(Comments by 4d-Don in the Washington Post, and The Silent Muslim, Denmark)
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/yourpost/2006/02/
sparks_fly_over.html
http://thesilentmuslim.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/
the-official-danish-website-on-cartoons-its-faqs/
Sparks Fly Over Danish Cartoon
Put Holy Books on Trial...
Is it not time to open the scriptures and history of the religions of the descendants of Abraham, Judaism, and their offshoots, the so-called "Christian Religions" and Islam...., Historically, I believe the shisms between the immediate sons of Abraham is recorded in the sciptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and the battles have raged on since.
The change of the "Jesus movement" from a "non-violent" to the "Holy Roman Church" happened in the 2nd century, with Emperor Constantine, and although the Christian Churches all preach "turn the other cheek" according to historical records, they have been the perpetrators and instigators of countless massacres, wars, oppressions, torture, and general "uncivilized" practices"...
Is it not time to open the Holy Books and take the references to God asking people to kill as in Abraham with Isaac, Josua at Jericho and many other references that depict God as testing or favouring one individual or tribe of "his people" against another.
Should the words like "chosen" not be re-defined and/or explained if God is to be called upon in defense of crimes against individuals or humanity as a whole? All of the followers of the various sects of Judaims, Christianity and Islam claim to be "God's Favorite's" or as we would say in the schoolyard, the "teacher's pet". Does this attitude not bring about intolerance, jealousy, bullying, crime, war and all around anti-social and "uncivilized behaviour?
Don't we have the right to question, if not the ONE God or the UNITY, then the interpretors of that ONE God, who are after all, human? That is the right the Christians gave themselves in the middle ages with the Reformation. The Quakers the have taken the freedom of religion to a "conscientious objector" height and can claim to be a peaceful religion but most Christians still serve in war with "God on their side". It seems that for the fundamentalist Christians, the teachings of Christ are secondary to "making the apocalyptic prophecies come true" And that can be said of the fundamentalists of Judaism and Islam also. So we do not have "peaceful religions" here. Let us put their Holy Books on Trial.
Still, as Buffy Ste Marie (a Canadian Folk singer) said in her song "The Universal Soldier", in the end, in front of one's God or in the HIghest, it is the person doing the action who is ultimately responsible for the action not the one ordering or instigating. It is not enough to claim that "the devil made me do it" or worse that "I did it for God" or " I was told or ordered by my authorities to do it". The Neurenberg defense was not accepted for Nazism, it should not be accepted for all the other "isms" such as religion -ism. We tell our kids: "If your friends jumps of the cliff, will you jump off the cliff too?" And....if your leader is behind you and pushing you, then don't follow, push the leaders out front. They will soon change their minds.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Voltaire (notice he says, "disapprove", not "disagree"!
Give Peace a Chance..Come-on Religious Folks!
Put your Holy Books on Trial and become truly "peaceful religions".
4d-Don
Two Short songs....
HEY YOU
By 4d-Don (SOCAN)
Key of B (Capo 4....Play G) in 4/4 Time-Folk
Hey You! with a double face
Who pray for peace, then serve the gods of war
What's that you speak? Turn the other cheek?
You gotta think the world is deaf and blind
CHORUS
Get out of here, not in my space
Join the human race, and become civilized
I was at ONE, my one in ONE
Then you came along, with your master song
Hey You! Of the Holy Book
In your Holy Nook, with the words you bastardize
You sow the war, then you reap the war
You gotta think the world is deaf and blind
Hey You! Of the master clan
With your master plan, and the words you idolize
What about the child, who is brutalized
You gotta think the world is deaf and blind
Hey You! Who theorize
Proselytize, and then you criticize
You victimize, and you terrorize
You gotta think the world is deaf and blind
or this one for a little more hopeful...
UNCLOUDY DAY
By 4d-Don(SOCAN)
Key of G in 4/4 Time-Bluegrassy/Gospel
Have you heard the songs of warning?
Heard the bells alarming?
Roaring guns a-warring in a dream landscape
Getting closer by the hour.
Tearing up the flowers
Waking up the thunder, where the dark clouds stay.
Could be rainbows on the mountain.
Waters from the fountains
Rolling down the hillside where the white clouds play
If we all pray by the hour.
Sunrise on the flowers
Holding back the showers for that uncloudy day.
Oh! The land of the cloudless sky.
Oh! The land of that un-cloudy day.
If we all pray by the hour. Sunrise on the flowers
Holding back the showers for that un-cloudy day
Posted by: 4d-don Feb 21, 2006 3:10:55 PM
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2 comments:
Dear Don,
You seem to be misguided in your "trial" of the Holy Books. The Holy Books are historical records of people through the ages, the good and the bad. I'm not sure where you get your evidence from? Can you support your claims? For example, your saying that God asked Abraham to kill Isaac makes it appear as if that was His goal, when it was a test to show devotion to God and Isaac never would have been killed.
The Holy Books should be read in depth, within context, and with a wholistic, unified understanding.
Hi AK
The evidence is from the Bible itself. It says that God asked Abraham to kill Isaac. It does not say that God said to Abraham:" This is a test to see if you'll obey me!". According to the "book" Abraham did not know that it was a test. The test was about "obedience". Not wether Abraham was "morally elevated" and hence would not kill as the same Bible later says that the same God told Moses.
Which Command takes precedence? Kill or Don't Kill? And what about the order to Joshua to "kill every Man woman and child in Jericho?" or the deal with God and the Devil about Job and his family who later died as per the Devils command. God rewarded Job with a "better" family?"....Could we not make sense here and see that it is not God speaking but the little delusional minds of the elite priestly class (the levites) and their acolytes.
Thou shall not Kill is easy. If a Church says that its "Highest" condones "killing" for whatever reason beside self-defense and societally condoned "capital Punishment", they should not be allowed to practice in a "civilized" society and should not be called "charitable" by the Taxation Department of the Government in that country.
It's a societal norm that we accept for the common "people". I want God and its representatives to be under the same norm. If God (or its representative)commands "killing" for whatever reason beside "self defense" and societally accepted conditions (capital punishment), they should be prosecuted by our criminal justice and/or Mental Health systems. If it is not in self defense or as a societally condoned punishment or retribution for a crime, it is either a crime or a mental illness.
In the case of Isaac, he was guilty of no crime and had not been tried. He was just a "toy" to be played with by a tyrant God and it's delusional servant, Abraham. If God tell you to kill your son, Please don't, see a doctor (psychiattrist) or talk to a friend.
In the case of Jericho, the Israelites were the invaders and
taking the land from the locals after being "nation-less" in the desert for 40 years....I sympathize.
In the Case of Job, his wife and family were part of a test for Job and were guilty of no crime or had ever been tried.
The final insult is that Job gets a "better" wife and family and a larger farm and more money....Such flawed morality and theology is not to be rewarded by our tax dollars and our government institutions.
Sounds Simple to me...
4d-don
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