The Christ and the Prophet It should not seem surprising that as the curtain begins to close on the History of Men, that two great universal systems of apprehending the Divine have commanded center stage: Christianity and Islam. Although both posit their ends in the worship of the One God, when one scratches beneath the surface, the stark differences become manifest. One need only look to the archetypes that are held out as templates for their acolytes to emulate. Jesus, the humble and meek, (yet possessing the power to create and dissolve all that is made), suffers unto death the penalties that man was so deserving of in that grand act of love that reverberates across the Universe. He calls us out of ourselves---we are to die to our carnal lives, not as an act of nihilism but as a means to shed our hatreds, pettiness, the worm of resentment and the haughty pride that gnaws at our unregenerate cores and would war with all things emergent from the light. In Jesus, and the fullness of his love, we are the transformed sons and daughters ransomed back from the folly of our desire to disconnect, to be the final arbiter of our lives. And in Mohammad we have the antithesis of the Christ. Mohammad is the great archetype of every Muslim--the warrior, the sublimator- the fanatic incarnate who draws the line: convert or perish. Islam reinforces human distinction, elevates human pride and the warrior virtues. All is permitted in waging the grand jihad that will lead to the submission of the earth under the monolithic law of a terrible and distant god whose cold hand and dark gaze inject an anxiety and terror into every believer. Mohammad can murder, he can engage in rapine and theft. He views women as chattel and children as his playthings. He can engage in treachery and genocide for the sake of his dark vision of the lord god. Christ paved the way for flesh to be made spirit, for rebels to become children and heir to the kingdom. Mohammad promises a voluptuary paradise of sensual delight- the celestial whorehouse of god for unquestioning slaves who enact his bidding by shedding the blood and renting the flesh in the name of their exacting and vengeful lord. The god of Mohammad remakes nothing, redeems nothing, and loves nothing. He demands blood, hatred, division, and cultivates fear for the subjects and slaves who would follow him into Gehenna. And in Christ, we see a revelation of God altogether other than we should suspect: Deny your hatreds, place yourself last, shed your pride, love your enemy, and pray for those whom wish you evil. And if you must perish for your belief, let it be with clean hands and the blessing of Christs love on your lips, not in the service of a devil who commands that the flesh of innocent women and children be sacrificed for bloodlust by a bomb vest. It has been said that you shall know the tree by its fruits, let us take this epithet to heart when we speak of God.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 03:33:45 +0000