Can anyone insult God?

Remember my one loyal reader, Archie? Well he has asked me real questions about two very important matters:-

1.      Can anyone insult God?

2.      The blight cast by the so called Islamic State or Daesh?

The question is, can anyone or anything insult God? Certainly one can insult someone’s belief in God and they may be rightfully offended. We can offend each other. But insult the Creator of all things? I doubt that He would consider the scribbling of, say, someone like myself as anything but a childish prank – that is if what I write sufficiently interested such an August Being. We are his children after all.

How could anything I say or write insult the Almighty? The very idea that the Great Artificer, the maker of all things; The Progenitor of Mankind; The Source of All; The Origin of all that shall happen, that is all things –Time, and the Eternal Present, Fame, Fortune, Speech, Memory, Intellect, Constancy and Forgiveness; the very idea that puny me may be guilty of insulting such an August Power and that such a One should be at all concerned is beyond, certainly, my comprehension. That is if such a Supreme Power is bothered with it at all. But insulted? Never!

As I say I may be guilty (if that is the correct word to use) of possibly insulting someone’s idea or belief in God. This has apparently happened to some poor sod in Saudi Arabia, one Raef Badawi who is to receive 1000 lashes for insulting Islam! Not God but Islam! He apparently wrote a Blog criticising the Saudi Religious Police.

Now in relation to this barbaric concept of flogging – how, in the name of the Creator, how will flogging this poor man to death (which is what 1000 lashes will do) make him a better Muslim and how would such punishment please the Creator of all things??

Certainly such action insults MY idea of God and offends me!!

Regarding the Saudi Religious Police (Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice) – what Charter or Law do they claim to uphold and enforce? Sharia Law is the answer. What are their qualifications? And who are they anyway? Is this “Police Force”  being staffed by "ex-convicts whose only job qualification was that they had memorized the Qur'an in order to reduce their sentences" as has been claimed?

And who checks the checkers? Who oversees the activities of such a “virtuous” Committee?

They are merely officers of the State – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – no more and no less.

I wonder what the Creator of All Things would think of that? Such activities just diminish the perpetrators and diminish Saudi Arabia and, most importantly, diminish Islam in the eyes of many “non-believers”. Who is now insulting and offending whom?

More than anything else – one needs to reflect on whether the World is a better place because of the activities of the “Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice”?

The next question related to the obscene and profane assemblage of people calling themselves the Islamic State or as they are pejoratively known, Daesh.   

When will the Saudi’s or in fact any “strict” Muslim realise that there has to be a division between religion, the law and the legislator? I am not questioning what Mohammad said or did – he never wrote anything down. In fact it has been suggested that he was illiterate - as, probably, was Jesus. Not that I set much store by this. Many great and wonderful people are not well educated and Islam is one of the great religions.

My concerns are about what we (non-Muslims) are supposed to think about this profanity calling itself a Caliphate? My concerns are about what they want us (non-Muslims) to agree to – under intense coercion?

I cannot conceive that anything the Daesh do, or believe in, is spiritual in nature. It is profane, pure and simple. As I understand it, according to their avowed intention, every non-Muslim must convert to Islam or be killed or enslaved. Would not God, the Creator of all things – and all people - be insulted and offended by this?

They (the Daesh) want us, non-Muslims, to tolerate them and allow them to exist, but they do not tolerate us.

It is worth recalling that whenever social conditions – as promoted by Daesh – develop on a large scale the road to tyranny is wide open and the freedom of the individual turns into physical slavery – individual choices or decisions are met with the harshest punishments. Since tyranny, by its very nature, is immoral and ruthless, it has the freedom to indulge in any method of oppression it chooses. 

The real problem arises when such a tyrannous assemblage is in conflict with those people and those States which still recognise the rights of the individual. In such situations the rights of individuals is eroded by the State to counteract the amoral conduct of tyranny which it cannot defeat without availing itself of the same methods used by its opponents.

The inherent danger in this course of action lies in the strong possibility of the States which recognise individual rights being “infected” in this manner. This is compounded when decisive importance is attached to large numbers and statistical values.  Thus the individual is “seduced” by the policies of the State –“are you with us or against us?” Free opinion is stifled and moral decisions ruthlessly suppressed on the (false) plea that the end justifies the means – “whatever it takes” – no matter how dishonourable or illegal the tactics.

Tyranny begets tyranny. God, if thoughts of God where ever in the minds of such people, is now banished. Power; control; money now consume them and a steep inclined plane is in place under the feet of the tyrannous which propel all involved lower and lower into ever more profane and despicable acts.

Thus am I insulted and my idea and belief in God is insulted and I am offended – deeply offended.

And what about God?

Catholics priests, Paedophilia and Cardinal Pell’s response.

Something is dramatically wrong when a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, the titular head of the Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal Pell can say (in apparent justification) that, and I quote from the Weekend Australian newspaper dated 11-12 November 2012, despite the Catholic Church having received hundreds of complaints of child abuse and notifications of paedophilia in New South Wales and Victoria he believed “it was no worse than any other organisation, and had been unfairly vilified”.

I find this statement astounding, utterly beneath contempt and unworthy of any “organisation” – particularly a church like the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Pell is obviously looking after his position and is protecting his back. The statement was obviously made to protect the “image” of the Church and to diminish anyone who dares to criticise the activities of the Church and its ministers.

It would be well for Cardinal Pell to recall the words of Jesus (King James - Matthew 18.6):

 “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believes in me, it were better that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea.”

As I understand it the whole point of a “Church” is that it espouses spiritual values and is supposed to guide, to nourish, to uplift its members. The whole point of priesthood is the (supposedly) spiritual training priests receive which is (supposedly) designed to make them “better” that the average parishioner so that they (the priests) may better minister to the needs of their “flock”. 

It would be well for Cardinal Pell to also recall the words of Jesus (King James – Matthew 22. v37 - 40):

 “37. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38. This is the first and great commandment.

39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40. On these two commandments hang all the laws and the prophets.”

How can anyone trust an “organisation” such as the Catholic Church that breaks its own Laws, with children, innocent children; breaks the COMMANDMENTS, no less, of Jesus and then have its leader (Cardinal Pell) say, “We have been unfairly vilified?”

This statement beggars belief. Not only should a Royal Commission be set up to investigate the many hundreds of accusations of paedophilia and abuse but Cardinal Pell should stand aside from his position until this whole messy business is sorted out and the Church “cleansed” of its defilement.

I paraphrase Oliver Cromwell and say to Cardinal Pell and the Church hierarchy, “You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately ... Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”

(For the record - I am a non-practicing Anglican).

In Praise of Tolerance.

There is a disturbing article by Sally Neighbour in the Enquirer section of the Weekend Australian newspaper, July 3-4, 2010 headlined, “Extremists with caliphate on their minds, not bombs in their belts”. It is about the Islamist organisation – Hizb ut-Tahrir.

While I have heard of it I will admit that I know nothing about this organisation other than what has been written at various times in the press. Their expressed desire is to return, apparently, to the (presumably) golden years of Islam when the Islamic Empire – if that is the correct term – stretched from the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula (what is now Portugal and Spain), across the whole of North Africa, the Middle East and as far as India. The armies of Islam invaded and subjugated the original inhabitants of those countries by force of arms and driven by a religious belief (remember this when they condemn Israel for the same thing).

Underlying the expansion of Islam was a spiritual core and a deep learning which gave the world Algebra and a great deal of medical knowledge. It is from the ancient Arab and Muslim scholars that today we have our numerical system including the figure Zero and the decimal system (knowledge they gained from their contacts with India). They understood the principles of gravity and the relationship between weight, speed and distance severa1 centuries before Newton; they measured the speed of light and computed the circumference of the earth to a surprising degree of accuracy. They invented astronomical instruments, navigated the high seas and laid down the foundations of modern chemistry. This was all during the European “dark age”. We all owe the ‘classical’ Arabs a great deal.

But what have we learned since those times from the Arab (Islamic) world? I am prepared to listen and learn but, me-thinks, it is not very much!

The followers of Hizb ut-Tahrir aim to re-establish a caliphate which would include what they naively determine as all Muslim majority countries “including lands previously under Muslim rule, such as Spain and the Philippines”. This is all to be achieved by “grass roots support and military might.” It is also stated that “Christians and Jews will be welcome as long as they submit to Islamic law.” This from a faith that allowed an army lead by Mohammed himself, in 627AD to raid the Jewish tribe of Qurayza and behead 800 men and sell all the women and children into slavery! While this took place some 14 centuries ago if this is what living under sharia law in a caliphate means then they have some convincing to do! And what in God’s (or Allah’s) name is such a caliphate supposed to accomplish? Would mankind be better off – would there be less conflict? The various sects of Islam cannot even agree between themselves - note the continuing conflict between Shia and Sunni.

This very organisation, Hizb ut-Tahrir, according to the article, is banned in the following Muslim/Arabic countries – Egypt, Jordan, much of the Middle East and Central Asia and also in China. This in itself tells a story about the organisation. It does not sound very spiritual to me. It may be religious but it is not spiritual and there is a world of difference between the two – a “religious” priest is not spiritual when he sexually molests children and a religious Islamic leader is not very spiritual when he tells his followers to kill “unbelievers.”

My understanding of Islam – and it is one of the great religions of the world - is that it tolerates all people because all people and all things are from Allah. Nothing can exist without Allah. Now in my English language version of the Koran (Penguin Classic, 1968, translated by N.A Dawood) there is a chapter (No. 35) entitled “The Creator” the last paragraph of which states:

“If it was Allah’s wish to punish men for their misdeeds, not one creature would be left alive on earth’s surface. He respites them till an appointed time. And when their hour comes, they shall know that Allah has been watching over all His servants.”

He “respites them”. This sounds remarkably like tolerance and compassion, references to which can be found in any number of verses in the Bible, in the Bhagavad-Gita and in the Dhamapada (the sayings of Budda). This is Love, unconditional Love for the, so far uncounted, examples of the manifestation of Life that He has seen fit to create on this infinitesimally small planet in an unimaginably large universe. So who or what gives a group of people the right or the power to dictate how anyone should (or should not) worship at the feet of the Almighty if they desire to do so?

The Koran is a book – so is the Bible – so is the Bhagavad-Gita and all books are actually written by human beings (no matter how inspired) with all their faults and hang-ups. Remember that neither Jesus nor Muhammad ever wrote anything themselves.

The whole point of a book – a scripture – is to guide the reader to a higher level of consciousness; to reach their own fulfilment as a Human Being. I am not you – and you are not me. My beliefs come from my heart because I have resolved the issues in my life my way and I have derived a great deal of comfort and inner strength from my readings of the various scriptures – including the Koran. I do not need someone, however noble, however inspired that person may be to tell me how to live my life. That person does not know the troubles I have seen – they may offer advice – but they cannot direct me to live and love in a certain way. That is my problem and I have to live my life my way, not theirs. I am me, not them!

He “respites them”. This is tolerance. This is living and letting live. This is inclusion. This follows the “Golden Rule” to always treat others the way you would like to be treated. Remember He “respites” us all and we are all children of Abraham. We do not need another organisation preaching divisiveness, intolerance and a “them or us” attitude.

The poets often get it right. John Donne, the 16th Century poet and sermonist, penned the famous lines:

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

Tolerance is the only way - Hizb ut-Tahrir want, indeed demand, that we tolerate them but they do not tolerate us. The followers of Hizb ut-Tahrir need to closely attend the words – “any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”