At the same time, this article mentions a very good point that the notion of the teenage exists only in economically developed societies and not in poor and deprived societies.. But this doesn’t mean that teenage doesn’t exists at all… It only brings out the problems in such poor societies. What is worse is that childrens in such societies don’t even get the chance to enjoy their childhood properly (forget about teenage) and are expected to behave to like adults from an early age …

you too never cease to surprise me… but in a different way.

First you confuse local countryside events with an assumed national attitude, then you preach about hard-core conservatives…
…now you come to teach me about Medieval Gaelic Christianity ? You are talking of that Gnostic Irish Church which was wiped out in the 7th-8th Century, much as some minor currents of Islam were later annihilated by orthodoxy within Sunni or Shi’a Islam

I do not recall ever having a similar stance with you, I actually wrote “I will not disgress in religious quotes, as they might well be misunderstood and mistaken for “propaganda”. In other words, I believe in accordance to my Revelation, you believe in accordance to your Revelation.
BUT
Being both Revelations announced, one way or another, by the very same Archangel Gabriel, has it ever occurred to you we might actually be children of the same Creator?
If Man was created with his limitations, and is thus “finite” in both views and perceptions, but the Creator is infinite because that is His nature (else, He couldn’t possibly be the Creator)…
…how many Revelations will it take for the “finite man” to fully comprehend the greatness of the “infinite Creator”?
Adam, Noah, Ibrahim, Mussa, Daud, Suleiman, Isaiah, Eliyah, Issa, Muhammad… how many more ? I have tried to use arabic spelling out of respect to you, but the spelling of the name changes with different alphabets, languages and cultures, yet I am sure you understand who I’m talking about.
I could also quote Zarathustra (who preached Monotheism and the Revelation of Ahura Mazda to the politheistic Persians; he may have been a contemporary to Ibrahim) the Buddha Gautama Siddharta (who was not a Prophet of a God but the firsto Man to find the Way to Enlightenment – and as such is considered to be the Man who is the Guide) and Mani (Persian Prophet who preached much like Issa, but before Muhammad) not to mention the Mahatma Gandhi in the contemporary ear.

Of course, you will not be convinced. So may I quote from He whom you must believe:

Surah 5:68 – Say: “O People of the Book! ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law (Torah) , the Gospel (Injeel) , and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord.”

Surah 29:46 Muslims are told by Allah, not to question the authority of the scriptures of the Christians, saying, “And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, but say, “We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one.”

I will be happy to embrace you, if you will be happy to embrace me,
PROVIDED
neither will try to convert the other.

Regards,
MPescatori

On another note, I don’t know if it is a language barrier, or simply deficiencies in how both Mpescatori and Africana view the world, because the narrow, rigid compartments they both keep attempting to cram huge numbers of people in don’t hold up to real scrutiny. Both seem to be completely ignorant of Gaelic/Celtic culture and history, and the similarities that exist today between aspects of Mediterranean culture and modern Irish culture, to name but one Northern European example. Family based honor systems abound among Irish and Irish Americans, just as they do among people in the Mediterranean. There are strong clan traditions in both Ireland and Scotland, as well as among groups of those immigrants in the US and Canada.

Honestly, it is as ridiculous as saying that Italian-American mobsters are indicative of the entire Italian-American experience, and ignoring the overwhelming majority of Italian-Americans who helped build the United States from the ground up. Entire cultures, entire geographical areas of continents etc. are not easily crammed into the narrow stereotypes I keep seeing repeated over and over in this thread.

Yes, I did know that St.Augustine was born in North Africa, although I confess I could not remember where.

On the other hand, do you know where he is buried?
Many monasteries claim to host some reliquiaries, but only one small, nondescript little chapel actually hosts his remains…

it is a small, very humble little chapel in Cagliari, Sardinia.
Even though most historians will insist his remains are now in Pavia (a very important town in the Middle Ages) Sardinians will smile at this remark and whisper that only a casket was transferred, but his remains were kept “to protect the city”.

Indeed, Cagliari is one of the few major cities in the Mediterranean to have suffered so little, when other sea-ports were sometimes burnt down to cinders and pillaged…

Regards,

of course you are right that was a stereotype and for that i apologise.

incidentally, did you know that saint augustine was born in algeria?

“Agostino, di etnia berbera,[3] ma di cultura totalmente ellenistico-romana, nacque a Tagaste il 13 novembre 354. Tagaste, attualmente Souk Ahras in Algeria, posta a circa 100 km a sud-ovest di Ippona”

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agostino_d%27Ippona

There are many types of organized crime in the world, but Italy, rather, the Italian South (most curiously, that part which has been exposed to Greek, Carthaginian, Roman, Arabic, French, Spanish domination in that order, before becoming officially “Italian”) as I was saying, organized crime is sometimes woven deep in the culture of a particular village, to the point that there is a clear distinction between the Powers of the State (police, tribunal of the law) and “the powers that be”, which will penetrate and entwine themselves in other infrastructure (local administration, local health care, commerce) to the point it is sometimes an uphill struggle for the State to fight organized crime.

But to say that organized crime is the only example of “honor” in Italian society is, alas, a stereotype, no more than insisting all arabs ride camels or live next to a palm tree in the sandy desert. A stereotype.

What is “honor”? To many girls, virginity is still a strong point to argue about and defend. To many boys, “experience” is honor.
Just like anywhere else oin the world.
“Marry and have lots of boys” is the common good-wish to newlyweds… what about baby girls? Those baby boys will be looking for girlfriends and fiancees one day, won’t they ?

Insults about one’s mother are a typical “backhand” offense, which show just how deeply planted is the ancient matriarcal culture which still survives in “the Good People”- let us not forget that a very long time ago inheritance was passed down through the mother’s lineage, which was evident and easily proven, much more than the father’s

We have so much in common, our cultural differences are so few, why must Mediterraneans have arguments with each other on issues which, after all, are not even Mediterranean?

Have to go now, have to teach an Englishman about hot water :-)

it is true that you find conservative people in northen europe but i think that the culture of northern europe is, on the whole, much more more one of immediate gratification than that of southern europe. i think that religion has had a minimal impact on northern europe.i can say that most of the spanish people i have known who’ve spent time in the uk have expressed horror at the alcohol induced behaviours of many young and not so young british people.

as well as the reliance on alcohol, there is also the tendency toward heliophilia. on those occasions when the sun does shine, many people in northern europe risk heat stroke and worse sitting out in the midday sun because of the perception that such occasions don’t happen very often. i think climatic factors are partly responsible for the drinking culture, also.

another area of common ground betwen the mediterranean countries is the concept of honour. i think perhaps this is not so strong in italy as in the past (the comorra, of course being an exception) but it’s still there in the way in which insults are based around mentioning a person’s mother or sisters whilst in northern europe the concept does not seem to exist and insults are based instead around the mention of body parts.

There IS a huge difference between North and South Europe; I must insist, politely, that there is much more similarity between the two coasts of the Mediterranean than between North and South Europe, in terms of ethnicity, social and ethic philosophy, habits and customs, social traditions and lore, and even supersitions and traditional local “saints/patrons” call them what you like.

Hard-core, conservative Catholics , you say ? That is nothing new to me, my own mother was born in one such place and – believe me – she probably knows more prayers than some nuns.
BUT
would you be willing to say there are no parts of the world where there are hard-core, integralist Sunnis, or Shi’as, or Hindus, for that matter…
Up until the mid 1800′s, Hebraism was perhaps the only “Religion of the One god” which was not hard-core integralist, see what Zionism has done to them and to the “cause”, as they themselves call it.

In truth, I tell you, there has been no greater bloodshed in any period in man’s history, than during wars waged on the assumption that “my God is better than your god” (please notice the capitals, or lack thereof). Indeed, one would argue to the end of his days… but I disgress.

You have seen, or you have been told of “what women do” on the Amalfi Coast ? I’ve been there many times (Rome is a mere three hours’ drive from Amalfi) the only place where you’ll see “barebreasted women” is in private beaches… so I deduce you PAID to get in ? How sad…

Else, I must repeat myself, people are wiser than to get drunk in the full heat of midday… unless you’re German, Swedish or English, which means they are tourists from Northern Europe, which proves my point.

Last, I do not know where you live and where you come from, but:
- in Rome there is one Central Mosque, and many local mosques, and they’re all listed in the phone book.
- there is no law prohibiting the erection of minarets or the establishment of mosques, provided they comply to the same laws regairding civil architecture (as opposed to industrial architercture) which regulates, hear hear, all places where masses gather, starting with Christian Churches.
- how many Christian churches where you live ? How many still surviving ?
Before becoming enraged and offended at my question, please consider… Christianity was a full 700 years old when islam began its expansion.

I have read quite a few Suras; some things I liked, others I liked very much, others still I do not understand.
May I invite you to read at least the Gospel by Mark, Matthew or Luke; I dare you to find any one word of hatred or contempt…
…regardless of the disasters wrought by men of power “in the name of the Lord”, which has happened on both sides..

Peace unto you.