I was looking for some stimulating chat this week, and found myself on Paltalk, in the PalTalk News Network chat room. (www.paltalk.com)
Usually, the topics in the room vary from breaking news and politics, to social issues. On this particular occasion I had the pleasure of contributing my input on issues of religion, and more particularly the issue of Islam, it's historical practice, scriptural texts and implementation in contemporary society.
After a few minutes, it became obvious to me that there is a thread of thought in American society that has not only been misinformed about Islam, but also are adamant that the information they have is the ONLY information needed to re-enforce their biased, distorted, and hateful prejudice against people of Arab decent. The part of the conversation that struck me as most disturbing, was not the references to the more 'gory' parts of the Q'uran, but the denial that many Western Religions share similar text; Just as bloody, just as gory, and just as 'vengeful' as text found in the holy book of Muslim people (I'm referencing the Tanakh and the Old Testament).
I have come to the conclusion that, because of our pitiful public education system, the increasing populous of impoverished Americans, and a history of religious bigotry, we have become a nation akin to the likes of caricatures from the Mike Judge movie "Idiocracy"...Where our simplistic needs of 'food, sex, sleep' has not only permeated our thought, but dominated it entirely. What's left behind is a reactionary, emotionally driven public that is quick to blame their problems on the first unlucky guy in their cross-hairs. Be it Barack Obama, George Bush, Islam, or the tooth fairy...(and why the hell Barack Obama red flags my spell check, but George Bush doesn't, to me sparks interest as well :)
As a person who was raised in a moderate home, with Judeo-Christian parents with college degrees and introspective, analytical minds, I was fortunate enough to have at least some bastion of an 'open-minded' home. My father was a technical engineer and Musician, and my mother, a School Principal and District Board member. Issues of morality and social justice were never limited only to simple interpretations of the Bible, but more of a conversation about practical applications of intellect and the lessons of history, always considering the contemporary era and current issues. To be honest, the Bible was never referred to when discussing these issues, but we always had an unspoken understanding that the teaching of Jesus about Peace and Brotherhood of Man were an influence from which to base our directives.
"Brotherhood of Man", a concept that as an open-minded skeptic I find difficult to fathom as I grow older, as unfortunately have witnessed the lack of Brotherly Love that my youthful, jaded eyes thought would be waiting for me as an adult. Did I see this lack of "Brotherly Love" first in Muslims who followed the teachings of Mohammad, or the Evolutionists, so criminalized throughout the years by Christian leaders? No, it was Christian leaders themselves who taught me that intolerance is an operating mode for some, in a faith that has guided generations of my family.
Why has Christianity de-volved? How have the teachings of Jesus become the tools for animosity, hatred, bigotry, sexism, racism and intolerance...truth is, they haven't. The rules that many of these so-called "Christians" follow is a social one, not a biblical one (at least with regards to the New Testament). It has become acceptable for under-educated Americans to rely on Fox News and Glen Beck for their 'Education', and because of some twisted idea that they are following a "Traditional" Christo-American tradition, that their intolerance of others is acceptable.
Sure there are a number of passages in the Q'uran that reference violent treatment of enemies, but if one was to read the Old Testament (based on historic Jewish texts), you'd clearly see that Islam doesn't hold the sole seat in that arena. The god of the old testament didn't teach Peace, compassion, kindness or love. The Old Testament god was a vengeful, manipulative, calloused god, that would smite and strike any who disagreed with his whims. The god of the Old Testament was a warrior god in a time of hardships and death. The grim passages of man's fall from grace, and his years of suffering throughout the ages is more than a history, it's a warning..."Don't mess with god, or YOU WILL DIE!!"...
When you compare these texts with the teachings of the prophets of the New Testament, there is more than just a stark contrast, it's as if you are studying two completely different religions. Now I'm no historian, but am comfortable saying that even in Jesus' time, the texts that would one day become the "Old Testament" were already becoming antiquated, though devoutly followed. Jesus himself was cast out and eventually killed by those who perpetuated the teaching of said text. So why is it that this teachings would come to be an 'addendum' to these violent, vengeful, hate filled writings? Am I simply supposed to believe that Jesus was eventually accepted by his killers? That is far from the case. Aside from Messianic Jews, there is still no acceptance by the purveyors of the 'Original Religion', the Jews. To them the Messiah has yet to arrive, and to debate this fact as a Jew amounts to sacrilege.
So are we allowed to pick and choose how we express our faith in God based on our feelings? Can we use the anger and intolerance of the Old Testament as a weapon with enemies. Or the teachings of Love and Patience, tolerance when touting religious and moral superiority? I think not.
There is a whole story to every fable that needs to be understood, a history, a lineage of evolution in ALL religions. The complexity that we find in the Hindu or Buddhist texts is a perfect proof...Thousands of years of Religious evolution that, once understood, illustrates the history and struggles, the cultural 'spreading' of these faiths and the ironies that can develop when peaceful people and warrior class intermingle within the same religious belief. Islam and Christianity are no exceptions to this rule.
To deny the violence and horrors of the wrathful God of the Semites is to deny your own religious history. To simply say. "We are a peaceful religion, and you're not, so we got Kill Ya'" is so full of obvious irony, that if you don't immediately recognize it, than you are part of the problem...not the solution. And remember the Crusades, years of religious intolerance that left the battlefield strewn with blood and bodies, all under the name of a Faith that taught you to "love thy Brother"...It's not a dismissal of the teachings of Jesus, but more an acknowledgement of the way that violent people have a way of taking a peaceful faith, and twisting it into a maniacal frenzy of hatred and pain. Much the way 'Islamic Extremeists' have done this in the name of the Q'uran, much the way some contemporary Christians have stirred up anti-Islamic sentiments and intolerance. As individuals we have to recognize our religious history, the ironies and shortcomings that come with that, in an effort to reconcile our future.....
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