gritting teeth until the bridgework whimpers

Posted by Catherine Cartwright JOnes on February 03, 2000 at 04:03:48:

In Reply to: Commentary appreciated and noted! posted by Amy L. on February 03, 2000 at 02:13:09:

For the record..... as far as I can determine, henna has been used by
women (mostly) in celebration of fertility, life, birth and death
since 6000 BCE (Anatolia) and probably earlier. That predates any
religion we have going now. It has been used by Christians, Animists,
Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Muslims. It was used within many
religions before those. Henna has adorned men, women, deities, demons,
goats, sheep, horses, cows, children, whores, courtesans, eunuchs,
transvestites, apsaras, peris and the occasional supreme being. I
wouldn't dream of denying any one of them the joy of henna.

One of the most annoying moments I've had recently was just after I'd
done a 3 hour henna lecture at a library for young women .... and a
mother came in to pick up her kid, and told me that she didn't bother
coming to the lecture because she "knew all about henna". She
proceeded to tell me that Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, had
herself discovered henna and introduced it to womankind. For this
woman, who was a recent and intensely devout convert to very
conservative Islam, handing her pictures of artifacts that absolutely
prove that henna was widespread by 2000 BCE was fairly futile .....
because she simply dismissed them as "Temptations of Satan". I
respect faith, because it's a crucial and redeeming force in the chaos
of many people's lives, but it does frequently make me just want to go
bang my head on the blacktop in the parking lot.
For the sake of the sanctity of parking lots and my resulting
headaches, I'd be VERY grateful to leave the religious terratorial
barking to some other forum.

Follow-ups:

• Re: gritting teeth until the bridgework whimpers Aisha Hashmi 16:47:24 2/03/00 (1)
  • Your words... Catherine Cartwright Jones 18:34:44 2/03/00 (0)