Divinity, dogma and damnation

The Egyptian crisis and its fundamentalist undertones make it timely for us to examine faith's compatibility with reality.

I've never accepted religions' modern euphemism 'faith-based organisations'. In his excellent book, More Than a Carpenter, Josh McDowell sought to prove the resurrection by evidence. The circumstantial evidence presented included the subsequent lifestyles of witnesses claiming to have seen the risen Christ. They abandoned worldly gain, lived only to spread Jesus' teachings and endured many injustices, including torture, ignominy and violent death rather than recant their testimony.

I was convinced. Consequently, my belief in Christ's resurrection is based on evidence, not faith. I prefer to begin with reality and work backwards to deduce divine purpose. The Church begins with dogma and tries to force reality to comply.

Distorting reality

This man-made quirk (use of dogma to distort reality) was recently a feature of a highly inflammatory Internet article regarding an alleged Muslim plot for world domination. Its anonymous author includes a clever mixture of researched fact and outlandish hype intended to intensify Christian intolerance of Islam.

The article's contents should be approached with caution. It begins with a report, datelined November 2001, that "Swiss investigators will search the home of Youssef Nada, the leader of Al Taqwa Bank, a Swiss bank that had just been shut down by the United States (US) and the United Nations (UN) for alleged ties to al-Qaida and Hamas ... " followed by further crystal-ball gazing contradictory in its language: "In January 2002, Nada will announce that the Al Taqwa Bank is shutting down ... ."

The more reliable New York Times reported (November 8, 2001): "President Bush announced an international effort today to destroy two financial networks [one was Al Taqwa] ... long suspected [by American officials] of having ties to al-Qaida ... . The announcement came as law-enforcement officials in the United States and Europe carried out raids to disrupt their operations." President Bush said, "Al Taqwa ... raise[s] funds for al-Qaida."

Unlike the anonymous Internet report, The New York Times published comments from Youssef Nada: "Youseff (sic) Nada, a principal of Al Taqwa, ... denied any involvement in terrorist activities."

meaningless association

No government agency closed Al Taqwa. Nada was temporarily detained but subsequently released. On August 2, 2010 (no public fanfare), the UN Security Council removed Al Taqwa from a list of entities/individuals associated with al-Qaida. No member of Al Taqwa's board has ever been charged with any criminal offence by anybody. US authorities have made a meal of the fact that two Al Taqwa shareholders are bin Laden family members but, apart from permitting visitation of the Black Sheep's sins on his family, this is meaningless.

At Nada's Swiss home, a document titled 'The Project' was found. Nada denied knowing the author's identity or how it got there. The document records an alleged plot by the Muslim Brotherhood to rule the world. The Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian reaction to political and social injustice and British imperial rule, was founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher, to promote traditional Sharia law and social renewal based on an Islamic ethos of altruism and civic duty. The organisation initially focused on educational and charitable work, but quickly became a major political force in the Egyptian nationalist movement to restore broken links between tradition and modernity.

ultimate goal

A military wing was allegedly added circa 1939. The Brotherhood's links to the Nazis from the early 1930s are reliably documented. During the war, it agitated against the British, conducted espionage and sabotage, and widely distributed Hitler's books in Arabic, helping to deepen already existing hostility to Jews. Accordingly, any mention of the Muslim Brotherhood conjures up all sorts of horrific memories.

The article claims, with some credibility, that 'The Project's ultimate goal is 'the establishment of the reign of God over the entire world'. It recommends the strategic study of power centres worldwide; finding ways of influencing them; supporting new holy war movements anywhere, including Palestine; and "nurtur[ing] ... rancour with regard to Jews". Chief strategy to hide the Brotherhood's involvement was by infiltrating existing entities to avoid identification. 'The Project' also advocates creating religious, educational and charitable networks in Europe and the US to increase influence there.

Frightening, isn't it? But readers should pause and reflect before hoisting the 'hate-Muslims' flag. I found the irony amusing. First, much of the alleged "strategy" is reminiscent of early Christian tactics and similar Christian objectives. Many were slaughtered in the name of the Prince of Peace. Christianity's history provides no high moral pulpit from which to preach.

Regarding the creation of 'charitable' institutions with religious brainwashing as hidden agendas, why do you think 'faith-based' organisations like the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), The Salvation Army, etc. were founded? George Williams, a young Draper, founded the first YMCA expressly to "improve the spiritual condition of young men ...". The Salvation Army isn't solely charitable, but also evan-gelical. Don't blame Muslims for the standard religious practice of spreading the 'Word under charity's cloak.

Second, the presentation depends on hyped-up, inflammatory rhetoric but the strategic content is unsurprising. I've long ago predicted something similar (The Gleaner, October 21, 2009: 'Multiplication'). It's our fault. We insist on ignoring nature (God) and imposing man-made 'morals' upon equipment whose mechanics were designed specifically by God to disregard such upstanding concepts.

Like it or not, God made man with the ability and inclination to father children at will, and woman with the ability (and inclination) to have only one per year for good reason. Christians have ignored this reality because, otherwise, the Church would lose control and we'd rely more on human nature.

Man was made procreator and woman nurturer. It's that simple, and Christians continue to bury their spiritual heads in the sand, making prostitution the most viable vocation in Christianity. This man-made dogma about one man/one woman wasn't preached by Jesus, who prevented an 'adulterous' woman from being punished because her behaviour was common. Jesus spoke of separation from parents and, when man and woman married, "the two shall become one flesh". He cautioned against unnecessary divorce and warned that men who unjustifiably divorce and remarry commit adultery. Christians can't recog-nise this as preaching against abandonment of responsibility, not polygamy, which involves neither divorce nor remarriage but respects the natural order of creation.

religious dogma

Christian women disliking this and wanting to call me names, go ahead, while Muslims take over the world without firing a shot. Christian women have been brainwashed from birth to seek the impossible (lifetime, fairy-tale, monogamous marriages) so they can't see that, in polygamy, women hold the handle. Men are mere utility players. Women quietly decide every important issue while men, easily led by the 'head', publicly pretend to be in charge but, in reality, obey their wives in the eternal hope of carnal reward.

Don't misunderstand me. My emphasis on polygamy's successes is illustrative only. I'm not advocating Christians embrace polygamy as religious dogma. I'm advocating Christians change their policy from damnation to a reality-based tolerance, coupled with respect and compassionate reasoning for other 'faiths'; infidelity; and, especially where female tertiary-level graduates are churned out at an unbalanced ratio, for the premeditated sharing of men.

If (some) churches can tolerate learned behaviour like drinking, smoking or gambling, why condemn natural behaviour like sex? If we keep this up, Christianity will die 'righteous' while prostitution and concubinage thrive and Islam rules. No terrorists required.

Peace and love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.