the pope did not get it

so! the nobel peace prize went to the iranian lawyer shirin ebadi.

i am very disappointed that the pope did not win the prize instead. why did they choose to give the award to shirin? the report stated that she won the prize for ‘her work defending human rights in an award aimed at spurring democratic reform across the muslim world’. hmm… muslim world? i thought it is a ‘world prize’ therefore the winner’s works should be worldwide and not confine to a certain religion.

it seems that in her own country, there appears to be a rift between reformist and conservatives. iran’s consevative accused the nobel committee of pandering to the west’s political agenda by awarding its peace prize to ebadi, whereas the reformists hailed her as a catalyst for change. and you know what, an editor of a newspaper even label the award political. hmm… do you think so?

or was it the committee’s way of pacifying the muslim world? in the report of her win, some analysts said that the committee has sought to promote moderates in the muslim world since the sept. 11 attacks on the US to avoid stirring conflicts between christians and muslims after the US-led wars on afghanistan and iraq. if that’s true, then it might be true that the committee were out to pacify the muslim world!

well, if you want to read further about shirin ebadi, go to the guardian and read one-woman machine who took on iran’s cleics

a recent photo of pope john paul II, taken few weeks ago during his visit to pompeii.

coming back to the pope, i suppose it can’t be deny that most catholics (including me) are disappointed that he did not win the prize. a former polish president and noble laureate, mr lech walesa said that the nobel prize choice was a big mistake.

i fully agree with him when he said this:

“the pope has so many merits, he has tried to convince the big powers that peace is always a better solution than war. the one who has done the most in the world, for all religions, did not get the prize”

of course there are many who disagree with him and think the pope should not win the award. many said that it is mainly because of his stance on abortion and contraception that made him lose out on winning the prize.

well what to do, since the ailing pope had been snubbed as the iranian rights woman lawyer wins the price, naturally the vatican was disappointed though they try not to show it

well, i would console myself with this concluding words of mr lech walesa ‘the holy father is bigger than the noble peace prize and all the prices in the world’ and also the fact that despite now winning, his contribution is known worldwide.