Most of us are fully aware of the major foibles of Islam; if you can't accept it for the absence of original sin, its salvation based on works and concomitant hierarchy of obligations, then embrace it for its hatred of women, nonbelievers and just about everyone and everything that does not agree with their faith or is merely perceived as not respecting their faith. There's so very much to work with here.
What we need is perspective on how worshippers of Jehovah treated other religions, even an ancient perspective because God never changes. Let us therefore take a brief detour into the worship of Baal.
Baal was an ancient agricultural/fertility god whose worship was prevalent throughout the land of Canaan during the invasion of the Hebrew tribes, AKA Israel, circa 1450 BC. A representative idol is on the left. Baal was believed responsible for rain, incredibly important in an agrarian society.
Worship of Baal involved sex acts (female prostitutes who collected fees for the temple) as well as human sacrifice. Killing young children to placate Baal was commonplace, especially when building a house or other structure. You killed one of your children and placed him in the foundation ala Jimmy Hoffa. In I Kings 16:34 we read about this:
"In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn..."
This is again referenced in Joshua 6:26. There have been various forms of Baal worship (Baalim), usually tied in with Ashtoreth, but the variety I am interested in was the form practiced by King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, a cult of the Syrian god Melqart. As the Hebrews mingled their worship of Jehovah with that of Baal, including the sacrifice of their children, Elijah was called upon to demonstrate the superiority of Jehovah.
The showdown between Elijah and Baal is captured in I Kings, chapter18; briefly, Elijah built a huge sacrificial fire pit and had 450 priests of Baal invoke their god to start the wood on fire.
While the priests holler and scream and slash themselves to get Baal to start the fire (Note - where have we seen that before, eh?), Elijah is constantly embarrassing and humiliating them for a good part of the day.
In verse 27 Elijah harasses the priests; their god is asleep, he is busy with other things ... one of the things he yells at them is that Baal maybe "travelling" - the actual Hebrew language means "covering his feet" which is a reference to the fact that men squatted over a hole with their robes on to relieve themselves, thus their robes covered their sandals. Elijah was inferring that Baal may have been been bothered by hemorrhoids or the runs and was unable to start the sacrificial fire. The Baal priests went literally insane trying to get their god to strike the fire while Elijah mocked them. Exhausted, the priests gave up and Elijah called down fire from Heaven, instantly burning the wood, the sacrificial oxen and the priests.
In like fashion Christ went after the money changers and the Pharisees/Sadducee's with a vengeance. To everyone else he was kind, loving and forgiving ... why? Christ went after the people who should have known better, he went after those in authority who lied to their charges and enriched themselves at their expense. To everyone else, he was their Savior.
So, what do we do with imams who declare bloody fatwa? Who demand war if a mere paperback is destroyed?
Who lop off heads and hands and break limbs to satisfy their bloodthirsty god and his pedophile prophet?
Who play "Rub The Magic Falafel" with nine year old boys?
Are these men not just as bad as the priests of Baal?
To those Muslims who desire truth, we should present what we know and live by it else we are hypocrites and our religion is hollow. But to those who proclaim Allah is great and demand that all must render submission to Islam (after all, that's what Islam means) then I say start that fire yourselves and go bugger off while you scream and shout to a false god who has hemorrhoids.
8 comments:
Muslims practice religion that terrorizes women and children. These same Muslims are amazed to learn that terror also beats once-proud nations into fear and submission.
Shame on us. We've become terrorized women.
Goomba-
Agreed that many of the men in power are wusses. What do you expect from panty-waist political prostitutes? Courage?
But our regular American guys are getting mighty fed up, and that's simmering under the surface. The vast majority of the people who made it to this country got here on guts, mostly. Guts and brains. That kind of gene pool doesn't get erased very easily.
Ask some terrorized American women, and see what they tell you. I'm betting it won't be: Let me try on that burkha.
There is none so blind as those who refuse to see. The liberals who are intent upon destroying this country have no problems shoving their fingers in their ears and singing lalala until the whole mess comes crashing down on their heads.
And of course when homesexuals are strung up like Xmas lights in Muslims countries the libs have nothing to say. Their outrage is highly selective, directed at only political targets that oppose their agends.
Sig, that was outstanding. Thanks. God is pretty righteous. I seem to recall that all the Baal priests got whacked after that, too.
Your point is a good one: Thinking is a moral exercise. Being gracious means something other than simply accepting every act of wickedness foisted on us.
Great post, Sig. ;-)
I suppose those priests may have taken some consolation in the fact that at least Baal's arse was on fire - no Tucks or Preparation H in those days.
DC- Thank you. I believe wholeheartedly in the competion of ideas. If a Muslim friend of mine (I have several) wants to bend my ear and convert me to Islam - let him. I am not afraid to defend my belief system and to be quite frank, I hope he challenges me both intellectually and spiritually. Let him test me. It will make me a better person and a better Christian.
But let this competition be out in the open, let us glory in the freedom to make such rational decisions based on the persuasive gifts of qualified men and the dictates of our conscience, not on the threats of religious zealots of any faith.
Spider - Baal was a foul entity. One of the Exorcist movies had him causing mischief through demonic possession, but the real danger from Baal was the corruption of the Jewish law. During almost all of the reign of the Kings of Israel (not Judah) the worship of Baal, and the slaughter of innocents, continued.
Oustanding, Sig. The problem for the West is that Christianity - where it's respected at all by non-Christians - is that it's central values are "love", compassion and cheek-turning.
For me, those are effects rather than causes; the first requirement of Jesus is to "know the evil". Without that knowledge about yourself and others, morality and ethical distinctions are impossible, and so is a world worth living in.
Post a Comment