Posted on 10/03/2001 9:14:11 PM PDT by MHGinTN
Beliefs At The Heart Of The Conflict Against Terrorism
[This is the third and last in a humble series of essays; #2 is here, for those so inclined to read the previous two. For those wishing a more scholarly comparison, JohnHuang2 has posted the following thread, http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3bbbd5054698.htm.]
There are many who will say, regarding the undeclared war since the atrocities of 9-11, that we are not in a religious war, that we are not to wage war on Islam but on the terrorists who seek to embroil the world of Islam in a global struggle against anything non-Islamic. Make no mistake, it is a religious war to the terrorists. Let us now explore the fundamental differences (religious/cultural/philosophical in nature) in belief systems as they apply to the current conflict.
If Islamism is to be eradicated, it will have to be done by Muslims. It will become apparent why, shortly, for what Osama bin Laden seeks to export worldwide is a sub-sub-sect of Islamic faith. [The following essay regarding Islam, Christianity, and Judaism will be cursory at best where fundamentals of three great religions are concerned. No attempt will be made to completely summarize what takes vast written volumes just to enumerate. We will try only to touch the highlights as they apply to the current worldwide struggle against terrorism.]
The three great religions of note in the current struggle are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Setting Christianity aside for a moment, it is essential to note that both Jew and Arab are descended from the patriarch, Abram, or Abraham.
In scriptures acknowledged by both Islam and Judaism the story of Abram’s first two sons is the line of original demarcation for these two great religious traditions. Arabs claim the blessings of God through Abram to Ishmael; Jews claim the blessings of God through Abram to Isaac; there are people to be studied that are older than both, the Bedouin, who inhabited the world in which Abram sojourned and whose traditions were undoubtedly known and followed by Abram before and after God called him out of Ur. We will get back to the Bedouin in a moment.
Both Judaism and Islam claim human lineage back to Adam. That is essential, especially for Islam since the holy Kaaba in Mecca is believed by Muslims to have been rebuilt many times since Adam’s first construction. [The Kaaba predates Judaism and Islam; readers should search this word to dig deeper into Muslim traditions. We won’t try to elucidate the Kaaba here; http://www.encyclopedia.com/articlesnew/06791.html.]
Both Judaism and Islam lay claim to interaction with God, the Creator of us all. Both religions have at their core the notion of earning from God a place in the afterlife. Both religions deem evil as a real force, personified in a being that is not God. Both religions at one time or now may be understood as a matrix of religion and culture, thus both religions have traditions of non-separation of ‘church and state’; both—especially the extreme fundamentalist forms of both—are still deeply engrossed in this meld of religion and societal institutions. This is very different from our American way of thinking, but it is not necessarily bad, just a different way of constructing society.
The essence of our current clash with Islamism (the radicalized deadly tumor growing near the heart of Islam) may be understood best as totalitarian, where adherents seek to force fundamental religious behavior on others and justify killing in the name of this ‘conversion’, even to the extent of killing without remorse those fellow Muslims who do not follow the strict rigors of Islamism.
It is important to note that adhering to strict fundamental rigors of Islam doesn’t necessarily breed killing such as seen 9-11, for there is in Saudi Arabia the sect of Wahhabism which is very restrictive, yet this sect doesn’t seek to kill any who do not conform, Muslim or non-Muslim … but it is from this fundamentalist form of Islam that Osama bin Laden has arisen, and some few in Saudi Arabia have supported him all along.
For American understanding, let’s compare this phenomenon of Islamism to a very restrictive sect within the Baptist denomination of Christianity gradually building a hatred for modern life with its degradation of women, children, the poor, the … well, you get the gist; this imaginary sect of radical Baptists become so incensed that they take up terrorism against television networks and bars and strip joints to force an end to these abominations as they perceive the clash of their belief system and the world around them. Radicals seeking to force adherence to ‘righteousness’, as they define it, would perceive their struggle as a holy war, while America in general would perceive their acts and their underlying beliefs as totalitarian in nature.
We must not make the mistake of painting the entire of Saudi Arabia with the radical paint of bin Laden’s ‘holy aggression/holy terror’ for the sect from which his beliefs arise is at peace within Saudi Arabia and they have every right to exist and live as they wish within their own society. As contrast, we don’t have the right to force women’s liberation and ‘abortion on demand’ on societies outside of America, no matter what N.O.W. may claim; emancipation of women, if it is to occur, must occur within the context of each society as it exists in the arena of its cultural heritage; if we try to force adherence to our cultural peculiarities, we are behaving as an Osama bin Laden. Osama seeks to export by force his fundamentals, to ‘evangelize’ the entire world and force conversion to his belief system, in his demented service to allah, the allah of his definition, not Allah of the Koran, the Allah of Islam.
Let’s turn now to Islam and Judaism as different from Christianity, in the context of our current struggle against terrorism. If Islam and Judaism are religions of works, of earning blessings from God, Christianity may be seen as religion of grace not of works to achieve paradise; paradise is to be earned in Islam and Judaism, whereas it is the gift of God in Christ as defining Christianity, then the good works follow as evidence of a transformed soul.
In a way, the ‘law’ of Judaism and the submission of Islam are to be contrasted with the grace principle of Christianity. Where Islam has most fundamental issue with Christianity is the notion of the trinity, of God in three persons, for the basic tenet of Islam is ‘there is only Allah’, not three god persons, thus Islam defines Christianity as polytheism, yet they recognize Jesus as a prophet from God. Interestingly, the founder of Wahhabism, Sheik Mohammed Ibn Abdul Wahhab (18th century), took a similar approach to the veneration of Muhammed, the Prophet of Islam, as of Jesus described above; he believed Muslims raised the worship of Muhammed to a level of polytheism, equating the Prophet with the position of Allah, and to him this was an abomination.
Before there was Judaism or later Islam, there were Bedouin all across the Middle East and North Africa. The Bedouin have a well-defined system of ethic and culture that holds highest esteem for the family and tribe, loyalty and honesty. Bedouin tradition is the garden from which the cultural aspects of Judaism and Islam have arisen, though I doubt the high leaders of either religion would admit to such an anthropology.
The ferocity with which Islamic and Judaic traditions remain inflexible has roots in the traditions of the Bedouin. To understand how the Saudis can allow our involvement for commerce and defense, while expecting us—as far as possible—to not violate their rigors of religion and societal construction, one should look to Bedouin traditions, not bin Laden’s insanities. Ruling the kingdom, al Saud family has sought to bring some measure of modernity to the people while maintaining the rigors of their faith, but they haven’t sought to kill anyone that does not submit … being tossed out of Saudi Arabia is fairly easy, but the guest that does not blaspheme their faith is welcome in a way few in the West could understand, for generosity is a Bedouin grace and al Saud have raised this grace to a high art one can understand only after experiencing it directly, and not with a Western filter!
We should differentiate the totalitarian nature of bin Laden’s extreme Islamism from the great tradition of Islam that can co-exist and has co-existed for over a thousand years. Yes, Wahhabism of the Saudis is extreme faith, but even in its extreme it has shown the ability to co-exist if treated with the dignity any religious fervor is allowed in a complex world of clashing cultures. Osama bin Laden’s mutation from Wahhabism cannot co-exist with other religions nor with less extreme Muslim traditions, and thus it is a danger for all humankind, not the least of which are the faithful in the Middle East, especially Saudis who are not on his wavelength of death and mayhem.
What bin Laden represents and is seeking to achieve is best understood as totalitarian, as subjugation, with annihilation for those who will not bow before his extreme. Because of this holy terror, Osama bin Laden and his network must be eradicated from the earth, and the use of terror must be ended in theaters of international and regional interaction.
Osama—and most casting their lot with him in his extremism—would have the state of Israel annihilated and the Middle East wedded to Islamism, ‘purifying’ the region and eventually the entire world to the exclusion of all other faiths. To achieve that goal, these fanatics will destroy America with religious zeal, believing they generate a debt owed to them by God that they will collect the instant of their death, forcing their way even into paradise. Such insanity (for they awaken in Hell) cannot be negotiated with and certainly cannot be allowed to continue as these terrorist acquire weapons of mass destruction and the delivery systems, for they have proven they will go to any extreme to foster their totalitarian ends; they don’t want to co-exist! This had better not be Islam’s future, for once the evil jinns of biological weapons are released en masse they cannot be stuffed back into their rocks, back into their confinements. [When you read the history of Bedouin, the reference to jinns will be apparent. It would behoove we Westerners to strive for better understanding of Bedouin traditions that have lent their influence forward in time in the Middle East, for they are fundamental to Israeli and Islamic thinking processes.]
Thanks for the heads up.
Have you ever done research on the de-programming of cult members, how difficult it is to get rid of the programmed phobias and delusions? Usama's brand of "faith" must be very attractive to the lonely and lost whose sorry histories can be suddenly wiped clean by blaming infidels for their own failures. Gang leaders and other exploiters of the poor and unhappy have been using similar (milder!) techniques for years to recruit members and raise money for their causes.
I am not patient with the American exploitation squads right now. From Jesse Jackson through Jane Goodall - their words ring hollow and false. Perhaps a result of 9-11 will be Americans opening their eyes to the hijacking of our values by uninformed groups and individuals within our own communities, and we will no longer remain silent in the face of their contempt.
This is like saying they kill us because we are not them. OK. But there are those who do not kill others. What is different about those who do?
Someone else stated this wasn't a religious war because they killed other Muslims, and didn't attack churches or temples. But, to look at it from a cultural perspective, our financial centers would symbolize the religion of mammon
It is a religious war to the fundamental Islamics who are asking us all to choose sides.
"Make no mistake about it: It is a religious war to (& AGAINST?) the terrorists."
"Make no mistake about it: It is a religious war to (& AGAINST?) the terrorists."
"Medieval culture at war with progress,"
--- although this is an inadvertent insult to most (true historical) Medieval Culture!
Ajami was on two panels I saw recently; he's a most fascinating and insightful thinker & observer of the arab scene, going to very current sources, like Saudi (High Religious) Court rulings and Egyptian Newspapers & editorial opinion to give us a current & historical feel for the mind-set of the various Islamic & Arabic communities.
He gave the exact verbaitm talk using the parable in "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell (author of 1984 & former communist), in which the great white hunter goes tothe east & as a rite of passage, at the urging of the Natives, shoots an Elephant, which is devroured byt he natives, who then aalso prod\ceed to abuse the Hunter for having shot the very elephant they consume.
We are, "Going in to the East," and they will never be our friends, but we must EXPECT such, and be PREPARED accordingly.
MOHAMMED'S NOCTURNAL TRIP TO PARADISE
AND THE MOHAMMEDAN CONCEPT OF HEAVEN
by James E. Gibbons, Mt. Airy, NC.
Mr M, the 'prophet', was a pederast, a poet-warrior, a madman, and a thief, thinks me.SOMETIME AGO while teaching the book of Genesis (the account of Abraham and Ishmael was before me) and teaching the book of Revelation (in sections thought to apply to Mohammed, Mohammedanism, and Mohammedan conquests), and with the fact that the Arabs are continually in the news (one way or another), I was sufficiently provoked to do additional research and study involving Mohammed and the religion that came into being through him (in the seventh century this side of Christ). Several trips to Moslem countries, Jerusalem, and the Mosque of Omar were behind me. A copy of the Koran had been on my library shelf for many years untouched except by dust. In spite of how many writers like to speak of the dignity of the Moslem religion, and their lofty monotheistic concept of God, I was not impressed. Could a religion that had to depend on the ravaging sword for its expansion have much going for it?
To read the Bible, and then to try to read the Koran, one is strikingly and refreshingly impressed by the Bible. There is no question mark about which one is from God. (Oh what a Lord and Savior! And the purity of His religion!) The Koran to me in many ways, thrusts us back to the Old Testament and to pre and sub Old Testament levels. Some concepts may sound good [perhaps borrowed from Christianity], but then these are contradicted by others. Regardless how they may talk about the one God, Allah, we are back in the dingy shadows.
Books written in the last century picture the extreme poverty and backwardness of the Moslem nations with the expectant demise of their religion (the contributing factor). However, because of the oil wealth now flowing into some of these Moslem countries it appears that somewhat of a renaissance is being experienced (and the religion is becoming more attractive in the eyes of some uninformed westerners).
MOHAMMED'S NOCTURNAL TRIP TO PARADISE
Those who have visited Jerusalem and the Mosque of Omar (located on the temple mount) learn that Mohammed was supposed to have ascended to heaven from Jerusalem. If we think it like unto the Lord Jesus Christ, we are away off base (there is no similarity). Following is what I found from my study and is said to be believed by followers of Mohammed. This is supposed to have happened in the twelfth year of the acclaimed mission of the prophet Mohammed. He was in Mecca in bed with his most beloved wife Ayesha (she was one of thirteen wives he had--some say 21 wives besides concubines). He was espoused to Ayesha when she was six years old, but did not consummate his marriage until she was eight. Although Mohammed's law as found in the Koran allowed his followers to have only four wives, he had many, many more. He has God saying in the Koran chapter 33, "This is a peculiar privilege granted unto thee above the rest of the true believers.") The angel Gabriel, who was said to have seventy sets of wings, politely knocked on Mohammed's door. Having gained admittance, he informs the prophet that he had been sent to conduct him into the very presence of God to receive finishing touches involving his mission. A glorious milk-white horse called Al Borak (like prophets were supposed to have ridden in more ancient times) was waiting to carry him on his way. For some reason while Gabriel held the bridle for Mohammed to mount, the animal became very desperate and wild. He was brought under control by Mohammed promising him (the horse) a seat in paradise. This accomplished its purpose. Mohammed mounted, and they were off like lightning on the first leg of their journey to Jerusalem. Here the horse was left fastened at the foot of a rock, and Mohammed is said to have ascended to Heaven. All of this (the trip to Jerusalem, to Heaven, and then back to Jerusalem and Mecca) was supposed to have happened in one night...
In ascending to paradise Mohammed found it to be divided into seven heavens.
The first heaven was composed entirely of solid silver. Here he found a decrepit old man who turned out to be Adam. Adam was very pleased with him and thanked God for such a person. It was from the first heaven that Mohammed was supposed to have seen the stars hanging by golden chains suspended from the roof.
When he reach the second heaven (it was a 500 years journey, normally speaking, between the heavens), we are told that it was all of pure gold. Here he meets Noah, who seems to feel very inferior and wants the prayers of the prophet.
The third heaven was of precious stone, and this was the residence of Abraham. But here his attention seems to be more directed toward an angel which he saw. It is said that the distance between the angel's eyes was a 70,000 days' journey, and "consequently his whole height was five million forty thousand days' journey, or four times as high as all his heavens put together, since each was distant from the other five hundred years' journey."
The fourth heaven was of emerald; here Joseph lived.
The fifth heaven was of adamant. Moses was here, and with him Mohammed had a conference.
The sixth heaven was of carbuncle. Here was the abode of John the Baptist.
The seventh heaven was of divine light, and none other than Jesus Christ was here. It is said that in each of the other heavens all whom he saw wanted the prayers of the prophet, but here he says that he requested the prayers of Jesus. It is said that in the highest heaven, "There was also a very remarkable angel...for he had no fewer than seventy thousand heads, in each head seventy thousand tongues, and each tongue uttered seventy thousand distinct voices at once. That is, he spoke audibly three hundred forty three millions of words in an instant." Here it is said that Mohammed finally arrived within two bowshots of the very throne of God. The face of God was covered with 70,000 veils. As he came near through water and snow, and the hand of God was placed on his back, it was so cold it penetrated to his very marrow. He got important secrets from God, was informed that he would be the greatest man upon the earth, then he was conducted back to earth by the angel Gabriel. His horse was waiting just where he left him, and he was back in Mecca in no time (all in one night). (NOTE: another source has Mohammed riding the white horse to heaven and back).
To say the least, this is different from the Christian's belief in Christ ascending to Heaven after his glorious resurrection. Everything about Mohammed's story sounds a little way out. (!!!) Truth and error stand in sharp contrast.
THE MOHAMMEDAN CONCEPT OF HEAVEN
The Christian is set somewhat aback by Mohammed's Koran on this matter of Heaven and Hell in the hereafter. Hell is no less a place of punishment like taught in the Christian Scriptures, but therewith is added such things as the drinking of stinking and boiling water, the eating of briers and thorns, etc. What really is radically different is the sensual paradise promised to the faithful Moslem. Here a great number of youthful and beautiful dark-eyed women have been especially created for the sensual pleasure of each man; they will continually attend unto him with no detraction or distraction. (When I read this I wondered where the faithful Moslem women of earth were supposed to fit into the picture of such a paradise; also, men like the apostle Paul who chose not to be married). And they will drink delicious liquors and wines and not become drunk (although Moslems are forbidden to drink such on earth).
Let us notice some direct quotations from the Koran to show that what I am saying in not misrepresentation:
The Koran chapter 55: "...This is hell, which the wicked deny as falsehood: they shall pass to and fro between the same and hot boiling water. Which, therefore, of the Lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? But for him who dreadeth the tribunal of his Lord are prepared two gardens: (Which, therefore, of your Lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny?) [This question is found between every statement throughout this section, so we will supply three dots, or ellipsis, rather than repeat it each time] planted with shady trees. (...) In each of them shall there be of every fruit two kinds. (...) They shall repose on couches, the finings whereof shall be of thick silk interwoven with gold: and the fruit of the two gardens shall be near at hand together. (...) Therein shall receive them beauteous damsels, refraining their eyes from beholding any besides their spouses: whom no man shall have de- flowered before them, neither any genius. (...) Having complexions like rubies and pearls.( ...) Shall the reward of good works be any other good? (...) And besides these there shall be two other gardens: (...) Of a dark green (...) In each of them shall be two fountains pouring forth plenty of water. (...) In each of them shall be fruits, and palm trees, and pomegranates. (...) Therein shall be agreeable and beauteous damsels: (...) Having fine black eyes, and kept in pavilions from public view: (...) Whom no man shall have deflowered before their destined spouses, nor any genius. (...) Therein shall they delight themselves, lying on green cushions and beautiful carpets. (...) Blessed be the name of the Lord, possessed of glory and honor!"
The Koran chapter 56: "When the inevitable day of judgment shall suddenly come, no soul shall charge the prediction of its coming with falsehood: it will abase some, and exalt others. When the earth shall be shaken with a violent shock; and the mountains shall be dashed in pieces, and shall become as dust scattered abroad and ye shall be separated into three distinct classes: the companions on the right hand; (how happy shall the companions on the right hand be!) and the companions of the left hand: (how miserable shall the companions of the left hand be!) and those who have preceded other in the faith shall precede them to paradise. These are they who shall approach near unto God: they shall dwell in gardens of delight: (There shall be many of the former religions; and few of the last). Reposing on couches adorned with gold and precious stones; sitting opposite to one another thereon. Youths which shall continue in their bloom forever, shall go around about to attend them, with goblets, and beakers, and a cup of flowing wine; their heads shall not ache by drinking the same, neither shall their reason be disturbed: and with fruits of the sorts which they shall desire. And there shall accompany them fair damsels having large black eyes; resembling pearls hidden in their shells: as a reward for that which they shall have wrought. They shall not hear therein any vain discourse, or any charge of sin; but only the salutation, Peace! Peace! And the companions of the right hand (how happy shall the companions of the right hand be!) shall have their abode among lote-trees free from thorns, and trees of mauz loaded regularly with their produce from top to bottom; under an extended shade, near a flowing water, and amidst fruits in abundance, which shall not fail, nor shall be forbidden to be gathered: and they shall repose themselves on lofty beds. Verily we have created the damsels of paradise by a peculiar creation: and we have made them virgins, beloved by their husbands, of equal age with them; for the delight of the companions of the right hand. There shall be many of the former religions, and many of the latter. And the companions of the left hand (how miserable shall the companions of the left hand be!) shall dwell amidst burning winds, and scalding water, under the shade of a black smoke, neither cool nor agreeable; Then ye, O men, who have erred, and denied the resurrection as a falsehood, shall surely eat of the fruit of the tree of al Zakkum, and shall fill your bellies therewith: and ye shall drink thereon boiling water; and ye shall drink as a thirsty camel drinketh..."
SO MUCH for this little excursion on an intriguing, but alien, byway from my regular study pattern. It proved disturbingly interesting (and there are a lot of others things we could have related). How much better to get back on the main highway (John14:6; Acts 4:12; Matthew 24:11-13). We have no doubt about where it will take us. I am so thankful (and that by God's grace) to be a Christian. Aren't you?
(NOTE: If we have misunderstood what we have read in the Koran in any way, please advise us).
"Leaving
20th Century:
Please
Dim
Lights"
You make a very salient point when you contrast the doctrines of Judaism and Islam that we earn our entrance to heaven through good works with the doctrine of Christianity that eternal life is bestowed by the grace of God to those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior (and who therefore rest in the assurance that He has given His life for the forgiveness of their sins).
Jews and Muslims, believing that they must perform good works in order to earn their way into eternity, must daily ask themselves, 'Am I doing as He would want me to do?' It seems to me that following that belief carries with it a terrible sense of 'insecurity' (for lack of a better word) and unsure-ness about one's eternal future. After all, none of us is faultless, and each of us who believes that heaven is 'earned' must, if we are critical and analytical thinkers (let alone possessors of a conscience), occasionally, anxiously, ask ourselves, 'Am I measuring up? Am I behaving well enough?' Such self-examining questions are potentially good, in that they serve to keep us answerable to an internal monitor. But it is when that internal monitor goes awry (in those in 'leadership' positions in our religion) that we need to be vigilant regarding those who would use their power and position to debase our (and our fathers') faith. Such is the case with radical Islam.
In contrast, the Christian, believing that God's grace, and Christ's sacrifice, promise him eternal life, needs only genuinely strive to live a Christ-like life, knowing full well that he will fall short (because of the concept of original sin, and because he knows himself to be not without fault) .... but that his God is forgiving. The Christian believes that man is only as 'good' as he is able to be successful in battling his own innate sinful nature.
Those who preach radical Islam use this earning one's way into heaven belief to their depraved benefit -- as is evidenced by the misguided (forgive the understatement) hijackers who apparently believed that their abominable actions earned them instant access to paradise. That anyone claiming to follow a 'religion' believes God would condone (let alone desire, and reward) the torturous deaths of thousands of innocents exhibits the inherent danger in earning God's favor -- the concept of 'earning' is open to human interpretation. And when the interpreters are madmen, who hold significant sway over millions, religion finds itself perverted into 'God'-inspired terrorism. How can the true follower of any God-based religion embrace the idea that his God would be pleased with the death and destruction of fellow humans, done in the name of Him who created us all?
I am in no way saying that Judaism, or foundational Islam, are not of God -- or that Jews or true Muslims are following false doctrine. Nor do I degrade or disrespect either religion's belief that one earns one's way into heaven. I simply believe that that belief must be carefully guarded, lest those madmen who do not seek to know God (and, worse yet, who seek to know Him only insofar as falsely claiming to perform His will will garner them more despotic power over others here on earth) be allowed to transform a God-based religion into a man-based abomination.
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