What Defines ‘Religion’?
Allah is Dead: Why Islam Is Not a Religion
By Rebecca Bynum
Published by New English Review Press, 2011
160 pp., $17.95
Reviewed by Janet Levy
In a July 29 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit essentially regulated the language of prayer by ruling that any mention of “Jesus” during public prayer constitutes sectarian and unconstitutional language. The Board of Commissioners of Forsyth County, North Carolina, had long used such invocations to bless its work. But the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) brought the legal challenge seeking to end in Forsyth County a traditional practice commonly used before public meetings in state and local legislative bodies across America.
Such attacks by the Left against religious expression are commonplace. This month, leftist groups roundly criticized Texas Governor Rick Perry’s call for a day of prayer to “seek G-d’s guidance and wisdom in addressing the challenges that face our communities, states and nation.” In January, Hawaii caved in to ACLU demands and became the first state to eliminate daily prayer, although approval of a 2009 bill to celebrate “Islam Day” mysteriously escaped their censure.
Meanwhile, as I reported here, several state legislatures including Iowa, Texas, and Washington have opened their sessions with Islamic prayers invoking Allah, calling for “victory over those who disbelieve” and soliciting “protection from the Great Satan.” These requests that Allah grant Muslims victory over non-Muslims are hardly prayers to bless the work of legislatures, but neither the ACLU or AU raised objections, even though the prayers excluded Christians and Jews and declared cultural war against American society.
In the past, the Left, which asked the nihilistic question “Is G-d Dead?,” made common cause with communism and rejected religious faith in favor of “godless” secular humanism. Today the connection between the totalitarianism of the Left — control of human activity and thought in the name of “social justice” — and the totalitarianism of Islam — control of every aspect of life through the shariah — is a bond fusing their efforts to pursue a common agenda: to undermine America’s Judeo-Christian values and traditional institutions.
In her book Allah Is Dead: Why Islam Is Not A Religion, Rebecca Bynum (author and publisher of New English Review) adeptly explores the traditional role of religion, the G-d is dead posture of the left, and the nature of Islam. She offers astute observations on the meaning and essence of religion as the very basis of reality for Western culture, extols its noble purpose of elevating man toward a path of righteousness, and contrasts this with the nihilistic ideologies presented as religion by the Left and Islam. She describes the deleterious effects of the Left on the meaning, value, and practice of religion, and argues that Islam’s fundamental characteristics deny it status as a religion.
Bynum identifies the critical role religion plays in fostering morality, anchoring society, buttressing the family, and promoting social harmony, public service, and charity. She makes important distinctions between the mechanical adherence to religious doctrine and the exalted, living experience of faith. A transcendent reality, faith captures the human heart and spirit and imbues our lives with meaning, Bynum writes. Faith is not coercion through the recitation of Biblical passages. Instead, scripture is a series of guidelines for human behavior which empower individuals to freely and creatively chart a path, constantly striving toward spiritual perfection. Bynum emphasizes that individual free will encouraged by faith is the pathway to understanding goodness, truth, and beauty, and ultimately the unique experience of discovering G-d and godliness.
The influence of the anti-religion Left has caused the church to abandon this traditional role and these values, Bynum asserts. For the most part, the church has turned away from spiritual ministry toward political and social causes with a focus on “works” over faith and religious practice. Religion is used politically to bolster social reforms, she writes, rather than to nurture spiritual and moral development. Religion emphasizes self-realization and sensual comfort, rather than attainment of the ideals of truth, beauty, and goodness. Instead of helping individuals aspire to the virtues of self-reliance, self-control, and gratitude, religion fosters an infantile sense of entitlement, a victim mentality of blaming external factors, and an unwillingness to take personal responsibility.
For the Left, religion is the enemy, morality is non-existent, and actions relate to narcissistic wants. Bynum describes the modern secular movement advanced by the Left as debasing man and diminishing his importance in the universe, viewing him as equivalent and as equally deserving as all other creatures on Earth. In this view, man’s higher purpose, his ability for self-reflection, and his capacity for imagination are denied. Man is no longer heroic. He is reduced to the level of any other member of the animal kingdom, just another organism competing to survive and reproduce. As human dignity has been debased, the human values of love, truth, and goodness, as well as religious experience, are dismissed as delusional. Bynum concludes that spiritual transcendence is impossible when free will is viewed as an illusion and morality is arbitrary.
I finished reading this book about a month ago and, while some people might argue that the way the chapters of the book could have been better linked to one another for the sake of more continuity between the topics discussed, it is an excellent piece of work; and it does indeed make the case for the place of true religion in the Western world extremely convincingly, both in the way it shows its paramount importance to the foundations of our civilization and how it must continue to provide us with guidance if the West is to survive the totalitarian, intolerant and supremacist islamic assault being inflicted upon it.
I haven’t yet read this book but it certainly looks like an important and welcome contribution to our survival. (If, that is, we survive.)
Meanwhile, have a shufti at this:
“Those who study jihad will understand why Islam wants to conquer the whole world. Islam says: Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to paradise, which can be opened only for holy warriors!”.
These charming words were uttered by none other than ol’ Ayatollah RUHOLLAH “There is no fun in Islam” KHOMEINI himself, and in 1942, no less. Would that someone had listened to him then.
You call that a religion? I call it a crypto-fascist death cult. And I continue to maintain: The only good Muslim is a bad Muslim.
At the risk of appearing over-simplistic (but I think this issue is simple, at its core), we all have “instincts” (hate that word) for survival that have proven beneficial and have remained with us over time. One is: be wary of creatures that do not look like — and, for humans, think like — ourselves. They are dangerous. What “voice” is that? (See reference to the “charming words” in the post above.) Where do these thoughts come from? Ancient voices? Every reptilian knows these impulses. So who or what speaks for Islam?
The only reason people claim that Islam is not a religion is so that they might be able to condemn Islam while at the same time trying to protect the polytheistic-promoting (and thus First Commandment-violating) First Amendment. Islam IS a religion. It just takes its religion more seriously than does modern Christianity. The same argument used against Islam being a religion is also used to keep what is today merely Christianity from once again becoming Christendom, as it previously was in 17th-century America.
The answer is not to eliminate Islam, but to eliminate the First Amendment’s provision for *all* First Commandment violations. See “Amendment 1: Government-Sanctioned Polytheism” at http://www.missiontoisrael.org/biblelaw-constitutionalism-pt11.php.
The only answer to Islam is the Biblical answer. Listen to “The BIBLICAL Answer to the Islaminization of America” at http://www.kingdompromises.org/kingdompromises_audio/islaminization2.mp3.
As to Islam, Mohammad, worshipping a large, black stone and the pagan moon god, Allah … it’s by your fruits you shall be known.
The Foundations of our civilization can be traced back several thousand years. The earliest found legal texts so far are the code of Ur-Nammu, written in Sumerian and predating the birth of Abraham by 400 years. This Code is the earliest known laws that also assign monetary compensation instead of simply death or amputation.
The Code of Hammurabi is the next step in evolution of Laws, written 100 years before the birth of Abraham and the origin of Judiac principle of ” an eye for an eye”.
These codes are the origin of Magna Carta, the Constitution, and natural rights of human Beings regardless what religion anyone believes.
Organized Religion has no place in Politics, even to the point that the Bible clearly separates the two, there is government, and there is spirituality. Combining religion and government is a Modern construction and not one held or promoted by the Bible.
It is critically dangerous to elect a leader of a nation that holds their faith above the Constitution, which is self explanatory. Rick Perry will fail in his bid due to this conflict, there are enough fundamentalists in the world that believe they are a messenger for the one true faith.
Lastly, religion cannot be a basis for reality. The reality of your religion will start when you are before your creator and held accountable for your actions and beliefs. Until then, reality of any civilization or culture is based on its Laws, actions, its economics and social construct.
the origin of Judiac principle of ” an eye for an eye”.
Just as a note, this is not and never was a literal phrase, it was a legal definition. Standard fees were laid down in tables, rather like today’s disability insurance. If I caused you to lose an eye, you cannot sue me in a court of law for more than the standard penalty for the loss of an eye. If I accidentally knocked out your tooth, you could not ask for more than the standard penalty for same.
Citing the ancient codes is significant… it supports the premise that our Creator God has placed certain universals within us all, having made us after His image. Side note: the “eye for an eye” business is not what most make it to be. It is the sanction AGAINST taking excessive retribution for an offense. Lost your eye? The greatest punishment to be exacted, then, is the loss of the same sys by the perpetrator.Else the loss of an eye by one would lead to death of the other. The same law requires RESTORATION in cases of theft.. two or four times, depending on circumstances. If we levied such punishments today, where the VICTIM would receive back four times what was stolen FROM THE OFFENDER, do you think our prisons would be overflowing?
On a related note: you assert that civil government must be free from domination by religion… this is true, sort of. God has plainly established four “spheres” of authority.. individual, family, church, and state. In so many areas, these overlap. Each has its own functions and range of authority. Trouble ALWAYS comes whenever these spheres of authority are abandoned.. as in when state dictates the details of what heppens inside our homes, tells us what moral standards will prevail, dictates what religious practices we may/mayn’t observe and when or where….. just as when the family abdicates its responsibility to teach their children, or the church begins to appoint the civil magistrates and dictate what laws must be passed. Our Founders clearly understood and lived by these spheres of authority, Thus they could declare “CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW ESTABLISHING A RELIGION, OR PREVENTING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF”. This is NOT to say a local county govenment body is proscribed invoking the name of Jesus Christ before they conduct business. That court had it wrong. If CONGRESS passed a law saying they must, or must not, THEN it would be an issue. These men ALWAYS began their body meetings with such prayers. baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Episcopallians, Roman Catholics.. all together.
The second most significant problem with islam is that it conflates all four spheres of authority into one….. it runs EVERYTHING, down to the individual thoughts and private practices of each individual. Thus is it not, in the strictest sense, a religion at all, but a totalitarian government system pervading every aspect of life. When the military and the clergy are one and the same with the state government, it is no religion but tyranny. It becomes a god in itself, and brooks no suggestion of competition from any source.
well said
How do you have God in government? Better to ask, how do you not?
What you say may sound good to you, but it denies reality. This government is now without religion. How’s that working out for us? Very, very badly.
A valid religion has a civilizing influence. (Islam certainly does not.) It promotes morality. Morality is when people restrain themselves voluntarily. Without religion in government, there is no self-restraint. Does that not accurately describe our current government?
Look at the new Representatives in Congress, the ones elected in 2010. Are they not a better breed? Are they not more moral? I have not seen a single one who does not declare for God. Are they not the ones advocating for government’s restraint?
Let’s get the definition clear, okay?
Fundamentalism (American Heritage Dictionary):
1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.
Note the “often by intolerance of other views”. Not always. Often. This is the result of the Left perverting the meanings of words. Fundamentalism is purely a religious concept. It is about adherence to doctrine. Islamic fundamentalists advocate all-encompassing religion, because that IS the nature of Islam. Christian fundamentalists are NOT the same as Islamic fundamentalists, but the Left offers the Big Lie that they are the same. “All fundamentalists desire a theocracy.” Thus do they make people wary of religion in government, instead of embracing it as they should.
It is true that Christianity has had its many bad centuries, where people have hijacked it in pursuit of power, but such runs counter to what the Bible teaches. In Jesus’ time, they wanted him to lead the revolt against Rome. He wasn’t interested in secular power. He was there to save their souls, not be the government. (The Establishment Jews hated him for that, and so they had him crucified. There’s a clue there.)
Christian fundamentalists embrace this opposition to theocracy. We are the exact opposite of the Islamists. However, we believe one cannot have a moral government without moral people IN government. That requires religion.
Tocqueville did not understand what made America so different, so great, until he attended our churches. Our churches were very different from the Establishment Churches of Europe. Our churches did not exist to support the power structure. They were actually about morality, about saving men’s souls. (Most of them anyway.)
He wrote, “America is great, because America is good. If she ever ceases to be good, she shall cease to be great.” That time is now. Our goodness is in the past, and so is our greatness. We are a nation in decline.
However, there is a fundamental shift moving the other way, a moral renaissance. More and more people oppose abortion. Youths are starting to turn away from the hook-up culture. Crime is down. Patriotism is growing.
The far-Left, thus, is being pushed back towards the fringe where it belongs. We are seeing a Conservative/Libertarian re-awakening, a return to the values of our Founders, who would all be considered far-Right, fundamentalist fanatics today.
Fundamentalism is good for religion. Being devout is good for our government. Perry is devout. Nothing wrong with that. All of the Republican candidates are devout. Except Huntsman, the most liberal of the candidates, of course. He is exhibit A of the importance of devotion. The devout are all to the Right of him. Christian fundamentalists are devout, and the devout will restrain government by restraining themselves. We are the good guys.
Unadulterated crap.
Our American culture has deep Christian (and hence Judean) roots. Just because there are other elements of the culture does not refute this fact.
Mixing religion and government is a modern invention??? Hardly, the further back in history you, go the more the two are intertwined, if not one and the same. Kings, chieftains and many other rulers obtained their legitimacy from whatever the prevalent religious belief was. The concept of multiple religions has been unthinkable in many societies. Religion has been used to rule because of its strong ability to unite people against a common enemy… which has helped us to survive. On the other hand, it is psychologically necessary for the race (much of atheism has religious trappings to it and many atheists I know seem to substitute politics) to make some kind of sense out of something we cannot understand in the end.
So religion is a double edged sword. Separation of church and state is a modern concept, brought about by the need for those of differing faith not to kill each other. This need still exists in the modern world, but not the Muslim one, where tolerance of other religions is extremely limited and even that tolerance goes by the wayside (see what is happening to Christians in much of the Middle East right now).
That said, I cannot quite go along with the idea that Islam is not a religion. It would be great if we could somehow define it as such, because then we can put restrictions or prohibitions on it that we could never do to a religion constitutionally.
Islam threatens Western democracy because at its core, it cannot accept the separation of religion and earthly, political power. It was born as both and established as both in its holy book. Judiasm, Christianity, Wicca, Buddhism and many others can accept such separation because earthly political power is not explicitly mentioned in its writings or basic dogmas. Whatever relationship it has with government is a question of interpretation.
Islam threatens Democracy because it promotes illegal acts under our laws.
The claims by muslims that polygamy,pedophilia,jizya,Sharia Banking,execution for honor/adultery/homosexuality/apostasy,amputations,stonings,lashings,dhimini status,anti – semitism,religious intolerance and segregation are religious rights clashes with our established laws,morality and base religious beliefs.
Islam believes it is the sum of all religions and a complete guide to every necessity of every country,government and human life not destined for hell.
It is a totalitarian,supremacist,domineering ideology that endorses crime to further it’s agendas.
Of course it has peaceful,demonstratively caring sections of it’s members.
Hitler,Marx,Lenin,Mao,Napoleon,Pot,Jones,Moon,Borgias etc didn’t gain support,followers and warriors by demonstrating their greed,hate,power hungry,evil,murderous intent until they had a supporting populace and army.
We separate church and state because of the previous experiences of this by our forefathers and immigrants.
Most religions attempt to demonstrate tolerance,give a moral basis,preserve human life,civil rights,compassion and kindness.They leave criminal,civil and social system organizing to the government.
Islam is not a religion. It is the framework of an organized crime syndicate. The Mafia arose in Sicily after the muslim conquest of the island, having learned its methods from the muslim invaders. Many of the Mafia’s practices – systematic extortion, protection rackets, the code of silence, tribute or a share of the plunder taken in conquest to be turned over to a higher authority, a godfather or imam – are all borrowed from Islam.
How about the Normans? they kicked muslim ass, then turned around and used what they learn about islam to subjugate the Anglo-Saxons like muslims would non-muslims…
I also believe Feudalism is Charles Martel’s attempt to use what he learned about muslim shariah society in Europe.. Why wouldn’t he? the muslims swept through the known world to his doorstep.. For him, they must have done something right..
It is absolutely imperative for a society to impose values on its members.
If you think you disagree consider that the belief that one should not impose a theology on another IS A VALUE.
IOW, the separation of church and state is a VALUE. Further, it is a Christian value (Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s).
IOW, if you demand the separation of church and state you demand that others accept a Christian value.
There are other values I have no problem seeking to impose on others:
–That there should be no status based on skin color.
–That we should not take property from others for the purpose of acquiring wealth. This means there should be no unnecessary public spending and salaries for public employees must be moderate. Salaries of those charged with setting taxes (legislators) should be exceptionally moderate
–That we should look after the defenseless. This means that there should be a safety net. It also means the safety net should not be based on utilitarianism i.e. Grandma is no longer productive hence no more health care for her. It also means that babies should be protected in the womb.
–That we should look out for our brother. This means we don’t give approval and license to destructive behavior such as sharing dirty needles to inject crack cocaine. Or having anal sex.
So I strongly support imposing values on society. If you disagree with me, well, so do you.
See also Philip C. Salzman, Culture and Conflict in the Middle East, and Akbar S. Ahmed’s books which, to sum up, depict Islam as a way to direct aggression outward from the Tribes to the “unbelievers.” “Islam is a supremacist, totalitarian, theological-political-legal ideology.” That about sums it up.
Islam is not a religion, but an expansionist, enemy, totalitarian political ideology that seeks to eliminate everything but itself.
Allowing Islam to be practiced or spread in any non-Muslim country or territory is nothing short of suicidal.
I have been blogging about this for a very long time, and only now are people starting to understand this.
1389AD – Spot-on!!
If Scientology qualifies as a religion, then Islam is also a religion, and so much more.
Bynum calls Islam “theo political”. Thereby giving it religion status, at least in some part.
Is Allah dead? Did Allah ever exist? Is Allah a creation of the minds of humans?
The answer to all three questions is yes, or no. Like religion, the answer has to be taken by faith alone.
In acase you hadn’t noticed, most people don’t consider Scientology a real religion — not seriously, at any rate.
Certainly no more than these illuminati:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster
Islam is nothing more than a lethal mixture of political totalitarianism and millenial, homicidal hysteria.
We would never even begin to countenance any constitutionally competing legal system put forth by any other “religion”, and to the extent that we even entertain polite discussions about Shariah is a damning testament to our own craven cowardice.
Scientology is a recent scam, perpetrated for the purpose of accumulating money and exerting power over the clueless.
Islam is a much older scam, perpetrated as an ideological buttress for brigandage, rape, plunder, cruelty, conquest, and extermination.
What is your view of the LDS church then? What about the Unitarian Universalists? Jehovah’s witnesses? Were the Greeks practicing religion when they worshipped their gods? How about the Norse Men?
I have not read the book, I don’t know if I will, but it seems to me that we are walking a slippery slope when we make judgments about what is and what is not a religion.
Just my observation.
AS Islam is a political system masquerading as a religion, Scientology is a business masquerading as a religion. I grew up with it. I know. For example, nothing in Scientology advocates charity. That would take money from the business.
The US government long ago revoked Scientology’s tax-exempt religious status, recognizing it as a business. Scientology then declared the US government to be an enemy….
Of course, there is a schism in Scientology. There are true believers who teach it outside the “Church”. My Mom is one, and she does some good with it.
Me, I’m a right-wing, fundamentalist-Christian, mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, ignorant bitter-clinger.
I too have Ms. Bynum’s book right in front of me but have not yet finished reading it, so I will rely upon this review (especially considering that the book has not index–curiously). I have been studying Islamic history for over 20 years, and while I agree that Islam and its attendant religiously-mandated violence is the greatest threat to Western civilization, it is simply NOT true that “Islam…does not provide a path to spiritual transcendence…. Muslims are not free to establish a relationship with Allah….” Ms. Bynum totally ignores 1200-year old tradition and praxis of Sufism, Islamic mysticism, which developed precisely because of Muslim disenchantment with the mechanical, ritual piety of mainstream Sunnism. This is also true, albeit to a lesser extent, of certain non-Sufi sects of Islam such as the Isma’ili Shi`is, who are quite metaphysical and strive for gnosis. I will reserve judgment until I’ve finished the entire book myself, but if Ms. Bynum does indeed ignore such sects of Islam, that several undercuts her thesis. If anyone’s interested, here’s an article I wrote on the topic: http://hnn.us/articles/83742.html
There is no doubt that mainstream, majority Sunnni Islam (~85% of Muslims) believes as Ms. Bynum describes. But that 15% that doesn’t comprises perhaps 200 million people, and it from that minority of Islam that IS a true religion that hope (however faint) for Islamic reform will come.
Hate to rain on your parade, but Sufis have been intimately involved in the prosec as well.
Most recently Andrew Bostom writes that a Sufi leader was responsible for orchestrating the horrific Beslan massacre of hundreds of children and parents at a large elementary school:
“Presently, a Sufi Naqshbandi leader , Shamil Basayev, who envisions himself to be in the mold of legendary 19th century Naqshbandi North Caucasus jihadists, such as his namesake Imam Shamil, plays a key role in the ongoing Chechen jihad against the post—Soviet Russian government. Basayev, it should be noted, not only appears to have Caliphate dreams , he orchestrated the brutal Beslan massacre of at least 331 schoolchildren in North Ossetia, September 3, 2004.”
This quote was taken from a much larger and deeply researched article by Andrew Bostom titled “Sufi Jihad?” (see it at http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/05/sufi_jihad.html) which presents paragraph after paragraph of quotations from various Sufis down through the history of Islam, refuting the notion of Sufis as otherworldly and peaceful mystics, solely devoted to the “inner stuggl” aspects of Jihad.
Sorry, the second line should have concluded–”…Sufis have been intimately involved in the prosecution of Jihad against all unbelievers as well.
Seth,
You aren’t raining on my parade, but frankly I know more about Sufism than either you or Dr. Bostom, whom I know and respect but who is, after all, a M.D.–not a Ph.D in Islamic history. As I point out in my first book and in several articles, both extreme views of Sufis–”Quakers with beards” and bloodthirsty hordes–are just that: extreme. There have been literally hundreds of Sufi orders over the centuries, some peaceful and some violent. I nowhere said that all of them were the former; what I DID say was that all of them had as part of their doctrine and praxis an attempt to achieve fana’, union or gnosis, of Allah. Sufism’s very raison d’etre was to find a way to Allah other than the wooden piety of mainstream Sunnism. Yes, at times that transmogrified into violent jihad and even Mahdism (the subject of my first book) and, at other times, it remained quietist and manifested in manners like the famous Whirling Dervishes of Ottoman Turkey. But the metaphysical, mystical strain was always present. Thus, Ms. Bynum is wrong. End of story.
Recently, soldiers at Ft. Bragg sought equal representation among religions in their demand to hold a “Rock Beyond Belief” concert. This call for equality was granted, placing them squarely in the midst as a faith-based believer/unbeliever group. As Dylan said, “You’ve gotta serve somebody.”
The Bible says the same thing, have no other gods before me. This begs the interpretation, other gods surely exist.
That said, Islam is no more – no less than a faith-based religion, based on monotheism, tradition and beliefs. As with all conclusion of such belief, be it Biblical, Political, Dogmatic, or Evolutionary [caps for emphasis and "equality"], it is the mistakes in interpretation that set them apart from what can ultimately be described as “Truth” — and form the basis for the human condition commonly referred to as “sin.”
As such, it should become an individual quest to find contradictions in established thought within these religions in order to determine where this Truth lies.
My personal rejection of Islam as a Truth comes from Islam’s interpretation of the “Golden Rule” — “The Prophet said, “None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself.”
– there is nothing “golden” in that statement at all.
And Rabbinic Judaism sways too far in the other direction towards hyperbole. Talmud Sanhedrin 37a states, “For this reason was man created alone, to teach you that whosoever destroys a single soul… Scripture imputes [guilt] to him as though he had destroyed a complete world; and whosoever preserves a single soul…, Scripture ascribes [merit] to him as though he had preserved a complete world.”
It appears that Truth is somewhere in the middle.
“The Bible says the same thing, have no other gods before me. This begs the interpretation, other gods surely exist.”
Umm, no, it does not. Out of context. “I am THE Lord, thy God. Thou shalt have no other (false) gods before Me.” Gotta use the whole quote. He is saying, “There are no others. You just worship others. Don’t!”
God’s Commandments come with built-in penalties for this life, not just the Afterlife. Worshipping false gods leads to all kinds of bloodshed. Most of the Ten Commandments have the same penalty of bloodshed. Murder, lying, stealing, coveting, adultery… they all lead to killing. God knows human nature and warns us away from these things. If we do not worship God as the only God, we will not heed his warning about these things, will we?
There is only God. There is no other. Deny it to your sorrow.
Marc -
Small g, Big G —
Psalm 82:6
“I have said, ‘You are elohim, and all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall fall like men and die as one of the leaders.”
And, while we are checking the translation, it really says, “You shall have no other gods before my face.”
Yes, other gods exist, they are simply not to be placed above [Creator G-d].
“Before my face” That means “before Me”, “before My eyes”. He doesn’t mean “before Me in line”. He is all-seeing, remember? He means, “do not let My eyes see these idols, these false gods”. They are offensive to His eyes. He is not saying He wants to be first in line. He is saying he is the Only One.
We capitalize proper nouns, names of cities and people. We do not capitalize the concept of gods. We do capitalize God. He is not ‘a god’. He is God. He is not some false idol.
Why do people have such trouble understanding basic language?
For example of misunderstanding: “Am I my brothers keeper?” This is not a philosophical question, like so many treat it as. It is pure snot. Cain was unrepentant, defiant. He knew God knew. Today it would be expressed, “What, is it my day to watch him?” Yet people wonder about being their brother’s keeper. Just stupid.
They do this because they translate directly into modern language, but do not translate into modern vernacular. They do not take into account human nature when they translate. They do not hear the snot in the above quote. Before you translate, you have to sense the human nature in the phrase. The Bible is all about human nature.
Yes and no- things that pagans call gods do exist, but they are not gods. Behind every idol is either a human or a demon.
Thank you, Janet for that marvelous book report.
Western Civilization has struggled to bring the church to a set of values based on decency, it is true.
We have succeeded in eliminated, (almost completely) the domination of the lust driven brute priest who preys on young boys and sets fire the those who would dare disagree, it is true.
And what’s more even thought I love my country as much as my family I reel in disgust at the preacher who extols ‘Americanism’ and ‘Self-Reliance’ over God and God’s mercy.
Just one minor correction. Hawaii has not outlawed daily prayer; no one has. Only state mandated prayer has been eliminated. As your article clearly states political motivated religion demeans God’s greatness.
Very good article. I am looking forward to more from you.
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, render unto god what is gods;
this verse is one of the most misunderstood and misquoted in the Bible. It is a response by Jesus to questions if Jews should pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus asked them whose picture is on the Roman Coin, and the answer was Caesar…at which point Jesus responded with the most misunderstood sentence in the Bible. This verse is the payment of taxes to Government by the faithful.
Separation of Church and State is not a Christian Value, although it is defined well by American Christianity. After the witch hangings and hysteria it was obvious to any educated statesmen, especially those writing the Constitution and Bill of rights, the need to explicitly define and provide protection for the observance of ALL religions. Especially ones we do not like or understand. But the separation of Church and State are recorded thousands of years beforehand.
What we call Christian values existed long before Abraham was born, before Noah built his ark, before Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt. These are recorded in cuneiform on clay tablets, carved into Stone, and engraved into jade and precious metals thousands of years old predating biblical time frames.
These origins are the source for much of the Bible, borrowed by Jewish Scribes from Phoenician traders, Assyrian and Akkadian cultures, from Sumer and many ancient cultures. The writers of the bible stand upon the shoulders of Giants like Cyrus the Great, an Iranian Ruler that freed Jews from captivity in Babylon and providing one example of organized government while tolerating separate religious practices.
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, render unto god what is gods;
this verse is one of the most misunderstood and misquoted in the Bible.
It’s pretty hard to misunderstand that one. I’ll grant that some think it’s simply about paying taxes.
These origins are the source for much of the Bible, borrowed by Jewish Scribes from Phoenician traders, Assyrian and Akkadian cultures, from Sumer and many ancient cultures.
So your saying that the source of the Bible is the Canaanites that Bible condemns along with the nations from which Abraham was directed to leave?
The writers of the bible stand upon the shoulders of Giants like Cyrus the Great
You mean the one that shows up about 600 years after Moses and about 1,200 years after Abraham?
Yes, a thousand times yes. It seems that Rebecca Bynum has done the heavy lifting to give form to a truth that has become evident to many of us over the years, that resurgent islam is a totality, not a guide, not a religion. A huge crack is appearing between the beseechers of tolerance and a voracious single-purpose conflagration. How that schizm is addressed depends on what the larger (and at the same time, more intimate)view of Americanism will be. There is no freedom that gives comfort to freedom’s enemies. When we’ve had enough must depend on the rediscovery of who we are and why the difference matters.
Even though you say that the Texas legislature opens its sessions with some stupid imam bloviating about his stupid crack-head religion, I find it hard to believe that the people of Texas haven’t expressed sufficient disdain for the practice to have it eliminated. But it is well known fact in the state that Austin is an altogether different place than the rest of Texas. Even the very Democratic enclave in the heart of Houston doesn’t hold a candle to it—some of its minions once burned down a warehouse where tamperproof voting machines were stored. Is the State of Texas afraid that getting rid of the imam might upset the retards at the ACLU?
We human beings invented all religions. We invented the stories and morals, etc. from soup to nuts.
Most importantly we invented the lie that we did not do so.
Who invented Christianity?
Islam is, quite simply, the world’s largest Satanic cult.
What does the author mean by “religion”? Is Buddhism a religion? Is Hinduism? Is Confucianism (developed as a way to train politicians)?
The notion of separation of church and state goes back to Thomas Jefferson. Note that many ancient countries, like Rome and Greece, had state religions.
leftist-influenced Western religion has abandoned the search for spiritual transcendence
I would have to say this with qualification- leftists have only abandoned that quest for transcendence from Judaism and Christianity- they do look for it in any new age or Eastern religion, for example Buddhism. The same who reject the religion of their parents, still search in any other “greener pastures” and some just look for perfection fo mankind by societal control. Or simply wishin’ and a hopin’.
In one New Age book (a very popular one) the idea is presented that all aggression is predicated on fear. If thatis true no other faith than ISLAM puts so much fear into it’s adherents. And so from that base fo fear what can birth but aggression?? Drilled from birth to beleive they will go to hell if they do not strictly obey their slavemaster ALLAH’s each and every “law” . No notions of repentence or forgiveness exist in that cult, no admittance that humans cannot help but fail in some ways-Most Muslims live in real dread, real fear tht they may go to hell and for sure they KNOW you are going there.
The Judeo and Christian faiths acknowledge the flaws of mankind, even in their heros and prophets- that no man can be perfect- yet ISLAM declares Mohammed was the perfect man even as it describes his actions, which are not anything to be admired by anyone- Muslims are told to try and be exactly as Mohammed was- that includes raping, marrying a child,looting, enslaving, stoning, telling big fat whoppers and being fooled by Satan.They are told that they are the BESt people, the chosen ones of ALLAh and that only the “good” Muslims will be granted their peculiar version of paradise. The women are told this paradise may not have too many women, except the perpetual virgins. One wonders why they would accept such eternal sentence of damnation, except they are told if they really, really try hard enough to be submissive, make no trouble, obey their men, etc they may have a chance to an afterlife of what? Their book describes no rewards for women.
Judeo Christian teaches the afterlife will be free of materiality, of bodily desire and their idea of heaven includes only that which is denied them in this life. Judaism taches to make the most of THIS LIFE – the one we KNOW we have. Itis not oonly OK but mandated to enjoy this life now- that THIS life is the gift of G-d and not to worry what’s next which none of us will know until after death. Our faith is a comfort to us in this life- Poor Muslims are tortured by thoughts of making mistakes in this life and having to pay for it eternally. Fear based and therefore defensive & aggressive.
I Listened to many a fire and brimstone sermon growing up. Christians don’t see their religion as the one? Christians don’t condemn those who dare believe differently? I don’t know what world you live in, but it is very different from the one I live in. The biggest difference between Christians and many muslims that Christians only ask it followers to accept Christ. The problem I see with Islam is that is in large part practiced by tribal peoples. Thus, tribal mentality keeps it from undergoing a revolution.
I don’t know about Islam, but environmentalism is most certainly a religion. And Marxism qualifies, too. Both are faith-based anti-emperical belief systems.
No, they are not religions. Like Islam, they are political systems. People are just as zealous about them as religions though. Religion and politics, there is a reason you do not talk about them in polite company. So people can remain polite. Zealots are not polite. Fanatics cannot be convinced otherwise themselves, and feel they must convince you.
Bynum is wrong, unless the church is defined to exclude the majority of Christianity (Catholicism, Evangelicalism).
Islamic prayers in state legislatures calling for “victory over those who disbelieve” are treason.
They are also personal threats against me and others who will never submit to Islam.
Bible verses must be kept in context…removing them from their environment is exactly what caused witch hunts, genocides, and worse. The verse about Caesar and God is about taxes, if you read the previous verses and discussion between Jesus and his questioners it cannot be taken any other way.
Canaanites is an all encompassing term used to describe varying peoples in the old testament.; we need to define exactly who is being referred too. And God commanded the genocide of Canaanites by the tribes of Israel, those that inhabited present day West bank and Gaza Strip. This was after Israel absorbed their agricultural and technical knowledge after several hundred years of living with their cultures.
The Hebrew Alphabet is derived from Canaanite / Phoenician technology. We can trace this through historical documents, and seafaring Phoenician ships accomplished as they controlled trade routes in the Middle East. The stories told in the Bible can be traced to earlier cultures and societies. So Yes, parts of the Bible are derived from various ancient sources that was borrowed.
Cyrus the great freed the Captive tribes of Israel in Babylon, imparted administrative knowledge and various technology to what would become Israel. He is referred too by Jewish Tanakh as Messiah, and mentioned by Ezra and Isiah. He allowed local religions to observe their rituals and Beliefs, as long as they did not interfere with one another. We could learn from his example.
So yes, the nation of Israel stands upon the Shoulders of Giants like Cyrus the Great, an Iranian that granted the tribes of Israel Freedom.
It is a long time in coming, but the Federal Government will have to argue this issue and decide if Congress shall make no law, such as restricting citizens from giving to an Islamic associated organization, or to disallow U.S, Mosque support for demonization of non-Muslims. This is because Congress does not have authority to prohibit the free exercise of religion.
If Islam is a religion and Islamic Mosques are its places of worship, then Congress must release and pay retribution to those prosecuted for terrorist contributions to Islamic associated organizations. Also nothing can come of Congress investigating the radicalization of members of the Mosques. The Mosques are free to convince Americans to become radicals and to take action against other American citizens, as long as the Mosques don’t give them weapons or finance help.
For a Congress that can’t even stop the financial ruin from increasing the debt, this will be another can kicked down the road until someone in Congress, or their relations gets killed or maimed. Then Congress will make many laws, causing restrictions on all citizens. The history of Congress is to use other peoples money to buy votes for themselves, and to never raise an issue against a vocal block of voters, unless the block is for controlling Congressional expenditures.
The constitution does not allow the government to select a state religion, but there is nothing in it that stops it from defineing religion. A “religion” that promotes the death and enslavement of women and non believers is not a religion at all in my book. Who amoung us consider Jim Jones and his People’s Temple to be a religion and not a cult?
“The only good Muslim is a bad Muslim” is absolutly right on and perfect!
That belongs on a bumper sticker.
Islamism is a cult. Go to a moderate Muslim worshiping country and their mosque’s P A speakers blare gibberish all hours of the day. Men can’t be hired in a department where Muslim only women are employed, their science is lacking due to ‘Allah’s will’ and other counter-productivity due to this.
There are friendly Muslims, no doubt. But at the heart of the Koran and its teachings is pure megalomania, vile.
Islam isnt a religion, so much as it is an entire society organized as an army.
Not everyone fights in an army, but everyone in that army does something to support that army and its aims. Armies even have culture, art, science and medicine as we well know from our own successful and highly advanced armed forces.
But unlike in our own society, in Islam, there is no civil society. There is nothing outside of the army.
I have not read Bynum’s book and don’t have time to waste on it, so I won’t read it. But from the story above it is quite clear that Bynum writes about religion strictly from the exoteric point-of-view. For those of you who do not know what that means, the exoteric view is the one most adherents of most religions practice: observance of the dogma and traditions exclusively, and belief that observance of the dogma and tradition will admit you (as a distinct personality) to Heaven. But all religions, including Islam, have an esoteric tradtion, although most Sufis practicing the esoteric avenue to God have been killed by Islam’s exoteric fundamentalists. The esoteric tradition in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism (Vedanta), Taoism, and even Islam as well as other lesser-known religions provides an avenue by which, though correct practice, human beings put aside selfness (your so-called personality), realize Self (God immanent within you), and union with God, by whichever name God may be known.
My view is Bynum likely doesn’t know what she is talking about.
In islam, all forms, the fastest way to get to heaven is to fight the infidel and die trying.. just so you know..
that’s why all the 9/11 hijackers are first in line for islamic heaven.. It’s not suicide if it’s in pursuit of jihad against allah’s enemies..
Something else.. in islam, only muslims are considered to be ‘innocent’.. and muslims are only considered terrorists if they attack other muslims..
just remember that the next time you hear “We condemn the loss of ‘innocent’ lives” or “We are against all forms of ‘terrorism’”…. It’s muslim code that excludes all non-muslims from consideration..
In my opinion the commonality of all religions is their falsehood. Nonetheless, a society does have the right to give special recognition to some of these groups. In the U.S. one has to admit that after recognizing patent frauds like Scientology and Mormonism as official ‘religions’ — thus providing tax payer financing to them — there is really little ground for excluding the Islamic crime syndicate. Any religion they proclaims that their god is omniscient, as do all the Abrahamic faiths, runs afoul when it speaks of ‘free will.’ It is usually by means of a super dose of obscurantism that they attempt to get around the obvious contradiction.
Illegal acts are not a reason to block the establishment of a religion ?
Segregation,treason,murder,honor killings,polygamy,military exclusion,pedophilia,seperate food,education,medical,buildings,laws,banking,raging anti- semitism,welfare rights,exercise,holiday,clothing,swimming,bathing and employment rules are to be used for one religion and allowed to undermine our established political,social,religious and legal systems?
Name one religion who demands such exclusions and rights from our society.
You must have missed the mass populations of humans in Egypt,Libya,Syria,Lebanon,Iran,Iraq,Indonesia and Palestine screaming death to America,Jews etcetc.
You are confusing Mormons with Jim Jones or David Koresh.
islam isn’t Abrahamic.. unless you believe mohammad the liar when he claimed all the prophets and even Jesus were muslims.. mohammad is also the source for the Ishmael claim.. which people to this day generally accept as the origins of Arabs (scoff)..
islam is replacement theology.. either the Bible represents history or the quran does.. not both.. The quran is complete historical revisionism..
Islam is most certainly a religion and a tyrannical political system and an organised crime syndicate. From the review I get the feeling that Bynum the author is so disgusted with Islam that she feels it cannot be a religion. There is no requirement that a religion be ethical or useful. The Devil’s religion is still a religion. A religion invented by a psycopath is still a religion. Religions have some mix of doctrine, spirituality and observance. Islam has all three.
Islam’s stength is in its religious refusal to admit correction. Its weakness is the credibility of its founder Mohammed. Unlike Soviet Communism, Hitler’s Nazism, or Green environmentalism, Islam is anti science, and it is anti science because of its religious doctrines. Sovietism and Nazism believed that science was on their side. That eventually allowed their central doctrines to be proven wrong. (Economic superiority for the Soviets and military superiority for the Nazis were proven to rest with their enemies, contrary to their theories). The same will eventually happen with the Greens. But Islam can never be proven wrong until you die.
The best we can do if we want civilisation to survive is to undermine the credibility of Mohammed. That is easy to do. The early Moslem texts, written about him by his Moslem admirers, if read in date order, show his life and character. Most decent people are revolted by what they read. Once we get a sufficient number reading the story of Mohammed in chronological order we are saved from Islamic tyranny.
The article correctly assesses Islam’s features. Yet it would be helpful if it defined ‘religion’, for that determines whether it is an uplifting belief & practice, or one that merely asserts obedience to a deity. I agree with the conclusion of the article because I believe in objective definitions, whereupon the purpose of religion is to support man’s need to transcend his nature. However, it cannot be denied that, in practice, religions have supplied nonsensical dogmas & vicious practices which support fanatic behavior.
An objective definition would view religion in terms of its ideals, not its practices, just as ‘science’ searches for truth, while the practices of the scientific community are often corrupt. This would not only expose Islam, but would safeguard religions from trying to spread their faith by force.
Islam is an international criminal conspiracy to overthrow the governments of the nations of the world and install a Grand Caliphate to rule the entire world under Sharia, moslem law. Islam makes Jesus Christ a fake and a liar and exalts Mohammed, a pervert, murderer and polygamist as God’s messenger to the world.
We must recognize Islam for its criminality and stamp it out. Just as one may not be a menber of the Mafia and be accepted as a law abiding citizen, so one cannot be a moslem and be accepted as a decent person. A moslem is a person who believes the Koran, which enjoins murder and many lesser crimes by its adherents. If printed on soft paper the book is useful in outhouses.