Infidels! Terrorists! Extremists!

“Infidels! Terrorists! Extremists!” These are the words being spewed from men and women alike, claiming to believe in God, claiming to live by the guidance set forth by God. How can any of us call ourselves children of God if all we do is try to claim our superiority over others. Does our religion really make us that much better? Does the brand of our religion really make us any different from the next person? No one has the right to judge anyone’s ability to gain entrance into a heaven they cannot even begin to understand? Is it not God who shall judge each individual, and God alone? if God is the only judge, then what does it matter to you, that another person should choose another path? Are you afraid their path is better? Perhaps you are both lost, or perhaps you are both right? How do you know?

You may claim that the Bible tells you what is the truth, or that the Quran, or the Torah tells you the truth, but what of their authors? Would you trust your soul to a person who is long gone? Some would say that those who have written such texts were guided by God, but who are you really trusting? Are you trusting your priest, the imam, rabbi, or even your parents? Are they not all human, fallible in every way? If God can guide them, who is to say He cannot also guide you? Can we not all look to God for guidance directly? Man would have others come to him for he sees nothing but himself. Seek not in others what you can seek in yourself.

Divided We Fall

The world is divided. We are divided based on the country we choose to pay homage. We are divided based on our language and our culture. We are divided based on our religion. We are divided by what we choose to call God/Allah. We are divided by the wants of our mind and our heart. We are divided and yet we have no one else to blame but ourselves.

We choose sides and yet we have no idea what side it is that we really play on. We say we follow God’s laws, and yet we would honor our country before we would honor God. We say we are good Christians, Muslims, or Jews, and yet we would hold our prophets above God Himself. We say we are obedient children and yet we squabble over the scraps of a world full of illusions. We claim that we are without want except for God’s love, and yet we pray to the mighty dollar. We say in God we trust, but only when times get rough. We are divided and yet we have no one else to blame but ourselves.

7 Billion

There are nearly 7 billion people in this world. There are several major religions and thousands more beliefs. Each claim to be correct, and yet how can they all be right? We look for differences and there are many. We look for similarities and there are few. And though those similarities are few, we would choose to look passed them. Why is that? Are we so confident with our beliefs that we would disregard the experiences and the lives of all those who we share this existence with? How can we be so confident? Surely among us, there are those who know? Do you choose to listen to those whose thoughts are in line with your own, or do you allow yourself to listen with an open mind, spirit and heart? When you hear or read the truth, how will you know? Will it announce itself, or will you feel it so deep down within the very core of your existence that you can no longer deny it? There are nearly 7 billion people in this world and yet we act as though we were the only one.

Serve Your Master

Unity in division is still division. Unity against a common enemy is still division. Fractured by our wants, and by our beliefs, we can never know a love so pure. Fractured by our hate and disdain for our fellow man, we can never know ourselves. So often man condemns his brother and sister without knowing he is truly condemning himself. What mans hates in others, he hates of himself. And in hating of himself, he feeds of the Tree of Deception.
Man proclaims himself a Christian, or a Muslim or a Jew, and yet he calls his brother enemy. He justifies his hate with the hate of another man, and then wonders why his heart is in pain. He calls his neighbor a liar and a thief, and then wonders why his heart feels empty. He strikes out in anger and frustration and then wonders why his tears are bitter. There is no unity in division, and yet that is the way he wants it.
Serve your master or serve your heart. I have no master, for you are all my brothers and sisters.

The Greater Good

What exactly does that mean? For the greater good of whom or what? Does the well being of one out weigh the well being of many? Does one of set of people carry more importance than another set of people? Is an American’s or a European’s life worth more than an African’s life or a Mexican’s life? Is an employed person worth more to society than a homeless person? Where are the lines crossed? How can you justify your actions? You call yourself a Christian, or a Muslim or Jew, and yet you’ve forgotten what it means to be human. You’ve forgotten what it means to love. You weigh your conscience against a set of books and rituals, and yet the words stand empty and meaningless. So for the greater good, or for your greater good? Your intent is known.

From Many There Will Be One

From one there became three. From three there became many. From the many came confusion.

A Dutch Bishop from the Roman Catholic Church had proposed recently that people of all faiths refer to God as Allah so that it may foster an understanding that regardless of the name we choose, God is still God. He had said that God did not mind what he was called, and that it was our problem. Despite his gesture, people from his congregation and others condemned him. The opposition thought that today we will call God Allah, and tomorrow we will start calling churches mosques and we will have to begin praying five times a day.

Why is it people must divide? How different are Catholics/Christians, Muslims and Jews? Are they so different we would create three gods from One? Each has their own book. Each has their own places of worship. Each believes in one god. Each claims to preach love and unity. Yet for some reason people from within each religion seek to divide. Some say that they would like to keep their identity that seeing themselves as the same blurs the line between the West and the rest of the world. Who says there must be a line? Who says one is superior over the other. Each points to a truth, but none are perfect. Each claims to be the right way, but yet we still fight wars. If God were on anyone’s side, then why would there be others? Surely God could snap his fingers and we would see the truth, or perhaps God has given us a choice to seek division, or to seek him out.

Jerusalem, Dome of the Rock

Life after death would be a lonely place if you were the only one who was right. Who is to say your way is the way? Scholars? Historians? Priests? Imams? Sufis? Rabbis? Holy men? Some would like to believe that God guides those who carry a position of prominence and leadership within these religions, but why cannot God also guide others? Cannot God guide the less fortunate, the unknown, and the down-trodden? Cannot man with all of his self-perceive knowledge and wisdom be led into temptation? Cannot man be tempted to see himself better than his brother and sister? Cannot man forsake his God for the riches and power he seeks in this life? Is not man imperfect? And if man is imperfect, then why would one place faith in other men, rather than with God himself.