Well, thankfully, the combination of the massive thunderstorm last night and the ensuing power outage solved some of my clock dilemma. Most of my clocks are now proudly flashing 12:00. I awoke at my regular time, but when I went to the store to get my morning caffeine fix, it was already an hour later than I imagined. I wonder how many people were late to religious service today?
Speaking of religion, what is all this talk about Muslim extremists declaring a "jihad" against the United States over its invasion of Iraq? This is not a war fought over religion, is it? After all, the United States has many citizens of Islamic faith. Even in this small town where I live, we have three Muslim families: one family which runs one of the local motels, a pair of brothers that run one of the convenience stores, and another that runs another convenience store. I suspect we have more members of the Islamic faith in this small town than we do of Jewish faith. I say this because I happen to know of those three Islamic families and do not know of any Jewish families, but I seldom discuss religion with people. It is always a touchy subject. As far as I know, we have neither a synagogue nor a mosque in our local area.
I view religion much as I do race or ethnicity. You cannot change your race or ethnicity (although Michael Jackson seems to be making an attempt to prove the fallacy of that statement). Your race or ethnicity is wholly dependent upon your parentage, and whoever got to choose their parents? I do know many people who have often wished they could have done so, but it is a matter of genetics. I see religion as very similar. I admit that you do have the ability to change religions, and on rare occasions, this is accomplished by various people or groups. But in essence, your religion is the religion of your family, and in many parts of the world, your community. What young man living in Central Mexico, where the only place of worship is the local Catholic Church, has any real opportunity to choose his religion? The same could be said of villages and towns in many parts of the world. In most cases, faith is acquired through gentle indoctrination during childhood. I am not suggesting such is wrong, nor do I suggest that any members of any religion, at least those that subscribe to a strong moral code, are necessarily wrong in their beliefs.
What is offensive are religious leaders who use religion to promote political agenda. Jihad? Holy War? An attempt to replace the Islamic faith in Iraq with Judaism or Christianity is not the basis for "Operation Iraqi Freedom." If that was the purpose of this action, the majority of the citizens of the United States would not be supportive of the effort. What most of the people in support of this war believe is that the majority of the Iraqi people are oppressed and "not free." Above anything else, Americans support freedom, including freedom of religion.
Posted by Tiger at April 6, 2003 12:32 PM