by I previously wrote about the — Ground Zero Mosque — and the fact that the mosque in question is, and has been, an active worship center and that it stands three blocks away from where the Twin Towers fell. The mosque is located in the old Burlington Coat Factory building, and the fact that it is still called “The Ground Zero Mosque,” instead of “The Old Burlington Coat Factory Building Mosque,” is wretched testimony to the disgusting incivility of the conservative media warmongers who prefer to kill their enemies from afar and directly berate those here at home who do not agree with their punishing politics while they celebrate religious bigots like Terry Jones who prefer to burn the Koran instead of saying a prayer.
The most grievous celebration of the dead to sell advertising — by dancing on their graves — happened last week on September 10, the day before the ninth anniversary of 9/11, when the New York Post published this gruesome map dotted with the recorded remains of some of those who perished that deadly day — all in a transparent attempt to demonize The Burlington Coat Factory Building Mosque with deceptive arrows and perilous line drawings.
When we do not fight evil posing as righteousness — we are all condemned to everlasting darkness.
One of my favorite t-shirts currently floating around the avenues of New York has this printed on the front —
God is busy.
May I help you?
— and the image of the Devil appears, smiling, directly beneath the final line.
Some people read that shirt and think, “Oh, the Devil is lying to me. God is never too busy for me.” That interpretation is selfish and defines “the sun revolves around me” thinking.
I argue the t-shirt is the truth: “God is actually busy,” and He doesn’t have time for you unless you are in crisis or in dire need of His help. That interpretation is self-determinate intellectually solid: God is with me even if he isn’t paying attention to me, but the temptation of evil is always right there and ready and willing to serve any cruel interest.
Can you stand down the Devil alone?
Or must your God always be there holding your hand while you are enraptured by His rapt attention?
That is the real test of humankind: How do you behave when God isn’t watching and the Devil offers you his hand?
The New York Post — and the rest of the conservative media — are lying to you every single day. They try to juke the truth from you with their darkening lies and their meandering morality is brittle and bent and incontinent — and they smile as they ask if they can help you wend your way throughout a world where God has obviously forsaken you for the belittling interests of others unlike you and who are foreign to you and who seek to pull you away from a God you already left behind at the altar.
I believe that G-d is always watching but we must have the strength to make the choice to do the right thing.
The conservative rags are an interesting read if only for seeing that it is possible to have extremely distorted viewpoints based on alternate realities.
If God is always watching, Gordon, why do we need the strength to do the right thing?
The conservative media storm relies on hatred and bigotry — the two lowest human common denominators — to move forward their agenda. That they have any success at all speaks poorly about our core and the magnitude of their tempting evil.
It takes strength because you don’t actually see a person sitting there watching you and so a person, if they are so inclined, has to remind themselves of the fact — therein the need for strength.
The conservative media storm and their faux balanced reporting makes me sad.
Gordon —
Why do we have to see God to behave? Do we see the policeman hiding in the bushes waiting to write us a speeding ticket? We behave properly because we are supposed to behave properly, not because the person/Godhead who can get us in trouble is actually within view.
The conservative media knows the down and dirty game and they play it so well because their core audience never questions their lies.
David,
The difference is that the punishment for breaking G-d’s laws are not obvious to us whereas we know well what a problem it is to get a speeding ticket. “Your soul will get cut off from the children of Israel” is a more vague and arbitrary threat than “You have to send $200 to this address.”
I too behave properly because I am supposed to however I strive to live by rules that I believe were given to the Jewish people.
Gordon —
I think that example you quote from God is pretty clear when it comes to punishment.
Do you worship the same God as Muslims? Or is there a Jewish-specific God? Can there more more than one God in the world?
Yes, the punishment is clear — but it is intangible and that makes it not feel as real as when, during the time of the temples, people would get lashes as a punishment, or made to live outside of the city in some cases. I have 3 Muslim co-workers. We agree on a lot of things, actually. We also agree that we worship the very same G-d.
Are the punishments, and the requirements for living a faithful life the same for you and your Muslim co-workers? If not — how do you explain that if it is the same God?
David,
Anyone can come along and make their own religion that is based on Judaism but with their own rules and still focus their worship on the same G-d as the Jewish people — it has been accomplished twice quite successfully and probably countless times in more minor obscure religions as well. That doesn’t change the fact that they are still focused on the same G-d.
Hinduism is older than Judaism — if you track it back to the original Vedic inspiration — same God for both? If yes, how is it possible for one God to have different requirements and punishments for different people? Isn’t that very separation of belief systems prejudicial?
Hinduism — different G-ds.
How is that possible to have different Gods, Gordon? Are Hindus “cut off from the children of Israel” as your God punishes them for their non-belief in Him? If so, should that matter to them or not?
David,
Please note that the only way to be cut off from the children of Israel is to be one to begin with. That expression is specifically referencing to Jews who do certain sins that completely cut their soul off, so to speak.
Anyone can believe in anything they want, including the Flying Spaghetti Monster. If you look at the atheism group in Reddit, their lack of belief certainly doesn’t matter to them.
Gordon!
Thank you for playing along with my “Devil’s Advocate” take during the comments stream today. I’m sure someone somewhere was insulted by all of this — but I think the greater good was exposed in the open expression, and dissection of, what can be sticky, nay deadly, matters of faith.
I have one final question for you: Didn’t you tell me once that Jews believe everyone — in their core — is Jewish, and that is why conversion to Judaism is not a problem because that person is finally discovering/confessing/celebrating what was in them all along? If so, does that “inner Judaic core” also apply for the Muslim and the Hindu and the Roman Catholic, and the Seventh Day Adventist and the Mormon and the Jehovah Witness, etc.? If not, why not?
Hi David,
What I have said is that people who are genuinely interested in becoming Jewish have that core — most people don’t. Elizabeth took nearly 6 years to convert — guess they didn’t believe that she had that core until she proved it to them! 🙂
Gordon —
Didn’t you tell me that if you’d lived in NYC — and not Seattle — that Elizabeth’s conversion would’ve been years and years faster? Your Seattle rabbi didn’t believe in conversion. Why didn’t his “inner Judaic core” philosophy jibe with yours?
Oh, and can you pick your own rabbi? Or are you assigned to one based on region or neighborhood or something?
Very true, David — it would have been faster. It’s not that the rabbi didn’t believe in conversion — he just believed in putting people through hoop after hoop, year after year, to prove that they were the genuine deal. He wanted her to live near a really dangerous neighborhood because there were Jews living there. She refused, so it didn’t move forward, and we started talking about moving to NY when her rabbi in NY said she had to move or she would never be Jewish.
You don’t necessarily have one rabbi but who your rabbi is certainly is up to you. 🙂
Why did her rabbi in NY say she had to move or she would never be Jewish? Is there a “conversion competition” or something?