‘LOCO’ VIEWS OF CHRISTAIN FANATICS.
Posted on November 14th, 2011
Mahinda Weerasinghe
By early 2005, subsequent to the post Tsunami devastation, Christian fanatics were claiming that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Tsunami was sent by GodƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. The Island editor Prabath Sahabandu was promoting such opinion using his position, being a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”True believerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. By mid February 2005 he published an article which was especially disgusting, which targeted the basic Buddhist philosophy and the secular thinking as well, that the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”wrath of God was shown by his sending a TsunamiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and I was livid. I responded to this crass propaganda of his, with ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”If Tsunami was sent by God, and then we are oblivious to His messageƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sahabandu informed me that, he would publish this response on the phone, but was averse of doing so, for it undermined him and his fellow Christians propaganda onslaught on the nation. In fact he had no genuine intention of printing it, but was soft peddling me so I let go off my right of response.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This man should be given the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”marching ordersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for he was undermining the very basic idea of giving diverse opinions of a question which is the normal journalistic practice. Indeed, in reality we find he had an agenda of his own; he was exploiting ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”The IslandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ as a platform for doing his propaganda work on behalf of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”JesusƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ the savior.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sad thing is, Upali Wijewadena was a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”BuddhistƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, and he must be turning in his grave for misusing the resource he generated so blatantly.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Having no options, I got it printed in the Asiatribune on 31st of Feb. 2005. I post it here, for you reading pleasure.
Mahinda Weerasinghe
15.11.2011
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If Tsunami was sent by God, then we are oblivious to His message!
Thu, 2005-03-31 05:00
By Mahinda WeerasingheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Time:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ December 26, 2004
Scene:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Post-tsunamiAsia.
Event:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Another tidal wave is inundating theIsland ofSri Lanka. The Christian fundamentalist are notifying the natives that the destructive tsunami was the handiwork of God.
Indeed, the Sri Lankan English dailies, infiltrated by the agents of the Catholic Church, flout dubious theories as to who was the architect of tsunami and whatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s in store for them if they reject Jesus. One daily headlines:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Tsunami was an Act of GodƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Another screams:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-God signed His name in the tsunami that battered Sri Lanka and other countries on December 26, and sent it as punishment because humans have been ignoring His laws.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
So tsunami was theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-wrath of God, a harbinger of things to come; a judgment from God for sins committed by human beingsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Going by their opinions, there’s a vindictive God pulling the levers of nature to punish the sexually wicked.
Indeed, one writer quotes the Bible as proof:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ the LORD Almighty is his nameƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
Most of these fundamentalists are certain that is a sign that the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-End of the World is NearƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-You must prepare yourself to meet Jesus Christ. Repent for your sins. These are the last days.”
Personally I am confused. In fact, any rational logical intelligent person is bound to be bewildered. For we are at the same time informed by the same lot that,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-God is the embodiment of love and righteousnessƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, and that he is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-compassionate, merciful, forgiving of sinners and having largesse of heartƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
The Christians are oblivious to the basic contradiction that undermines their concept of God. How can they reconcile their loving, merciful God with the destructive blind force of the tsunami?
In fact, since the tsunami struck, all shades of Judo-Christian sects are creeping out of the Sri Lankan wood work and fishing in troubled waters. Unable to explain the evils of tsunamis erupting out of GodƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s mercies the Christians are blaming man for his sins ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” another creation that could have been avoided by the loving God. In how many more ways is God going to punish the helpless man? IsnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t poverty, wars, misery, diseases, terrorists, torture, inequalities, oppressions etc enough? Must he load the poor man with a tsunami as well?
But for the sake of argument let us assume that it was this Biblical God who sent the tsunami to massacre a whole bunch of defenseless people on the December 26th 2004. Then itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s reasonable to ask the next pertinent question: did those sinners who were left behind, identified the message and reacted to it in the appropriate manner, i.e., by going down on their knees and begging forgiveness for their sins from the Lord? On the contrary, my observations are that human beings come and go, doing their own thing, like the tsunamis that come and go. Nothing has changed. As far as it known the tsunami has provided another opportunity for the fear-mongers to fish in troubled waters.
Putting the fear of Moses into human beings is the Christian way of forcing them to accept their God. But as it stands, most of these mortals are with amnesia, having expunged that atrocious incident from their memory; they are straying back to their old sinful ways and rather swiftly.
But then I understand that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-this creatorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ is promising repenters, everlasting life, in some uncharted territory called heaven. Personally I did not meet anyone who has visited this dreamland, or met anyone who in turn has met anyone, who had dropped in on this joint and reported it back. So I am unaware as to the coordinates of this heavenly abode! I know lots of folk who will be grateful for this sort of first hand information.
As a skeptic I have some palpable questions for this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-creationistƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ theory before I am able to get down on my knees. It seems Adam and Eve were the first characters created by this Judeo-Christian God. Then those two sinned and the whole humanity was put under interdict by the almighty. In which case this Creator is guilty of a major blunder!
Didn’t he have sufficient imagination to know that, Adam and Eve will eventually sin, as they were bored just hanging around in paradise aimlessly? Any Tom, Dick or Harry would have guessed that! On the other hand, we note that the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve together with their parents had practiced incest in order to initiate the human race. Christians take pains to caution that such deadly sins are repulsive to their God. In which case he should have wiped this incestuous Adam and Eve clan and terminated their progeny before it ever got off the ground and reached the period ofSodom&Gomorrah.
Strangely after God punished and massacred the human race by unleashing a global flood on them, he started recreating the human stock again using the family of Noah. We are stunned again by Gods slip shod work, for he let Noah and his family practice incest to start the ball rolling in order to regenerate the human species. So we are compelled to query, does Judeo Christian God condone incest and, does he not consider this practice a deadly sin?
At this stage we are obliged to post the vital question; what happened to all those characters that existed before the appearance of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Jesus the SaviorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚? Those poor souls simply did not get a chance to hear the message of salvation and missed the opportunity of getting redeemed. Did all of these souls land in hell as a result? My heart bleeds for these innocent lost souls!
At least some of these authors have got one point right in their essays, Buddhist are atheists. But according to these Bible-thumpers, being an atheist is a despicable qualification. Perhaps, but these Buddhists have to stand on their own two feet and face tsunamis and other calamities sent by the Judeo-Christian God. So these Buddhist must be a courageous lot.
Naturally! They do not exist to satisfy some unknown creator somewhere, but exist because they possess greed, cravings, desires, lust etc., and they actively pursue pleasures. In order to cater to those needs they act (a sin to the true believers), and naturally so. Actions you notice have their repercussions. Take away such creature qualities and existence becomes meaningless. Indeed, if this was not so, any red blooded human being will find life dull and miserable and not worth living.
Death is a reality to any Buddhist, and they are taught that all compounds are impermanent and fleeting. They, as far as I know, arenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t aiming to live like vegetables for eternity, hanging around aimlessly in the company of some God.
One of GodƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s mouth-pieces informs ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-What if God is the Creator of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-natureƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ then he is able to interfere in his creation from time to time if he chooses to do soƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
From what has been pointed out above, forget about his creating ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-natureƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t even create Adam and Eve flawlessly. On the other hand, Christian fundamentalist certainly have fashioned a revengeful God, who need a lot of ego boosting, if they are to avoid being stuck by calamities.
Indeed, these fundamentalist speak of Buddhist not allowing them to spread their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-holy truthsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚! Just browse through Judeo-Christians history for the documented intolerance meted to non-believers; Holy wars, witch burning, inquisition, stoning of adulterers and presently holy terror. Any knowledgeable person will avoid their club like the plague.
Currently there is a growing confrontation among the Judeo-Christian sects. The ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-club mentalityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of these sects and their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-holier than thouƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ attitudes is the fuel for such conflicts. Christian fundamentalist should take a break from sending ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-hell and brine stonesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, to heathen, and concentrate instead on investigating BuddhaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s rational doctrine diligently. It may assist them to face up to reality and help them live peacefully ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-here and nowƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. That would be profitable to all concerned.
By Mahinda weerasinghe
31.03.2011
A few weeks ago I heard this rib tickling tale from a lawyer friend of mine, which I like to share with you.
While waiting for some clients of his, some well groomed gentlemen entered his premises and said, they had some wonderful news to relay. Now my lawyer friend was a curious type, and also owning a sharp and witty tongue.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-YesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, he queried ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-what was this good news you have for meƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚?
The leader of the pack said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Jesus would be born soon among usƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚!
He was silent and took a few seconds to gather his wits.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Is that so, that is good news, indeed,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he shot back. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-In that case you better relay to him from me, this vital piece of informationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”And what was thatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ the leader retorted somewhat irritably.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Tells him that; Last time when he walked on earth they nailed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”our saviorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to the cross, and murdered himƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he conveyed with a straight face. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The kind of characters living now are by far more vindictiveƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he went on; ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-If they get hold of him today he will be skinned alive. So for heavenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sake ask him to tread carefully.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
He hardly finished speaking, before the kindly messengers who had come to save him, had vanished like the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”early morning dewƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.
He added with a sarcastic grin, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Perhaps they were in a rush to get back and relay this unpleasant tidings concerning Jesus, and make arrangements to put security in place, before his mother arrives at the stable for the deliveryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I was tickled pink, and deliberated, now why hadnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t I thought of that!
November 14th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Thanks for sharing MW.
Well, with due respect, there are fanatics in every religion/faith/teaching.
Common sense is needed to separate truth from fiction.
Fanatics are indeed funny people.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
If the Tsunami was a handy work of god, he is a murderer. No different than extremist Muslims. These guys insulting Jesus
November 14th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Please respect all religions and peoples beleifs and understandings.
It is a pity the only Sinhalese with a bit of money was killed by the Tamil terrorists movement. No one has done anything about his horrific killing.
November 14th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
enjoyed the article Mahinda
Sadly there are far right wing Fundamentalists in christianity also like any other religion who do not represent majority christians and their faith
November 14th, 2011 at 8:09 pm
People are fooling themselves when they say this statement is by Extremist fundamentalists.
Christians like to say that everything is God’s work. Only thing they don’t talk is why God does this many disasterous things.
Here in North America. It is very common to say that one is responsible for his own actions, particularly when criminal acts occur. On the other hand, in the Christians have to thank God for everything and assume that God did or gave everything. So, it is very contradictory.
November 14th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
I can not talk much about christian faith because I know my shortcomings also and try every day to become a better person
I also know a true christian like any other religions should act what he read or preach
I find so many non christians who are kind and help to poor and homeless people , love and respect other human being regardless of their faith , never hurt others feelings, never be prejudice always believe in peace and harmony , very positive rather than negative
They do not talk about it but do it everyday in actions
Luke 10:25-37 Samaritan story
it brings tears when I read it . There is a lot of truth on it
In the other hand I have seen christians who preach Gospel but not act what they preach. They simply BS
In my opinion I will repect any one who is kind to a stranger who respect others than a so called believer who talk and preach bible but who is unkind to other humanbeing and angry and miserable all the time
All the religions talk love and respect other humans
Budhisim, Hinduism, Islam ,Judanism christianity all teach that
November 14th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
I agree with Jimmy.
Christianity tried to be everything and screwed up.
Jesus gave a humanitarian message. Church attached a God there and said God did and do everything. On that day, all the mayhem began. That was the disaster.
Otherwise, as you guys say Amen to everything that God gives, why don’t you say Amen when he gives you a Tsunami ?
November 14th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
Anud
You are entitled to your opinion.
I do not know the answer why bad things happen in the world
I passionatly respect any one regardless of their faith who love , respect , be kind to others
I believe God is with us when we respect other race or other faith
God is with us when we do not hurt other human being by word or actions
all the religions teach good
I rest my case
Good night brother
November 14th, 2011 at 9:27 pm
MW,
Why are you bringing this up again, six years later?
November 15th, 2011 at 1:49 am
Come on people, natural disaster got notjing to do with people or their beliefs or undrstandings. Earth quakes and Tsunamis caused by earth quakes are natural occurances.
What we can do is understand nature and see what we can do to minimise the harm.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:13 am
Religion clouds thinking and introduce bias. Religion as a mind virus could be dangerous.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:29 am
Mahinda! You have written a good article. This is 21st Century and now we are in digital world. But still some believe that this world and human is a creation of the god. We have to accept that the “God concept is a creation or imagination of a man” and not that god created the man but man created the god.
Creating a god is not a difficult task. It is a job of propagandas. Tamil tribalism also created their terrorist murderer, ex smuggler, megalomaniac velupillai prabakaran as a “sun god” and savior of the tamils. If by mistake if he created eelam in Sri Lanka, tamils worship him as a god similar to Hanuman/ Hanumantha and Rama.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:40 am
Parabakaran was a puppett of the Indian intelligence srvice (Third Eye). So is the Tamil terrorism to a large extent. Without the help, managements and strategy of the Third Eye these events and people would not have happened.
November 15th, 2011 at 8:17 am
LTTE was the armed wing of the Church.. It worked very well for them to convert as many Hindus and Buddhists as possible, when those people became victims and helpless. If you now go to Jaffna by road, you can find nearly a hundred mushroom churches with crosses on the roofs in every hamlet, and by the road side. You can easily count to one hundred.
If you would look at the LTTE hierarchy, and the front liners around the globe, they are all Christians/Catholics, mainly attached to the South Indian Diocee operates in the North. Some one asked why almost all the LTTErs have Western first names; now you would know why.
LTTE received shelter and access to global networks through Church. When Prabhakaran killed Alfred Doreiappa, he went and hid in a Church for some time.
In the last few decades, the Church came and openely supported the LTTE thinking that the LTTE is invincible. However, when their bubble burst, they started to recoil, and use the same practices of meddeling from behind.
November 15th, 2011 at 8:55 am
Tsunamis are natural events after an earthquake. May be its a shocking event, but nevertheless natural. Earthquakes happen all the time in the earths crust when the heavier plates slides under the lighter plates, and are now more frequent.
In the trauma of an event such as an earthquake or tsunami, various things are said without much thought. It is likely that Prabath made his statements under tremendous stress. I myself was in shock for several days. None of us are perfectly logical under stress. After Dec 26, 2004, for a period of many months, I recall feeling a sense of helplessness and sadness, akin to losing a family member. Please remember that the Tsunami came on top of all the ltte terror activities, and was a double tragedy, with a loss of about 30,000 people.
Even in the ancient days, a Tsunami has been recorded in our history books. Sometime in the 2nd Century BC, during the period of King Kelanitissa such an event happened and the sea came in, altering the coastline of that area forever. The story of King Kelanitissa and his daughter Viharamahadevi at that time would make a thrilling film.
Most of us have enjoyed reading Prabath’s editorials in the Island newspaper. He must be thanked for his keen insight into the many problems that beset our Nation, and forgiven for making a somewhat unusual statement during a time of intense stress for us all.
The word ‘God’ is used quite loosely these days. It would be a good thing for each of us to silently analyse what the word ‘God’ (Truth, Allah) means to us. We hope some good comes out of discussing these past traumas.
November 15th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Also recall that the Tsunami that struck Lanka removed the ltte Sea Tiger might from the east coast. Let’s count our blessings, even after trauma.
November 15th, 2011 at 9:35 am
Indeed Like Cassandra says “MY Word! why now after 6 years have passed?” Interesting comment!
Mahinda’s ‘wrath’ against an individual’s statement albeit justifiable relative to his personal sentiments is directed over a concept expressed collectively in a much wider perspective (speculatively of course!) from many religions and philosophies perhaps even Buddhism, that the Tsunami was indeed a form of Divine atonement for many wrongdoings and followed a path that devastated many nations perhaps guilty of this culpability.
Quoting the Bible about incest and the shortcomings of the Christian Religion seems a misguided response if one were to corelate to many Biblical sayings as parabolic and obviously the writer has not read all of the Bible to ascertain his stance.If the interpretations of the Old Testament as opposed to the New Testament relative to the topics of Adam and Ever, Sodom and Gomorrah and all the shortcomings of the human race applicable to the times it was composed as well as the predictions towards the future were properly construed the accurate consensus should be towards foolhardy statements made by pre-conceived soothsayers whose rhetoric is hardly worth a second glance.Wonder if Mr Weerasinghe has heard of Nostradamus and the chilling accuracies of his predictions and is aware of the source for his inspirations.And on another note ~ wonder what does Mr Weerasinghe thinks about the Fundamental Islamist concept of Suicide Bombinings and its link to Paradise and the devilments of Islamic Jihad ? Live and let live as far as Christianity and all other religions are concerned Mr Weerasinghe and take only the good that is delivered leaving out what is unacceptable, as all religions preach tolerance although it must be conceded that yours is interesting reading.
November 15th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
May be those fanatics were pro-LTTE.
It is a fact the 2004 tsunami hit LTTE areas hardest. Mulaitivu, Batticaloa, Ampara, Trinco, Jaffna east LTTE controlled areas were simply wiped out. Large LTTE bunkers (especially in Mulaitivu) became graves. Imagine 40 foot deep bunkers! No aid came to LTTE controlled areas making it even worse for them.
If not for the foolish ceasefire, we could have wiped out the entire LTTE immediately after the tsunami.
If it was a message from god, it was “look you people, I have wiped out LTTE partly and its infrastructure, now go and finish them off”. (There was some collateral damage.)
November 15th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Lorenzo
You are right a golden opportunity missed.
The “powers that be” were otherwise engaged in taking advantage of easy pickings. Need i mention Hambantota Fund?
It was not the Tamil Diasporas or the Diashoras but the much hated Colombians (of all religious denoms) who were first to dig deep to organise and provide immediate relief to the grief stricken before Red Cross and other Int Org arrived including Christian Aid.
MW should be following his religious beliefs and i wish him well in the beliefs he holds true to himself.
We are all Children of the World.
November 15th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
To all.
I fully accept Jesus, Son of Mary has foretold about his second-coming and also he had given the signs of his second advent. It is true that the natural disaster such as Tsunami, earthquakes, famine and wars of this age are the signs of the later days about which Jesus himself had prophesized. But the question is, the same Jesus who was born in the belly of Mary some two thousand years ago is to come again. This will never happen, because he died a natural death and the dead will never come again. In the recent time, these facts were established through a FORUM under title: ‘Islamic view on crucifixion of Jesus’ published in English weekly – Lakbima News. It was also established the fact through that FORUM, that the second-coming of Jesus, the advent of which had already taken place in the person of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian – Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam. Therefore, there are no links between the Tsunami and Jesus the Savior as Christians interpret.
When we treat a sick, we must give treatment from the root. The foundation of the article under discussion also needs to be treated from the root. The author of the article under discussion seems to be an atheist. First of all, we need to say something about the existence of God. The existence of God looks like an obvious truth to the believers, but to the non-believers it is, as if covered with seven veils. I have gathered some points from every day logic and some from historical prospective to provide a base to prove existence of God to the non-believers.
All RELIGIONS BELIEVE IN GOD
Its an undeniable fact that all the religions on this earth claim to be from GOD. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Baba Nanak and every religious leader taught people to believe and worship GOD. Although all religions have slight differences in the attributes they ascribe to God, but all the religions hold the common view that there is a God who has created this universe. History tells us that even those ancient religions that no longer exist in this world, they also held the view of God, whether they were in ancient America, or in jungles of Africa or in England, or in Java or Sumatra, or in Japan and China or in Siberia or in India. It is an important point that what’s the reason for this thought provoking unity among so varied religions? In the ancient times people were not linked together through any means of communication or transport, then how is it possible that people living in isolation thousands of mile away from each other, held the common view about the existence of God? Many of the lands were even not discovered at that time. Even now it is difficult for two persons to completely agree on any issue, then how come this universal unanimity regarding existence of God? All these facts lead us to the only possible conclusion that not only there is a living God but also that God has always manifested Himself through some means to his men to make them believe in Him. Historians agree that if there is such universal unanimity about any issue then there is no reason to disagree with it. Another fact worth noting is that there have been a small number of atheists all the times, this proves that the ‘existence of God’ is not related to any psychological need of human beings. In this world, one can lead ones life without acknowledging the existence of God, though he will be attempting to close his eyes to the very obvious and clear truth.
WHO ARE THOSE WHO CALL PEOPLE TOWARDS GOD?
If we look at the life of all those men, who have called other people towards God, we find a surprising common thing about all of them, that they were very pious and righteous men. They were the people who were respected in their nations. They were true people, who spent their lives to guide people to the right path. They persuaded people to shun oppressing others. They taught to look after the poor and needy. They fought all their life against the unjust rulers of the time. They were invariably opposed by the people in power at that time, although They were highly honoured and valued for the purity of their character, even by those who later, on the announcement of their claims, became their enemies. It is inconceivable that those who did not lie about men, began suddenly to lie about God. They were the people whose lives were exemplary for others. Whether it is Indian Krishna, or Irani Zoroaster or Egyptian Moses, or Israelite Christ or Punjabi Baba Nanak, or Leader of the righteous Muhammad (SAW) who was given the title of Trustworthy by his nation from his very youth and who challenged his nation that he had led all of his life among them and Could they point out to any single lie or felony in his life? So all these righteous persons who came to this world at different times and places, all of them say one thing in common… “There is a GOD…. There is a GOD….” Not only they claimed that there is a God but also they claimed that He talked to them.
One may find great philosophers or scholars in the world who have done great works, but their work cannot be compared to the work of those righteous persons. Actually if we study the lives of those philosophers we find that no great deeds compared to their lofty sayings. Why is it that these great philosophers were not able to exhibit that righteousness which was shown by people from GOD? The people whose names I have mentioned above, all of them faced great hardships in the life due to their teachings but nothing could lead them astray from the true path. Their killings were planned, they were exiled from their homes and they were boycotted, but they never gave up their beliefs. Why did not they tell lie and relieve themselves from those hardships that were imposed on them just because of their true belief in God. Their lack of interest in material desires proves it that they were selfless people. When such truthful and trustworthy people are saying it in unison, that they have met with God, they have listened His voice and they have experienced his manifestations, then it really leaves us with no doubt. Even in this material world the people whom we know that they are habitual liars, when they go to a court and speak something under an oath, they are believed, then why don’t we believe in those righteous persons?
EVEN DISBELIEVERS IN THEIR HEART ARE AFRAID OF GOD
Human nature in itself provides us with a strong inclination towards a belief in God. There are certain sins which human nature doesn’t like to get involved in. For instance, relationship with Mother, sister and daughters, uncleanliness owing to certain discharges from body. These are certain things which even a atheist will not like to do. But if there is no fear of a super being, Why not to lie all the times?, why not to steal and commit adultery? What are the reasons that keep them away from these evils? If they do not feel the power of some unseen, then they should do whatever pleases them. Then truth and lie and justice and oppression should be all the same for them. Its only God’s fear that is ruling on their hearts. Although their mind does not acknowledge the existence of God but the human nature created by God cannot defy it. So even an atheist at heart holds some view about God and judgment day. While in distress, everybody pray to a super-Being for relief. Why so, if they don’t believe in that super-being, whom we call God?
EVERY THING IN THIS UNIVERSE HAS A CREATOR
If we deeply study this universe, we see that every thing culminates in a Creator. He is the ultimate and every thing is working under his guidance. If we look at different stages of human birth and growth, we see that as we go backward, we find we are moving towards weaker and weaker stage. Eventually we shall find that the growth starts from a clot of clinging substance. So human beings who themselves start from such a weak stage, how can they be their own creator. So it proves without any doubt that human beings are not their own creator. We see that if we start studying the birth process minutely, ultimately we will find ourselves at the limit of human knowledge. At that stage, all the worldly knowledges will reach their limit and will be totally exhausted about what had actually happened? So that is a stage where divine hand is working. Every scientist have to believe that all the processes of this universe ultimately reaches a point where their knowledge becomes inadequate or insufficient to describe them. Once somebody asked a bedouin that what proof does he has about the existence of God. He replied that if he saw excrement of a camel in the middle of a jungle, he could tell that a camel had passed through that jungle. Then after seeing so many different creatures in this universe, couldn’t he tell that there is some creator of them?
IS THIS UNIVERSE CREATED JUST BY CHANCE?
Some of the people believe that this universe was created just by chance and they also try to prove it through science. But God says that all those things that happens just by chance, they don’t have such an order in them. Different colors are used together to make a picture. If we just throw the paints on a paper, will they ever make a picture? Houses are made of bricks, but if we just throw the bricks in a pile, will they form a house? It is true that sometimes some of the things are made by chance, but a close analysis of the universe clearly refutes this ‘by chance’ theory. All right, for a moment, if we believe that matter was created by chance, and this world also came into being by chance, I will ask the readers to study deeply the creation of human beings, Is it possible that such a perfect being was created by chance? See the stars, the planets, sun etc. and then the creation of day and night. Every thing just fits so nicely in a finely woven net, doesn’t that orderliness speaks of a powerful creator?
Even in this world we can easily judge the power and wisdom of a creator of anything by closely examining his creation. A good picture is painted by an excellent painter, a powerful computer is made by an intelligent team of researchers. Looking at the orderliness of any things tells us that how intelligent its creator is. God has given to every being an appropriate body and shape, so that it can sustain itself. God kept the food for trees in earth, therefore he gave roots to the trees, so that they can get their food. God made flesh as food for tiger, therefore He gave strong nails and teeth to the tiger, so that it can kill its prey and eat it. God made grass as food for horses and camels, therefore He gave them long neck, so they can graze it. God created lungs for human beings, therefore He also created air, so that they can breath. Human beings depend on water, so God created Clouds, so that they can take water to them. Such an enormous and perfect order could never have been created just by chance? Only a super-being could do it.
TRUE BELIEVERS ARE ALWAYS EXALTED ON OTHERS
God said that he would always exalt His true believers on others. True believers are always triumphant on non believers, they always overcome them. If there is no God then how are they successful. All the founders of different religions were men of weak means. When Moses called Pharaoh towards God, Pharaoh replied that which God was he talking about? “I am GOD” So God ruined Pharaoh, and made Moses as the King of that time. Incidence of Pharaoh has become an example for this world and also for the next world. Same happened with other prophets. Same happened with Muhammad(PBUH). All of his enemies were defeated. All those nations of that time, who opposed him were conquered by him or his followers. The founders of religions did not posses those powers and means which ordinarily make for successful leadership. Yet it is inconceivable that an innocent person of ordinary accomplishments, as soon as he begins to lie about God, should come to have such tremendous powers that his teachings dominate all other teachings current in his time. Such a development is impossible without the help of a powerful God. Why were their prophecies and their promises fulfilled? No doubt there have been others, generals and dictators, who have attained to apparently similar success. But it never lasts for long, but the success which is foretold, which is attributed to God from the beginning, success on which is staked the Prophet’s whole moral reputation and which is achieved in spite of the tough opposition endures for ever.
GOD LISTENS TO THE PRAYERS
God has always listened to the prayers of the righteous people of all the times. A non believer may say that it might have been by chance that those incidents happened that were prayed for. But the accepted prayers are different from the other ones. God not only listens to the prayers of his chosen one, but also He informs them about their acceptance. Many prophets have claimed about a number of things, and all those claims had been fulfilled, e.g their ultimate success is always foretold when apparently they were very weak and oppressed, but all of them succeeded ultimately.
REVELATION
It has always been God’s practice to communicate to people of every age. Not only He talks to the chosen ones (Prophets) but also to other righteous people and sometime even to very mean and filthy people, just to show his manifestations. Sometimes, God foretells people news about future and sometimes also about next world. Many times He has revealed news about the events, that are to happen hundreds of year later. God told in Quran some fourteen hundred years ago about the great progress of Christians, which was to occur sometimes later. It was foretold that a time will come when camels would be no longer used. Even it was told that the transportation that will be used in future would work with fire. It was foretold that a time will come when people would die in large numbers by earthquakes, storms and rains, and wars would also bring large number of fatalities. And such large scale destruction would have never happened before on this earth. Islam is a religion, about which God has said, that there will be people in every century, with whom God would communicate, and this has come true. How it can all happen by chance?
UNIVERSE IS NOT FROM EVER
Some atheists claim that this universe is in existence from ever and it will last for ever. If this universe is in existence from ever, then it must have infinite source of power and energy, but we see that no material thing is infinite in this universe. The temperature of Sun is falling down, even the earth is cooling off. All the sources of energy in this universe are being consumed up and exhausting. So the world is approaching to its end as was prophesied by all the religions. It proves that the universe came into being a finite time ago and it also has a definite end. We know from our whole life’s experience, that if we consider any process, there are only two possibilities, that a process is either started by some human beings, or it might be a result of some other process. If we move back in this tree of processes which are a result of some other process, ultimately we shall come across a process, which could not be attributed to any other process. At that place, we are left with no other argument, except to believe that it was started by some Super being. We refer to that super being as ‘GOD’, some atheists call this Super Being by the name of ‘nature’. Actually just giving a different name to this Super Being really does not make much difference, they believe in GOD, and all they need is just a little fine tuning.
PRAYER FOR GOD’s MANIFESTATION
All the non believers should think that if there is a God then they will be in deep trouble on the day of Reckoning and in the next world. So if anybody is interested in getting the true knowledge about God, then he should pray earnestly that if there is a God with infinite powers as the people claim then may GOD manifest Himself on him. May God show him the right path. If anybody does such prayers earnestly for 40 days, then we believe, whatever his origin, religion and country is, God will show him the true path and he will have no doubt about the existence of God.
November 15th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Ahmad,
In modern Christianity they say God = Nature and the two are not different.
This is contradictory to Biblical history where people have communicated with God and Jesus called himself the son of god. Praying to God (nature) seems not very intelligent by it still helps some people come to terms with their circumstances. Elsewhere in the Bible it says we all are sons of god. So it is reasonable to say that God = Nature.
However, fanatics reject this view.
What happens in nature is therefore God’s will whether it benefits us or not. God (nature) created nature and god (nature) will destroy it (nature).
When you have this view, it clearly shows the stupidity of killing each other in the name of god or trying to promote one religion over another.
Even if you don’t believe this view, you will appreciate that nature is the most powerful so either god=nature or the nature is more powerful than god.
November 15th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Ibnu
enjoyed reading your comments
I believe Jesus will come again to earth. We christians believe it
Jesus will come personally. Jesus is a real, living person. After His resurrection, Jesus came to His apostles, “to whom also he shewed himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days” (Acts 1:3). This same person then ascended into heaven, “while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). At that very moment, two men in white apparel told the apostles that “this same Jesus” would come again some day. (Acts 1:10, 11) We are convinced that the same Jesus who taught by the Sea of Galilee, healed the multitudes, prayed in Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, this same Jesus will come again personally to earth.
Good night
November 15th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Those religious people who have commented here should understand that Buddhism is not a religion. A religion always has gods or a god. In a religion we pray for the god or for gods asking favours. On the other hand, we never pray in Buddhism asking favours. In Buddhism, we believe in ourselves as opposed to that religious people believe in god or gods for every thing. That is why religious people confused themselves when they said that the Tsunami was god given.
Buddhists are spiritual people, they are agnostic but not atheistic. But Buddhists are not religious people.
Gods in Buddhism are not almighty beings and they are dependent on humans for merits.
November 16th, 2011 at 5:39 am
@ Jimmy
Ointment of Jesus (‘Marham-i-Isa’)
There are many verses in the Bible that support the truth that Jesus did not die on the Cross. I would like to share a piece of evidence for Jesus’ survival from the death on the Cross is, the treatment meted out to him soon after he was removed from the cross. According to the Biblical account, after the disciples went back to their homes, Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had lain. (John 20:10-12)
That is not all, we are informed in the New Testament (John: 19;39) that an ointment, which had been prepared in advance was applied to Jesus’ wounds.
The Bible tells us that “The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.”
It also tells us that Nicodemus, another follower of Jesus, and a great physician of that time, “who at first had gone to see Jesus at night, went with Joseph taking with him spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pounds weight.”
In fact the ointment which had been prepared in advance was applied to his wounds. All the ingredients of this ointment have properties to heal wounds and subdue pain.
Why was there all this fuss about going through the laborious exercise of collecting twelve rare ingredients to prepare an ointment at all? The prescription used is recorded in many classical books such as the famous medical textbook Al-Qanun by Bu Ali Sina. So what was the need for applying ointment to a dead body? This could only make sense if the disciples had strong reasons to believe that Jesus would be delivered alive from the cross and not dead. It is known for certain that Jews or the Children of Israel have never applied any ointment whatsoever to the bodies of their dead.
The ointment was applied to save Jesus from near death. The only explanation lies in the fact that Jesus was, by his disciples, neither expected to die — nor did he actually die, upon the cross. The body which was taken down must have shown positive signs of life before the application of the ointment; otherwise, it turns out to be an extremely stupid, unwarranted and futile exercise on the part of those who indulged in it. It is unlikely that those who had prepared this ointment in advance had done so without a very strong indication that Jesus would not die upon the cross but would be taken down alive seriously wounded, very much in need of a powerful healing agent.
This wonderful ointment known as ‘Marham-i-Isa’ or the OINTMENT OF JESUS is recorded in many medical books throughout history such as the famous medical treatise known in the western world as Canon of Avicenna. The book was used as a medical textbook in Europe for centuries.
They also smoked the grotto with aloes and other herbs which have tonic qualities, in order to bring Jesus back to consciousness. Thus Jesus lay in the tomb over the Sabbath. He would not regain consciousness for many hours, and in the meantime the spices and linen bandages provided the best dressing for his injuries. After a short time in the sepulchre Jesus had recovered sufficiently to be able to walk.
Resurrection and ascension of Jesus
Credulous imagination built up the theory of the so-called resurrection and physical ascension of Jesus to the sky, which, however, belongs entirely to the realm of fiction. Renan says:
“The glory of the Resurrection is accordingly due to Mary Magdalene. The image created by her vivid susceptibility still hovers before the world. She, as chief and princess among visionaries, has better than any other made the vision of her impassioned soul a real thing to the world’s conviction. That grand cry from her woman’s heart, “He is risen!” has become the mainspring of a faith to mankind. Hence, feeble reason! Test not by cold analysis this masterpiece of ideality and love! If wisdom despairs of consolation to the unhappy race of man, abandoned by destiny, let unreason attempt the venture! Where is the wise man who has bestowed upon the world so exalted joy as this visionary Mary Magdalene?” (E.Renan,Les Apotres Histoire des Orignes du Christianisne, livre 2-eme, Paris 1866, p.13. Translated by J.H. Allen, Boston, 1898, p.49.)
It must be noted that Mary Magdalene, the author of the Resurrection story was possessed by seven demons. In other words, she was hysterical to the point of madness. (Luke: 8;2.)
We find ourselves in complete agreement with the noted Oxonian who maintains that the ordinary view of the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension to heaven with his physical body “cannot be substantiated.” (Bernard M. Allen, Story behind the Gospels, pp. 107, 108.) The writer in the Ency. Biblica remarks about the so-called resurrection of Jesus and his ascension to heaven: “Nothing can be conjectured with any certainty, except that it described an appearance of Jesus to the disciples.” (Encyclopedia Biblica, vol. II, p. 1881.) According to Kirsopp Lake: “In the earliest tradition there was no account of the actual Resurrection, but only statements as to the grave and the appearances of the risen Lord; there was therefore no account of actual ascension to heaven, but the statement of the implication of the fact the Lord was the heavenly being.” (Kirsopp Lake, The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ , 1907, p 231.)
S.V. McCasland bears him out in the view just mentioned: “The earliest record which has come down to us from the beginning, Christian Movement, apparently, is that body of material represented in the common non-Markan sources of Matthew and Luke is a very surprising fact that there is not a single reference to the resurrection of Jesus in all that material.” (S.V. McCasland, The Resurrection of Jesus, 1932, p.131.)
In short, there were no eyewitnesses of the alleged resurrection of Jesus. Nobody saw him to be actually dead and coming back to life. The mere fact that the tomb was empty was capable of other explanations. It does not follow therefrom that he was really dead and came back to life. Likewise, the fact that nobody knew where Jesus went after his post-resurrection appearances, does not lead to the conclusion that he ascended to heaven.
Physical absurdities
It is noteworthy that faith in the physical resurrection of Jesus and in his ascension to the sky in the sense in which the Christians would have us believe involve three things: First, the actually dead person came back to life. Second, the physical body was lifted up to the sky. And the third, the assumption that the sky is a physical locality like this earth where the inhabitants of this planet can live as they do here in this world. It is obvious that all these are physical absurdities.
The physical ascension of Jesus to heaven has never been and never will be proved. Jesus, himself, says, that one who does not come from heaven, cannot go to heaven (John: 3;13).
St. Paul, whose account is supposed to be earliest of all, vigorously opposes the idea of Jesus’ physical ascension to heaven. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” (I Cor: 15;50)
According to unanimous testimony of the Gospel records, Jesus was seen by his disciples in “flesh and blood.” His mother saw him and took him for a gardener (John: 20;15). His disciples saw him in his physical body:
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
“And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.”
“And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?”
“And they gave him a piece of boiled fish, and of an honeycomb.”
“And he took it, and did eat before them.”(Luke: 24; 39 – 43).
The above verses settle the question decisively that Jesus came out of the tomb alive.
H. Spencer Lewis writes: “Just before sunrise, Yousef of Arimathaea and other Essenes who had been hiding nearby approached the tomb when the guards were trying to protect themselves from the rain under the shelter of some cattle houses which were slightly distant. Using the means they had previously provided, and taking advantage of the laxity of the officials in sealing the doorway properly, they caused this great stone to be thrown over, and the doorway to be opened. When they entered the tomb, they found Jesus resting easily, and rapidly regaining strength and vitality. After an hour the storm ceased sufficiently for the Essenes to escort Him from the Tomb.” (H. Spencer Lewis, Mystical Life of Jesus, p. 269.)
If we make a close scrutiny and a thorough retrospect of the whole story in the light of the foregoing premises, Jesus’ prophecy of coming out of the bowels of the earth alive; his fervent prayers to be saved from death on the cross; the hideousness of the idea of his being subjected to accursed death; the flowing of blood from his wound; the shortness of the time of his suspension and the consequent doubts of all concerned at such an unexpectedly early death; the pronounced sympathetic attitude of Pilate and his delivery of Jesus’ body to his close friends and followers; and Jesus’ subsequent physical appearance to his mother and disciples – then we can easily understand that he was only apparently dead, in a state of unconsciousness. It becomes clear that a secret plot was designed by Jesus’ disciples for his rescue, in which Pilate himself played an important role. After his escape from the tomb, Jesus had to take recourse to disguise for fear of again being arrested.
The passages upon which the ascension theory is based are not reliable. Matthew says nothing about the ascension; he merely states that after coming out from the sepulchre Jesus went to Galilee and met his disciples at a mountain which he had appointed for them (Matt: 28;16).
Message
Mark asserts that Jesus sent a message to his disciples telling them to meet him in Galilee, and then without any connection with what he has mentioned before and without giving details as to the place he makes this statement:
“So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God” (Mark: 16;19).
The last sentence, “and sat at the right hand of God”, weakens the whole statement as it is not conceivable that the writer also went up to heaven and saw Jesus sitting on the right hand of God. The truth concerning the last twelve verses of Mark is that “they were added (to the original account) later still, probably early in the second century, probably to take the place of the ending which had been lost, or which was regarded as defective” (Encyclopedia Britannica, Ed.11, Vol. 17 p 730) Mark’s account therefore, cannot be taken as a basis for this dogma.
St. Luke’s account is:-
“He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass that while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven” (Luke: 24; 50,51).
Thus, according to St. Luke, he became separated from his companions which is far from meaning that they saw him ascending to heaven.
Again we read in the Acts:
“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight” (The Acts: 1;9).
Now to be hidden from sight does not mean that he went up into the sky. It is very possible that he went to the top of the mountain, and the peak being obscured by clouds or mist, he was hidden from them; then from the top of the mountain, he proceeded on his way down the other side, leaving the country for some other land where he would be safe from the enmity and machinations of the Jews.
John confirms this by saying that Jesus met his disciples for the last time at the sea of Tiberias, and said to Peter, “Feed my sheep” and he also said, “Follow me”, and Peter saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following him” (John: 21; 16 – 20). There is no doubt these last few lines of John clearly indicate that Jesus did not ascend to heaven, but migrated to another country.
It is clear, therefore, that the accounts of both Mathew and John support this theory very strongly, whilst both are silent regarding the ascension.
Mark’s account concerning the ascension is an addition to the original account by some unknown person. Luke who refers in a vague way to his ascending to heaven, was not present with the disciples when Jesus parted from them and bade them farewell.
November 16th, 2011 at 6:15 am
Both Heaven & Hell are here on earth – it is what we ourselves make of Life. The Buddha said : “Truth is within You”. Jesus said : “the Kingdom of Heaven is within You”. Islam means “Peace” (Peace is within You). All say the same thing. Life is gift – let’s not waste it. Work for the common good.
November 16th, 2011 at 10:36 am
Anud
I do respect Budhisim . I enjoy reading books related to Budhsim
I respect Your religion more because I have great friends who are Budhisits who are very easy going folks and kind to others
Ibnu
I will read your comments after work
It will be a good read in the 20 minutes ride
I am happy with my belief and will stick to it .
I respect your views and you must be a very learned man . You have knowledege on this subject
Fran
I agree 100% what you said Friend
All say the samething
November 16th, 2011 at 11:12 am
good one Fran
“Both Heaven & Hell are here on earth – it is what we ourselves make of Life. The Buddha said : “Truth is within You”. Jesus said : “the Kingdom of Heaven is within You”. Islam means “Peace” (Peace is within You). All say the same thing. Life is gift – let’s not waste it. Work for the common good”
November 16th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Yes, Jimmy, we are all conceived & born the same way, get the same kinds of diseases, feel the same feelings of joy, elation, sorrow & despair, kindness, compassion, etc.; similar hopes too. Without our skins and facial features, its the same body inside, men as men and women as women. In the end we die of disease or old age. We are all made of the same materials from the universe too. How can we be different from one another ?
November 16th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
@Jimmy, Fran Diaz,
You know, there is a phrase in English – ‘Seekers-after truth’. Means, we have to seek truth. Truth cannot be everywhere. All religions teach truth. Similarly, each religion has links with the other one. That’s why, Holy Founders of religions foretell something about their predecessor. Why? They have not stuck their belief up to them. Instead, they admonish their followers to look into the prophecy about their future prophets/reformers etc. A true Buddhist should ponder over the sayings of Buddha, peace be on him, about Jesus and also about prophet Muhammad (PBUH). We cannot stick our beliefs ourselves. We must study what other religions say. Then only we give respect to them.
If Jesus, peace be on him foretold about the advent of Muhammad, (PBUH) IT IS AN OBLIGATORY FOR TRUE CHRISTIANS to ponder over this and give that Prophet due respect. Really it is said in the Bible. Similarly the case of Lord Buddha, peace be on him.
As a Muslim, we have to believe in all the Prophets. We respect them all. Our Holy Book – Qur’an mentions about Jesus, peace be n him. We have to accept. If it says, Jesus (Isa – alaihissalam) died before the advent of Muhammad (PBUH), no way left out, we must accept. If it says, Jesus did not ascend to heaven, what can we do, we have to accept. If anyone writes contradictory, our replies are based on their Holy Book to support our belief based on Holy Qur’an. This is what we do.
Otherwise, religious harmony is a different matter. The World-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community holds ‘Religious Founders Day’ every year, inviting Religious Dignitaries of various Faiths to promote the religious harmony. This is different matter.
If an issue arises we always stick to truth.
If Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, Moses and Jesus (Peace be on all of them) had foretold about the advent of that Great prophet – Mercy for All Mankind – Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), then how it is possible \ these prophets did not believe in ONE GOD. As you are all aware of, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) taught to believe in ONE GOD.
If these previous prophets support non-violence, then how it is possible they would foretell about a great prophet – mercy for all mankind, if he supports to spread his own religion by sword?
November 16th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Ibnu Mohamad
I read the comments you wrote while was sitting in the bus for 20 minutes ride to my home
I did not like it
Without Reading it I complemented you as a learned person. Sorry it was an honest mistake
How dare you are to make fun on Christianity and our God Jeus
I never made fun. Matter of Fact I defend your religion and Muslims when some others criticize
I strongly believe People should never talk about others faith . It is morally wrong
I do not have time or energy to answer your foolish statments about My God
Do not intefere in my religion same way I do not intefere in yours
I agree with Good man Fran for what he said
‘Both Heaven & Hell are here on earth – it is what we ourselves make of Life. The Buddha said : “Truth is within You”. Jesus said : “the Kingdom of Heaven is within You”. Islam means “Peace” (Peace is within You). All say the same thing. Life is gift – let’s not waste it. Work for the common good”
I want youi to print this beautiful phrase and put in your office or home
It is important for you and me to be humble and listen to learned people like Fran says
Have good night Pal
November 16th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Ibnu Mohamad
I read the comments you wrote while was sitting in the bus for 20 minutes ride to my home
I did not like it
Without Reading it I complemented you as a learned person. Sorry it was an honest mistake
How dare you are to make fun on Christianity and our God Jeus
I never made fun. Matter of Fact I defend your religion and Muslims when some others criticize
I strongly believe People should never talk about others faith . It is morally wrong
I do not have time or energy to answer your foolish statments about My God
Do not intefere in my religion same way I do not intefere in yours
I agree with Good man Fran for what he saod
‘Both Heaven & Hell are here on earth – it is what we ourselves make of Life. The Buddha said : “Truth is within You”. Jesus said : “the Kingdom of Heaven is within You”. Islam means “Peace” (Peace is within You). All say the same thing. Life is gift – let’s not waste it. Work for the common good”
I want youi to print this beautiful phrase and put in your office or home
It is important for you and me to be humble and listen to learned people like Fran says
Have good night Pal
November 16th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
@jimmy
What can I do, Truth always bitter. Subject related to Truth and false, not between your religion and my religion.
November 17th, 2011 at 5:22 am
Famous Poet one said “He who knows not , and knows not that he knows not is a Fool Ignore him ”
It is unacceptable for people to make fun or criticize other religions , race or cultcures
If you want to say something , say sometyhing good or do not say anything
November 17th, 2011 at 6:23 am
Jimmy,
I share your sentiments. Religion is a matter of individual choice and is something that is personally important and sacred to each one. So, it is necessary that we respect others’ beliefs, as much as we value our own, and desist from criticising others’ beliefs, however much the teachings of those faiths do not appeal to us.
Ibnu Ahmed,
I disagree. Truth is NOT always bitter. In fact, to my mind, truth is neither sweet nor bitter. Truth is the state of things as they are – it is neutral of quality. The problem with some people is that they consider that they have a monopoly of the truth and consider those who do not share their views to be in grave error. It is that mindset that prompts one to say that truth is always bitter to those who see fit to hold a different view.
November 17th, 2011 at 7:11 am
Ibnu Ahmad :
I like to see Reality in life, see matters as things really are re Human Emotions and Feelings and reach Common Ground. What is Real for us all ? All Human beings are basically the same – we all Fear the same things: illness, suffering, disease and death, aggressive others, poverty, joblessness, etc. We all Love the same things : success, good health, acceptance in society, sense of security, well being, enough money to get by, a good job, love of family, and so on. To me, that sort of approach to Life makes good sense.
What happens to us after death ? This is a highly individualistic matter. Generally speaking, we follow the religion of our parents and take their views on death and afterlife. Youngsters absorb ideas from parents, and it is the rare individual who truly breaks away. I am not for conversions through fear, intimidation and wars. They are not true conversions at all. ‘Converting’ to see life in Reality is the true conversion. People are free to think things out on their own in a Democracy, and arrive at any conclusion that gives them a good feeling or ability to cope about death & dying, suffering, and other difficulties in life.