Where to call home?

I saw a movie last night, a documentary, and it evoked quite a few issues to ponder on.

The documentary followed four Jewish writers of Iraqi descent. Baghdad to be precise. Three older gentlemen who actually grew up in Baghdad, and a middle aged younger lady whose parents are from Baghdad originally. They are all Israeli citizens.

The three men became intellectuals at an early age during the 40s, and at that time in Baghdad, many intellectuals were attracted to communism and joined the communist party. It’s a two hour movie, and I don’t want to spoil it for you, but for this short post, here are just a few interesting points:

These people kept identifying themselves as ‘Arab Jews’ which technically, I didn’t understand because the religion part of the identity is inherited from the mother in Judaism and since it wasn’t customary to invite people to join the religion, and intermarriage did not happen often, I would have thought that these writers were ethnically Hebrew, but that’s not important here. The important thing is that all four of them saw themselves as Arabs.

They talked about a major persecution event that happened in Iraq in the early 40s (maybe 1941) when many Jews of all ages were massacred during a period of unrest in the country, but they attributed that to the fact that the instigators were people seeking to fight the British influence in Iraq, and so, had aligned themselves with the Nazis, and it wasn’t because the Jews and Muslims hated each other.

In the late 40s, there were anti-Zionist Jewish movements in Iraq (although there was also a small Zionist movement there as well).

After the formation of the state of Israel, most Jews did not want to leave Iraq, but the Arab government no longer wanted them (and issued laws to annul their citizenship), and the Zionist movement wanted them to move to Israel, but mainly to bolster the number of Jews in the Holy Land (according to the documentary). All four writers were convinced that there was collaboration between the government and the Zionist movement !!! (what’s up with that?)

All four spoke of long years of discrimination in their new homeland because the Europeans saw them as backward and uncivilized even though the majority were well educated intellectuals, and so they continued to see themselves as outsiders and had to struggle with all kinds of issues of assimilation, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. The lady who grew up in Israel, wrote a book about this discrimination which opened eyes and shocked many. She finally found a home for herself in New York where she feels she can now be both a Jew and an Arab, without being her own enemy. !!

Of course there is much more to the movie, but what I wanted to bring up here, is what seems obvious to me (in this case at least), that religion was used (/abused), yet again for political reasons. Of course it’s naïve to say that the relationship among people of different religions was ideal throughout the centuries, specially where followers of one religion were the dominant majority, but the animosity we see today, is way out of proportion compared to a century ago, and most of it did not start with the people themselves.

We have the political and religious leaders to thank for that.

As to “where to call home?”, some of us will have to wait, while for some of us, “The earth is but one country, and mankind, its citizens”.

Conversation with the “river”

These were replies to a fellow blogger (Edo River) who commented on an earlier posting. I am publishing them here again (with slight modification) because I am hoping to share them with others too.

(For his comments, please see the comment section for the “Are they competing with each other?” post.)


1) On seeing the similarities among the world established religions:

I think I agree with you completely (if I understood you right). The Oneness (of the Way) mentioned in the post may appear simplistic, but the implications are tremendous, and the meanings, limitless and complex. In some sense, as I have come to believe, the very salvation of the planet may be linked to the recognition and the realization of this Oneness. (Not bringing it about, but rather recognizing that it is a reality, just like the modern science of genetics and the study of DNA telling us that there really is only one [homo sapiens] species of people.)

While simplicity can be beautiful, it is not a synonym of 'ease'. Overcoming the ego, is just about the hardest thing in the world like you say, and there is no magic mantra either. The Prophets themselves suffered. Yet, all the world's religions have called for sacrificing (that which is low) for (that which is high). They all did.

’Simplicity’ can be beautiful. E=MC².
(How easy was it to come up with that?)

In order to believe in the oneness of the "Way", we may have to believe that there is only one God, only one human race, and maybe that religion is one too. Where would that leave us?


2) On the difficulty in not becoming a skeptic, a perpetual doubter, a cynic.

Doubt can be replaced by a (more positive?) principle called "Independent Investigation of the Truth". It is wonderful to have teachers who teach you how to think for yourself and instill a yearning in you to look for the truth. At the same time, there is a saying that says: once you have found the object of your search (I am paraphrasing), then to keep searching is foolish. That is where the doubt should end and become replaced by certitude -- (maybe what you called "Trust" in your post).

What you say about core teachings of religions on the one hand, and social teachings on the other, is very true and important to distinguish between, and also to understand the reasons for having two sets of teachings. The more obvious differences between the religions are mainly with regards to the social teachings. Each appropriate and perfect for the place and the age they were revealed in. Another difference, if you want to call it so, is in the extent of what they expounded to us. (Also perfectly appropriate to the capacity of the recipients in that time and place). So there is nothing inherent against seeing religion as one, if we can also recognize its relative nature.

As to having 62 churches (all claiming to belong to the same religion) in a town of 7000, .. there is another saying: "Knowledge is one point, which the foolish have multiplied."

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Question

In my very first post I wrote about why I started a blog without really being prepared (just so I could leave comments on blogs which only allow other bloggers to comment), and how I scrambled and struggled to find a name that both had some meaning to me, and was not already taken. It was only after I finally found such name and started my account with blogger.com that I found out how un-unique this name too was. There are other blogs with the same name but not on blogspot, .. even web sites about some movie. Oh well !!

I know that I wrote that my postings would be "occasional" sharing of thoughts, but somehow now I almost feel a responsibility to write something more often even though I know well that this is an obscure blog and maybe no one (or very few people) would chance on it anyway, but still ...

I did write a few paragraphs which I think are worth sharing, but I wrote them as replies to comments by other bloggers (see the comment section for the previous post please). Now if I felt that maybe my reply to one individual, may still be good for others who may not bother to go to the comments section, would it be ok to put them in the main section of the blog itself?

Faisal

Are they competing with each other?

The statements below are from 5 different world religions* (it maybe easy to recognize the source of one or two) :

"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me."

"This is the way, there is no other that leads to the purifying of intelligence. Go on this way! Everything else is the deceit of Mara."

"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."

"There is only one religious way. This one way is that of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, the way of heaven, of light and of purity, of the infinite creator"

"He that hath Me not is bereft of all things. Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me."
- - -

Now, depending on where you come from, your state of mind or upbringing, or even your mood on a certain day, you may see different things in these statements. Here is a couple of possibilities:

Like many of the followers of each of these religions, you may read some sort of exclusivity in them. You may choose to ignore or not care about religions other than your own because your religion is the only Way to God. All other people are, alas ... lost.

You may even feel (God forbid), .. a bit superior for that exclusivity.

Or you may see that they all say the same thing, because there is an underlying oneness that makes them speak with the same voice, calling us to walk on the one Path. Whatever else lie to the sides, mere distractions.

- - -
* not in the correct order : Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Baha'i, Buddhism, and Hinduism

Day 1

I gave in finally and I'm starting my own blog.

Not that I don't like writing, but I've been resisting the "in" thing, and I'm more used to leaving short comments on other people's blogs. Some however, don't allow guests or anonymous contributors, and so today, I got my own account with "blogger".

Choosing a clever name wasn't easy either. Smart people everywhere. On my twenty third or whatever attempt, I finally found one that wasn't already taken. Well, that's what you get for being a latecomer.

Not much comes to mind for this, ... tonight.

One of the moderately big stories in the news for the last few days has been the Pope's address (or more accurately, a quote he used in a recent talk), that has angered many in the Muslim world. I don't want to talk about this particular incident as there has been tons written about it already, but it just reminded me how in a world so much in need for conciliation, where people of good will have been sacrificing to bring about justice, equality and brotherhood, by working hard to eliminate barriers such as those of race or gender or economic disparity ... etc., there still remains to be seen, any real and serious efforts by the top religious leaders – of all faiths, all over the world – to put a stop to feelings of superiority and exclusivity that have left the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of this planet (constituting the "Other") condemned to a fate that no one "wishing for others what one wishes for themselves" can accept. Instead, .. refusing to recognize the underlying oneness of purpose, aim and hope, taught by all religions, they continue to nurture man-made differences, and fan the flames. Tsk, tsk, tsk ...

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