More news
First off, you may recall that last week the Supreme Court ruled the Guantanamo tribunals unconstitutional. Urged on by this, Congress is gearing up to tackle the issue. It sounds like it’s possible Congress will just give the Bush Administration the blank check he needs to continue the same trials, but a more likely scenario is that legislation will be enacted that reaffirms the Geneva convention and gives prisoners a fair trial. Here’s hoping!
Japan is still pushing for a UN resolution enacting sanctions against North Korea. China will certainly not support the harsh language proposed, but if Russia abstains from the vote, China will be the only country with veto power to go against the measure, which puts them in an awkward spot. We shall see what happens.
The Pope made a visit to Spain to try to rally the people against gay marriage. Last year, Spain legalized it (as well as adoptions by gay couples), but the Pope seems to be mobilizing a lot of people against these laws. He apparently said that “acting as if (God) did not exist or relegating faith to the purely private sphere, undermines the truth” about the world. Whoa! I can understand if you want to believe in whatever deity you do (and if you want to believe that everyone who disagrees with you is wrong), but I have major issues with anyone trying to force their religion of choice onto others. and this guy is explicitly stating that making your religion a private choice is bad!? The Pope went on to yearn for the good old days when Spain was under Catholic rule (presumably this includes things like the Spanish Inquisition). The odd thing is that lots of Spaniards seem to agree with the Pope’s statements. Having never been to Spain, this all strikes me as kinda scary, but I could be getting a skewed viewpoint. Is this actually typical of the Spanish populace?
Here’s what I got while I was in Spain: Spain is still absolutely predominately Catholic, and a lot of the older generations Are in favor of more strict Catholicism. (Though not all of them by any means.) However, the younger people (at least the ones I met) tended more towards being “Catholic”. That is, going to church with the family, calling themselves Catholic, but actually much more liberal than the previous generations, in favor of things like gay rights, women’s rights, etc.
I think that most of the people who think about returning to a more strict (and restricted) lifestyle and rule are the ones who grew up, were born and lived through Franco’s dictatorship. Living under such strict conditions is what they knew, and while it wasn’t a good thing (the dictatorship), I think they got some comfort from having boundaries, knowing what they were and living within them, as much as was possible.
I hope you’re having a fun summer Alan! (Go see Pirates! I really liked it (especially Johnny Depp (duh)), though it was a lot darker than I was expecting.) Ciao guapo!
My experience was a bit different, but Im sure – like America – it depends and you are and who you are with. The elderly generation does seem pretty strict and conservative, though those I met were more than happy to just accept the crazy stuyff younger people did with complaints, knowing their time had passed. My “mother” there explained that she felt America was MUCH more religious than Spain – yes, everyone she knew was Catholic, but everyone kept it to themselves, it wasn’t as talked about as it is in America. And she felt, and said most of her family and friends agreed, that what people do in the home is their own business and not to be messed with in the govt – seperate church and state.
Now she may have been really liberal, and thus associated with liberal people, but those were her claims. As for youth, it again depended like here. The youth were certainly more vocal with their beliefs, but there extremists everywhere – the nazi party has gotten a frightening boost in Spain, but then youth have struck back with this HUGE anti-nazi movement. While I Was there – when the gay marriage thing was legalized – people seemed pretty okay with it – no major marches or anything.