Religious 'Love'by William Edelen
It is an historical fact that behind all of the wars and violence of human history, and behind every gun, has been a religious scripture. Christianity spread, not by 'love,' but on the bloody sword of Constantine. So, to help you keep it straight as to the religious slaughter in the name of 'love,' here is a update. IRAN muzzling mulish mullahs that may object to a 'holy war' (WHAT ABOUT YUKOSLAVIA) INDIA Hindus vs. Muslims PUNJAB Indian Sikhs vs. Indian Hindus KASHMIR Kashmiri Muslims vs. Indian Hindus SRI LANKA Tamil Hindus vs. Singhalese Buddhists AZERBAIJAN Azerbaijan Muslims vs. Armenian Christians CYPRUS Turkish Muslims vs. Greek Orthodox HOLY LAND Palestinian Muslims vs. Israeli Jews NORTHERN IRELAND Christian Roman Catholics vs. Christian Protestants AMERICA (WHICH AMERICA?) Christian Fundamentalists (still in 1992 - WHAT ABOUT 1994?) trying to read archaic biblical mythology as literal historical fact . . . vs. scholarship . . . abortion counseling . . . the U.S. Bill of Rights and the Constitution . . . classic literature . . . classical humanism . . . women's rights . . . (what about Gay Rights?) And yet, at the heart of all of the religious traditions is scripture that counsels our human species to act in a way in which he would have others act toward him. CHRISTIANITY "All things whatsoever you would that men should d,o to you, do even so for them." (Matthew 7:12) ISLAM "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." (Sunnah) JUDAISM "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowman. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary." (Talmud, Shabbat 31a) BUDDHISM "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." (Udana-Varga 5:18) BRAHMANISM "This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain done unto you." (Mahabharata 5,1517) What irony! What a religious quagmire of hypocrisy and contradictions. Even Pope John Paul II, with words from Vatican City, recently addressed this issue. He called "freedom of conscience our inalienable right." He said, "Religious fundamentalism (everywhere) is our greatest threat to world peace. Fundamentalism breeds totalitarianism and intolerance." The Pope highlighted the sickness of the world's religions with these words: "People must not attempt to impose their own 'truth' on others." These words coming form Vatican City would give some hope that a spiritual evolution is possible, even in dogmatic traditions. Thomas Jefferson said it before the Pope. From Jefferson's Notes on Virginia: Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been bumt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support recouery all over the earth. Let us reflect that it is inhabited by a thousand millions of people . . . and that these profess a thousand different systems of religion. Our system of Christianity is only one of those thousands. The enormous damage that has been done to our fragile planet and the human species by religious ignorance and superstitions is just beyond the comprehension of any sensitive mind. Dogmatic and doctrinal religions have been historically, and are today, intolerably alien to human intelligence. We are surrounded by savagery, by zealots and fanatics acting in "the name of God." Our most ardent hope can be that out of the ashes of religious hatred and superstitions can rise the Phoenix of a reflned spirituality, creating a revolution in the sphere of human consciousness.
Table of Contents | 1994 Issues | Subscribe Credit card Orders call: 800-321-9054 or fax: (619)676-0433 Truth Seeker is published by Truth Seeker Co., Inc. (ISSN 0041-3712) © 1996 |