There are many great religions in the world, some of which are examined on other pages here (see the pull-down menu under the RELIGION tab above). Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, describes religion as “…a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a supernatural agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
“Aspects of religion include narrative, symbolism, beliefs, and practices that are supposed to give meaning to the practitioner’s experiences of life. Whether the meaning centers on a deity or deities, or an ultimate truth, religion is commonly identified by the practitioner’s prayer, ritual, meditation, music and art, among other things, and is often interwoven with society and politics. It may focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos and human nature) which may yield a set of religious laws, ethics, and a particular lifestyle. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience.
“The term religion refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction. Religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but it is more socially defined than personal convictions, and it entails specific behaviors, respectively.
“The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. It considers psychological and social roots, along with origins and historical development.
“Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a way of life or a life stance.”
Discussions of religion, especially between the various denominations or sects within what claims to be a single religion, are always difficult. Religion, often wrapped in some cloak called peace seems to be the cause of more argument, more strife, indeed more terror, destruction, and death, than any other force or factor in the human experience.
Terrible persecutions, and some of the greatest slaughters of one’s fellow man, have been undertaken in the name of religion. Great wars have been fought between nations, of which the leaders on both sides have believed God was on their side. Perhaps God does play both sides.
I am simply astounded at times by the ignorance expressed by otherwise intelligent people who have given themselves over to an absolute commitment to a believe. Where is it written that to believe means to give up rational (or any) thinking?
In October of 2008, during the last weeks of the U.S. presidential campaign, I received an email forwarded to me by a friend and associate who professed to be a devout Christian. By the number of layers of cc email addresses and “forwarded by” labels I knew the message was making the rounds of a significant number of Christian believers.
Among several paragraphs of what could only be called blatant hate speech this paragraph stood out:
“According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is:
The anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40′s, of MUSLIM descent, who will
deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE
Christ-like appeal…..the prophecy says that people will flock to him
and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is
in power, will destroy everything… Is it OBAMA??”
One might expect that someone who professes to be a Christian, and forwards such messages along to others, would have some basic knowledge of their own Bible, and a little historical context. Now, I don’t profess to be an expert on these subject but I do have some basic knowledge. It didn’t take me much effort to determine:
1) At the time the Book of Revelation was written, somewhere between the first and third centuries A.D., the religion of Islam (ie: Muslims) did not yet exist. Mohammed was not even born until the seventh Century A.D.
2) There is, therefore, no mention of anyone being “of Muslim descent” anywhere in Revelation or, for that matter, anywhere else in the Bible.
3) There is no reference to an anti-Christ anywhere in the Revelation. The book describes the end times and a multi-headed beast, but never does it make reference to an “anti-Christ”. John does reference this term in his Gospel but there is not physical description provided.
4) Nowhere in Revelation is there reference to any “man in his 40s”.
Incidentally, Barack Obama is not, and has never been, a Muslim. He was not born Muslim. He did not go to a Muslim school. He does not pray to Mecca and he did not take his oath of office for the U.S. Senate on the Quran. Even if he had done so, these things would, in and of themselves, not be bad things. Islam is a valid religion. Muslims believe in, and pray to, the same God Christians do. I wonder how many Christians know that.
But all of these Muslim-related things spread as bad things about Obama are falsehoods, lies, created by those who seek, for personal reasons, to make others fear this man. The truth is that all his adult life, up to the point this email was distributed, Barack Obama belonged to the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago where he was married to his wife in a Christian ceremony and where both of his children were baptized into the Christian faith.
That the originator of the email should misquote the Bible in such a way, a patently false way, for such an evil purpose is bad enough. To further spread the hateful lies contained there-in, no matter how one may feel politically, can hardly be considered a Christian act. It lessens one’s own status to be pulled, even unwittingly, into such hatred, for any purpose.
I am not about to tell anyone how they must feel politically. That’s neither a religious matter, nor what this site is about, and it is, of course, up to each individual. Likewise it is not up to me how one pursues their own religion. But, as a spiritual leader in my own right, I am going to suggest that any Christian who spread this email around (or any of many others like it) first turn to their own Bible and read this passage:
Exodus 20:16