Gods of War are many and dominate the landscape. God of Compassion is boring, frustrating and too demanding on the self…
Posted by: adonis49 on: May 30, 2013
Gods of War dominate the landscape. God of Love is boring and frustrating…
In the name of God I will murder, conquer, and oppress.
“In the name of My God” summarizes centuries of exploitation and misinterpretation of religious values by oppressors and dictators. A practice that continues to exist in almost every conflict, even today, regardless of the globalization, the spread of education, and the mainstreaming of the international human rights agenda.
In antiquity, the God of War was very specific, among the pantheon of all the Gods that represented the power of nature and the vast potentials of Man and the animal kingdoms.
When armies went to war in the name of the God of War, they knew that they were going to loot other people, and not in the name of Democracy or Freedom or Liberty.
All these abstract notions are currently used as smokescreen to loot the oil and raw materials…
The pagan Gods honored Man and nature, and never to humiliate people. All these Gods had the same stories and myths. A traveler didn’t asks for a name, but to the function of the God of the temple. And they worshiped whatever God interested their current desires, anywhere they were. Religion was never a problem to the wise men of antiquity: Religion was a support to the daily turmoil and anxieties.
The recent abstract unique God, forced on people to acknowledge its existence or belief in ONE Universal God, is destroying the environment and reducing a person to a cheap ingredient...
Many thinkers have come to the conclusion that God is the problem in all this equation; if everyone is killing in the name of God, then let’s erase God from the minds of people. And society will learn to avoid violent conflicts.
In order to achieve world peace, we first have to analyze the nature of conflict and people.
Cedric Choukeir, regional director of WYA in the Middle East and North Africa, posted:
People, by their nature, are always struggling with themselves and their environment, a point that Charles Malik, the Lebanese diplomat and philosopher, constantly mentions in his writings. Constant struggles among people means that conflict will always exist, the question is how are we resolving these conflicts.
Do religions have a positive or negative role to play in the resolution process?
Let us not bury our heads in the sand, religions have played a major role in the bloodshed across the world and history.
Religion is a powerful tool that drives the masses, but as any tool, it can be used for good or for bad. Its misuse can drive the masses to commit human sacrifices, genocide, crusades, and suicide bombings.
When properly interpreted, religion can also lead to good deeds including the positive influence of the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, along with Christian and Muslim charity organizations.
If we delete religious and spiritual values from our cultures and societies we will end up with a very pale perspective on life.
All religions and beliefs have something to contribute to our understanding of the human person. Religions should be a reason for people to come together and appreciate diversity rather than seek to homogenized humanity.
We, as Middle Eastern youth, should extract the lessons learned from previous failed experiences rather than simply run away from them without looking back.
We need to agree on a common set of universal human values that respect the different cultures and traditions and that guide our decisions towards the improvement of our societies.
We need to focus on the common ground between us rather than highlight the differences.
Being jihadists or completely faithless has an equally detrimental impact on society, so let us create a place that respects the dignity of people without letting go of our roots, traditions, and beliefs.
No religion today worships a God of War, so let us not fight a war in his name.
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