This subject is one of the most complex and important reasonings to date because it is so encompassing. It is an issue that has existed for thousands of years in the forms of religious dogma and eventually into a quasi racist text that we call presently the King James Bible. This amazing book has moved mountains and been a strength to many, inspiring and challenging people, it also has crushed nations and peoples in crusades and through colonial conquest.
Each persons relationship with The Scriptures, Torah or the Quran is individual based on their experience in the communities and churches respectively as well as history with one another. Faith is deeply personal and sometimes the very articulation can demean the actual essence and soul of the person. Even a poet can only hope that the truth he or she wants to convey is understood. Within this context, I hope to expand on the dilemma of pursuing truth and the dangers of being narrow-minded.
It is almost human nature to presume and fill in spaces that are not understood with what one would imagine. I am certainly aware that I do this. The Eyes do it, because it can often fill in the picture with what the brain expects is present. With that said, when reading or listening, we also hear and read what we think is being said, and the truth often isn’t understood or meditated on to actually fully appreciate it. When the teachings are in codes and parables only the learned get it. Depending on where we are in our life some times there just hasn’t been the preparation and initiation for ones to understand a doctrine. When it comes to Holy Books, I like what my Wife said, that these books are the beginning, the foundation. They are not the end all or finale word, our own Right ( and wrong) Judgements are that, our choices. Right Judgement is what is lacking because ones have a very hard time determining absolute right often. Especially when it comes to non violence and how to reach for a more Just society.
Hon. Malcolm X and Rev. Martian Luther King had very different ideas concerning Non violence, and both have valid reasonings. Both would argue however that each other where at stark contrast and a threat to the future and security to Africans in the United States. Hon. Malcolm X would remark to CBC in 1965 that the issue is about Human Rights. That it was useless to look for justice of African repression, including the for recompense from the oppressor who had little interest or skills in resolving any racial issue ever. That the issue of the treatment and the enslavement and hundreds of years of injustice of Africans is an issue for the United Nations. Rev. Martian Luther King would look to Washington D.C. and felt that the African condition in the USA was a civil right issue and not a human rights issue. Both men known for their faith, reasoning on these topics without saying the Quran says or the Bible says… they had the issue of Rights in mind and that was where their faith had lead them to. Their difference was more than political, it was about liberation strategy and it certainly wasn’t faith based. It would have looked ridiculous to see these leaders arguing about who wrote the Bible or the merits of Islam when the importance and need for Freedom transcends from the words of books to the actions of grown men. I offer this as an intro why We as Humanity need to stay focused on why we need to be free from anything that distracting us from the progress of people as a whole.
I will be candid in my feelings simply because at this point in InI journey I would rather be understood a little than grouped and characterized by an alarming rate of conservative extremists that use religion to push for a fascist political ideology. It seems that the trend in Religions across the world is to use their leaders to convince the patrons to adhere to a separatist thought pattern that would work in the interest of a nationalist government. Meaning that those who are seen as being the most religious seem to also be the supporters of rightwing ideas across the spectrum and world. This was set up, and is part of classisms that allowed hierarchies to develop based on local and church participation. Ironically the many holy men of their faiths are ones who were persecuted by a separatist nationalists that didn’t what equality and classes…and this is the issue…where do they get it from…why isn’t the hypocrisy evident to them and what was the agenda behind the why…
Have you ever heard the saying they have to mix the truth and lies together so you will believe it.. it something clearly looks like a con, people are not going for it, it’s the nature of deception. Without trying to offend people, I will follow with the Bible isn’t the Word of God, the Word of God is in the “Bible”. I personally have found the Word of God in many Holy Books, and I know the Word of God, only because I know God. The subject of does one have to know a Holy Book to know God hits on it exactly. Because the way members of most faiths are taught those who are indigenous or do not know their book (or can read) need saving and do not know God. This idea is at the heart of the racism of what makes Us as Africans so offended when it comes to the Bible and the Quran when ones assume we do not know God because we do not adhere to a book. Let me speak personally some more,..I knew God before I studied the Bible or knew Emperor Haile Selassie I. I talked to God about Haile Selassie I, that is why I choose Rastafari as a path. I did not do it because the Bible told me so, and I do not make my mind up solely on what Emperor Haile Selassie I did and says. Some Ras would say, ” what! why~?” answer..because first, I must mediate for myself and judge righteously. Second, if He wasn’t talking or instructing InI then it wasn’t for I.. Third, discerning when He is doing what He needs to do.. I note carefully when H.I.M. is talking to the entire for that is for Us. We have positions and roles, and I have to recognize them and choose them for myself as we all do. When people around us answer for their actions with the Bible, this is an offering of a parable that may be overused and confused. While this is happening the Roman doctrine is pushed that has at its heart religious condemnation and mis use the Word. Whether it be Yeshua (Jesus), Mohammed or Moses, Religions in their name allow and promote in the Name of God and their prophets, land grabbing and forced conversion at the end of a sword. In all 3 of these doctrines is Rome and their desire to have an influence in its message. The disagreements of these doctrines are seen in the Orthodox Church in regard to the Council of Nice for Christians. Different sects of Jews and Muslims with very different interpretations of how they should live and what they believe echo the same importance of discriminating themselves from others. Each language has its own hidden meanings and the translations become more suspect the more it strays from its source. Learning about words doesn’t mean the ones around us understand the same meaning, and the more the translations increase the more we are lost in translations. If we do not know within our selves what we know, this quest of scriptural affirmation is useless.
I am not here to question’s others faith, and most of the time I couldn’t care less. I care about what I see that we can achieve from working together for the benefit of the whole. When I see Good, and Love, I see God. When I see religions that have a common goal to oppress and label others in the name of faith I see evil. When it comes to the African importance and contribution to the Holy Books of the World it is deeply disturbing to note that all of them don’t want the African and Afro-Asians to be aware of their collective gift to Spiritual thought period. The Western Churches all dismiss Egypt as a land of idols and captivity, this to promote an anti African/ Native Sentiment. The discouragement of people in many nations not to know or celebrate their culture and history is in that same view. It also is evident throughout the Old Testament seen in the treatment and perception of Ethiopian Women. ( Zipporah, Bet Sheba, Queen Mekeda) and to the doubting of Moses from the beginning of his trod with the Israelites. These tales would enlighten and darken our perspective and awareness of it affects years later, and that would breed a hybrid faith of KKK like Christians that hate everyone but “white” people…I am going to leave it there because I want us to look deep into ourselves rather than the errors of the past and try and figure out who was wrong and right. We all are, and that was at the Heart of what Christ taught as well. Repent means to Change..simple..what will we change..because thats the issue.
When it comes to Human Rights we must be vigilant not to allow giant corporations that are Churches and lobbyist for Gulf nations and Israel to sway what is Right and Morally Just. When we allow nations to destroy each other based on government systems, or religious ideology we only allow more to occur. What is happening in Kashmir as well as to Yemen and Qatar is only due to religious leaders who do not care about the average person who lives there. That they want to control the narrative told in the region by the people of the region. Likewise in Palestine. What I offer is that in these books of wisdom, also contain the same lies, of redefining borders, changing local names, and rebranding the history in the favor of the powerful. Often we don’t realize that we are pushing these doctrines in ignorance, or in loyalty to our clan. What we need to ask ourselves is, if its not right are we willing to change it. Do we believe we can change it? Because those who don’t will be quick to say its in God’s hands so they don’t have to take action. Human rights suffer while we allow others to steal and murder in the name of religion. The reason the hypocrisy hasn’t been confronted from within adequately is because lying , manipulation and thieving is manner in which capitalism and wealth is acquired historically. To be truthful means that accountability will be addressed and that threatens the very existence of more than just religions, but many nations across the World especially the rich and well armed.
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I don’t know how long it has been like this, perhaps it’s the times today, it seems that with information being so rapidly dispersed ones seem more disconnected and dismissive. It seems the Truth is too much to care about, and with all the distractions that ones see, they feel they don’t need to research anything deeply. Dare I say, US education is not the best at being honest about their Wars or World History. With that, it seems that while we have the avenues to learn, at every opportunity there is something slowing the process so that the wrongs and rights can’t be objectively thought about and reasoned on. Most countries of the world are no different sadly and the religious evangelical ideology that is US in construct is affecting the politics of various South American and African countries making it harder to embrace their collective identity whole heartedly. Saudi Arabia and the Vatican continue to try to influence politics in order to promote their brand of their faiths while not encouraging social reforms. Of course there are exceptions, however they are the exception and far from the majority. The agenda is to use religions to disconnect us from government and our neighbors. I believe Government is necessary and the people desire to interact and be properly represented is crucial. The importance of being good neighbors is interlinked with having good communication, the foundation for building.
When approaching the subject of how to make global changes, having a view point that armageddon is welcomed is defeatist. I have heard the many versions of how Babylon the Great must fall, and I get it..however the way of interpreting it is a privilege I enjoy. In my humble opinion, clarity is needed for confusion too dissipate. Babylon is a confused state, and that is the very topic that is being addressed. Clarity is when we do the best we can with what we have together and put aside theology and to embrace a State, Country and World for All. For those who do not believe in a Greco-Roman Judaic Christian God, I think Clarity could replace the title God and have a translation that is universal. We must care to see clearly without bias, knowing that this is something we are striving for and have not and perhaps never will attain. Therefore we must know how to deal with the challenge of narrow-minded perspectives being both sensitive and focused on the progress for human rights above all other agendas, ever watchful of ourselves knowing errors are human.
Wikipedia cites not just the Confucius with spreading the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, it states” The idea dates at least to the early Confucian times (551–479 BC) according to Rushworth Kidder, who identifies that this concept appears prominently in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, and “the rest of the world’s major religions”.[3] The concept of the Rule is codified in the Code of Hammurabi stele and tablets, 1754-1790 BC. 143 leaders encompassing the world’s major faiths endorsed the Golden Rule as part of the 1993 “Declaration Toward a Global Ethic”, including the Baha’i Faith, Brahmanism, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous, Interfaith, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American, Neo-Pagan, Sikhism, Taoism, Theosophist, Unitarian Universalist and Zoroastrian.[4][5] According to Greg M. Epstein, “?’do unto others’ … is a concept that essentially no religion misses entirely”, but belief in God is not necessary to endorse it.[6] Simon Blackburn also states that the Golden Rule can be “found in some form in almost every ethical tradition”.[7]
This Golden Rule is what we see Christians promote as well as so many others and is a way of understanding universal law that paraphrases so many other laws that often cloud the intention of seeing others equally as one’s self. It is part of a rebuke and enlightened state from the previous law of Leviticus ” eye of and eye and tooth from a tooth.” This Law is actually Babylonian and inserted as part of the indoctrinated Jews that brought Babylonian laws into their ideology. It was rebuked and replaced because the punishment in many cases did not fit the crime, the ways of punishment were being challenged. They still are and should be because the systems of accountability are stuck in a old time religion state. Whether we look at the individual nations and their justice system of go to the international political implications of sanctions or controlling movement, we also have to ask whether this is hurting innocent people in the name of justice and accountability. If the conclusion is yes, then it would be logical to look at how to address nations and people in a manner that the solution to conflicts do not include being perpetrators of additional crimes. This basis of thinking can be found in multiple states and countries where the death penalty is illegal even though often the population may be majority for capital punishment. Many leaders have realized something that is the beginning of a global cry, that as His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I put it, ” Faith is personal, the State is for All.” This ideology makes it where it goes beyond majority rules, or mob rule, it is un-democratic because it is All inclusive. It is an understanding that We have a duty to All and must strive for All without the mood of the times swaying which way justice may be given and how. The fight against capital punishment is a microcosm of the solutions needed globally that will be against popular opinion and fought against an aggressive promoter of human right violations. To expect it and prepare for it is to also be ready for what the World Needs not wants when it comes to Climate Justice and end to an international military industrial complex. Therefore conscious forms of alternatives to traditional methods of confrontation needs to be explored for reforms today. Like the US justice system, how to reform the United Nations will make a huge difference in the actualization of the mission for peace, rather than adding insults to injury, and more injuries. We would have to go from a hypothetical Golden Rule ”what would I have be done to oneself” to what is the rationale and methods that works to correct one self. Part of the solution is to study seriously the appropriate methods to interject and protest with a set goal of solving set problem. How to achieve it without consensus and how to make room for alternatives rather than being put, or putting other into a polarized position.
I hope this was helpful in understanding the history of religious agendas and laws, and how the agendas align and are used politically, to create divides and gives ones rights over others that are not right and all. At the end of the day, understanding that the need for Universal Law has been answered and not in a vague manner. Like the Ten Commandments we have to expect laws will be broken and challenged. How we deal with it will reflect whether we hold the virtue of being Godly or good people. This is includes the right to a fair trail and to be defended, and not face torture or death as the result of the judgement. Our ideas of punishment need serious reformation because they do not rehabilitate or embrace the Human Rights. This starts with building compassion and care for those that we consider the least, and looking at the problems presently and realize the modern solutions. As we consider the power of change and renewal, let us all try and change and renew our minds to embrace the potential of collective enlightenment.
This may be a Chapter in the book I am writing, because it is the starting point of accepting we must separate Church from State, while being the Church in a State of Collective Security. The book is called, ” Man’s Last Hope. How to Reform the United Nations.”
Jah Bless You and thank you for reading, any comments or thoughts are welcome. I would like thank all the great leaders and teachers that helped InI learn and listen. As it is was in the beginning so it is now and forever. Truth and Love Alone will save the day. Rastafari. One Jah.
