At Easter 2021, while on an extended hiatus, I posted some musings on life, death and resurrection.
Events since then make a revamped version of those musings appropriate. Every year many die from violence. Some shrug it off with uninformed excuses (e.g. “him mussi inna sump’n”) or misconceived rants regarding punishment. But over 3,500 COVID deaths to date (less than 3,000 murders during the same period) defy facile response. No COVID death is explained by the “inna sump’n” assumption. There’s nobody to imprison, hang (or chop up) as punishment/revenge. Friends and families can only grieve without solace.
And to ask “Why?”
These all-too-human reactions are rooted in an irrational fear of death caused by a misunderstanding of life’s meaning and death’s purpose.
Why do we fear death? We know it’s inevitable. Yet we allow fear of death to obstruct us from living a full life or accomplishing life’s purpose. Blame for this malaise belongs almost entirely to religion. Religion is a big business incorporated by man (not God) in pursuit of profit. Faith is different.
Islam worships one God (Allah) whose messenger was Muhammad.
Christianity also worships one God (with many names depending which department collects your membership dues). Jesus was God’s Messenger but Christianity confuses Christians about Jesus by appointing him God and, simultaneously, (sole) son of God.
Buddhism doesn’t rely on a fixed deity but on the teachings of Buddha (“The Enlightened One”). He’s believed to have escaped the re-incarnation cycle by achieving “nirvana”.
Hinduism worships several Gods all originating with Brahma, creator of the Universe. It’s the world’s oldest religion with philosophies rooted in ancient texts rather than carried by particular Messengers.
One Brahmin sect preserved ancient Hindu studies and practices of occult nature (regarded as sacredly as religious teachings) modern writers call “Numerology”. This “science” (the meaning of numbers) led ancient Hindu Astronomers to discover the precision (a.k.a. “precession”) of the Equinoxes and calculate they’d take place (be completed) every 25,827 years. They hypothesized civilization’s rise and fall is synchronized with earth’s distance from our Galaxy’s centre. Modern “science” laboured for centuries only to end up proving them right (well, almost; its calculators came up with 25,772 years). Hindu numerologists also predicted our solar system included nine planets ages before science “discovered” here-today-gone-tomorrow Pluto and longer before “Planet Nine” was “discovered” in 2016.
Judaism, according to the Torah, was founded by a Hebrew named Abraham. This happened because God first revealed Himself to Abraham with whom He made a special covenant that Abraham and his descendants were “chosen people” who’d create a great nation. Sounds more like a gratuitous promise to me since I’m unsure what, if anything, Abraham promised in return. At least Christian “covenant” requires us to love God and our neighbour as ourselves.
Bahá’ í, founded in the 19th century, has God as single and all-powerful. The religion has three Messengers: Báb (1819–1850) taught God would soon send a prophet so was executed by Iranian authorities; Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892) claimed to be that prophet so was exiled/imprisoned for most of his life; and his son, Abdu’l-Bahá (1844–1921) made teaching trips to Europe/USA after his 1908 release from confinement.
None of these messengers/founders had anything bad to say about death. Contrarily, all religions insist that how we live contributes to our fate after death. Muslims believe Allah decides when they’ll die so they must do as many good deeds as possible while alive including fulfilling all Islamic obligations namely Shahadah (declare there’s no God but Allah); Salah (pray five times a day); Zakah (donate percentage of wealth to charity); Sawm (fast during Ramadan); and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).
Buddhists believe in re-incarnation because Buddha said he remembered his past lives after attaining “enlightenment”; that life and death are parts of a naturally recurring cycle; and there’s no external creator controlling everything. Buddhists seek “enlightenment” (or Nirvana) through good works leading to a better re-birth.
Jews are certain of life after death but uncertain about the details. Their concept of life after death has evolved so often that, eventually, Judaism elected to leave the niceties to God. Judaism teaches that how you live is more important than what happens after you die.
According to Bahá’í, “life” begins at conception, when the soul associates itself with the embryo. Upon death the body returns to dust while the soul continues in God’s spiritual worlds.
Abdu’l-Bahá said:
“To consider that after the death of the body the spirit perishes is like imagining that a bird in a cage will be destroyed if the cage is broken though the bird has nothing to fear from the destruction of the cage. Our body is like the cage, and the spirit is like the bird…”
Only Bahá’í can rationally respond to queries regarding what happens to dead children or adults who never encountered religion. Christian Pastors flounder when confronted by this logical flaw in their fear tactic.
Christianity’s misogynistic tyrants try to frighten us with threats of death as “wages of sin”. Sigh. But use the brain God gave you. We all “sin” (using God-given Free Will); we’ll all die; and “wage” is reward for service.
So what the framfrig?
Why should we “fear God” when we come from and will return to God? Fake Christians acknowledge corporal punishment as child abuse but insist the Eternal Mother/Father would smite His/Her children with fire, brimstone, thunder, lightning and, of course, condemn disobedient children to Hell.
It’s all hocus-pocus.
I’ve written this before. God is Absolute Being in absolute existence. God is completed by experience of relative existence hence He/She created the Universe and sent little pieces of God to populate that Universe and experience ALL relativity. Parents send children away to school NOT to exile. So, when we “graduate” we return to God. The road for the return journey runs through a turnpike we call death. Death is our reward for serving God by leaving His/Her absolute existence so He/She can experience relativity.
Human perfection was never intended [Paul: “None is righteous, no, not one” ( Romans 3:10)] but our imperfections make God perfect. Christian leaders use Jesus’ resurrection to prove Jesus was God but Jesus never made that claim. Pastors perpetually tie themselves into knots interpreting Jesus’ “I am” ( John 8:58) as a claim to being God. It isn’t. He was. You are. I am. So is Popeye the sailor man.
Move on.
Au contraire, Jesus frequently distinguished himself from God. Yet Christianity set Jesus above the rest of us (as part of a bogus “Holy Trinity”) as God’s earthly alter ego.
But Jesus said “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that, where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3.
So it’s all twaddle. Christ assured us God is within us and we are within God ( John 14:10-12). Each of us will return to God and be as much a part of God as Jesus. So why are we constantly fretting about the road trip?
Jesus’ resurrection and ascendancy into “Heaven” wasn’t his way of proving he was God. By orchestrating his own violent death he ensured his teachings would reach a backward world bereft of mass communication. His resurrection was his proof death mustn’t be feared and its destination is preferable to the cage currently holding our souls.
He came back. He could’ve stayed. He didn’t. He returned to God.
Death is undoubtedly difficult on those left behind. This “life” is hard. It’s fraught with human frailties including greed, malice, hostility and pride. Family and friendship are critical aides to surviving those indignities. If we lose that, we suffer grievously. Life becomes more difficult to navigate.
But death isn’t to be feared. Bahá’u’lláh, who, among religious founders, comes closest to my own truth, called death a “messenger of joy.” He said: “Thou art My dominion. My dominion perisheth not. Wherefore fearest thou thy perishing? Thou art My light. My light shall never be extinguished. Why dost thou dread extinction? Thou art My glory. My glory fadeth not. Thou art My robe. My robe shall never be outworn.”
Understanding the value of death makes the grieving process easier and should also teach religious zealots not to advocate for the oxymoronic “death penalty”. Unenlightened Christians go to Church every Sunday; pay tithes; worship Jesus who told us death was our reward; then agitate for murderers to be gifted their eternal reward on yonder gallows.
As I keep saying, NOTHING in this world is as it appears.
Peace and Love.
- Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com [2]