Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Anyway...
http://www.cair-net.org/video/psa.ram
The above link will take you to an important Public Service Announcement. I would like to call it a "nonsales oriented commercial" which, in my opinion, is essential. Some of you may have seen it on Television, but if you haven't, please pay attention to the message. It does NOT in any way try to convince you to change your religion. It DOES, however, give a little insight on Islam, what it IS and what it is NOT.
Okay, that having been stated, I shall be all too pleased to give some "positive" news to my critics, who I love dearly, despite our recent "chaotic commentary catastrophe". I got a LIBRARY CARD!!!
For those of you who do not see the importance of this statement, let me initiate you into the value of a library card...from an international standpoint. Very few countries have lending libraries, and books are very expensive to buy in these places. Education is hard to come by without wealth and public schooling is nothing more than babysitting (in a manner of speaking). Therefore, few people can even own or borrow a book let alone have the ability to read it.
After having spent time abroad without the convenience of my local library, I was not hesitant a moment in acquiring my "membership" as soon as we moved into our apartment, and after only five days I am already in the middle of a fourth book. It took exactly three minutes to fill out the information slip and get a little barcoded card that slips easily behind my drivers license in my wallet. Immediately I was eligible to "check out" an infinite amount of written knowledge and headed first to the fiction section under "B" to find "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach. I then headed to the "new releases section" and found three more equally interesting yet varied books, one of which is a wonderful representation of the effects of witnessing in Christianity called "The Listener" (I forgot the name of the author). [This book is along the same lines as the movie "What Women Want" (Mel Gibson). A man is gifted with the ability to hear the cries of the souls of others around him (as the Holy Spirit would hear it) and reluctantly learns how to share the Word. It's a fabulous book. Read it...] Having found all the books I needed for a few days, I went up to the desk, gave my card to the librarian who scanned it (modern technology is sooo cool!) and the books, and I left the library with my head held high, clutching my Articles of Enlightenment tightly to my chest like a kindergartener on her way home from her first day of school.
We have an incredible treasure here in America...(SEE, I DO love this country!) The library system has really made a HUUUUUGE difference in the way we think and live. People without financial resources (i.e. the poor) in this country can still be literate and educated. This is one of the reasons why we don't have as large a problem with illiteracy as many other countries.
Karim's first question, which really made me think hard about this subject, was, "How much did that library card cost you?" He didn't realize that knowledge in THIS country is free. Not only is it free, but it is abundant. In Alex, of course, there is the great Alexandrian Library which is built, supposedly, at the site where the original had been. Unfortunately, despite having nearly a million books, it is not a lending library, and the average financially challenged person cannot afford membership.
We are a fortunate country in this respect. It is my desire that all citizens (non-citizens for that matter) have a library card. Not that it should be mandatory, but all school systems should give out a library card for their local library (in co-operation with the school's own library). As well, I believe that a library card should be handed out at the time of acquiring a drivers license for adults. A person could use it or not use it at their discretion, but it would certainly encourage the use of lending libraries and increased knowledge. We are lucky to have it...let's use it. There really is NOTHING in the world compared to the feeling of a new library card!
The above link will take you to an important Public Service Announcement. I would like to call it a "nonsales oriented commercial" which, in my opinion, is essential. Some of you may have seen it on Television, but if you haven't, please pay attention to the message. It does NOT in any way try to convince you to change your religion. It DOES, however, give a little insight on Islam, what it IS and what it is NOT.
Okay, that having been stated, I shall be all too pleased to give some "positive" news to my critics, who I love dearly, despite our recent "chaotic commentary catastrophe". I got a LIBRARY CARD!!!
For those of you who do not see the importance of this statement, let me initiate you into the value of a library card...from an international standpoint. Very few countries have lending libraries, and books are very expensive to buy in these places. Education is hard to come by without wealth and public schooling is nothing more than babysitting (in a manner of speaking). Therefore, few people can even own or borrow a book let alone have the ability to read it.
After having spent time abroad without the convenience of my local library, I was not hesitant a moment in acquiring my "membership" as soon as we moved into our apartment, and after only five days I am already in the middle of a fourth book. It took exactly three minutes to fill out the information slip and get a little barcoded card that slips easily behind my drivers license in my wallet. Immediately I was eligible to "check out" an infinite amount of written knowledge and headed first to the fiction section under "B" to find "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach. I then headed to the "new releases section" and found three more equally interesting yet varied books, one of which is a wonderful representation of the effects of witnessing in Christianity called "The Listener" (I forgot the name of the author). [This book is along the same lines as the movie "What Women Want" (Mel Gibson). A man is gifted with the ability to hear the cries of the souls of others around him (as the Holy Spirit would hear it) and reluctantly learns how to share the Word. It's a fabulous book. Read it...] Having found all the books I needed for a few days, I went up to the desk, gave my card to the librarian who scanned it (modern technology is sooo cool!) and the books, and I left the library with my head held high, clutching my Articles of Enlightenment tightly to my chest like a kindergartener on her way home from her first day of school.
We have an incredible treasure here in America...(SEE, I DO love this country!) The library system has really made a HUUUUUGE difference in the way we think and live. People without financial resources (i.e. the poor) in this country can still be literate and educated. This is one of the reasons why we don't have as large a problem with illiteracy as many other countries.
Karim's first question, which really made me think hard about this subject, was, "How much did that library card cost you?" He didn't realize that knowledge in THIS country is free. Not only is it free, but it is abundant. In Alex, of course, there is the great Alexandrian Library which is built, supposedly, at the site where the original had been. Unfortunately, despite having nearly a million books, it is not a lending library, and the average financially challenged person cannot afford membership.
We are a fortunate country in this respect. It is my desire that all citizens (non-citizens for that matter) have a library card. Not that it should be mandatory, but all school systems should give out a library card for their local library (in co-operation with the school's own library). As well, I believe that a library card should be handed out at the time of acquiring a drivers license for adults. A person could use it or not use it at their discretion, but it would certainly encourage the use of lending libraries and increased knowledge. We are lucky to have it...let's use it. There really is NOTHING in the world compared to the feeling of a new library card!
