At Home On Piety Hill

This past weekend Denise and I enjoyed a concert by the Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir and it was lovely (our 30th wedding anniversary, too). What an ecclectic blend of modern western choral/sacred music, spiced up with some Mongolian folk songs, Taiwanese pop music and even an Australian aboriginal chant! It was different than anything we have heard from the Nevada Union Choir, The Boy’s Choir of Harlem or the Choir of the West.

The big draw, however, was Sam’s boyhood friend, Abe Sitzer, who brought the choir to town. We remember Abe as a fun, outgoing kid who loved to clean and organize Sam’s room… seriously! Abe’s turned into a fine young academic and you can read all about him and see his photo here.

Today, I received my copy of the new 77s DVD Collection, featuring seven official music videos by my favorite band, The Seventy Sevens, as well as another disk of “live bootleg” concert footage going back to 1982!

It was just like Christmas in July, as Sean and Emma watched me excitedly tearing the cellophane off the case. They were also very understanding and patient as I rushed to the DVD player and cued up the first video, Mercy Mercy, which I had seen years ago. It was just as I remembered it. I was at a number of the featured concerts and, though they were 20 years ago, it was as if I had seen them just yesterday.

But, the most exciting discovery was yet to come. As the videos were playing and I was checking out the insert and liner notes, a familiar image caught my eye. It was a photo I had taken of the 77s at a concert back about 1987. When we went to see Mike Roe perform a few months ago, I had given him copies of the photos from that concert — he and his daughter got a good laugh out of them. But, they were actually pretty good b&w photos and he used them as a background on one of the pages. Check out the insert and my copy of the original photo.The credits on the back list a few photographers and then I am honored for my contribution:

Additional photos provided by Chris Knight, Brian Heydn and many others.

Yup, that’s me… many others!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a letter to the editor of The Union, our local newspaper. Here’s the text:

With the elimination of al-Zarqawi, pundits point out that there are hundreds al-Qaida to take his place. This would be the safe bet. However, history demonstrates that Islamic terrorists can change. The Baha’i faith is a good example.

Baha’is trace their lineage to the Bab, a 19th century Muslim terrorist who called on world leaders to repent and join him under the flag of the Mahdi. His followers carried his message through armed conflict, beheadings and murder until they were brutally suppressed by the Persian government.

After the Bab’s execution, leadership fell to one of his lieutenants, Baha’u'llah, who quickly began modernizing the various cells. He made gains, yet continued to own black slaves, hold plural wives and carry on a blood feud with his brother.

Baha’u'llah’s son, Abdu’l-Baha, guided the movement into the 20th century, abandoning the Bab’s tactics of “the striking of necks, the burning of books and papers, the destruction of shrines, and the universal slaughter of all save those who believed and were faithful.”

If the world responds to al-Qaida with condemnation and military force, perhaps they too will adopt a quietist expression of their religion, as the Baha’is have. Let’s hope they do.

A Baha’i reader took exception with my premise and, unfortunately, I was unable to develop it as fully as I would have liked to. The newspaper has a word limit for publication. However, I hope to carry on a dialogue in the comments. I think that by the current definition, the Bab and his followers would definitely be classed as terrorists. If you would like to read more about Babi militancy, you can check out these sources:

• From Babism to Baha’ism: Problems of Militancy, Quietism, and Conflation in the Construction of a Religion by Denis MacEoin
• An Examination of Distortion and Suppression in 20th Century Baha’i Literature by Vance Salisbury (that’s me)
• The Baha’i Faith: It’s History and Teachings by William Miller
• The Babi Movement: A Resource Mobilization Perspective by Peter Smith and Moojan Momen