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thetruthseekerway · 5 years ago

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From Atheism to Christianity to Islam

New Post has been published on https://www.truth-seeker.info/guided-atheists/from-atheism-to-islam-2/

From Atheism to Christianity to Islam

By Truth Seeker Staff

From Atheism to Christianity to Islam

Step by step, I learned that Islam is not a militant religion.

I once knew an atheist who claimed he had never believed in God’s existence. In his view, believers were supposed to be people of weak character who felt the necessity to find a crutch for their inability and laziness, so they attended church. He felt agitated if, when debating religion, he could not persuade the opponent with his arguments. He despised believers in an almost hysterical way. He had, however, a very good friend who believed in God. They agreed to refrain from discussing religion whenever together.

One day this man, probably in a rare moment of weakness, accepted the invitation of his friend to visit his church. To himself, he laughed at the thought of speaking out in the middle of mass and laughing and pointing his finger at the believers from the pulpit. However, as we know, God works in mysterious ways. He went to church, stood in the back benches, and stared at the people praying.

The mass service started and he gave all of them a sarcastic glance. Then the sermon began, lasting about 15 minutes. Suddenly, in the middle of the sermon, tears welled in his eyes. A strange feeling of joy and happiness washed away his animosity, a feeling that engulfed his entire body. After mass, the two friends left together. They were silent until the moment they were to part ways, when he asked his friend whether they could go to church together again. They agreed to go again the next day.

It’s possible some of you might have guessed that I was that stubborn atheist. I had felt nothing but contempt and hatred towards people of faith. But after that sermon in 1989, when the priest discussed how we should not judge others if we don’t want to be judged, my life suddenly took a dramatic turn.

I started attending church services regularly and was thirsty for any information on God and Jesus Christ. I took part in meetings with Christian youngsters where we exchanged our spiritual experiences. I felt resurrected. Suddenly I felt the need to be in the company of believers. I needed to make up for the past 18 years.

I was brought up in an atheist family, who except for having me baptized, did not exercise any attempt to guide my spiritual development. I remember being in sixth grade when a comrade was sent by the Communist Party to explain to us why God does not exist. I remember myself absorbing his every word. In my case, I needed no convincing. I believed everything he said. His arrogance, contempt, and hatred towards believers became mine. But now I had to make up for all those years.

I met with a priest and others who guided me in this new direction. I was full of so many questions, to which they responded. Later, I was to realize a big mistake: I accepted everything without contemplation or reflection. I could say that they explained things to me in a ‘take-it-as-is’ manner, but that would not be fair to them. It was, in fact, my mistake. I didn’t reflect upon their words, nor did I think critically. This would cause me a lot of complications later. In retrospect, I believe an important factor that influenced my behavior was age. I was too young to properly comprehend matters so serious and complicated as faith.

I wished to become a good Christian, and God knows I tried very hard. Yet over time, I could not reconcile the contradictions found in the Bible, such as the divine nature of Prophet Jesus and the concept of inherited sin. Priests tried to respond to my questions, but eventually, their patience began to run thin. I was told that such matters should be accepted on faith, and that these questions were a waste of time and would only serve to distance me from God. Till this day, I recall myself quarreling with a spiritual leader, an event that restarted my self-destructive tendencies. Maybe I wasn’t right after all. I was young.

How I Became Muslim

My path toward Islam wasn’t easy at all. You may think that since I was disappointed with Christianity, I would have immediately accepted Islam as my faith. This could have been very simple, but all I knew about Islam at the time were things like Muslims refer to God as Allah, they read the Qur’an instead of the Bible, and they worship somebody called Muhammad. Also, I think I was not yet ready to accept Islam.

So I withdrew from the church community and claimed to be a soloist Christian. I found out, however, that even though I didn’t miss the community of believers or church, God was ‘settled’ so deep in my heart that I couldn’t let Him go. I didn’t even try. Quite the opposite. I felt happy to have God around and hoped He was on my side.

Later I began to engage in one stupidity after another, living a life of luxury and lust. I did not realize that such a road would lead me away from God and towards hell. A friend of mine says that you need to hit rock bottom in order to feel the ground beneath your feet. This is exactly what happened to me. I fell really deep. I can just imagine how Satan must have been waiting for me with open arms, but God did not give up on me and gave me another chance.

In July 2001, I met a young man from Iraq. His name was Ibrahim. We very quickly struck up a conversation. He told me that he was Muslim, and I responded that I was Christian. I was worried that my being Christian would be a problem, but I was wrong. I was glad to be wrong. It was interesting that I did not want to become Muslim and he did not try to convert me.

Although I considered Muslims an exotic group, I had been interested to learn more about Islam. It was a good opportunity to learn more. I realized that I had in front of me a man who could teach me a lot about Islam, so I mustered the courage to ask him to do just that. That was my first meeting with Islam, indeed my first step. After some time we parted ways, and I did not see him again, but the seed had been sown.

I remember once reading an interview with Mohammad Ali Silhavy (an old Czech Muslim) and being eager to find his address and write him a letter. Then came September 11. Because of the political climate, I thought it might not be an appropriate time to contact Mr. Silhavy. So I found myself at a dead end.

About two months later, I found the courage to write a long letter to Mr. Silhavy. After a while he replied and sent a package including Islamic literature and leaflets. He told me that he had informed the Islamic Foundation in Prague about me and asked them to send me the translation of the Qur’an. So this was my beginning. Step by step, I learned that not only is Islam not a militant religion, but to the contrary, it is a religion of peace. My questions were answered.

Because of certain circumstances, it wasn’t until three years later that I decided to visit Mr. Silhavy. He showed a lot of patience while explaining to me different issues, and suggested that I visit the mosque of Brno (Czech Republic). When I went to the mosque of Brno, I was afraid that I would be seen as a stranger, an outsider. How surprised I was to find quite the opposite. I met K. and L., who were the first persons to help me. Of course, I met other brothers who welcomed me in the warmest possible way.

I began to delve into all aspects of Islam, and found how understandable and logical Islam is. I gradually started to learn how to pray, and today I master Prayer with no problem, even in Arabic. I gave up a bad habit of mine that was not compatible with Islam. I was a gambler and a very good one indeed. It was a difficult struggle with myself, but with God’s help I won that battle.

If I ever doubted my interest in Islam or whether I could live as a Muslim, I know now that my interest is permanent and I consider myself one of them. Maybe it looks very simple, but again with God’s help I won this internal struggle. I thought carefully before I definitively decided to embrace Islam. To be honest, throughout 2003 and the beginning of 2004, I was not completely sure if I could manage this. Finally I decided definitively. I am not that young man from the early ’90s anymore.

That’s why today I feel very happy that I am Muslim. I finally feel free. I still have my imperfections but I am trying to improve upon them. I believe that God will help me. Now, listen to what I want to tell you and consider this my obligation: I believe in my heart and declare by word that there is no other god but God and Muhammad is God’s Messenger.

________________

Source: www.Onislam.net.

#Atheism #conversion story #convert to islam #Czech young man #Featured #From Atheism to Christianity to Islam #From Atheist to Islam #guided atheist #New Muslim's Story

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aleksandrakv · 7 years ago

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Social media in Adam Lambert’s life&career

It’s been so long since I’ve written anything longer than a tweet about Adam, but this stanning lethargy doesn’t reflect the level of my interest in the man. It may appear so, but can the lack of online presence automatically imply the lack of interest? In today’s state of affairs, when artists have carefully constructed and heavily monitored internet presence, when YouTube views are everything and the most powerful politicians seem to pay more attention to Twitter than their jobs, it would be understandable if it could. The www. has finally become literally that – a worldwide group chat, where presidents tweet, where actors, musicians and sportsmen keep vlogs on YouTube, writers publish their essays on Facebook, and everybody comments.

Adam Lambert has chosen not to do so. In an era when YouTube stars become singers who get Saturday Night Live slots where they whisper the lyrics into a microphone, and when the top trending video which garnered more than 30 million views in a day is one of a reality star announcing her pregnancy, Adam has taken a quiet step back in the past few years - and I together with him. I couldn’t help it. Twitter has lost its appeal to me ever since a constant possibility that Adam could see a particularly flaily or witty tweet was no longer an option – the magic of giddy anticipation was gone. For all intents and purposes, Adam has semi-abandoned Twitter and moved to Instagram; a Facebook affiliated app which I never took a liking to.

I was upset and a little resentful. I didn’t understand why. Not only did I have to suffer the cruel Atlantic Ocean between us, but now we were on different online apps, which is a fate way worse than living on different continents, according to cyber sense of geography. In my bitterness, I even had an occasional mean thought on the subject. Oh yeah, that’s because he can ogle hot guys there. What about MEEE? Or, even worse: it’s because of the filters. The man LOVES a good filter, the vain queen. Or, absolutely the worst: he wanted to escape the twitter crazies. It was the worst because I should have known that the crazies are everywhere. I was bitchy, mean, and so, so wrong. This essay is my redemption. The price I want to pay for my stupidity, because Adam does have a social media presence, albeit not as aggressive as I might like. There is a reason for that, which he has already given. I had read it before, but it flew right over me like a sparrow, equally tender and fragile, leaving my head unruffled and thoughtless as if nothing had happened.

Even on his preferred social network, Adam’s behavior is somewhat atypical, in a sense that he doesn’t hesitate to share less than perfect photos. Unfiltered, sweaty, in-your-face, flaking makeup photos of the realistic kind - a rare occurrence among the Hollywood hotties. But he is a geek like the rest of us. The anticipation of waiting for the first photos to appear when he has a concert is one of the best parts of being his fan. Adam is incredibly photogenic, but sometimes, those photos are low quality ones, taken by fans on their phones, from pretty unflattering angles. Adam somehow manages to look great in most of them, despite the low angles and the fact that great physical exertion makes everyone look awful. Being photographed in the middle of an adrenaline rush while singing from the top of your lungs for two hours is challenging. His facial features almost rearrange with strain, but Adam simply knows how to pose and is rarely caught off guard – a life’s tiny miracle. I love those candid pictures. And Adam posts only the best of them.

It’s the professional photos where he shines the most. Those are usually true works of art, crispy sharp and simply stunning in their quality. I don’t think I’ve ever seen less than perfect professional photo of Adam. They capture the moments that would otherwise be missed and allow you to fully appreciate the visual side the concert. In videos, the focus is primarily on the sound and the movement, but if I had to choose which medium reflects Adam’s emotional state and journey during concerts best, I would choose photography. It’s a strange thing to say about a singer, but Adam has a very expressive face and body. It’s like their muteness and stillness don’t subtract, but add to the experience of Adam’s process of creation.

In addition to music photography, Adam posts everything and anything that’s important to him, seemingly with no rhyme or reason. His Instagram page is a mess, a potpourri of professional photos, fan photos, album covers, photos of his family, friends, his dog, travelling photos, fashion photos, and all that in uneven levels of quality which most posters would never allow themselves. Adam has it all, from professional HD quality to grainy and blurry shots taken by a phone. It’s a far cry from carefully coordinated, handpicked and posted after a thousandth try stylish representation of other serious posters. He doesn’t juice for a week before taking selfies. He doesn’t always filter. He doesn’t always look pretty. He isn’t always all mysterious and artistic. He’s sometimes such a goofball. He is definitely an undisciplined Instagram user.

It’s a revealing fact. He deletes his posts sometimes, and I’m not sure if it’s the morning after self-filtering, or he gets the call. Social media can make or break a career nowadays. But on the other hand, you can be a successful artist without constant media presence – although it is a pretty rare occurrence. The only example coming to my mind is Frank Ocean. There are artists who have a modest number of followers and YouTube views, and yet they can and do fill up arenas, just as there are artists who have millions of followers and cannot have a decent tour.

In Adam’s case, I feel like he is past making or breaking his career online. At this point, he doesn’t need a heavily moderated Instagram page or a vlogging channel to achieve anything - other than making me happier, that is. The fact that I would love if Adam was more present, by engaging with his fans more, or, in best case scenario, vlogging about his life and career (I would sell my firstborn for that), doesn’t mean much in grander scheme of things. Adam has allowed himself the luxury of doing what he wants, and his Instagram page reflects that in the clearest of ways. I am not saying he wouldn’t benefit from having 50 million followers on Twitter or Instagram, but, he just doesn’t have that. If he can’t get it from doing his job and being who he is, he will never get it anyway. He refuses to participate in the social media race. So, unlike many a budding YouTube star trying to make it in other fields by creating an ideal, unrealistic impression of themselves, with their uniform, heavily filtered, grayscale artsy photos, Adam’s multifarious posts do reveal a lot simply by not being what one would expect. He’s a rebel just for kicks there.

Oh, there is some vanity there; he isn’t above it nor does he pretend to be. He smizes and pouts in many filtered photos and videos, enjoying his flawless skin provided by Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom’s filtering system, turning his head like this and like that like a Valley girl – but that’s just Adam playing with his toy. He has this proclivity for ridiculous behavior; that and the fact that he loves the ageless chibi art of Creative Sharka makes me sometimes think that he has entered a serious fear-of-getting-old phase. It would have been true if he posted such photos only, which he most definitely doesn’t.

Adam is a naturally beautiful man, why does he have to goof around like that? Well, because he is so much more than that. Because more than stunning good looks, he has a killer sense of humor. Because more than looking pretty and feeding his vanity, he loves having fun. He mocks himself, too. “I swear I didn't realize I was making full duck face” is his own comment on a truly astounding full duck face he made while trying to credit Valentino for a clothing item. He loves stand-up comedy. He’s watched the Amy Schumer Leather special, and the Ricky Gervais Humanity special, and posted about both shows. That’s how I know.

There’s a selfie which he took while Antinous was being tattooed on his torso – a particularly painful experience, according to him; hence the awkward facial expression. The photo is so ridiculous and unflattering that it immediately reminded me of the comical selfies which Ricky Gervais takes all the time, trying to look as ugly as possible in them, thus expressing his mockery on the worldwide mania of posting unrealistically perfect photos. Adam has a comedic streak a mile wide, and not only does it come out in concerts and movie roles such as his part of Eddie in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but also in his Instagram page as well. Unlike Ricky, Adam just wants to laugh at himself. Yes, he sometimes looks ridiculous and weird - don’t we all? He’s no bullshitter, and never will be.

Now would be a great moment to mention his Grandma June alter ego. So, Adam has decided it would be great to make himself look forty years older, name the character Grandma June and rant throughout several videos on many a current topic. Who? What? Adam, the most eligible gay bachelor of several times? Adam, the Zeus in a thong sex symbol for many? Unbelievable. Waves of discomfort could be felt throughout the shallower waters of the fandom. Was he just having fun with it? Was he mocking himself for overusing de-aging filters? Was he helping himself get over his own fear of aging by laughing at his own expense? Was it some kind of reverse psychology/psychotherapy via Snapchat filters? Was it to shock his fans who come to his page for hotness and beauty galore, only to find Grandma June blinking owlishly at them? The list is endless. It’s like he was saying, ‘yeah, I’m hot, but I’m also ridiculous, funny and a little bit on the crazy side.’ Who knows. It’s certainly less ridiculous than me putting words in his mouth. It is also very non-Hollywood of Adam, where ageism is rampant and the anti-aging industry flourishes, where kids start injecting botox as soon as they’re twenty and where a lot of people take faces they’re born with as a slight suggestion. Interesting topic.

We’re now traipsing deeper and deeper into Adam’s more hidden depths. This makes it sound like scrolling through his Instagram page is a voyage into the heart of darkness, the Apocalypse Now style; but it does feel adventurous after you parse through the regular job-related stuff. Such aside interests tell us a lot about him and his fascinations, like his love and respect for other artists. He is a true fan at heart, expressing himself unabashedly and passionately – so many pictures of Freddie, Bowie and George Michael, but also Goldfrapp, Demi, Lady Gaga, and all his musician friends. Sometimes, he puts the flailers in his own fandom to shame. I like that about him. I feel like it’s a level we can relate on. And I love that he doesn’t have cheap, tit-for-tat, I’ll-do-you-and-you-do-me mentality. When he says that he likes something, you better fucking believe that he does.

He also loves nature. He posts sceneries – the beloved Runyon Canyon, the Ibiza cruise, Mexico, Bali, Mykonos in Greece, Argentina, you name it - but, he will also post a photo of a single olive tree. The fandom speculated for three days about what it could possibly mean. He posted a video of a single butterfly flapping its wings, and a colony of bats, and a lonely gecko crawling up the wall and a mother duck and her ducklings swimming in the lake. Endless photos of Pharaoh don’t even count. Details from around him capture his attention in a way that he expresses his emotive, intuitive side by showing us the impact they have on him. In his private moments, he is a far cry from a wild rocker living his wild rock’n’roll life. He’s so much more than that. He’s a tree watcher. A butterfly watcher. A bird watcher. Life and observing life clearly excites him.

He also loves architecture. He will post pictures of streets and buildings, sculptures and monuments, from everywhere he goes, and he travels a lot. Someone else would probably spend all pre- and post-concert time in hibernation accumulating energy, but not Adam. He loves the bas-reliefs, ancient facades, the Greco-Roman culture, supporting columns and carvings of Venetian houses; but every now and then he will also post some strange things, like tombstones. He’s a traveler with a twist. When he goes somewhere new, he sometimes visits cemeteries. He’s been to Boston Cemetery and Buenos Aires Cemetery. He posted a photo of the entrance to Jesus’ tomb from his visit to Jerusalem. No matter what B Hollywood horror movies are trying to tell us, cemeteries are never about being creepy or frightful -- they are like a library for the imagination. Wandering cemeteries around the globe, reading headstones, thinking about the lives of the people there, the mind wanders into a thousand stories. It can be therapeutic. But, who knows what Adam’s motives were. All I know is that he is more than just a traveler – he is also a spiritual explorer.

In everything he does, he rarely stays within the lines. This diversity tells us that Adam is a complex man before he is an artist, and even less than he is an artist, that he is a promoting artist. His self-promoting campaigns are there, but ever so subtle and discrete - nothing like the aggressive campaigning that has become obligatory nowadays. I’m not talking about the management or the label part in it, or whoever is in charge of his promotion; just Adam’s own role in it. A few tweets, a few Instagram posts, mostly just informative in nature, before a new release. Regarding concerts, a tweet before and after is a rarity. An occasional review. He will sometimes post great photos after concerts, though. I have no idea how to explain such behavior other than to say that he doesn’t want to do it, nor does he feel like he has to. Maybe he is of the ‘an artist should never reveal too much and keep a level of mystery’ persuasion. Maybe he believes the music will find its way to those who want to hear it. Or maybe he just finds it tacky, as I do, the ad nauseam self-promoting of certain artists. Who knows. I certainly wouldn’t find it tacky if Adam did it. We’ll see how Era 4 will roll out and if Adam will be more talkative then. The one explanation I personally find the most believable is that he is a well-mannered man who believes that you should let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips; but that’s because I tend to attribute Adam superhuman qualities. He can’t be that much of a gentleman, can he?

He is not very verbose in his Instagram captions either; most of them, that is. His posts are usually with very little or no comment from him. He tags the people in the photo, or he gives credit to the photographer – he is pretty diligent about it. On few unfortunate occasions when that didn’t happen, we had a mutiny among the photographers which ended with bruised egos on both sides.

So sparse are his comments, that when you do bump onto a few loquacious ones, you just know that it must be something of utter importance or that he feels strongly about. You don’t have to guess anything then, or draw unfortunate conclusions, which is a game his fans like to play and that Adam likes to engage us in by dropping random hints. No game here – his words are loud and crystal clear, concise and to the point, and apart from bringing my attention to the relevance of such particular posts, they serve to remind me what a great thinker and an amazing human being Adam is. Those words are always about love and equality.

One of such glimpses into his more private, passionate side is certainly his love and appreciation for Creative Sharka, a fan who makes digital paintings and chibi art of Adam and the moments in his career. He has posted her art several times and even met with her during his tour - such gratitude and appreciation of a fan really warms my heart. It tells me what I already knew: that he is such a fan himself, a great lover of everything that inspires him and open in his heart for the reciprocal love exchange between artists as the highest form of flattery. He’s had such situation in his career several times, on various levels, but this one with a fan feels truly rewarding.

Creative Sharka gives him her art, but it doesn’t have to be a tangible thing. One of the most revealing and emotional comments he wrote under a photo from one of his performances reveals so much. It is a photo whose focal point are the backs of two people, two guys, who are leaning against one another in a hug, their heads connected, and they are facing Adam singing on the stage in the background. They are in the forefront, their body language speaking of love; Adam is in the background, perhaps inspiring such connection. His comment says, “Really in luv w this photo. So sweet.” I’ve never read Adam saying that about any picture, and it’s one of the amateur, fan ones, too – and all the more precious for that.

But, does he always feel the love? Do we? Most of the times, I am sure that he does. But I have always imagined Adam as a highly emotional guy, which also means a great capacity for sadness, too, especially with so many reasons for it surrounding us. There is one, literally one sad comment that I have encountered during all these years. It’s under a photo of Frank the Robot’s head, taken before the show, with the top half of it waiting patiently to be connected with its bottom half by diligent Queen crew, so that Adam can ride it and spew obscenities into the audience from its shiny, metallic head. “Sad Clown,” is Adam’s caption. I don’t know if he felt bad for Frank at that moment, or the words are about Killer Queen, but there is a possibility that the words are about Frank’s rider later on. Sometimes, he does have to hide his sadness and paint his smile on. Who doesn’t.

He truly belongs to one of the rarest of species – a beautiful man who becomes even more beautiful when he opens his mouth and speaks. Or sings. In the pre-Trump, pre-Brexit, pre-Vučić era, I used to take his words for granted. I believed everybody thought so, or almost everybody. I was spectacularly wrong. The bout of sadness that gripped me then is still not easing up. How can it? This Weltschmerz has affected everyone with a soul - Adam, too. Will our physical reality ever satisfy the demands of our minds and souls ever again? I believe so, as long as there are people like Adam, like Emma Gonzalez, like many others who are fighting for it. That is what hope sounds like. With rising urgency, Adam speaks up.

“Black lives matter. For all of u who totally miss the point of this movement, the GOAL is for all lives to matter equally. But as it stands, racism is preventing us from that ideal. We must fix the reality so we can grow toward hope.”

We must fix the reality… We really do, Adam. Faced with such thoughts, don’t all previous words about promotion and lack of internet presence sound frivolous? I am glad that this is how Adam feels. I am so proud of him for sharing his thoughts.

When he posted a photo of Freddie, pointing out the hypocrisy of the ruling US political party using Freddie Mercury’s music, some people seemed to have an issue with that. This was Adam’s reply:

“I realize that there are many different schools of thought frequented by people following me on social media. EVERYONE is entitled to their opinions and beliefs. Including me. This is MY Instagram page where I share my experiences and feelings. If you don't agree with something, that's perfectly ok with me - but I'm not going to refrain from being me, and no one is forcing you to either.”

And refrained he has not.

He’s spoken against the gun violence.

He’s spoken about Orlando. About Paris. About all mass shootings.

He’s also spoken at the Los Angeles Pride Resist March last year. Here are some of his words:

“I typically avoid publicly speaking about politics because of its divisiveness. People get real sensitive, and I ain’t trying to piss anybody off. But, this year things have gone way too far.

So I’m not speaking today about being a democrat vs. a republican. Today is about right vs. wrong. The current presidential administration has manipulated the country using fear and hate to gain power to divide us. Our differences are being used against us. And the shockwaves of this dangerous rhetoric have rippled throughout our community and beyond. And it fucking hurts. We’ve come way too far to stand by and watch our social progress be yanked backwards. It’s almost as if they’re going, ‘Eh, you’re different. You can’t sit with us.’ What the fuck is that? It’s childish and it needs to end now.

Our pride parade is usually an all out shit show of a party where we all dress up like crazy unicorns and prance around through the streets. Yeah! It’s a celebration of the progress we have made – our liberation, our freedom, our glitter. But this year, we are facing such dark forces that pride has taken on a deeper purpose. Protest. So today, we stand together in order to support anyone whose human rights are at risk. We resist homophobia. We resist transphobia. We resist misogyny. Bi-invisibility. We resist racism. Xenophobia. And we resist extremism, and anything else that helps promote hate. We stand defiant and will not be brainwashed. We refuse to be sucked into that kind of negativity.

But, I ask you not to fight hate with hate. We don’t want to be hypocrites. So how can we resist? I’ll tell you what I think: with unity, with visibility, truth, inclusion, acceptance, and most importantly – love.”

Don’t his words boom loud? Read them and abide by them. Don’t scroll through or ignore them.

Shame on those who think that Adam should only do his job and stop voicing his opinions and views.

Shame on those who, blinded by his beauty, refer to him as a Ken doll.

Shame on those who say that he is back in the closet.

In his Love Letter to the LGBTQ community, which was published in Billboard magazine last year, he talks more about what his community means to him:

“Y'all are my true inspiration. You're life lines that have kept me grounded and thankful. All the LGBTQ musicians, dancers, drag queens, bar stars, club kids, DJ's, designers, actors, stylists, glam squads..... YOU are my circus family. It is because of all those years traipsing round our nocturnal playgrounds that I had any sense of how and why I wanted to stay the course; to rep for my queer family!

And now 8 years later, the LGBTQ community has come SO far. I see fellow artists AND civilians coming out with no apologies and no fucks given. Despite the current obstacles we face, I am blown away by our progress. We have come so far. My true fans share the same principles so we continue to welcome other alien weirdos into our family. Thank you ALL for inspiring and supporting my journey. I promise to keep doing the same for all of you.”

Should he speak more frequently? Adam has voiced his opinions time and again, but he won’t misuse the opportunity given to him. He has a sophisticated sense for not crossing the line between his art and his humanitarian fight. He never pushes anything under anyone’s nose; not his art; not his fight. He never uses just causes as a self-promoting opportunity.

This is all part of the reply to the question from the beginning about what the lack of social presence can mean. His social presence isn’t lacking, it is just of the unobtrusive kind. It’s all out there, only a few clicks away. Are we so used to the constant media shoveling content down our metaphorical throats that we can’t even register when something’s said only once?

Apparently, I am. Because I have already read Adam Lambert’s own explanation about deciding to moderate his social media presence and it hasn’t even made a blip on my radar at the time. I won’t tell you where his words are from, you can try to guess. It’s a direct quote. It says everything.

How pathetic now seems the discussion about flattering vs. less flattering photos? Don’t ask this man about the size of his gauges for a hundredth time and expect him to engage with his fans more. But Adam does, he does engage, for he isn’t a mean man and he answers the same trivial questions again and again. It’s perhaps a much better option than talking, I don’t know, about Weltschmerz. Sometimes, such discussions are better avoided, and not only that - he has already said what he wanted to say. It’s much more bearable to repeat the silly topics than the raw, emotional ones. The repetition hurts, and devalues the latter.

It really is a journey, from Grandma June, to cultivating self-love and True Individuality; only not to the heart of darkness, but to the one of lightness. It’s all him, the philosopher and the comedian, the Frank’s head rider and the march speaker. Read his words. Don’t forget them, like I did. Laugh with him, but also think with him and be sad with him.

“True Individuality seems daunting in our age of social media popularity contests. Sometimes it’s terrifying to face your true, whole self, stripped of any pretense. The good, the bad, the cracks, and the scars. I am no stranger to the feeling of not liking myself. Once I get past my own body image issues, I realize that I sometimes also neglect my own spirit. Living in a world filled with so much hatred sometimes makes cultivating self-love a very difficult task. I have always struggled with this as I’m sure many of you have. My path is a kind of paradox in that I get to share my craft with the world, but also be willing to throw myself to the wolves. To dare to be different, but still wanting to be accepted. There is vast beauty to be found in life’s contradictions. This non-binary reality allows us to lead happy, expressive lives, and yet this very freedom comes with great risks. I’m not alone in this limbo. Through my art, I pledge to bring empathy and courage to anyone who has been made to feel unworthy or ashamed while daring to be themselves.”

***

~The sources for everything mentioned in the essay are Adam Lambert’s social media pages. I’ve decided against posting any links because I feel like this one reference is enough.

~No photos either, since I mention too many of them and this bloody thing is too long already. Just this one.

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duaa7343-blog · 5 years ago

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Annotated Bibliography

That is true, there are people that consider music as a fun way to learn a new language, and I am one of those people who learned a lot of English, Korean and Japanese from listening to music. For me, it is easier to remember words and sentences that are repeated and beautifully framed in a piece of music than to study them from a book. Besides, sometimes we listen to music a few times, then surprisingly we find it sticks in our minds all day or even all week. We find ourselves automatically keep playing the same song in our head over and over again until we remember it word by word. Not to mention that most people when they listen to a music that is with a different language, they get very curious about its meaning. Then, they search for the translation of its lyrics, and unintentionally learn words, phrases from this song which leads us to appreciate it more. This study research is amazing, because it proves to us that it is a right theory. The participants that were assigned to listen to “Arabic or Chinese” music on CD, were significantly able to recall and translate the music more than those who didn’t listen to the music.

That is why I believe this source has valuable information about using music for learning purposes and getting involved in different cultures. Exploring new music can be an important and eye opening experience, it is like exploring a whole new culture.

Background music can aid second language learning.

Odeh Rishmavi. “The Principle of the Harmony System of the Arabic Music.” Polylinguality and Transcultural Practices, no. 3, 2009, p. 123. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.678d2b52c0bb491c8b25857203884d48&site=eds-live.https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1177/0305735613485152

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This source focused on analyzing Arabic music specially in hejaz and makkah from 1905 and 1906 and how it preserved by Westren. Makkah is the place where Islam started and it has the most famous place for musilm which is al-Kaaba. A long time ago, many musilms come to Hejaz to visit or stay there, that is why in hejaz there have been many mixed Islamic cultures and races from around the world. As I thought, many westren think it sounds similar to “Quran” recitation, and prayer calls which is very known and developed in that area. Not surprisingly, that affect the type of music too. Quran affected the melodies of Arabic music significantly. That is why many people think some types of music sounds religious because of the melodies that are used. Arabs back then known to be well-spoken and they honor and respect that. It is also mentioned in this research that the famous songs are written as a poem called “qasida”. These Arabic poems are even more famous on per-Islamic ages, and they are written using formal and old language. They usually talk about love, and the difficulty of love. One of the famous Arabic poets is “Majnun Layla” and many of his poems have become songs. I believe these poems have led to the huge development of music since Arabic songs originated most of the time from poems. Although they are beautiful, they are more famous locally, because the language used is sort of old and they can be hard to understand as a foreigner or not arabic person.

2. ARABIC MUSIC IN WESTERN EARS: AN ACCOUNT OF THE MUSIC OF THE HEJAZ AT THE TURN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Anne van Oostrum. “Arabic Music in Western Ears: An Account of the Music of the Hejaz at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.” Quaderni Di Studi Arabi, vol. 7, 2012, p. 127. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.43819930&site=eds-live.https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.uvu.edu/stable/43819930?seq=11#metadata_info_tab_contents

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From my own observation, now a days Arab in general and mostly in United Arab Emirate are very affected by the westren cultures due to globalization. One of the cultures that have been significantly impacted is “music culture”. In fact, Arabic music culture didn’t transform and develop a lot over the years. However, I believe what really transformed is the musical taste of the people. Most of my friends like to listen to English and Korean and they think Arabic songs sound “old” and not “cool”. This research was dedicated to Arabic students that study westren music at the university in UAE. After reading their responses on this topic, I realized another important reason for why Arabic music doesn't have a big impact among the society today, which is the lack of Arabic music education. However, they find studying Westren incongruent with Arbaic music and the two types can conflict, and there are huge differences between them. To me, I find one of the differences is that Arabic music is traditional, and talk about few topics while the westren music is more liberal and more open to new ideas. Also, the research talked about the difference in many singing techniques and talked about the idea of joining the two together. However, the students in the research implied that they are struggling to find their musical identity and to explain it to their families. After reading this research I realized that we need both cultures, and it is important to recognize the importance of sustaining the heritage and and the appreciate value of it.

3. Arab Students' Perceptions of University Music Education in the United Arab Emirates: A Discussion of Music Education and Cultural Relevance

Good-Perkins, Emily. “Arab Students’ Perceptions of University Music Education in the United Arab Emirates: A Discussion of Music Education and Cultural Relevance.” International Journal of Music Education, vol. 37, no. 4, Nov. 2019, pp. 524–535. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1233836&site=eds-live.

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What I liked about this song analysis is that it is about a song that I really like by “umm umm kulthum” and written by a doctor and poet called “Ibrahim Nagi”. This analysis showed the process of changing the original poem to the song. To turn the poem into a song they had to delete, substitute and add some words and finally distribute the song. Also, I think it is an impressive and profound song. I have heard that the poem came from an old love story between Nagi and the girl that lived next door. The story started when Nagi was 16 years old. He loved the girl that lived in the same neighbourhood. However, he went to study medicine abroad to be a doctor. When he came back a few years later, she had already got married and he was still in love with her. After 15 years and at midnight, he found a forty-year-old man that was asking for help to save his wife that was having a difficult childbirth. In the man’s house, the wife’s face was covered, and she was in a very dangerous condition. While he was trying to save her. Suddenly, her breath began to decrease and she lost consciousness. Then Nagi asked them to reveal her face so that she could breathe. He was shocked when he saw her and she was the love of his life that he had never forgotten. After a while, she gave birth to her newborn, and "Naji" walked from the man's house and returned to his house before dawn. Then he sat at the door of his house and wrote "AlAtlal".

4. Towards an Analysis of the Discourse of Arabic Song A Case Study: Umm Kulthoum’s Song AlAtlal

Hussein, Gameel Abdelmageed. “Towards an Analysis of the Discourse of Arabic Song: A Case Study--Umm Kulthoum’s Song ‘AlAtlal.’” Forum on Public Policy Online, vol. 2015, no. 1, Jan. 2015. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1080948&site=eds-live.

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What I have read in this research is true regarding hip-hop culture in Arab countries. Hip-hop music is a new concept that is not very popular in the Arabic countries. It is very limited and I don’t remember listening to hip-hop music in Arabic before. However, this research has introduced me to some great Arabic rappers who shared some issues in the Arab world and some serious topics about the afflicted people of Palestine, Iraq and Syria. These rappers share these stories using hip-hop in a mixture of Arabic and English together into their music which makes it easy to non-arabic people to understand some words and the idea of it. What caught my attention was that it reached many people from other countries and cultures, and most of the audiences that showed on the comments were from non-Arab countries. Hip-hop might not be a part of Arabic culture, however it succeeded to prove that it can send powerful messages to the world and help cultural movement and the “Arab diaspora”. Hip-hop can be a strong representational way because it can express the feelings in a creative way besides that it is very realistic, and it gives people energy because of the high energy beats and the rhythms that make us feel that we are actually a part of it. That is why I strongly believe and expect this form of music to attract many people to listen to Arabic music, especially those who enjoy hip-hop and the younger generation.

5. The Hip-Hop Resistance: Forging Unity in the Arab Diaspora

Isherwood, Gustav. “The Hip-Hop Resistance: Forging Unity in the Arab Diaspora.” Review of Middle East Studies, vol. 48, no. 1–2, 2014, pp. 24–33. EBSCOhost.

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This video illustrated to me new things that I have never known before about classical Arab Music. The “quarter note” or the “micro-tones” is what is used in Arabic music, and which gives the music a different quality than other types of music. To clarify what “quarter note” means, they have linked it to the piano. When you go from the white key to the black key, this small interval is called a half-step. However, in Arabic music they have a lot of these smaller intervals between the notes. They use it to break the stagnation in the monophony. That is why most of the time, Arab musicians play the same music but each one of them adds something different to it, using these ''microtones'' to make the music vibrate. Also, this technique allows you to add a variety of sounds that are changing and gives the listener different feelings. Some Arabic songs have a musical intro that can go for 10 minutes or even more before the singer actually begins to sing. Weirdly, you never feel tired or bored of it, and you never feel the time because the music does not repeat itself but it keeps changing, that is why I enjoy it. Classical Westren music has its own beauty. On the other hand, they play music in unison with a structured performance. The musicians are very precise and play together at the same pace or rhythm which makes the listener feel the harmony between them and we see it in the orchestra.

6. “Words Adorned: Classical Arab Music in Relation to Western Music.” YouTube, uploaded by AlBustanSeeds, 13 October 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5whQkK3Jetg

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Alaa Wardi “the person who sings in the video” showed a very well illustration of the evolution of Arabic music by singing 42 from the most popular songs in the Arab history from before 1900 until 2015. I liked this video a lot not only because he is talented, and sings only by beatboxing without using actual musical instruments, but also because he showed a time series for how the music has developed. This video made me see the patterns of old songs along with the new ones in the same video. Everyone can notice the changes of the beats and the styles. Before 1900, they used to sing “Muwashahat” which are Arabic poetic form that came from Al-Andalus “Muslim kingdom that occupied much of the spain and Iberian Peninsula from 711 ce”. In 1920-1950, famous Egyption singers started their way such as “Sayed Darwish” who considered the father of Egyptian popular music and “umm kulthum” that is called “Star of the East”. These singers are considered very big in the hearts of everyone because they have strong voices that many people believe until today that it cannot exist twice. In 1950-1990, the style of the music was more elegant and the beats were slower and used to be very long. Some songs can go about one hour or more at that time. However in 1990-2000, the music shifted significantly and many new singers started during this small period of time. From 2000 to 2015 is how Arabic music sounds today. Music today is more energetic, has faster beats, shorter and as the time goes they are getting closer to pop music which young people like.

7. Wardi, Alaa. “Evolution of Arabic Music | تطور الموسيقى العربية.” YouTube, uploaded by Alaa Wardi, 26 april 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPvyl6MYxlg.

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Oud is one of the main instruments that is played on most of the Arabic classical songs and has a unique sound. Even though I like to listen to Arabic music, I haven’t actually had a chance to look closely into oud and I haven’t had an idea about the structure of this amazing instrument until I found this video. Now after watching this video, I have more information about how it works, and how it is played correctly. First of all, oud is the ancestor of the European “lute”. It started to appear around 5 thousand years ago. It is made of a strong hardwood and it contains a peg box in the top, a fretless neck, face of the instrument and strings. As a matter of fact, when it was first started, it used to have only four strings, however, it developed and most ouds nowadays have up to 11 strings. Oud and guitar can be similar, and many people might confuse them together due to the shape. However, there are huge differences between them in terms of the sound. Another main difference between Oud and guitar, is that the guitar is fretted unlike the oud. Oud is known to be fretless which gives it the unique sound and allows you to have an easier movement from notes. Not to mention that, there are around 50 scales people use when they play oud and some of them are used more than others. These scales are called “Maqamat” and they slightly vary from region to region.

8. "Introducing: The Arabic Oud.” uploaded by Brandon Acker, 9 Mar 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA5VdzRHh-U

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Music is a universal language. As a matter of fact, people often try to convey their messages through music in order to give these messages a deeper meaning in an artistic form. More often than not, music gets used to celebrate religious figures or spread their messages. In like manner, the middle east is known to be one of the areas that hold people from different religions and faiths. One of my all time favorite artists is Julia Boutros, who is a Lebanese arab singer and a Christian. She has a magical voice and when you listen to her music you could find some Christial references, or in some other cases, an entire Christian song, like “Ya Adra'' in which she celebrates and sings about Mary. On the other hand, you could tune to another channel on your radio to listen to some Islamic music, and the one that comes to my mind is “Qul Lel Maliha” By “Sabah Fakhri”. Sabah Fakhri is a syrian arab singer and a Quran reader and a person who used to call for prayers in mosques. In his song “Qul Lel Maliha'' he sings about someone who found a girl on his way to the mosque and fell in love with her. In the same song he performed the prayer call. By the same token you could find songs about other different religions. The middle eastern arabic music is not exclusive to one faith or one religion, but due to the background of a lot of people here, you can see diversity in this area.

9. “Julia Boutros ya 3adra جوليا بطرس - يا عدرا.” uploaded by Micha H.M, 3 Jan 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmBO87up5LY

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Throughout the history of the middle east, people have been migrating to other countries. Sometimes, this happens because of wars and politics, and some other time people migrate for simple reasons such as work and education. The middle east has been a heated area throughout the existence of mankind and humanity, this is most likely due to its unique location linking three continents. In fact, migration has brought a lot of talent and diversity to the area. At the same time, it led many talented people to leave for better opportunities. We are going to highlight two examples here. Dalida who is a famous arab singer born in Cairo, Egypt to Italian parents, her parents migrated to Egypt to have a better life and she grew there and studied music to become one of the most well known egyptian artists. She also won Miss Egypt beauty contest in 1954 and sang one an iconic Arabic song “Helwa ya baladi” which could be translated to English as “Egypt my beautiful homeland”. This song has been covered many times by different arab singers and artists who wanted to celebrate their homeland and country and this is how it became famous. Another example would be, Massari, who was born in Lebanon then migrated to Canada at an early age and became a famous R&B, pop, and hip-hop singer in Canada. He travels to the middle east a lot and collaborates with many Arab artists in different projects. There are many more other examples that migrated from, or to, the middle east and became famous and well known.

10. “داليدا - حلوة يا بلدي - Dalida - Helwa Ya Balady.” uploaded by Moseeqa TV, 29 May 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4b1K9GBLQ4

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jackiedluke · 7 years ago

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This *Is* A Tasty Berger! Do You Mind If I Have Some Of Your Tasty Riesling To Wash This Down? (Highlights From Grand Cru Schlossberg)

When you’re within spitting distance of Kayserberg (quite literally the cutest town in France, an honor it was officially awarded in 2017), amid the picturesque shadows of a castle that dates back to the fourteenth Century (and in which harvests were celebrated), and regularly run into ruins from the early 700s AD, you might justifiably consider yourself in a sort of Western European daydream-like fantasy land. Just add fairies and elves!

Hence the “schloss” part…

While that is, indeed, the present situation of Alsace’s Schlossberg Grand Cru vineyard site and the sixty-some-odd producers who farm it (a spot I visited as part of a media jaunt earlier this year), that present situation belies a more, well, aggressive historical backdrop.

This granitic area of northeastern France has seen a revolving door of historical overlords, including the Romans, Germans, and the French. And yes, Schlossberg has the distinction of being awarded on of Alsace’s first Grand Cru classifications in 1975, but that was almost fifty years later than planned (they attempted it first in 1928, but things got sidetracked due to a World War). Actually, it’s almost 500 years late, considering that the area’s vines have been known as having serious vinous potential since the 1400s, and that the area exported twice as much wine in the Middle Ages as it does now.

Also consider that, from a farming perspective, you’re not getting much more than grapes here. The area sits on steep slopes rising up to almost 400 meters, and (thanks to the Vosges mountains) sees less than 500 millimeters of rainfall per year (which about three times less than Bordeaux). Alsace sits on the largest underground water reserve in the country, but irrigation isn’t permitted, so the vines have to work their roots down deep to get a drink.

The soil in Schlossberg has high pH levels, and so requires calcium to prevent toxicity, and its diversity is a testament to the violence of the ancient Devonian forces that formed it. Also, you need dry stone terraces (the work of Italian immigrants hired by regional monks in the Middle Ages) to keep everything in place, and they are, to put it mildly, a pain in the ass to maintain. Oh, and the climate is semi-continental, which means they get nearly the full extremes in seasonal variation, and the subsequent farming headache potential.

Finally, we should include the political and cultural vagaries that come with producing consumables in a place that has changed country of ownership more than a few times. Alsace’s major market, historically, has been Germany, since the French kind of considered Alsace as French-but-maybe-not-really.

How does all of this impact the Rieslings crafted from Schlossberg’s soils? More than one of the wine producers with whom I met described their Riesling as “thin, delicate, and like a marathon man.” You’ll understand what they mean in a minute or two…

You’d be smiling, too, if you made wine here

2013 Domaine Jean-Marc Bernhard Riesling Schlossberg (Alsace Grand Cru, $NA)

Formerly Swiss merchants, these guys have roots in Alsace dating back to 1802, and now farm 11 hectares of vines across six different Alsace GC sites. The Schlossberg holdings were planted in 1980. Their 2013 Riesling is the very definition of lean-and-focused; apricots, white flowers, wet stones, saline, limes, lemon rind, exotic fruits… apparently, it’s also the very definition of complex. Texturally, it’s also far from a let-down: pithy, tart, sinewy, linear, and above all else, lovely.

2008 Domaine Jean-Marc Bernhard Riesling Schlossberg (Alsace Grand Cru, $NA)

The JMB 2008 Riesling deserves a special mention, if only to provide a time-capsule insight into the aging potential of Rieslings from the ‘berg. Its kinship with the 2013 is evident in its lemony, mineral, pithy focus. Where it departs from its more youthful sister-wine is in the flinty, toasty, and honeyed layers of gorgeousness.

2008 Albert Mann Riesling Schlossberg (Alsace Grand Cru, $45)

Twenty-two hectares of vineyards are farmed across five Grand Crus by Albert Mann, whose son-in-law Maurice Barthelme summed up their approach thusly during my visit: “sugar is like the ‘tannin’ for these wines.” You’ll barely feel the sweetness in this flinty, delicate, fresh, and floral Riesling, which is full of quince and citrus notes. Despite its litheness, at nearly ten years, it feels young, damn nearly too young to drink now. Lest you think the 2008 was a one-off stroke of luck, we also tasted the 2006, which was even less open, just as gorgeously pithy, and still pretty much a baby in a bottle.

2013 Andre Blanck Riesling Schlossberg (Alsace Grand Cru, $NA)

Quinten Blanck has been the winegrower for these guys for only the last five years, but he is the eighth generation of Blanck family members to take up that helm. They farm only two hectares in Schlossberg, and from it craft a Riesling with an acid backbone that is both deep and aggressive. There’s a delicate touch to the mouthfeel of this mineral, citric, floral, and flinty white, which finishes very long with toast notes, and will instill in you a hankering for shellfish.

2013 Domaine Bott-Geyl Riesling Schlossberg (Alsace Grand Cru, $40)

Family-run, with fifteen hectares across six of the Alsatian GCs, Bott-Geyl prefers slow, whole-bunch pressing, which adds a pleasant, tangy astringency to their Rieslings. Case in point is their golden-hued 2013 Schlossberg, which offers up quince and citrus to start, then flint and saline, followed by honey and toast. Underpinning it all is a sort of crystalline elegance that is, in a word, beguiling.

2015 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg “Cuvee Sainte Catherine L’Inedit” (Alsace Grand Cru, $62)

Weinbach dates back to the late 1890s, and farms valley vines in an area that dates back to the 9th Century. Their twist is the combination of lees aging in stainless steel, and the use of large, old oak vats for fermentation. While pricey, the Cuvee Sainte Catherine L’Inedit is all-that. The fruit is from a selection of mid-slope vines, and is a richer expression of Riesling; think apricots, ripe lemons, flint, but without any real loss of focus.

2014 Domaine Paul Blanck Riesling Schlossberg (Alsace Grand Cru, $35)

The other Blancks in this lineup have a relatively large holding at thirty-two hectares, and are quite focused on sulfur balance, favoring large, old oak casks for their Crand Cru wines. Their 2014 Riesling was a standout for me. Ripe lemon, mandarin, white flowers, flint; this is a noticeably mineral-driven white in a lineup of mostly mineral-driven whites. Delicate, and lovely, but you’d better like electric, citric acidity.

2015 Domaine Martin Schaetzel Riesling Schlossberg (Alsace Grand Cru, $NA)

These folks have been in the Schlossberg GC since 2002, farming 4.5 hectares there. In 2012, they changed ownership and three years later moved so that they could be closer to their vines. Now, eighty percent of their production is from GC sites, with this wine coming from forty year-old vines. Despite a later start than their counterparts, they clearly know how to play catch-up. Roses, lychee, and tropical fruits are the first things you notice here, followed by an astringent bite and a hint of sweetness (thanks to about forty g/l of residual sugar, which you will not mind once this excellent, fruity, and serious effort is in your mouth.

Cheers!

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Copyright © 2016. Originally at This *Is* A Tasty Berger! Do You Mind If I Have Some Of Your Tasty Riesling To Wash This Down? (Highlights From Grand Cru Schlossberg) from 1WineDude.com – for personal, non-commercial use only. Cheers! Source: http://www.1winedude.com/that-is-a-tasty-berger-highlights-from-grand-cru-schlossberg/

source https://meself84.wordpress.com/2017/12/21/this-is-a-tasty-berger-do-you-mind-if-i-have-some-of-your-tasty-riesling-to-wash-this-down-highlights-from-grand-cru-schlossberg/ from Sommelier Courses http://sommeliercourses.blogspot.com/2017/12/this-is-tasty-berger-do-you-mind-if-i.html

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static-pouring · 7 years ago