In our second review of 2013 we examine the opinions of our columnists that have most widely resonated with our readers.
It has been an eventful year as always: A new Pope, the death of Chavez in Venezuela, continuing troubles in the Middle East and huge social protests in Brazil and Turkey together with various advances and setbacks for same-sex marriage among others. Here are our top 5 opinions:
A Pope for all reasons
Our top opinion piece was written by Tony Henderson, our Hong Kong bureau chief, regarding the installation of the new Pope: the first ever South American pontiff and a man who has been saying and doing interesting things ever since his humble inauguration.
“Francis I as a South American is removed from that moribund mentality of ‘just following on’ as is readily seen in Europe where ‘old Europe’ is so conditioned by its hoary elitism, behaving as the ever-predominant ‘white people’ calling the shots for everyone, everywhere else, from Asia to Africa. That entire process is slowing down under incrustations of age. A change is needed, away from imperialism and neo-colonialism, to instead use that wealth and educated talent for the liberation of the other, less fortunately environed peoples of the world.”
http://www.pressenza.com/2013/03/a-pope-for-all-reasons/
The voice of a new sensibility speaking loud and clear: Russell Brand going viral
Russell Brand, the British stand-up comedian and actor, quite took the UK by surprise this year when he edited a political magazine, New Statesman, despite the fact that he has never voted and followed it up by an appearance on the most serious News programme on the BBC in an interview with their star journalist, Jeremy Paxman, who regularly leaves politicians floundering for a coherent response to his pointed questions.
Brand’s responses to Paxman’s questions were so insightful and so intelligent that they quite turned the tables on the normally unflappable interviewer. The youtube video went viral and some commentators were talking about a possible Beppe Grillo effect in the UK. This has yet to be seen.
In the second most read opinion piece, Silvia Swinden of our London Bureau wrote this:
“The bad mouthed ex-junkie speaking faster than one could follow his thoughts did not have a very wide appeal but a niche audience kept up, and suddenly he has become a kind of mouthpiece for every person disenchanted with pseudo-democratic, lobby-driven politics.”
The Catholic Church has no right to give out moral guidance
Our third most popular opinion piece, written by Tony Robinson in the Budapest Bureau, was written before the old pope resigned and questioned the stance of the Catholic Church on so many different moral issues, such as gay marriage, women’s equality and the accumulation of wealth.
“This organisation has no right to give out moral guidance to the people of the world. First it must purge itself of its paedophile problem by understanding the problem in its ultimate root: you can’t supress sexual desire whether gay or straight and making young gay men believe that they can leads to child abuse. Secondly it must give equality to women and open up all positions in the church to them. Thirdly, it must give up its huge wealth. It has no right to it. It comes from the people for the maintenance of the priests, not for the upper echelons of the Church hierarchy to be draped in gold.
When these three items are addressed, let’s talk again about what moral advice they want to give out. Until then, they really should go away and meditate.”
Chavez, the good and the evil
In the aftermath of the death of the former Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, opinions were divided among those happy to see him go and those devastated.
While the poorest in Venezuelan society revered him for the progress made in health and education, the Media at home and abroad always reviled him for the attacks made on the wealth accumulated by Venezuela’s elite and his supposed determination to maintain power at all costs, despite the fact that he won election after election fair and square.
Mariano Quiroga from our Buenos Aires Bureau wrote an opinion piece which was translated to English and became the fourth most read opinion in 2013.
“He was a singular man who broke with stiff protocol and whose energy and optimism were contagious. Maybe he sang more than his talent allowed, a frustrated painter and baseball player, throughout his entire life no one was indifferent to him. They describe his fight against cancer as a fight between good and evil, for some Chavez represented the good and cancer the evil, for others, it was the reverse.”
http://www.pressenza.com/2013/03/chavez-the-good-and-the-evil/
Religious violence and experience of contact with the Sacred
Our Top 5 of opinions written by Pressenza columnists is rounded off by a piece by Anna Polo in our Milan Bureau.
Again, on the theme of religion, Anna reflects on the violence present in society and contrasts this to the central tenet of all religions which can be expressed as “Treat others as you would have them treat you”. She goes on to criticise religions for having lost their way and their manipulation of the masses and goes on to conclude:
“Moreover, the experience of direct contact with the Sacred is accessible to anyone who searches for it, without the need of dogma and intermediations. In today’s world the growing need for this type of spirituality is translated into a search that takes on different forms and takes different roads. Silo’s Message includes itself in this context, explaining in a poetic and sincere way the path to take in order to overcome both internal and external violence, emerge from darkness and carry out a process of profound change. The Message is not a religion, but an invitation to experience this new spirituality in a direct way, individually and in groups, to overcome suffering in oneself and in the others and to make of nonviolence a lifestyle. It is one of many ways of recognizing the Sacred that human beings have searched for since the earliest times.”
http://www.pressenza.com/2013/04/religious-violence-and-experience-of-contact-with-the-sacred/
