End of the world

WHEN WILL THE WORLD END? This Saturday it turns out according to a few fringe Christian sources. Should be interesting, I wonder what they will do if nothing happens?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40885541/ns/us_news-life/t/end-days-may-believers-enter-final-stretch/

Talking about religion

I was recently in a very short facebook conversation with a Christian friend about whether the bible contains any scriptural backing for debating the existence of God. Even though I’m not a Christian, I still gave my reasons (and scripture) for why I think it is right for Christians to engage in debates and discussions. As anyone who has ever talked about God on facebook knows, it doesn’t take long for these conversations to blossom. Despite my genuine efforts to keep the conversation civil, respectful and open ended. I was still unable to escape being labelled the bad guy and was told “it was unnecessary to respond attacking our faith” and that it was a paradox to respectfully disagree because attacking someone’s belief is itself disrespectful. I was then asked to discontinue the conversation. This short exchange made me think:

Is it possible to have a different opinion than someone and still have a respectful and meaningful conversation?

Yes, I think it is. We do it all the time in our day to day lives. We joke and laugh with our poor unfortunate friends who happened to align themselves with very poor football teams. People can differ on subjects like music, art, movies, food and all sorts of social and political issues without offending each other. But as soon as the conversation turns to religion, suddenly we find ourselves with a set of totally different rules. Religion is the only area of discourse in our lives where it is considered taboo and disrespectful to challenge, or disagree out loud with our fellow human beings. My question is, why?

It’s very difficult to have a conversation about religion. People rap their religious beliefs in so much personal baggage that for me or anyone else to come and question even just the belief itself, is considered a personal attack on them. I find this sad, I don’t like to offend or hurt people, but talking about religion is so important. Religion permeates our lives, it is intertwined in everything we do and affects our lives in so many ways, whether you have a religion or not. As a seeker of truth, religious belief is one of the most important conversations I can have, yet I’m restricted by this social bubble that surrounds religion and I would like to take this time to talk about it, respectfully of course :)

Something I really don’t understand about religion, is within its circles, it’s virtuous to spread your beliefs to others. Evangelists are praised for their efforts of spreading the good news. Strategies and programs are invented to help believers become more confident and able in their ability to manoeuvre in conversation with people who don’t believe. Churches are constantly holding public events in the hope of having more people converted. We have people going around knocking on doors, people yelling in the streets and shopping centres. Entire television programs and radio stations are dedicated to nothing other than spreading religious beliefs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But as soon as a non believer speaks out in favour of atheism, agnosticism or scepticism, as soon as someone challenges someone’s personal religious beliefs, no matter how civil, no matter how kind and loving one approaches the conversation, many will see this person as being rude, disrespectful, close minded, arrogant and obnoxious. Am I the only one that thinks this is bullshit?

The reason I am critical of religion is not because I want to hurt people. I love people, I’m just genuinely concerned about the personal conviction religion seems to produce in people. I also genuinly dont believe truth can only be found through religion. I’m not convinced by the claims of religions, but do I care if other people are? No. Should I be offended if they are? No. I’m grateful to live in a free country where I can express this freedom and love that others can do the same. I love living in a world of diverse beliefs, cultures and religions. I find it far more interesting. I love having my beliefs challenged because it gives me a reason to pursue truth and keeps me on my toes. I look forward to being proven wrong because it means I’ve moved a little closer to truth. But as I continue to talk about religion, I’m soon finding myself alone in this thinking.

Is there a solution?

Of course, not everyone is so easily offended. In my own circle of close friends, many are Christian. We disagree on many big issues, but neither of us are offended that the other has a different perspective on some of life’s biggest, mysterious questions. The issue actually rarely arises; we just get on with being friends. Our friendship and love for each other overpower our religious differences, and I think if more people would realise this we might find ourselves in a very different world. There are 6 billion people in the world and the idea that everyone is going to converge on matters of religion and spiritual beliefs is almost unthinkable, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.

I don’t think the problem lies in personal diversity, but in personal certainty. If you’re certain of your personal beliefs then everyone else is automatically wrong. When talking about beliefs, we find it quite easy to dismiss other peoples beliefs as just ‘beliefs’ without taking a seconds notice to put our own beliefs in the exact same category. I would like to challenge people to begin to let go of certainty, to slowly allow other points of view to consume some of your time. Maybe just read one book that you would normally never pick up. Listen to one speaker who believes something different to you. If you really care about truth then challenge yourself. What have you got to lose? I think it’s time we began to approach the religion conversation with maturity and respect, without it getting in the way of our ability to see each other as human beings.

Love Jason

Afterlife debate

Very entertaining and engaging debate on the afterlife, all speakers are intelligent and witty. Hitchens was the stand out for me, never fails to make a debate lively. Enjoy!

Click here!

Defining God

In order to have a proper conversation about God, we should first define what we mean by the term “God”. The different beliefs regarding God can roughly be broken down into 4 categories:

Theism is the term attributed to the belief in a personal God. God is believed to be actively involved in our lives by answering our prayers and blessing people at his will. It is believed one can have a relationship with God through prayer and worship.

Deism is still the belief that God was the first cause. However, deism entails that God is not actively involved in our personal lives; rather God set up the laws of the universe to function on their own and does not intervene.

Agnosticism is the belief that the answers are beyond our comprehension. The truth is either unknown or unknowable.

Atheism or anti-theism is the rejection of any personal God.

For the most part of this conversation, I will be defining and discussing God in the term which I think is most prominent and relevant in today’s society. That is monotheism, the belief that one personal God exists, created this universe and is actively involved in answering our prayers and watching over us. This belief is the corner stone of the three major religions of our world which include Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This belief is held dear and cherished by many. Again it seems I must stress that my aim is not to offend. For many God is a personal subject and a great source of comfort in people’s lives, I completely understand this. My search is simply in light of a truly honest enquiry to find truth. If you are easily upset by reading contrasting viewpoints about God then perhaps you should stop reading. If however you enjoy the freedom that accompanies sharing and conversing with others who share different viewpoints to yours, you’ve come to the right place! I suppose the next question that follows, what do I currently believe?

If you had asked me if I believed in God a few years back, I would have answered with an uncompromising yes! As a committed Christian, there was not a shred of doubt in my mind that God existed. I could have told you not only that I knew with relative certainty that God existed, but exactly who he was, what he wanted from you and why he made us, in other words, I thought I knew the mind of God and was quite happy to act as his spokesman. But as I was slowly forced by the outside world to justify my religious faith, it began to dawn on me that maybe faith on its own wasn’t enough. If my beliefs were really true than surely if I searched deep enough I could find something more solid. So I set out on the monumental task of finding proof for what I already believed. However as my search broadened, as I began to listen and read books about beliefs and opinions from all walks of life, and I as I gained a little more life experience about the world around me, bit by bit my certainty was stripped away from me until I was left with the position I hold today.

While I relate to deism in some regards, ultimately my position is agnosticism. I believe there is absolute truth; however I think that the answers surrounding the origins of the universe and God are currently beyond our comprehension. Rather like the mysterious world of micro biology was completely inconceivable to our ancient ancestors, who through lack of knowledge attributed disease to curses from the gods or evil spirits. Maybe in the future we will have a better understanding of our origins and truth will reveal itself, but until then I feel forced to withhold judgment. Ultimately I am a seeker, and I don’t feel I can be honestly searching for truth if I already have a definitive stance. So I just have to be honest with myself and all of you:

Does God exist?

... I don’t know.

And from my observations and studies of the many different world religions and views surrounding God, I doubt that any of us do. The fact that different cultures all around the world can form such radically opposing and conflicting beliefs about who or what God is tells us something important, the answer isn’t obvious! In my search I’ve talked and listened to a lot of really intelligent people with very different views of God. Muslims, Jews and Christians enter the conversation at different angles and through the ages have developed doctrines that assert claims that are incompatible with each other. Yet despite these incompatible doctrines I believe there is something at the core of our theological differences that needs to be addressed.

When you contemplate the great mysteries of the universe, you can’t help but wonder, what is all this? What’s it for? Unfortunately no one has concrete answers to these most mysterious questions. And through this mystery our beliefs are born. We call the collection of beliefs surrounding God theology, and when theology is organised and ritualised, we call this religion. Religion is simply the name we give to those competing spiritual ideologies that claim to know the truth about God and usually the right pathway we need to take in order to find salvation (Ironically salvation we need because of our religious beliefs). While some theology is without a doubt appealing and pulls on our emotional heart strings, we still can’t escape the fact that at the end of the day these beliefs arise from our ignorance of the world around us. Unfortunately, unlike science, we don’t have a good system to objectively asses’ the truth claims of theology. This is what makes many religions and denominations possible. Religious belief appeals to the unknown, and when we conceptualise the unknown and start throwing the word “personal faith” around, one can believe almost anything!

Now there is nothing wrong with having personal beliefs about God, meaning and the afterlife. I have them, and I think it can be argued that certain religious beliefs do genuinely give us a more consoling and optimistic view of the world. However, when people start slapping the word truth to their beliefs, when people begin to push their unjustified beliefs onto others in the name of God and when people begin to see themselves as somehow superior, saved or chosen above other human beings, is when our beliefs become tribalistic. And one of the biggest dangers we face in the 21st century with the rise of destructive technology, is tribal religion (I would include political tribalism in that boat as well). But I believe when religion is stripped down to its core, we find a belief system that is desperately trying to understand the mystical, the sacred and the spiritual aspects to life. Something I think all of us are trying to do in our own ways.

So while I wouldn’t say I believe in God, I would say I am open to the mystery that we call God. I just don’t feel the need to conceptualise God like so many religions do. Religions attempt to define God and in doing so place limitations on God that I don’t believe are necessary. Quite often we hear religious people claim that God can do anything, but when pressed with questions quite often retort to the limitations of their sacred texts or spiritual leaders. I’m quite content to just allow God to be whatever or whoever God is. If God so chooses to reveal truth to me then my heart and mind are always open. One of the most liberating experiences of my life was when I let go of my long held and cherished beliefs that all we know about God could be contained within the confines of an ancient, human constructed book, and began to honestly and openly search for answers free from limitations.

Another reason I shed my religious beliefs is because I wanted to start a fresh. I wanted to attempt to rid myself of any emotional or personal baggage that could possibly be blinding me from seeing the truth. I wanted to start from the beginning. I begin each of these conversations as a seeker of truth, as someone who does not have the answers but has plenty of questions. It is through questioning the world around us that has driven us to explore, and more importantly, discover!

Much love
Jase

Coming soon
Part 2: Science & God.

Does God exist?

One of the biggest questions one can ask themselves on the subject of truth is:

Does God exist?

In fact, I think it can be argued that there is no bigger question. People define themselves, their beliefs and even their lives on this central question. For many God is as real as anything else in this world, to others the idea of God seems completely implausible. Our different beliefs concerning God have been the cause of some of the greatest conflicts in the world as well as being the source of much of the world’s greatest inspirations. All other questions about truth, morality and meaning seem to hang from this most important question, Does God exist?

No other question fascinates nor excites me more than this question. It is the subject of the vast majority of my reading and lies at the core of my desire to find truth. If there is a God, an eternal source to all that exists, than I can only hope that by trying to understand God to the best of my ability, I can perhaps get a little closer to truth. Of course the task ahead is well beyond me, and I wouldn’t dream that any of my thoughts would add or subtract too the millennia of human ideas and beliefs regarding God. But I believe with each new generation, the question must arise a new and we must search for answers ourselves. So I invite all to come and share in this important discussion. Whether you’re a believer, non believer or something in-between, your opinions and questions matter.

Because of the sheer number of topics covered when talking about God, I have decided to break my thoughts into several parts. The first part can be found here:

Part 1: Defining God

Much love
Jason

Tribal Religion - John Shelby Spong

John Shelby Spong on tribalistic religion.

Evaluating the power of prayer

Prayer is a crucial component to most religious faiths. It is considered by many a means in which humans can directly communicate to God. Some believers will even go as far as to say God will intervene and help us out if we are willing to readily dedicate our lives to the process know as prayer. For many prayer is a deeply personal affair between them and God, but one thing that can’t be denied is people from all around the world and from all different faiths confess to having their prayers answered in all sorts of wonderful and colourful ways. So, is prayer an actual means of making contact with God? Can we find truth by continually coming to God through prayer? Or are we wasting our time by deluding ourselves into thinking that anyone’s actually listening on the other end?

The unfalsifiable nature of prayer

One of the issues we must first address before we can either validate or falsify the power of prayer is the unfalsifiable nature of everyday prayer. To the believer who prayers every day, God most certainly, no doubt, without question answers their prayers. But what happens when God doesn’t? What is the answer a believer will give when he or she is faced with the inevitable circumstance of a specific unanswered prayer? It usually sounds something like this:

It wasn’t God’s will,
God works in mysterious ways,
He is testing my faith,
His ways are bigger than mine,
He sees the bigger picture.

But of course when a prayer is answered, all glory goes to God right? If we look at prayer through this lens we will never really, truly know if prayer works or it doesn’t, because through this system God can never lose. If the prayer comes to fruition, God wins because he answered it. But, if the prayer courses through time unanswered then it simply wasn’t God’s will or he works in mysterious ways, so he still wins. Now I’m not saying that God doesn’t answer prayers. I’m simply bringing to light the fact that if we are going to look at prayer objectively, if we are going to put prayer to the test and scrutiny of 21st century investigation we need to try to (at least for the moment) put aside our theological glasses and bravely and honestly look at prayer head on and ask ourselves the question, what’s really going here?

Prayer and healing

Naturally there have been many case studies on prayer to see if we can scientifically validate wether prayer actually has a positive outcome on people who are sick.
What I find amusing about these studies is you will find many that suit the outcome you want. Believers in the power of prayer will often site case studies that showed a positive outcome for those that have been prayed for:

http://www.proofgodexists.org/scientific_study_of_prayer_under.htm
http://www.1stholistic.com/Prayer/hol_prayer_proof.htm
http://www.summitlighthouse.org/prayers/Stories-And-Studies/Prayer-Works.html

Sceptics of the power of prayer will often provide case studies that show actually those that have been prayed for had no effect or sometimes had even gotten worse!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html
http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/07/prayer_still_us.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12082681/ns/health-heart_health

So what’s a well intentioned agnostic supposed to make of this? Does this just lead us to yet another cross road where we must just say people stretch the facts to suit their own agendas? Maybe, but if prayer had no effect on recipients than what would we expect to see?

Let’s take a coin toss analogy. Most believers and non believers will agree that no matter how many times you pray to God, he’s not going to break the laws of nature to win you a coin toss. So if we can all agree that flipping a coin is a completely random process, what happens when you toss a coin over a long period of time? Your heads to tails ratio roughly gets split down the middle. So what does it tell us that with so many case studies done on the effectiveness of prayer that they roughly equal themselves out? If I were to make a personal judgment I think this leans more towards the inefficiency of prayer, rather than the efficiency. Surely if prayer played a larger role in determining the well being of sick people we would see a much higher percentage in the increased health in those that were prayed for. But we simply don’t.

Now I don’t mean to offend anyone, I really don’t. For the record I have prayed for many sick people in the past that have gotten better, and if they were the only subjective experiences I had I would probably still hold to that belief. The only difference is now I look back, I probably tend to give most of the credit to the wonderful doctors and surgeons, rather than the invisible working hand of God. But then again he does work in mysterious and wonderful ways... right?

The dangers of prayer

Can faith in the power of prayer ever be dangerous? Unfortunately yes it can. When things like modern medicine and technology are substituted for complete faith in the power of prayer, this is when things turn ugly:

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/17057006.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-6162918-504083.html

Besides the obvious tragedy that a beautiful innocent child has died from a perfectly preventable disease, I think there is another underlying theme here that needs to be addressed. Aren’t these people, when you really think of it, the true believers! These people are willing to forsake all forms of worldly aid to rely on nothing but complete faith in the healing power of God and take him at his word:

James 5:14-15: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him." (ASV)

Matt 21:22: "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (ASV)

Mark 16:18 "they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." (ASV)

If God is pleased with faith than you would think such a God would reward a family for making such a strong demonstration of total faith. But unfortunately for whatever reasons this isn’t the case. I think most people know deep down if they had to make a choice between years of technological advances in modern medicine and surgery or a good old fashion prayer, who their going to choose.

In the case of the young girl who had a treatable form of diabetes, you would think when the parents are met with such a confronting realisation that their child now lies dead on the floor because their prayer hadn’t worked, they would at least begin to question their faith, but quite the contrary. It doesn’t seem to concern them in the slightest:

"Only our faith in God is giving us strength at this time."

I think this goes to show faith is deeply rooted in a persons self. To some of us not even the blatant loss of a child in the face an unanswered prayer can shake us off the foundation of faith.

The positives of prayer

Even if I personally fail to come to the terms that prayer works in the way so many believers confess that it does. I still can’t ignore the countless millions of people from all different faiths that testify to its power. Is it still possible that prayer can still “work” in a positive way for the believer despite my scepticism? Yes, I think it can. I think prayer, like some forms of meditation are great ways to get our focus off of us and to change our perspectives in a more positive fashion. The mind and the body are interdependently connected in ways we still don’t really understand. One cannot function without the other and the well being of one also depends on the other. For example, we all know how stress (a negative mental state) can actually have a direct negative effect on our physical state. People can actually think themselves ill! If this is so, than is it at least plausible that changing our perspective and thoughts to a more positive frame of mind can have a similar positive effect to our physical health? Is it possible prayer works in this manner? If this is so than perhaps regular prayer and meditation (regardless of theological interpretations) is good for us!

For the record I actually think Jesus had it right when he said “your faith has made you well”. I believe the power of prayer has more to do with the hope and faith that we ourselves invest in it. This might explain why so many people, from so many different faith backgrounds can all claim that it is their faith traditions that answers prayers, heals and gives authentic spiritual experience. The human mind is very complex, powerful and not yet fully understood. We do well to wait to see what neuroscience reveals in the coming years.

The only way to truly test prayer

As wonderful as science and data collecting is, I think there really is only one way to really know if prayer actually works,

Try it! I know in the secular world of agnostics and atheists it’s almost Taboo to pray. I do not consider this so. If the bible, or even the Quran, says that the only way to know God and truth is through prayer than what have you got to lose? To be sceptical of prayer is not the same as being a cynic of prayer. Why not take these holy books at their word and test them out? But if I were to give some advice, to really know if this whole prayer thing works, I would ask God for something specific. Many people ask God for a “sign”. Well to me that’s a little too open, this could be interpreted as anything. The very next day you might stumble across a $100 note. Alas! There really must be a God.

If you’re going to pray and ask God to reveal truth then why not ask something deeply personal, that only God (if he [or she] exists) would know. If anything happens let me know! Or maybe God has already answered your prayers, in that case let me know about that experience. I’ve been trying for a number of years now without any luck, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t but a small speck of optimism left that maybe, just maybe, I might get an answer back.

Love you all

Jason

Religious Intolerance: Sam Harris

Some challenging thoughts from Sam Harris

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=28523494

The Ancient Roots of Our Judeo-Christian Sexual Prohibitions

An interesting article I found on a little history of sex and religion.

http://www.cybercollege.com/history.htm

Rabbi Schmuley

A really great post by Rabbi Schmuley Boteach,

http://blog.beliefnet.com/rabbishmuleyunleashed/2010/09/my-purpose-in-debating-christopher-hitchens-on-the-afterlife.html

The Great Moral Questions

This is another one of those big issues that just simply can’t be solved by one 22 year old in one blog post. But I am more than willing to open up the conversation and share some of my thoughts and views on morality and ethics. Feel free to add your own :)

Where do we get our morals from? Why do we feel guilty when we do something “wrong”? Why are compassion and love “good” and hate and murder “evil”? Under the banner of morality and ethics is a vast number of confronting and reasonable questions that one has to ask themselves.

So what is morality and where does it come from?

Morality through Holy Scripture,

Some believe our morals and ethics come from God through inspired scripture. That inside a certain holy text are the rules and guidelines God wants all humans to follow to live good moral lives. I have a few problems with this view. If you believe that God is revealed to us through the bible or the Quran for example. Then you have to account for the atrocities God commands of his people in the Old Testament:

Deuteronomy 3:3-7,

So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them - the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city - men, women and children. But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.

Joshua 6: 20-21,

When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

Numbers 31:15 -18,

"Have you allowed all the women to live?" he (Moses) asked them. "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD's people. Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”

A common answer for this is we don’t have a right to judge God on the basis of who, when or how he chooses to end someone’s life. He is the author of life and therefore has the right to take it away as he wishes. Ok fair enough, I guess if God really did give us life it would be well within his right to take it away as he chooses.

BUT!

If the God that is the author of our moral intuitions is also the God revealed to us through Holy Scripture. Why is it so many of us are morally outraged at the previous scenarios ordained by God through scripture? The idea of slaughtering a baby, regardless of race or religion, is to me to most disgusting, perverted act any human being can commit and the very idea that a moral God would command such a thing is incomprehensible to me. Can you imagine the poor mothers screaming for mercy as “God’s people” came in chopping their little ones heads off? In human society today, when dictators come to power that bring nothing but misery and suffering to people and command the slaughter of woman and children, do we praise them and worship them? Do we say, oh well they have a right to do it? No, the actions make us sick to our stomach and we combine with the rest of the world to try and rid ourselves of such an evil. I think it’s fair to ask then why do we give God a free pass in our holy scriptures? Why do we turn a blind eye to this and refuse to call it immoral as far as our moral intuitions are concerned?

Who is really exercising their moral intuition here? Someone that just believes whatever is in Holy Scripture has to be true, or those of us that judge the individual actions by their own merit, according to our moral intuitions. Why even defend such passages? To me it’s pretty clear if there is such a "moral God”, he or she had nothing to do with the commandment to slaughter an entire population, this sounds like the typical work of an ancient tribalistic society justifying its thirst to squash its surrounding “enemies” who worship a different God and have a completely different culture. Why not truly exercise our moral intuition when reading scripture, accept the things we know are good, like the lessons on love and compassion that are clearly in the bible and Quran and put an end to the silly justification of moral acts so heinous they make modern day human dictators look like the Easter bunny!

Our Moral Conscience,

Our moral conscience and our sense of guilt play a large role in defining our moral choices. Is this too a gift from God to help us discern right from wrong? Maybe, but what we need to take into account is the differences in moral conscience between different cultures and religions. If a Muslim man missed one of his 5 prayers he is commanded to make throughout the day, I dare say he will feel a strong sense of moral conviction. If a Jewish man dishonours the Sabbath he too would feel a strong sense of moral conviction. Would a Christian or Hindu feel the same feelings of moral conviction or “guilt” over the same actions? I think not. So, does God have different rules of morality for different people OR is our moral conscience largely shaped by our culture and religious upbringing?

But the question still remains. How do we decide right from wrong?

Well I don’t think our moral decisiveness is quite as black and white as some would have us believe. Our moral intuitions arise from a myriad of different influences. Our family, culture, friends and our religious beliefs all play a huge role in defining what we consider to be moral and immoral. If we look throughout history our idea of what is “moral” and “ethical” has radically changed from era to era. Slavery used to be a big part of our dark history in the west and was only abolished in 1807, cat burning was seen as entertainment in France in the Middle Ages and even into the Renaissance, dozens of cats were thrown into a net and hoisted over a fire and burned alive to which people would gather around and laugh and clap. Polygamy was once common practice, the suppression of women’s rights and public executions as social entertainment have all played their role in Christian societies once upon a time. If our moral conscience comes from an absolute source, than why is it our concept of morality is a progressive process?

Even something you would think an obvious moral decision like murder can have two opposing sides. Take war for example, some people believe in just war, some people believe all war is immoral. Some people believe in an eye for an eye, some people believe in turning the other cheek. Some people believe that using embryonic stem cells is murder, some people believe it isn’t. Our moral conscience seems to be divided between us and very much influenced by varying forces around us and in my opinion cannot be used as an argument for the absolute. So is right and wrong nothing more than someone else’s opinion of truth? Do we then have a right to question each other’s morals and ethics? I think we do.

Morality from a practical point of view,

I believe morality like everything else on this planet has gone through a process of evolution. Society’s that discover that when people work together as a group, create good environments to raise healthy children for the next generation, have easy access to food and water and good relationships with their fellow neighbours are the kind of society’s that are going to flourish and prosper in this world. Those that don’t will be on the straight path to extinction. How long do you think a society will last if its moral code was “murder and steal from anyone you want?” My guess is not very long.

It should be no surprise than that the religions and cultures that have survived with us today are the ones that emphasize kindness, love and teamwork (At least within their own tribes). I suppose if you really wanted to you could argue that maybe this was God’s plan all along. Maybe he oversaw the process of moral revelation throughout the ages so we would truly know the difference between right and wrong, and the reason our morals are evolving is because they are moving closer towards Gods true enlightened values. Maybe, but a series of questions then arise about the kind of God that would allow us for millenia to kill each other and perform acts of unspeakable cruelty on our fellow human beings while idly watching from the sidelines. But I suppose this is still within the realm of possibilities. But whether God is the author of our morals or not still doesn’t take away the practical and rational reasons behind being kind and loving and the fact we SHOULD act this way towards our fellow human beings if we want to see all of us prosper in this world, and for now that’s good enough for me.

Conclusion,

If we strip away bit by bit our religious understanding of morality I think it’s pretty clear that when it comes down to it morality isn’t about trying to please God, it’s not about trying to make it to the pearly gates or from fear of burning in hell forever. When it comes down to it morality is about common human decency. It’s about both realising and acting on those feelings of empathy and compassion we all feel towards each other. As Sam Harris writes:

“No tribal fictions need be rehearsed for us to realize, one fine day, that we do, in fact, love our neighbours, that our happiness is inextricable from their own, and that our interdependence demands that people everywhere be given the opportunity to flourish.”

Is it any surprise that all the religions that are with us today have one connected theme throughout them all? It’s called the golden rule. And if you had to sum up morality in one sentence, this would be it:

Christianity: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12

Confucianism: “Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state.” Analects 12:2

Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” Udana-Varga 5,1

Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you.” Mahabharata 5,1517

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 do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.”Talmud, Shabbat 3id

Taoism: “Regard your neighbours gain as your gain, and your neighbour’s loss as your own loss.” Tai Shang Kan Yin Pien

Zoroastrianism: “That nature alone is good which refrains from doing another whatsoever is not good for itself.” Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5

But does it really matter where we draw our inspiration to be loving and compassionate? Shouldn’t the important part be in the actual actions themselves? Whether we draw our inspiration from religion, God, science, nature, philosophy or just a common understanding of what it feels like to be human. Whatever it is, just remember the thing that has brought us this far is the realisation that we are the same, that what I feel you feel also and the best feeling I know in this world is to love and to be loved, so i will do my best to return the favour. So whatever it is that inspires you to be a more tolerant, kind and loving human being, I say hold onto it, And let others do the same.

Peace,

Jason

Book Burning

There have been two events that have sparked some attention in news headlines recently. One of them was the proposal by American Pastor Terry Jones to burn the Koran on September 11 2010 "to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11th 2001" and to send a warning "to the radical element of Islam":

http://www.news.com.au/world/us-pastor-terry-jones-promises-to-hold-koran-burning/story-e6frfkyi-1225915614362#ixzz0zSHwDFxG

The other is by Australian Alex Stewart who made a youtube video of himself ripping pages out of both the bible and the Koran and smoking them:

http://www.news.com.au/national/lawyer-alex-stewart-smokes-pages-from-the-koran-and-bible-and-says-we-should-get-over-book-burning/story-e6frfkvr-1225919970728

When I first read about the Koran burning pastor, I was outraged. Like many other people, believer and non believer alike. I could not comprehend what this man was trying to achieve by his actions or how he thought burning a holy book that over a billion people profess a faith in would help the victims of the September 11 attack. So it should be no surprise than that I struggled to justify the actions of Alex Stewart.

Now I am not religious in any sense. I will be the first one to tell you that and I actually agree with Alex when he says:

"It's just a fucking book, who cares? It's your beliefs that matter”

And after looking through the comments, I found it quite interesting a few Christians agreed as well:

Mal Posted at 9:20 AM September 13, 2010. Good on you Alex! What is so terrible about burning the Koran or bible? Only the superstitions in our minds. It's just paper and ink - get over it!! And I say that as a Christian. Comment 82 of 160

Jonathan of Sydney Posted at 9:19 AM September 13, 2010. Being a Christian I quite like this. The bloke is entirely correct of course. It has nothing to do with the paper, it's the actual message inside it that counts. Comment 80 of 160

dnb Posted at 2:17 PM September 13, 2010. I'm a Christian and a conservative one. For me they can burn whatever books they wanted, Bible is not the exception. Like this guy said it just a book. I have it though on my iPhone as apps. so who cares. But if you burn my iPhone, you got to pay me for it or give me an iPhone4. I'll take that. :-). Comment 121 of 160

I just wished to God (figure of speech) he had expressed it through words instead of such a strong demonstration of unbelief. If he had to express his concern through such strong actions then he should have at least included not only religious books but much loved secular and atheist literature as well, such as Richard Dawkin’s “The God delusion” and Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”. Just to really drive home the point that the books themselves are not what’s important.

Clearly the man must have known the repercussions of his actions before going through with them. He would have know full well he would be offending a lot of people and didn’t seem to care that much. I agree there are people out there that take religion to the extreme and take their religious faith far too serious. But what should our response be, more intolerance and purposely offensive behaviour? Do we really think this will resolve the issue?

What did Alex really think believers (the audience I assume he was trying to reach) would take from his video?

“Oh yeah, because you just smoked the bile and Koran, I guess the book I’ve believed in all my life really is bullshit. Thanks Alex.”

Whether I believe in any holy books or not is irrelevant. People do. And not just those annoying, outspoken, in your face believers, but also the old woman who has been through nothing but hardship all her life, and it wasn’t the Australian atheist institute that helped her through life. It was her faith, her faith in the words of a particular holy book. Is she hurting anyone, no. Is she trying to convert the world to her belief system, no. Shes simply holding onto a belief that helps her through hard times. Religious faith should always be a personal matter. An openly discussed, thought out, researched but personal matter.

Has political correctness gone too far in our society?

Yes, I believe it has.

Should religious belief be analysed and critiqued like any other discourse?

Yes, it should.

Is the answer to start burning anything and everything that gives people a little hope to their lives?

No, I think if we really put our minds to it we can come up with a far more civil and productive way to have an open ended conversation about religious faith in our society.

Jason

Testimony of Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)

I, like many others, am a big Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) fan. I find his music simply beautiful. But what I find even more interesting about the man is his conversion to Islam. I recently stumbled upon his testimony on the web. In the west Christianity is our dominant religion, it is part of our cultural heritage and history and so when we are first subjected to other religious testimonies it can often takes us back a bit. Especially if we have been taught one particular view our whole lives. I am a big proponent of comparative religion. I think it’s so important to learn all we can about each other’s religions and cultures to help us build stronger bonds of understanding and tolerance. I’m not just talking about reading a book called “understanding Islam, and why it’s wrong”. I’m talking about genuinely trying to see the world from another person’s perspective. I think this testimony from Yusuf Islam has some great insights into some different aspects of faith that some of us in the west might not be used too:

Testimony of Yusuf Islam (Formerly Cat Stevens)

All I have to say is all what you know already, to confirm what you already know, the message of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as given by God - the Religion of Truth. As human beings we are given a consciousness and a duty that has placed us at the top of creation. Man is created to be God's deputy on earth, and it is important to realize the obligation to rid ourselves of all illusions and to make our lives a preparation for the next life. Anybody who misses this chance is not likely to be given another, to be brought back again and again, because it says in Qur'an Majeed that when man is brought to account, he will say, "O Lord, send us back and give us another chance." The Lord will say, "If I send you back you will do the same." I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the high life of show business. I was born in a Christian home, but we know that every child is born in his original nature - it is only his parents that turn him to this or that religion. I was given this religion (Christianity) and thought this way. I was taught that God exists, but there was no direct contact with God, so we had to make contact with Him through Jesus - he was in fact the door to God. This was more or less accepted by me, but I did not swallow it all. I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were just stones with no life. And when they said that God is three, I was puzzled even more but could not argue. I more or less believed it, because I had to have respect for the faith of my parents. Gradually I became alienated from this religious upbringing. I started making music. I wanted to be a big star. All those things I saw in the films and on the media took hold of me, and perhaps I thought this was my God, the goal of making money. I had an uncle who had a beautiful car. "Well," I said, "he has it made. He has a lot of money." The people around me influenced me to think that this was it; this world was their God. I decided then that this was the life for me; to make a lot of money, have a 'great life.' Now my examples were the pop stars. I started making songs, but deep down I had a feeling for humanity, a feeling that if I became rich I would help the needy. (It says in the Qur'an, we make a promise, but when we make something, we want to hold onto it and become greedy.) So what happened was that I became very famous. I was still a teenager, my name and photo were splashed in all the media. They made me larger than life, so I wanted to live larger than life and the only way to do that was to be intoxicated (with liquor and drugs).

IN HOSPITAL

After a year of financial success and 'high' living, I became very ill, contracted TB and had to be hospitalized. It was then that I started to think: What was to happen to me? Was I just a body, and my goal in life was merely to satisfy this body? I realized now that this calamity was a blessing given to me by Allah, a chance to open my eyes - "Why am I here? Why am I in bed?" - and I started looking for some of the answers. At that time there was great interest in the Eastern mysticism. I began reading, and the first thing I began to become aware of was death, and that the soul moves on; it does not stop. I felt I was taking the road to bliss and high accomplishment. I started meditating and even became a vegetarian. I now believed in 'peace and flower power,' and this was the general trend. But what I did believe in particular was that I was not just a body. This awareness came to me at the hospital. One day when I was walking and I was caught in the rain, I began running to the shelter and then I realized, 'Wait a minute, my body is getting wet, my body is telling me I am getting wet.' This made me think of a saying that the body is like a donkey, and it has to be trained where it has to go. Otherwise, the donkey will lead you where it wants to go. Then I realized I had a will, a God-given gift: follow the will of God. I was fascinated by the new terminology I was learning in the Eastern religion. By now I was fed up with Christianity. I started making music again and this time I started reflecting my own thoughts. I remember the lyric of one of my songs. It goes like this: "I wish I knew, I wish I knew what makes the Heaven, what makes the Hell. Do I get to know You in my bed or some dusty cell while others reach the big hotel?" and I knew I was on the Path. I also wrote another song, "The Way to Find God Out." I became even more famous in the world of music. I really had a difficult time because I was getting rich and famous, and at the same time, I was sincerely searching for the Truth. Then I came to a stage where I decided that Buddhism is all right and noble, but I was not ready to leave the world. I was too attached to the world and was not prepared to become a monk and to isolate myself from society. I tried Zen and Ching, numerology, tarot cards and astrology. I tried to look back into the Bible and could not find anything. At this time I did not know anything about Islam, and then, what I regarded as a miracle occurred. My brother had visited the mosque in Jerusalem and was greatly impressed that while on the one hand it throbbed with life (unlike the churches and synagogues which were empty), on the other hand, an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity prevailed.

THE QUR'AN

When he came to London he brought back a translation of the Qur'an, which he gave to me. He did not become a Muslim, but he felt something in this religion, and thought I might find something in it also. And when I received the book, a guidance that would explain everything to me - who I was; what was the purpose of life; what was the reality and what would be the reality; and where I came from - I realized that this was the true religion; religion not in the sense the West understands it, not the type for only your old age. In the West, whoever wishes to embrace a religion and make it his only way of life is deemed a fanatic. I was not a fanatic, I was at first confused between the body and the soul. Then I realized that the body and soul are not apart and you don't have to go to the mountain to be religious. We must follow the will of God. Then we can rise higher than the angels. The first thing I wanted to do now was to be a Muslim. I realized that everything belongs to God, that slumber does not overtake Him. He created everything. At this point I began to lose the pride in me, because hereto I had thought the reason I was here was because of my own greatness. But I realized that I did not create myself, and the whole purpose of my being here was to submit to the teaching that has been perfected by the religion we know as Al-Islam. At this point I started discovering my faith. I felt I was a Muslim. On reading the Qur'an, I now realized that all the Prophets sent by God brought the same message. Why then were the Jews and Christians different? I know now how the Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah and that they had changed His Word. Even the Christians misunderstand God's Word and called Jesus the son of God. Everything made so much sense. This is the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to reflect and reason, and not to worship the sun or moon but the One Who has created everything. The Qur'an asks man to reflect upon the sun and moon and God's creation in general. Do you realize how different the sun is from the moon? They are at varying distances from the earth, yet appear the same size to us; at times one seems to overlap the other. Even when many of the astronauts go to space, they see the insignificant size of the earth and vastness of space. They become very religious, because they have seen the Signs of Allah. When I read the Qur'an further, it talked about prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a Muslim yet, but I felt that the only answer for me was the Qur'an, and God had sent it to me, and I kept it a secret. But the Qur'an also speaks on different levels. I began to understand it on another level, where the Qur'an says, "Those who believe do not take disbelievers for friends and the believers are brothers." Thus at this point I wished to meet my Muslim brothers.

CONVERSION

Then I decided to journey to Jerusalem (as my brother had done). At Jerusalem, I went to the mosque and sat down. A man asked me what I wanted. I told him I was a Muslim. He asked what was my name. I told him, "Stevens." He was confused. I then joined the prayer, though not so successfully. Back in London, I met a sister called Nafisa. I told her I wanted to embrace Islam and she directed me to the New Regent Mosque. This was in 1977, about one and a half years after I received the Qur'an. Now I realized that I must get rid of my pride, get rid of Iblis, and face one direction. So on a Friday, after Jumma' I went to the Imam and declared my faith (the Kalima) at this hands. You have before you someone who had achieved fame and fortune. But guidance was something that eluded me, no matter how hard I tried, until I was shown the Qur'an. Now I realize I can get in direct contact with God, unlike Christianity or any other religion. As one Hindu lady told me, "You don't understand the Hindus. We believe in one God; we use these objects (idols) to merely concentrate." What she was saying was that in order to reach God, one has to create associates, that are idols for the purpose. But Islam removes all these barriers. The only thing that moves the believers from the disbelievers is the salat. This is the process of purification. Finally I wish to say that everything I do is for the pleasure of Allah and pray that you gain some inspirations from my experiences. Furthermore, I would like to stress that I did not come into contact with any Muslim before I embraced Islam. I read the Qur'an first and realized that no person is perfect. Islam is perfect, and if we imitate the conduct of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) we will be successful. May Allah give us guidance to follow the path of the ummah of Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). Ameen!

By Yusuf Islam January 1st, 1985

http://www.usislam.org/converts/yusufislam.htm

Religion

My current view of Religion,

I am currently 22 years old, and by no means an expert in anything! But if there is one area where I have done the most searching for truth, it is within the confines of what we call ‘religion’. My life journey thus far has led me to experience religion and religious faith through the eyes of a believer and through the eyes of a non believer. I understand the meaning, security and purpose a religious faith gives one’s self, I also understand the irrational and somewhat bizarre beliefs that often accompany a religious faith. My experience with religion has strictly been a Christian one, the religion that is most dominant in my culture and my part of the world. My knowledge of other religions only comes through reading books and study. So the vast majority of my thoughts and ideas about religion revolve directly around my personal experience with Christianity. I do however, have a strong desire to try and understand, as best I can, other world views and religions.

When it comes to my view on God, I would currently consider myself an agnostic. I don’t like labels and would prefer to just be a person with ideas, but for the purpose of identification, the closest label my ideas fit is agnosticism. The great questions to me, so far in my life anyway, are unanswerable. It took me a while, but I have finally become content in my life with the fact that I really don’t know if there is or isn’t a “God”. It might not be a good answer, but it is the most honest one I can give. At first this position is daunting, because for whatever reason, we place so much value on the idea that we must stand firm in the belief of one position over another. I have come to a point in my life were this certainty isn’t necessary. Some may call this “fence sitting”, but I assure you it’s possible to admit uncertainty and remain committed to finding truth. If people wish to use the analogy of a “fence”, then I would simply reply the person who is sitting on the fence has a far better view than someone standing on either side. It is much easier for the “fence sitter” to take their time, look around, and weigh up the options before they decide which side to “jump off”. Or perhaps, they prefer the fence! I have formed opinions on many things. But at the end of the day when it comes to questions on the scale of ultimate meaning, truth and God, I think our answers need to be given with a big dose of humility!

Humanity as a whole does not like the unknown. We would much rather have some sort of answer than none. As a result for this longing for answers we look to holy books, we look to leaders and prophets, we pray to all types of gods and we absorb ourselves in rituals and philosophies. But I think the idea that any one person or one special book can have all the answers to life is ridiculous. None of us a born with answers and the evidence out there is the same for everyone. This fact alone forces me to be very sceptical of people that have managed to convince themselves that they are 100% certain they know the truth. Those people both frustrate and scare me, especially within the context of religion.

Perhaps one day we will all know the answers, perhaps not. But until then it is up to the individual to learn and search truth for themselves, which is what I am currently in the process of doing in my own life. So for the most part I no longer hold to a religious belief. I believe there are both positive and negative aspects to religion. I know this because I have personally experienced both. But in my own life the negative aspects to religion outweighed the positive and I was forced to abandon my religious convictions. I am however still deeply interested and remain open minded to explore and discuss some of the ideas and concepts that religion has to offer, God, spirituality, life after death etc.

Like all of us, my views on religion have come through my own personal subjective experiences. I do not think anyone with a different opinion to me is wrong. I’m simply expressing and sharing as best I can, what I have discovered about religion through my own experiences and personal search. I sincerely don’t mean to offend anyone with what I write about religion, but religion is one of those personal things that it’s almost impossible not to. We become so emotionally attached to our beliefs that the idea of someone challenging them both anger and scare us. However the whole point of this blog is to expand our minds and to learn from each other. I completely open my ideas and beliefs for anyone to challenge and if evidence and good reason is presented will happily change my mind on any issue :) That is the whole entire purpose of this blog! I only ask and that anyone wishing to enter the discussion does so with this same state of mind.