Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Real, Fake Muslims, Jews & Christians: Who’s Fighting Who?

As if the whole situation in the Middle East weren’t murky enough, Prime Minister al-Maliki of Iraq said another battle line lay between real and fake Muslims. This battle line is on top of the fundamentalist Jewish & Christian line against fundamentalist Muslims.

What about the battle line between real and fake Christians or real and fake Jews? Should all the real followers of the varying religions unite against their fake counterparts?

It begins to sound like a hazy world of accusation and violence. We have lived through this before as people. The Witch hunts came early in our history. While vacationing back east, I read of the pardoning of the Witch of Pungo. Virginia officials cleared her name some 300 years after her death sentence.

Her crimes and the evidence? It seemed as an agent of Satan, the Witch of Pungo caused crop failures, a drought and violent storms. The evidence that she was possessed by the devil came from her dunking in the Elizabeth River. The Witch did not float as angelic souls did in that time. Her life literally sank based on that one test.

So how will the true vs. fake followers be discerned today? What modern day dunking booth will be contrived by “religious” authorities?

It would be wise to recall the maxim “it is easier to hold power with the people disturbed.” It is even better to have the common folk fighting against one another. It looks like a modern version of such a thing will soon flourish. Christians grab your Bibles, Jews your Torah, and Muslims your Koran as the tests are coming. It’s a shame there is no worldwide effort for “No God’s Child Left Behind”.

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