What Makes People Tick?

According to an 09 August 2013 article by CNN, part of a sphinx statue has been found in northern Israel. The find is important for many reasons, not least because it is the only piece of Egyptian sculpture found anywhere in the Levant. As the article reports, excavations at Tel Hazor in northern Israel first began in the 1950s. The capital city of Canaan some 4,000 years ago, Tel Hazor is conveniently located on the route connecting Egypt to Babylon. Some quotes from Mystery surrounds Egyptian sphinx unearthed in Israel which you can read at the CNN website : "Inexplicably buried far from Egypt, the paws of a sphinx statue, resting on its base, have been unearthed with an inscription in hieroglyphs naming King Mycerinus. The pharaoh ruled in 2500 BC and oversaw the construction of one of the three Giza pyramids, where he was enshrined.  "This is of extreme importance from many points of view, since it is the only sphinx of this king known in the world -- even in Egyp...

Reading a 30 November 2010 BlogHer post by Melissa Ford about the commercialisation / Americanisation of the Jewish holiday of Chanukkah (I've copied her way of spelling it here), I couldn't agree more. It also got me thinking. The same thing is happening in my country, only here it's Christmas being Americanised instead of Chanukkah! "Christmas is wonderful. I love your music and listen to it nonstop from Thanksgiving until the holiday (my favourite: "O Holy Night"). I love your candy. Sparkle lights are gorgeous, and I've been known to take extremely circuitous routes home in order to gawk at as many decorated houses as possible. It sounds lovely to give and receive gifts. But it's your holiday; it's not mine."  Exactly! " But it's your holiday; it's not mine. " Those words say it all for me. While the author focuses on the Americanisation of a Jewish holiday, I read the article with my own country in mind. There...

While browsing the Internet looking for inspiration for a new story, I came across a November 2006 article from Wired.com about people who have a neurological condition known as "face blindness". People who are otherwise "completely normal"(whatever that may be!) have trouble recognising faces. This is more than thinking that many people look similar or forgetting where you've met someone before; people with face blindness won't even recognise those closest to them like their own family and close friend. In modern times, face blindness was first described in 1944 by German doctor Joachim Bodamer who termed it "prosopagnosia" from the Greek prosopo (face) and agnosia (without knowledge). According to the article "there [have] been reports of face blindness as far back as antiquity, but no one had studied it systematically, so the physician decided to make a detailed analysis." In the coming decades researchers tried learning more ...

Abortion. Pretty much everyone has a different opinion about it. Some are staunchly pro-life, others are staunchly pro-choice. Some refuse to acknowledge it, others talk about it openly. Some are in favour of it, others violently oppose it. Each and every woman is different and as such each and every woman will react to (having an) abortion in a different way. Some will never consider it an option, others see it as a life-saving procedure, as ironic as that choice of words is. Many religions are or seem to be opposed to abortion. This makes having an abortion even harder for someone who would usually turn to God when the going gets tough. Not only is there personal guilt to deal with; friends, family and others and their opinions; society; but also the question that will never go away - Maybe it was the wrong choice after all? Reading Tablet magazine's 13 August 2013 article " New Jewish Rituals Offer Comfort to Women Who Have Had Abortions " prompted me to look at ...

While wandering around the internet looking for new and interesting things to learn from and write about, I came across a YouTube video entitled " 'Sulha' Prayer at Abraham's Tomb in Hebron ". After watching this video, I was left with tears streaming down my face. In a region filled with so much anger, misunderstanding and hatred it is amazing to see Jews and Muslims together making an effort to understand each other, learn from each other and pray together at a place with such importance to both religions. Investigating some more led me to another YouTube video entitled the " Sulha Peace Project ". This video too left me speechless and amazed. If it were possible; understanding, love and hope would be coming from my computer screen and heading straight into my heart. The video itself explains it best of all, saying: "The Sulha Peace Project is a grassroots organization for healing and reconciliation of the Children of Abraham."   Je...

Saw this on Grammarly's Facebook page just now and simply HAD TO share!

 I am looking forward to reading Reza Aslan's newest book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (ISBN 9781400069224). I must admit that I hadn't heard about Aslan until reading about and watching the sensational Fox News interview (which you can see here at Al Arabiya for instance) in which the author is (my words:) attacked by the news anchor for being a Muslim writing about the founder of Christianity. I do not understand why the news anchor would question that someone interested in the history or religions and religious development would want to write about the founder of the world's largest religion. To me, that feels the same as telling me (a female) that I am not allowed to write about a male, simply because I myself am not a male. It also seems to me as if the news anchor is not aware of the fact that Jesus is considered a prophet in Islam. This alone would be a valid reason for ay Muslim to want to learn more and write about Jesus. Aslan does not...