because the really important question of Christianity has nothing to do with any fact whatsoever.

Where did Jesus go? With Kierkegaard we would answer that depends entirely on where you were looking for Jesus in the first place. And it’s still true today as it was in Kierkegaard’s time that mostly the name of Jesus is understood in terms of the letters that spell it, not the spirit that defies spelling, grammar, and historical justifications for a life of radical love.

30 September 2005

Office of the President
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX

Dear President Gates:

I am writing on behalf of the Brazos Progressives to express our dismay
upon learning that Sharli’e Vicks, a transgender evacuee from New
Orleans, had been arrested and imprisoned earlier this month after
being told that she couldn’t use the shower facilities designated for
females at Reed Arena. While we are very relieved that Ms.Vicks was
released from jail, that all charges against her were dropped, and that
she was reunited with her family in Houston, we believe that the Texas
A&M officials who were involved in Ms. Vicks’ arrest acted
insensitively and aggressively. The Brazos Progressives would like to
see Texas A&M issue a public apology to Ms. Vicks, along with a
public assurance that Texas A&M is doing everything it can to
ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again. As a coalition of individuals, groups, and businesses working
together to build progressive community in the Brazos Valley, the
Brazos Progressives strives to create awareness of and support for all
forms of diversity in order to create a community that welcomes
everyone. We applaud the efforts of the many volunteers from Bryan and
College Station who have worked together in a spirit of unity and good
will, helping those who have been devastated by recent hurricanes.
Certainly, many individuals and organizations in our community have
acted selflessly and have been sensitive to the needs of all
individuals.

At the same time, we are troubled by the University’s treatment of Ms.
Vicks. We encourage the University to work closely with the Office of
Institutional Assessment and Diversity, the Women’s and Gender Equity
Resource Center, and the GLBT Professional Network at Texas A&M
University to educate the University community so that transgender
individuals will be treated with compassion and sensitivity. University
administrators set an example for the citizens of our community; we
believe that creating a welcoming atmosphere for all individuals should
be a priority of the University and our larger community. We encourage
Texas A&M to work towards healing the divisions in our community by
developing procedures and policies that ensure fairness and equity in
the treatment of all individuals, regardless of their gender identity,
sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity, physical ability,
religion, or political affiliation. The National Center for Transgender
Equality (NCTE) has developed guidelines that would certainly serve as
a useful reference for formulating such policies: Making Shelters Safe
for Transgender Evacuees (http://www.nctequality.org/SafeShelters.pdf).

Brazos Progressives works hard to promote and celebrate diversity
in our community, and we invite the University to join us in this
effort. We are happy to do whatever we can to help Texas A&M in its
efforts to create a climate that is welcoming to everyone. Please do
not hesitate to contact me at the above mailing or e-mail address if we
can be of any assistance.

Thank you for taking our concerns seriously.

Sincerely,

Krista May
Chair
Brazos Progressives
College Station, TX

cc: James Anderson, Vice President and Associate Provost, Office of Institutional Assessment and Diversity

Becky Petit, Assistant Vice President, Office of Institutional
Assessment and Diversity

Brenda Bethman, Coordinator, Women’s and Gender Equity Resource
Center

William Perry, Vice Provost, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost

Leah Devun, President, GLBT Professional Network at Texas A&M
University

Harris M. Berger, Faculty and Staff Committed to an Inclusive Campus

Chris Danos, President, GLBTA

Mitzi Kaufman, Making Aggieland Safe for Everyone

Dear Editor

The Albanian newspaper Korrieri published on the front page on 5 September with a huge headline an announcement saying Rrustem Neza, who had identified the killers of Azem Hajdari, was denied asylum and would soon be deported to Albania.

The Korrieri also translated the information about Mr. Neza that I sent you, which was posted on Texas Civil Rights Review. Korrieri printed it over my byline, without my knowledge or permission. In fact, I never had heard of Korrieri until I was shown a fax of the 5 September front page.

Since then, a couple of other Albanian newspapers have reported the imminent return of Mr. Neza, on their front pages. I recently have been told that the Albanian government has asked the US government not to deport Mr. Neza at this time. The government of Albania is trying to establish its legitimacy with the European Union, because it is applying to be admitted to NATO. Therefore, it does not want the embarrassment of Mr. Neza’s assassination before NATO decides on its application.

Corroborating what I have been told, the Albanian government last month re-opened its investigation into the Hajdari murder, apparently at least in part responding to the publicity regarding Mr. Neza. Nevertheless, I need solid verification that somebody in the Albanian government has asked somebody in the US government to delay or cancel the deportation of Mr. Neza.

I am hoping that whoever passed my earlier message on to Korrieri will again alert somebody in Albania who can investigate the apparent efforts by the Albanian government to stop Mr. Neza’s deportation. I will be most grateful for any information anybody can provide me regarding any response of the Albanian government to the planned deportation of Mr. Neza.

John Wheat Gibson
Attorney for Rrustem Neza