An Identical Role for “Believers” and “Unbelievers”

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What would it actually take to persuade you to “alter” your religious beliefs? I’m inclined to think we’ll have to be sitting in the darkness of a “nuclear winter” before people seriously question their religious thinking! And when I say “people,” I do not only mean what the Muslims, Christians and Jews think! To be sure, the “self-satisfied” atheists and the “removed-from-it-all” agnostics and the “beyond-it-all” believers in “heathen” religions are doing absolutely nothing to help the world avoid the Religious War that will hurtle everyone into the prophesied “gross darkness” of a manmade “nuclear winter!”

The Prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam brought messages about the Lord God of all creation that never contradicted each other, as they introduced the world to the One Thinking Source of all the energy in existence. Their teachings have persuaded a huge portion of the world’s population to embrace one of those three “related” monotheistic religions. Yet, amazingly, many Jews and Christians actually believe that “Allah,” the Name used by Muslims for Abraham’s God, is not the same God that Abraham worshiped. That is how “elementary” their ignorance is! Worse yet, each religious “family” embraces their clergy’s interpretations of their own Holy Book. And each “family” is so certain their clergy’s teachings are “right,” they won’t even consider reconsidering their beliefs. So, will the unbelievers learn and save us?

They could, but chances are, they won’t! Even as you won’t, no matter your current beliefs. But, tell yourself the truth! Are you really so satisfied with what you believe — whatever that is — that you are more willing to suffer a nuclear war than to try to improve your understanding? Even if you’re a “non-believer” in Abraham’s God, if enough of you finally came to appreciate what ALL the Prophets taught, the “believers” of the world would finally have a compelling reason to pay attention to you! And you would finally awaken them — which is what you’ve wanted to do all along, but you lacked the “right” message! So, no matter your “religious philosophy,” you could diminish the Religious War that is closing in on every single human being, by learning from ALL the Prophets and speaking of them to others. (You could learn from the individual Sacred Books, or discover the essence of their teachings from my book. The point is, SEEK and you CAN find!)

A Fulfilled Prophecy!

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While visitors to this site are fruitlessly debating God’s “Name,” I think it’s a good time to turn our attention to the Power behind the Name, as the Prophets revealed Him.

Although Muhammad spoke of God as “Allah,” he never refuted any Prophets’ revelations about the One and Only “Lord God.” But, unlike his prophetic predecessors, Muhammad frequently discussed the omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence of the Creator. Most believers have yet to truly contemplate what it means in our daily lives to be subject to Someone possessing those awesome, almost unimaginable, powers.

For example, an “omniscient” God means that the God worshiped by Jews, Christians, and Muslims knew, from the start, that the Hebrews would end up disobeying Him, until they were driven out of their land. In fact, before the Hebrews had even entered the Promised Land, Moses, inspired by God, spoke of a time when they would be “...driven out to the farthest parts under heaven...” (Deut. 30:4). But Moses also revealed what would happen to them after they became “…an oath and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach” (Jer. 44:12) — a prophecy that human history unmistakably proves has been fulfilled! Moses assured them that God “...will have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you” (Deut. 30:3). Then, they will become “…a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth” (Zeph. 3:20).

Throughout history, uncountable people have reproached, cursed and killed Jews, even while they claimed to believe in the “Lord God,” “our Father,” “Allah the King.” Therefore, it would be wisdom for “believers” to stop arguing about God’s Name and start repairing the damage they’ve done to the persecuted people who will yet become “a name and a praise” among us, as the OMNISCIENT God foretold.

Granted, the clergies of Christianity and Islam have perverted the prophecies related to the Jews’ “resurrection,” to make their own religion foremost and their own members “a name and a praise.” But the OMNIPOTENT Creator has spoken, and nothing said or done by Christians and Muslims can alter His decree. So, no matter the Name we use to address Him, it is long past time for us to acknowledge His Powers, which apply to all of God's "children" and could better guide all of us than the manmade concepts that have ceaselessly bred hatreds in His Name--whatever you think that Name is!

A Name for God

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Through the months, I’ve received occasional emails arguing, with surprising intensity, for or against the different “Names” assigned to God by Jews, Christians and Muslims. It finally dawned on me that some believers are missing an elementary point.

Through the Prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we are warned against praying in the name of any of the more than 2,000 “gods,” worshiped by mankind in ancient times. Each manmade idol was given its own name by the people who concocted it! So, every monotheistic Prophet, beginning with Abraham, has advised us to pray to the unseen, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent “Lord God.” And all Jews, Christians and Muslims pray to Him, regardless of the precise Name their language assigns Him.

Granted, Jesus gave us permission to pray in his name, not because he was representing himself as God incarnate, but because he was sent by the Father as mankind’s Messiah. History proves that most human beings need a “human form” to envision and pray to — an invisible God is just too hard for many to mentally and emotionally embrace. So “the Messiah Jesus,” as Muhammad always identified him, helps all who need a human manifestation of Divine Power.

Of course, the Christians also began to pray to saints, but that’s part of their “mix-up” over God’s Identity. We can know the Lord God understands human weaknesses and confusion, since even humans can usually come to understand what causes their “mistakes!” But the intense persecution and suffering that Christians and Muslims have deliberately inflicted on persons who worship the same God, but differ in their religious practices -- beginning with as simple a subject as His Name -- is another story! Our merciful God might not wholly excuse hateful actions committed in any one of His Names!

Some Urgent “Talk” to Iran & Co. — In Less Than 500 Words

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This message is primarily directed to all “peoples of the earth” who are preparing to arm themselves with weapons of mass destruction, so they can force everyone to worship God exactly as they do.

Through the Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah, the Almighty Lord God warned the world: “…behold, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples…(Isa. 60:2).

Much later, Jesus spoke of a time when: “…the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light…” (Matt. 24:29). And “...unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved.” But he immediately promised, “…those days will be shortened” (Matt. 24:22).

Today, we can strongly suspect that those prophesied days of “gross darkness” could be the aftermath of a full-scale nuclear war, when mushrooming smoke would deprive the earth of sunlight and moonlight, and a “nuclear winter” would envelop the world.

Yet, the Hebrew Scriptures also tell us that we do not have to endure “those days.” According to the Prophet Malachi, the Lord God has promised: “Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the land with utter destruction” (Mal. 3:24/4:6).

The “fathers” of monotheism were the Hebrews and their descendants, the Jews. The “children” of monotheism are the Christians and Muslims. Moreover, we’re told that all human beings, regardless of their religious beliefs or unbelief, are the “children” of the Lord God revealed by the Prophets. And unless something happens that will “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,” nuclear armed Muslims could soon act to fulfill the worst of all prophecies. Or, as the leader of Iran recently described their intentions: they will “wipe Israel (the land of the fathers) off the map.” And, ultimately, “darkness shall cover the earth.”

To be sure, the “something” that could “happen,” to spare us a nuclear winter, would be Elijah’s arrival. But, in this worldwide age of religious cynicism and “know it all intellectualism,” too many people might easily fail to recognize him and heed his teachings. So, it could immeasurably help us, if we prepare to better understand Elijah by enlarging our knowledge of the Prophets’ teachings.

To enlarge our knowledge, we only need to listen to the COMBINED teachings of ALL the Prophets, from Abraham through Muhammad. TOGETHER, they revealed the Lord God and the Messiah He promised to send us, without once contradicting each other! But that means, we must listen to the PROPHETS instead of the CLERGIES of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, who have never ceased contradicting each other, in their arrogant crusade to declare their own understanding “right” and all others “false or obsolete!”

Another Year of Nothingness

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I suppose another year of people killing each other in God’s Name was not actual “nothingness,” but it was not “something worthy,” which means 2006 could be seen as another “nothing” year.

Of course, I’m wishing for an enlargement of our religious understanding in the coming year. But, if I don’t sound enthusiastic about it, I suspect the reason is obvious. I’d have to be an absolute dreamer to anticipate our religious “makeover,” and while I’ve “dreamed” through all these years that perhaps, someday, people will “catch on,” I’ve never been convinced it will happen! Still, if the Lord God does not inspire us to improve our understanding, then He must be willing to let us envelop the earth in the “gross darkness” (Isaiah 60:2) of a nuclear winter, and I must accept that. It’s just that I have to keep trying to awaken us, in the hope that just maybe………………….

In the meantime, I do want to call attention to the web site: www.bismikaallahuma.org. I’ve been talking to some pleasantly argumentative Muslims there, on a post titled: The Soul of Hajj. Originally, I posted my comment there about Muslims transforming the world if they believed Muhammad, and I’ve received some interesting responses. Not that anyone has encouraged my ideas!! But they have been courteous and informative and that is refreshing. So, I suggest you try the site and I wish the world a wiser New Year.

A “Catch Up” Session

Today, to help new visitors quickly understand what I’m “getting at,” I’ll summarize some previous posts, beginning with my first entry:

“Let’s Hear It From the Koran”
When Islam emerged as the third monotheistic religion, Muslims, obeying Muhammad, became dedicated to reducing the number of “unbelievers” in the world, by peacefully introducing Islam to idolaters — or by killing them if they broke their peace treaties. Today, “extremist” Muslims devoutly believe it is time to cleanse the earth of all unbelievers. And they now identify “unbelievers,” or “infidels,” as everyone who does not strictly adhere to their particular “version” of Islam, an identification that includes all Jews, Christians, heathens, skeptics and even some of their fellow Muslims.
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To Begin With, We Must Choose our Weapons
During the war in Afghanistan, some Muslim extremists left a message for everyone, everywhere, on a blackboard in a school where they had trained. They warned us: “We will continue our jihad until the end of the world.”

Because the extremists sincerely believe that God is “with them” in their jihad,their "struggle", to convert or destroy all infidels, they will use whatever weapons they must to accomplish their goal. Therefore, they WILL use nuclear weapons, if needed and when they are able, even if those weapons will ultimately destroy the world as we have known it. After all, they perceive the destruction of today’s “degenerate” world to be their “holy duty,” which they must accomplish one way or another. So, the rest of the world’s population must now “choose their weapons.”

We could try to eradicate an ever-growing coalition of religious fanatics, scattered anonymously throughout the world, by using the conventional tactics and weapons of war. But, to succeed, we’d have to identify and destroy all of them before some of them acquire the nuclear weapons they are willing to use! That method doesn’t look promising.

Or, we can use nuclear weapons against nations that support the extremists, while desperately hoping we won’t destroy the world in our frantic effort to keep them from doing it!

OR, in this time of unprecedented danger, the world can answer the religious fanatics with an unprecedented understanding of religious teachings!
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What Am I Doing?
In effect, I am telling the clerics of Judaism, Christianity and Islam that their divisive interpretations of their own Holy Scriptures have incited every Religious War throughout monotheism’s history, including today’s “Holy War.” All the while, the teachings of the Prophets, themselves, provide a unified knowledge.

The Prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, whose messages are preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Bible and the Koran, provided knowledge of the Lord God of Abraham and the Messiah He promised to send us. The combined teachings of all three Books could greatly enlarge our understanding of our omnisicient, omnipotent, omnipresent Creator. But the clerics of each religion have never combined those teachings. Instead, they’ve each interpreted their own Prophets’ messages and declared their interpretations, alone, to be “the truth, as best man can know it.” The “truth,” however, as the clerics see it, has only managed to persuade Jews, who traditionally believe in a coming Messiah, to reject Jesus as the Messiah, which makes Christians hate Jews, which convinces Muslims that Islam has supplanted both religions, which incites Jews and Christians to hate Muslims!
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The Coming War, Part II
Ironically, the essence of monotheism’s never-ending argument is concisely expressed in two of Muhammad’s teachings. First, Muhammad denounced the Jews for denying “the Messiah, Jesus.” Second, Muhammad severely warned the Christians: “Do not say three…God is but one God…The Messiah Jesus does not disdain to be a servant of God” (Women 4:171-172).

Jews and Christians have not only argued over the Messiah’s identity, they have despised each other because of their opposing beliefs about the “One God” or a “Trinity.” But both “families” became enraged by an “illiterate camel driver” who dared to correct their beliefs about Jesus. Forever after, both the Jews and the Christians, each for their own reasons, have imperiously dismissed Muhammad and his religion as “frauds.” And forever after, the Muslims have hated Jews and Christians.
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Of Course I’m Dreaming
The Prophets described a world bathed in “...blood and fire and pillars of smoke...” (Joel 2:30); a time when “...the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light...” (Matt. 24:29); when “...darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples...” (Isa. 60:2). In other words, a time we can now recognize as the “nuclear winter” that scientists tell us would follow a nuclear war.

But the Prophet Malachi offered a “way out.” He told us that if “the fathers” and “the children” turn their hearts to each other, God will not “…smite the land with utter destruction” (Mal. 3:23-24/4:5-6.) The “fathers” of monotheism are the Hebrews and their descendants, the Jews. The “children” of monotheism are the Christians and Muslims.

Yet, deliverance from a nuclear holocaust does not have to depend solely on the proud, self-satisfied “fathers” and “children” of monotheism. If enough skeptics and heathens would acknowledge the looming fulfillment of monotheism’s most horrifying prophecies, they would reconsider their total rejection of the Prophets. If, then, they embraced the God Who precisely foretold what could now befall us, their “conversion” would severely shake the self-satisfaction of the “know-it-all” believers of all three religions — including the “fanatic” Muslims!

Muslim extremists are not ignorant, unthinking people! They sincerely believe it is time for the world, as we have made it, to end. And they could be right.

The Prophets spoke of an “end of days,” but we have no reason to believe the world will physically end, since there are also glorious prophecies of God’s “kingdom” on earth. So, we can reasonably anticipate the end of the hate-filled “days” we have known throughout human history. And it now appears it could be the “hateful Muslim fanatics” attacking the “hateful Christians and Jews” who will bring on “the end!” Yet, we’re also told we can end these days without horrific destruction — and I dream of that happening, though my common sense tells me it won’t! Still, I’d rather dream of awakening us than sit idly and watch it happen.

Monotheism in a Small Nutshell

To counter the extremist beliefs of today’s “religious terrorists,” we need the wisdom and courage to improve our own religious understanding. To accomplish that, we first need to recall some elementary historical facts.

The Hebrew Prophets delivered messages to their tribesmen, which they tell us came from the One and Only unseen but omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent “Lord God,” introduced by a man named Abraham. But the Hebrews were never instructed to seek converts to their faith among their heathen neighbors, who avidly worshipped more than 2,000 “visible” gods. So, Abraham’s unseen God was scarcely noticed by anyone outside the tiny Hebrew nation of Israel.

Around 1400 years after Moses delivered the laws that still govern the Hebrews, the Christians emerged from among Israel’s small population. Unlike the Hebrews, the Christians were distinctly told to “spread the word,” and, ever since, they have never ceased to reveal God to an attentive worldwide audience. The early Christians not only succeeded in converting uncountable heathens to a belief in One God, they also introduced mankind’s Messiah, a “visible Being,” to whom the heathens, accustomed to worshiping visible gods, could readily relate.

About six hundred years later, Muhammad did for his tribesmen in Arabia, what the Christian missionaries could not accomplish there. He persuaded numberless heathens, who had completely rejected Christianity’s messages, to believe in Abraham’s “Lord God.” But, while delivering the messages that became the Koran, Muhammad chastised both the Jews and the Christians for their erroneous interpretations of their own Sacred Writings. In short, he unequivocally refuted the divisive teachings that still incite Jews and Christians to scorn and hate each other.

Specifically, Muhammad’s messages established the absolute validity of the “Messiah Jesus.” And he clearly rebuked Judaism’s clergy for rejecting Jesus as the fulfillment of the Hebrew’s traditional belief in a coming Messiah. But, Muhammad also rebuked Christianity’s clergy, which, by Muhammad’s time, had long since officially identified Jesus as the Second Member of a Holy Trinity,“God, the Son.” That “title” still disgusts Jews and Muslims, who remain solely dedicated to the One and Only, invisible “Lord God” of Abraham. In reality, throughout Christianity’s history onto today, some people who identify themselves as “Christians” reject the concept of Jesus as “God Incarnate” and acknowledge him solely as the world’s promised Messiah, recognized by the first Christians, before their clergy “enlarged” his identity, centuries later.

In those few paragraphs, we have the most essential messages of the three religions. So, everyone who believes in Abraham’s Lord God, and believes that Jesus is mankind’s Messiah, and believes that “the Messiah does not disdain to be a servant of God” (Women 4:172), as Muhammad described Jesus, is essentially a Jew, Christian and Muslim, though they might not acknowledge it! But, their religions “practices” can differentiate them from their fellow believers, if that’s important to them! We’ll discuss some of those religious practices next time.


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