Ignore Him and He’ll go away! Maybe?
Today’s society seems to be snubbing God. Why is that? Many do not believe there is a
God and the ones that do cannot agree on who
He is. A myriad of beliefs have sprung up and the manifold interpretations
of God’s word are usually self serving. As a result there is no clear picture
of the Divine Being and the distorted pictures of Him are met with disbelief.
The enemies of God do little to
destroy His authority. Those who do the most damage are those who claim to love
Him. Then they invent a being that most resembles themselves and teaches all
the principles that they themselves agree with. Naturally they are the superior
race. That is why God sent a messenger that looks just like they do. This self
serving image they worship allows them to mistreat others with impunity. They
are assured they belong to the race that God protects and it is their duty to
punish all others. Short verses are taken out of context to prove their superiority.
Luke 12:47 was often quoted by Christian clergy as they beat their slaves. “And that servant, which knew his lord's will,
and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten
with many stripes.” If they had read the two verses before that they would
easily have seen that it was they themselves who were the disobedient servant. Verse 45 reads, “ But and if that servant say
in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the
menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;” verse 46, “The
lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an
hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his
portion with the unbelievers.”
In the fourth Sura of the Qur’an we
find the following. “They would fain that ye misbelieve as they misbelieve,
that ye might be alike; take ye not patrons from among them until they too flee
in God's way; but if they turn their backs, then seize them and kill them
wheresoever ye find them, and take from them neither patron nor help,” Many
read thus far and it is used by the enemies of Islam to show that the Prophet
was a bloodthirsty tyrant. The worst enemies of Islam are those who claim to
believe but commit acts of terrorism based on these words out of context. At the time Muhammad was on the earth a he
needed to be a military as well as spiritual leader in order to protect the
people. He was teaching military strategy here and in effect was saying, “Don’t
wait for your enemies to attack but seek them out and destroy them before they
have a chance.” This was a very hard stance that was necessitated by the age in
which it was revealed. However for those with a longer attention span Muhammad
continued so His meaning would be clear. “... . But if they retire from you and do not
fight you, and offer you peace,- then God hath given you no way against them.” Thus
it is clear that Muhammad gave permission to defend oneself against proclaimed enemies
and taught sound military strategy for dealing with this. Yet the option for
peace is always the preferred option.
Now the present day comes along
and we see the separation of government and religion. If someone wants to pray
to God in a school that is a big taboo. No mention of God is to be made in any
institution funded by the government. God has taught love. He has taught us not
to kill. He teaches us to accept others and to prefer them over ourselves. Why
do we not want these principles taught in the schools?
The reality of it is that the religionists
themselves have put up stumbling blocks by interpreting the Words of God to
serve their own purposes. God teaches us that we should love all mankind. The religionist
interprets that to mean only those who agree with his principles. True men are
those who agree with the principles as they understand them and anyone who has
another understanding must be shunned and hated.
God says “Thou shall not kill.” The
religionists interpret that to mean we must go to war and eliminate all who do
not agree with our own interpretation of God’s word.
We should prefer our neighbor
over ourselves is a teaching that is meant for others who must prefer us before
themselves. The religionists firmly believe in their own superiority and all
others must bow down in awe before their infinite and perfect knowledge.
If God is dead it is these
religionist who have distorted his world who have killed Him. Indeed God has
died in the hearts of many. In the hearts were He yet lives we find nothing but
love. We find those who would starve if it means another can eat. We find souls
who would rather die than to take another life. Those who have God in their
hearts will listen to the view points of others and investigate the Truth
wherever it may come from. Did not Christ say, “I am the Truth?” If Christ is
the Truth and we reject Truth, are we not rejecting Christ Himself?”
In the Tablet of Ahmad we read, “Be
thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away from this Beauty hath
also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride towards God
from all eternity to all eternity.” All God’s messengers were the embodiment of
Truth. When we reject Truth we reject them all.
Scientific discovery is the investigation
of Truth. We come up with theories and then try to prove them. If a theory
cannot be proved, or if it is proved as wrong, it is discarded. In the process
new theories are developed. The scientific approach leads to a greater
understanding of what is truth. Unfortunately many religionists do not want to
use the scientific approach and insist that religious concepts must be accepted
without proof no matter how illogical and ill conceived they may be.
Thus it is that the very foundation
of human society is threatened. When we want to understand how something works
and make the best use of it we will consult the manual supplied by the
manufacturer. Our Creator has supplied us with manuals that show how human
society should work. The mechanism has become worn and broken and ill advised armatures
are trying to fix it without the manual. The body of mankind has been afflicted
with greed and those in charge usually have a self serving goal. Laws are
passed to protect the lawmakers. Factions are created as each attempts to seek
an advantage for himself. Principles of religion are distorted to justify
unjust acts. As society deteriorates, mankind has turned his back on God. The
very mention of God is shunned, and for good reason. As the planet we live on
becomes more and more interdependent we can no longer function as fighting
factions. Religion has been a great divider of mankind. Now is the time that
all of God’s sheep must be gathered into one fold. Religious ideologies are not
conducive towards that goal. However we must make a distinction between
ideologies and the Word of God. When these ideologies are presented as the Word
of God, they do a great disservice to humanity. As long as greedy souls attempt
to conquer and divide, society cannot find healing. The wolf scatters and
destroys. The Good Shepherd gathers together. (See John 10)
It is now, when mankind has
turned a cold shoulder to God that we need His instructions the most. However
we need to use the scientific discovery model to determine what is Truth. False
teachings and claims must be abandoned before they can to more harm. The true,
common principles laid out in all religions must be investigated. Then we will
see that great gathering promised in Luke Chapter ten.
'Abdu'l-Bahá laid out some
principles when he talked in London, England in 1911. The third and fourth
principle apply most to this discussion.
Thirdly: Bahá'u'lláh taught, that
Religion is the chief foundation of Love and Unity and the cause of Oneness. If
a religion become the cause of hatred and disharmony, it would be better that
it should not exist. To be without such a religion is better than to be with
it.
Fourthly: Religion and Science are
inter-twined with each other and cannot be separated. These are the two wings
with which humanity must fly. One wing
is not enough. Every religion which does not concern itself with Science is
mere tradition, and that is not the essential. Therefore science, education and
civilization are most important necessities for the full religious life.
('Abdu'l-Bahá,
'Abdu'l-Bahá in London, p. 28, 29)
We may think that God will go
away if we ignore Him, but I am not sure I would want to live in a world devoid
of God. What is needed now is True spiritual instruction and there is such
courses being taught around the world. Look up the Baha’i Faith in your area to
learn more.
