Friday, July 17, 2015

Ignore Him and He’ll go away! Maybe?


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.