Being Pakistani and on top of that, being a female, one would assume that the logical thing for me to pursue would have been the medical field. But, I’m a rebel, or so I like to believe.  Instead, I’m studying International Development (INDEV) at the University of Waterloo. The main point of this article is to help YOU pick the right program, which will decide what you are going to do for the rest of your life. No pressure.

I’m going to tell you my story of why I’m not pursuing the “logical” path. My father is an engineer and my mother is a doctor which resulted in me being a science student till the end of high school. And somehow I just couldn’t see myself being either engineer or doctor. The biggest dilemma in my life was when I had to apply for universities. I just had no idea about anything! I wanted to do something with my life but couldn’t exactly figure it out. I knew what I didn’t want to do, but that wasn’t too helpful.

So, one day I was flipping through a university brochure and my eye caught the INDEV program. As clichéd as it may sound, it was love at first sight. Somehow I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life.

Thus beginning a new time in my life; the pity “oh” period. If you are not part of the elite engineering or doctor or lawyer group, you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. After the big decision, all the uncle and aunties want to know what you are studying.

Typical Conversation:

Uncle/Aunty: So baita what university are you going to?

Baita: XYZ University

Uncle/Aunty: What are you studying?

Baita: International development.

Uncle/Aunty: Oh. *awkward pause* What is that?

Baita: *offer simple explanation on how I’m going to save the world*

Uncle/Aunty: Good for you baita.

I cannot tell you how many times this has happened! What I want you to take away from this story is that no matter what you do, you can’t please everyone. So, do what makes you happy. The easiest way to find out is to ask yourself: do I see myself doing this for the next 50 years? I may sound weird emphasizing happiness, but it’s important, because money can’t buy happiness. (Yes, I’m all about the clichés).

Let’s change gears for a bit. I know it must be extremely scary to think about starting university in a foreign country! I don’t want to scare you – but it is the scariest thing ever! By the time you are in your third year, you won’t even remember what you were so frightened about. All the anxiety, the stress, the distance from home before you start university; they all become irrelevant and turn into distant memories. It’s the fear of the unknown that terrifies us. But once you are all settled in, it’s time to have fun! You have to realize why you’re there in the first place, to learn and change the world in your own way. Never forget that.

I overcame the “oh”. I did not let that drag me down; instead I think it pushed me, to become more determined. Every day you will come across something that will remind you why you are here. Moral of my story: do what makes you happy and don’t be scared of university because you will laugh about it in your years to come.

Source: Fatima Naveed

Tuesday February 21, 2012: 

Citizens for Free and Responsible Media statement on the Media and Balochistan

To: All TV channel heads, producers and directors, newspaper editors, DG PEMRA, Minister of Information, Prime Minister Pakistan

Summary:
1. We urge the Government to facilitate dialogue by lifting curbs on the media in Balochistan.
2. We call upon the media in Pakistan to address the situation in Balochistan with sensitivity, empathy and fairness and to facilitate a civil discourse.
3. We demand a public apology from Kamran Shahid, the producers of Frontline, Express TV, Barrister Saif and APML and all channels to boycott Mr Saif until he apologises publicly for his remarks. We also urge the APML as a responsible political party to apologise for his excesses.
1. We call upon the Government to lift the curbs on the media in Balochistan and allow voices from the troubled province to reach other parts of the country.

Lift the ban on The Baloch Hal, an online publication that advocates dialogue and non-violent protest.
Direct the security agencies to stop preventing the circulation of the Urdu daily Tawar (headquartered in Karachi) in Balochistan, and to stop threatening journalists, news agents and newspaper sellers in Balochistan associated with the paper.

2. We urge Pakistan’s media to lay down clear guidelines to ensure civil discourse and discussion by active, informed moderation rather than passive presence. Inflaming discussions for commercial benefit or the persistence of a lazy editorial process is a disservice to viewers, the media house itself and in this case, the Baloch people and all of Pakistan.

In this regard, Express TV’s talk show “Frontline” of Feb 15th, 2012 hosted by Kamran Shahid, merits special mention for being inflammatory and unprofessional, by allowing, even encouraging, an abusive exchange to take place that was not only unbefitting to any respectable current affairs programme, but is also likely to fan the flames of conflict in Balochistan.

We unequivocally condemn the language used and the intent of one of the studio guests, Barrister Saif Ali Khan of the APML, as well as the irresponsible and unethical conduct of the host Kamran Shahid. Instead of moderating the highly charged, threatening and aggressive comments of Barrister Saif, Mr Shahid appeared to add his stamp of approval by suggesting that Mr Saif had raised some “valid” points. This is not the first time that Kamran Shahid has tried to discuss a serious and controversial issue with an approach which can be described as amateurish and ratings-driven at best, or incompetent and unprofessional at worst.

The fact that two other guests of the show, registered their protest and exited the discussion, suggests that Mr Saif’s comments cannot be explained away by the “heat of the moment” or justified in any way by the alleged “validity” of any points he raised.

We believe that the trouble was deliberately stirred by the host and producer by bringing a Musharraf supporter into direct conflict with Talal Bugti who is known to hold Gen. Musharraf responsible for the murder of his father Nawab Akbar Bugti. Mr Bugti’s remarks about Gen. Musharraf (as being ‘wajib-ul-qatl or ‘liable to be killed) cannot be condoned, but Mr Saif’s response was out of proportion to the unfortunate use of words by a bereaved and angry son.

We find it amazing that the Frontline producers allowed the abuse to continue, rather than cutting off the sound of Barrister Saif’s microphone when it became clear that he was going to continue his abuse. Producers can also direct the host to stop such a diatribe. Instead, the camera zoomed into the faces of the host and the abusive guest in order to highlight the conflict, a tactic that appears to be designed to boost “ratings”.

We believe that Express TV channel is a responsible part of Pakistan’s media landscape. Therefore, we expect the management to take due notice of this incident and initiate an impartial in-house inquiry which would hopefully culminate with a much required censure of the programme’s host.

3. (a) We demand a public, unconditional apology from Kamran Shahid, from the show’s producers, and from Express TV.
(Kamran Shahid’s apology on twitter needs to be made at the forum where the transgression happened, ie. Express TV, re: @FrontlineKamran: Dear All, particularly from Baluchistan- I extend my unconditional apology, if my show has hurt your sentiment- I never meant it this way.)

3. (b) We urge all channels to boycott Mr Saif until he apologises publicly for his remarks. We also urge the APML as a responsible political party to apologise for his excesses.

This unfortunate incident provides an opportunity not only for Express TV, but for the other channels, to develop editorial and production policies that ensure that the anchor is aware of his/her responsibility to the viewing public, and indeed the organization that he or she represents, particularly in cases where guests abuse or threaten individuals, groups or organizations.

The answer is not to stop raising the issue of Balochistan as suggested by Kamran Shahid’s tweet: “@FrontlineKamran: Regardless of any thing, the issue of Baluchistan will not be raised again from the platform of Front Line with Kamran Shahid”. On the contrary, we believe it is crucial now, more than ever, to raise the issues related to Balochistan, but in a sensitive and responsible manner.

We are sure that given the sensitivity surrounding the coverage, debate and discussion of issues related to Balochistan, you will appreciate our concern that programming about the region should not be marred by controversy at the expense of the issues at hand. This is critical if the heartbreaking words of Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani, known to be pro-Pakistan, are not to be proved true: ”Balochistan aap sey bohat dur nikal chuka hai” (Balochistan has gone very far from you), he said as he left the offending Frontline talk show of Feb 15, 2012.

Sincerely,

On behalf of Citizens for Free and Responsible Media (CFRM)

• Aamer Aziz Saiyid, Advocate, Sindh High Court
• Adnan Rehmat, Executive Director Intermedia Pakistan
• Ahmad Rafay Alam, Advocate, Lahore
• Ali Abbas, Freelance journalist and Researcher at Pak Institute for Peace Studies, Islamabad
• Ali Kazmi, Student, Islamabad
• Ali Mustafa, Journalist, Toronto, ON, Canada
• Ali Taj, Hedge Fund Manager Newport Beach California
• Ammar Yasir – Engineer, Technology Writer
• Asadullah Khan Broadcast Journalist. Pakistan
• Ateek UrRehman, Peace Activist, Karachi, Pakistan
• Dr. Awab Alvi, Dentist & Social Media Activist, Karachi
• Beena Sarwar, journalist, Cambridge MA/Karachi, Pakistan
• Farhat Rabia – Customer Care Professional /Trainer- Karachi
• Dr. Fatima Afridi, Physician, U.K.
• Hadi Hussain, Social Researcher/ Educationist/Activist, Lahore
• Hira Kamal Shah, Media person and Women Empowerment activist, Jeddah KSA
• Hussein El-Edroos Manager Business Development & Training, Islamabad
• Ibrahim Sajid Malick Technologist, blogger, New York
• Ilmana Fasih, Gynecologist, Health Activist, Blogger, Mississauga ON,
• Canada/Karachi, Pakistan
• Javed Ahmed Qazi, lawyer, columnist and anchor, Karachi
• Dr. Kamran Iqbal. Social Entrepreneur, Karachi
• Kiran Nazish, Independent Journalist, Pakistan
• Khusro Mumtaz, Banker/Columnist, Karachi
• Maheen Usmani, concerned Pakistani citizen
• Meera Ghani, concerned citizen, Pakistan
• Mehreen Kasana. Student, blogger, cultural/social commentator
• Mohsin Sayeed, journalist, Karachi
• Muhammad Aftab Alam, media lawyer, Executive Director, Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA), Islamabad Pakistan
• Munnazir Aziz, Lodhran, Blogger/video producer
• Nabiha Meher Shaikh, teacher & writer, Lahore
• Nadia Fazal Jamil, Actor/Educationist/Anchor/Pakistan
• Nadir El-Edroos, Teacher & Blogger, London
• Naziha Syed Ali, Journalist, Karachi
• Nighat Dad, Lawyer, Lahore
• Noman Quadri, concerned citizen, Karachi
• Raza Bashir, Corporate Banking, Karachi
• Saba Hamid, actor, lahore
• Saadia Toor, Associate Professor, City University of New York
• Sadaf Baig, Projects Coordinator, Intermedia Pakistan
• Sahar Habib Ghazi, Journalist, USA/Pakistan
• Shah Hayat Ahmad, Insurance Broker, Karachi, Pakistan
• Susan Marie, Journalist, Radio Producer, UNV, NY
• Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi Activist, founder Pakistan Youth Alliance; Islamabad/Lahore

Professionals form the backbone of a society. Professionals include Doctors, engineers, bankers, businessmen, lawyers, soldiers and law-enforcers. Pakistani society as a whole has been affected by the problem of increasing intolerance and religious extremism over the years. One of the many causes of this rise is the state of textbooks in Pakistan that promote hatred and bigotry(Consider for instance Meri Kitab, which is a required text textbook for grade one students in most public schools. Seven out of 16 chapters in Meri Kitab contained religious sermons. A report by United States Commission on International Religious Freedom found that textbooks were filled with disparaging remarks about the Hindus, while never mentioning that for centuries Muslims and Hindus had lived peacefully in the subcontinent.). Students are taught from a young age to hate perceived enemies. Other causes include the propaganda-mongering by state-backed Madrassas and even state-controlled media, enormous groundwork done by religious groups and exploitation of religious beliefs of people by clergy. A common belief about terrorists is that only uneducated, unemployed and frustrated people join the ranks of terrorists. Research has proven this wrong and we know today that there are many doctors, engineers and other professionals in the terrorist ranks. The 9/11 conspirators included 8 engineers, Faisal Shehzad, famously known as Times-square bomber is a qualified engineer, Yahya Ayyash from Hamas-an electrical engineer-is credited with advancing the technique of suicide bombing,  Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (confessed Al Qaeda operative and engineering student) tried to blow up an airliner over Detroit, Mohammed Abd al-Salam Faraj, leader of the killers of Anwar Sadat, Kafeel Ahmed, who tried to bomb Glasgow Airport in 2007, Anwar al-Awlaki(top Al-Qaeda leader from Yemen famous for his internet sermons), studied engineering as an undergraduate at Colorado State University. In Pakistan, Hafiz Saeed-the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawaa, both on International terror watch list-used to teach at University of Engineering and Technology, Faiz Mohammad, a civil engineer, was caught at Karachi’s airport with batteries and an electrical circuit hidden in his shoes, Asif Mehmood, a chemical engineer from UET, was involved in the 2009 bombing of the ISI office in Lahore.

Diego Gambetta and Steffen Herog in their research paper titled “Why are there so many Engineers among Islamic Radicals?” note that According to data compiled by Carnegie foundation in 1984, The proportion of engineers who declare themselves to be on the right of the political spectrum is greater than in any other disciplinary group: 57.6 % of them are either conservative or strongly conservative, as compared to 51.1 % of economists, 42.5 % of doctors and 33.5 % of scientists, 21.4 % of those in the humanities, and 18.6 % of the social scientists. The Carnegie survey reveals an even more surprising fact, hitherto unnoticed, that strengthens the suspicion that the engineers’ mindset may play a part in their proneness not only to radicalize to the right of the political spectrum, but do so with a religious slant: engineers turn out to be by far the most religious group of all academics – 66.5 %, followed again by 61.7 % in economics, 49.9 % in sciences, 48.8 % of social scientists, 46.3 % of doctors and 44.1% of lawyers.” Similarly, Peter Bergen and Swati Pandey in their 2006 study of ‘madrassas (Islamic schools) and lack of education as a putative terrorist incubator’ found that the most popular subjects amongst those jihadi terrorists who attended university was engineering followed by medicine.

Regarding the cause of this dangerous trend among engineers, Awais Masood, an engineer by profession, wrote in the Daily Times, “The relationship between religious fundamentalism and technology has remained complicated. Religious fundamentalist movements have been widely described as reaction to modernity though the movements are themselves modern in nature. Hence there exists an inherent conflict where these movements reject the underlying notions of rationality, secular and scientific constituting modernity. On the other hand, these movements continue to appropriate modern symbols and technology to further their cause. Historically, fundamentalist movements vehemently opposed natural sciences and technology but that does not hold true anymore. As stated in a paper titled ‘Postmodern Conservatism and Religious Fundamentalism’ by Geoff Boucher, the fundamentalist movements of today harbour a selective, instead of a wholesome, hostility towards natural sciences and try to engage in an understanding of the world that remains compatible with the commercialized science of today encompassing applied sciences and technology. Hence, these movements hold a significant appeal among technical professionals such as engineers, doctors and lawyers. Carrying forward this correlation between technical education and fundamentalism, a 2009 study published in The European Journal of Sociology showed that engineers constitute 20 percent of all Islamist militant organizations, a value remarkably greater than the expected 3.5 percent figure.”

There is also the question as to why people who are supposed to think according to the scientific method adopt the narrow-minded approach of terrorists. According to Professor of Nuclear Physics, Dr. Parvez Hoodbhoy, “We need to separate the scientists from the technologists, meaning those who use science in a narrowly functional sense rather than as a means for understanding the natural world. I have never seen a first-rate Muslim scientist become an Islamist or a terrorist even when he or she is a strong believer. But second- and third-rate technologists are more susceptible. These are people who use science in some capacity but without any need to understand it very much—engineers, doctors, technicians, etc.—all of whom are more inclined towards radicalism. They have been trained to absorb facts without thinking, and this makes them more susceptible to the inducements of holy books and preachers.”

The phenomenon of rising intolerance and fanaticism is not limited to engineers rather it has encapsulated our society in general. The most worrying aspect about this issue is the lack of awareness regarding it. As a society, we fall upon excuses to somehow justify terrorism due to clever usage of religious symbolism attached to it, despite losing more than 35 thousand innocent lives due to terrorist activities. Veteran Journalist Khaled Ahmed recently commented that “Pakistan is sinking because it doesn’t want to look terrorism in the eye”.

Very little is being written against radicalization in mainstream newspapers particularly Urdu newspapers. Ratings-hungry News channels are not devoting any time to raise awareness about the radical ideology. Government is not spending enough resources to counter the tide of fanaticism. The problem starts with the textbooks and is augmented by societal pressures and a criminal lack of focus on critical thinking. A combined effort by the government, civil society and media is required to halt the onslaught of radicalism and to ensure a better, a safer future for this country. It should also be mentioned that by not speaking up, we are colluding with the enemy.

We remember the time when most of Pakistani parents would aspire to be parents of future doctors, engineers and military personnel. The second choice would be opportunities afforded by CSS. The age of computers came and it added another option but never with the allure of the above. Those originally sought after professions still remain the aspiration for millions and their parents.

Being an engineer, and an only son to two doctors, I am part of a family apparently counted the first two choices as the only reasonable choices. And similarly, I am convinced that while liberal arts, journalism, economics, pure sciences and other professions are more acceptable now than ever before, the core choice of most Pakistani parent has not changed much.

This attitude and the limitations of our educational system has posed a number of dilemmas for individuals and created social problems and challenges for the Pakistani society. I have always tried to convince people who think of working without going through formal higher education to reconsider, but privately I have my doubts about the utility of this advice. And these doubts arise from a major stress factor that threatens our society today, unemployment of the highly educated. Doctors and engineers included.

Being an Engineer I would venture to share my opinion on what ails this professional qualification. Our engineering universities, except for the top few, have turned into mass producers of degree holding individuals who have little chance of securing a decent job at the initial stages. And while lack of jobs can also be attributed to the present economic conditions it’s also a result of not understanding the significance of the numbers that our economy can absorb, even in better days.

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of engineering institutes in the country, Private Sector and Government Sector. The Government Sector includes universities such as the UETs (Lahore, Peshawar, Taxila, Faisalabad, Mehran), Punjab University, NED Karachi, Bahauddin Zakaria University and many more. The Private sector, which has noticeably ballooned in the recent past, includes GIKI, NUST, FAST, LUMS, University of Central Punjab, University of Lahore etc. Four of the biggest engineering institutions of the country, UET Lahore, GIKI, NUST, and NED are the most prestigious. UET produces around 1400 Engineers (BSc) every year. NUST and NED can be estimated to produce a similar number and GIKI churns out about 500.

This takes the outflow of these four institutions to be around 4700. Let’s assume that all of the other institutions produce around 10,000 professionals on top of these and this takes the number to around 15,000, minimum, every year. The next question is what do they do after they have graduated and the problem begins at this very moment. The end of graduation divides these young individuals into two broad spectrums,

1. Those who want to work in the industry

2. Those who want to seek further education

It is important to mention that this division is affected by the economic strata to which these engineers belong to. Those from relatively better economic background choosing to study further. Most of those wanting to serve in the industry immediately after graduating would be those who are in some way economically challenged. And then within these Engineering, Electrical and Mechanical engineers have the best chances of securing a decent first job. And for the other graduates in less desired Engineering fields it’s a real dog fight. This poses the first dilemma.

To further complicate matters or the engineering trades that are called traditional, e.g. Electrical and Mechanical, while there are jobs but the competition is extremely tough. For the nontraditional trades such as Environmental Engineering and Metallurgy, there are not many jobs to begin with. This leads to a very healthy situation. As the top spots fill out engineers begin to settle for lesser and lesser than they aimed until most of them would start off with jobs that are only remotely linked with what they have been trained for. But even after such compromises there would always be a huge number of Engineering graduates left unemployed.

It’s a never ending sad story. The number of engineers our institutions are producing grows each year with fewer jobs to compete for. This situation is likely to continue till the present economic recession remains and the security situation does not improve. Add to all this the cost cutting measures that even industrial giants are taking today and we have a very dire challenge facing us.

So what are we left with?

We are left with thousands of individual graduates, unemployed or barely employed with no silver lining in their dark skies. They have run out of ideas and plans and with an aim of surviving only. One would have thought, or wished, that our government would somehow come up with policies to tackle this challenge. How very naïve of us to think like this !!

Every year, our government grants more and more institutions the right to grant engineering degrees. I cannot claim that these universities are not assessed for infrastructure and other prerequisites, but I have witnessed 5 room “universities” claiming of awarding “Engineering” degrees. The fact that despite the huge increase in the number of engineering institutions today each one of them is full to its brim is a proof that even today most young people automatically choose this profession to study without assessing the future prospects.

Year after year we put on the line the future of some of our brightest minds by not planning properly, as a state our educational policies. These individuals have the potential of making a huge difference if they are guided properly at the beginning of the higher education stage.

Its high time that the government and the political parties focus on correcting our educational policies. In this information age Human Resources are a countries most important asset. We cannot afford, as a state and society, to treat it in such a callous manner.

PT Report Gilgit, January 1: DPO Aman Ullah of the Gilgit – Baltistan Peoples Works Department has died in a road accident near Gich (Punial) . His driver has, reportedly, been injured in the accidet. According to details, Engineer Aman Ullah was driving the official vehicle when this accident took place. Engineer Aman Ullah hailed [...]

Asim Iqbal Gilgit, December 20: The Gilgit-Baltistan government is planning to increase the powers, as well as the number of seats of local body institutions. This was stated by GB local bodies minister, Engineer Ismail, while explaining the importance of “local bodies” to the members of GBLA, at the assembly hall. He said that the [...]

Image lifted from http://aduunyo.com

I had a friend in college who was discovering Islam around the time I was. Though we were both born Muslims, we were now understanding it and practicing of our own accord. We weren‘t converts, but “Reverts“. After college, she went on to study Islam at a madrassa-esque school for women and I went on to law school, but we stayed in touch and shared books and articles we found interesting. My interest in Islam was sparked by the post 9/11 hatred that the media spewed about a religion I had grown up with, but never taken the time to understand. Because I didn’t understand Islam, I didn’t know how to defend it. Being dumbfounded on occasion, I decided I needed to learn what was true and right so as to be able to either defend my religion, or agree with the accusations leveled against it.

My friend came from a family that was somewhat religiously inclined. She was never interested in school or having a set career South Asians choose for their children (i.e. doctor, engineer, lawyer, banker) and so, she carefully slipped into a comfort zone that was her religion. Islam tied her to the rest of her family. It gave her a sense of belonging and provided ideas she could contribute when discussions arose, which was often. Her religion was her identity. I think that’s usually the reason we turn to religion, for a sense of belonging and legacy. But turning to a religion without understanding it is like polishing firewood. Sadly, our emotions get the better of us and we neglect the intellectual imperative of understanding the nuances of religion. We defend our beliefs, without comprehension which makes our arguments limp; thereby dissuading non-Muslims even further. Most fail to understand religion because we are taught that questioning is deserving of hellfire, so we silently obey and follow those that teach it.

A recent opinion piece by Eric Weiner in the New York Times explains how “the Nones” or the “people who say they have no religious affiliation at all” are the most rapidly growing group of people in the United States; currently, they make up approximately 12 percent of the population. In Pakistan, we see the Reverts claiming ground.

I see reverting every day with my friends. They’re pulled into the fervent fascination of religion, and feed their curiosity by following one or several neighborhood clerics. Or better yet, someone on television. It is these clerics that later align themselves with political parties or form one of their own (Tehreek-e-Talban is well known). Therefore, in order to pull in the vote of the youth, all political parties play at the heartstrings of our newly-religious-youth and chant slogans accented with God‘s name. This isn’t a novel concept, nor one that is restricted to Pakistan. The case is the same in the U.S. where at last weeks Republican Debate in Iowa, almost all the candidates kept advertising how they were the most conservative and proud of their Christian upbringing.

Back in the day, General Zia (Pakistani Military Dictator 3.0) promulgated various laws that were supposedly based on religion; of these, the most famous are the Blasphemy Laws. Under these laws, a religious sect known as Ahmedi’s were declared non-Muslims. One of the famous Ahmedi’s was Dr. Abdus Salam; Pakistan’s only Nobel Laureate. It is said that when he approached General Zia to protest the declarations, Zia said that his religious clerics had advised him that the Ahmedi’s were changing the words of the Qur’an to promote their philosophy. When Dr. Salam proved otherwise, Zia shrugged and said that he would not have set the law as such had he known better. He did not change it then; admitting a mistake is like admitting defeat. Besides, this law had gained Zia popular vote with the youth and the religiously fervent.

Mr. Weiner argues that the rise in the Nones is due to politics – “God is for suckers, and Republicans.” In Pakistan’s case, God is for every political party to manipulate in a manner that benefits them, regardless of its repercussions or the validity of the statements made. This is because everyone wears religion on their sleeve, the religion that they have not studied, or have been misinformed about by their clerics and elders. Like Mr. Weiner points out, we have lost sight of the graces of God and the behavior expected of us. God asks us to be compassionate, like Karen Armstrong explains in her book “Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life”, compassion means to endure something with another person; not to feel sorry for them. How can we endure something we don’t fully comprehend?

I wish that the religious clerics that advise our political leaders and Reverts would do so with utmost wisdom, and not with personal hatred or disdain shrouded in a religious chant. I also wish that the Reverts make use of the amenities that are available to them, figure out the truth for themselves, and not follow on hatred towards another people or falsified views of God.

So, although it is considered inopportune to discuss religion and politics at the dinner table, this holiday season, let us do just that. Ask your friends and family to explain their views and you get a moment to explain yours. Respect each others opinions and realize that it is perfectly fine to disagree, so long as your views are researched and not standing on a pile of ill-founded emotions that you picked out of someone else’s recycling bin.