Six Algerians Imprisoned For Breaking Ramadan Fast

The Algerian constitution guarantees citizens the right to freedom of conscience. That didn’t stop the Biskra court from sentencing six men to four years in prison for the horrible crime of breaking their fast early. Ramadan is a tradition in which devout Muslims refrain from food, drinking, smoking, and sex from morning until evening. The fast is broken by eating a special meal called iftar. In addition to the prison sentence, the men were ordered to pay the equivalent of $1300 (1,000 euros).

To help secure their possible release, visit Women Living Under Muslim Laws

For more information, visit Al-Arabiya

Krishna, Christ, and the Doctrine of Devotion By Dominick Montalto

The striking similarities between the major religions of the world has become increasingly apparent to me in that what seems to be vast differences in perception in Eastern philosophy and religion from Western perspectives does not really exist past the surface. It is cliché that “all paths lead to God”, and in fact, this is true no matter what religion one adheres to and which particular incarnation of God that one worships. For years now, I have given much time to comparative literature, philosophy, and religion, and have asserted elsewhere my positions on each of these subjects. However, only recently I discovered a striking similarity, if not direct relationship between Krishna (the human incarnation of the Sustainer of Creation in Hinduism, Vishnu) and Christ who is the Redeemer of humankind in Christianity. Yet, I am not pointing to this similarity. This relationship is on the surface and finds its expression in both Krishna and Christ’s placement as the middle incarnation of God in their respective trinities. As I have explained elsewhere,[1] Christ’s role in destroying the world in the Apocalypse is similar to Shiva’s role as the Destroyer god in the Hindu trinity, whom, when the world is ripe for destruction, will come down from his meditative trance in the Himalayas and burn up Creation. Another striking point of interest is that Christ is the Logos in the Gospel of John and in this form is the Creator god, and in the Hindu trinity, this role belongs to Brahma. Although I digress, it is interesting that in Christian theology Christ subsumes the role of both Creator and Destroyer while maintaining his most vital role as Savior of the human race. It is in this way that Christianity subverts the “polytheistic” experience of more ancient religions, although Hinduism is itself actually a monotheistic religion as well.

Here, however, I want to illustrate the deeper resemblance between Krishna and Christ I mentioned earlier. The resemblance between these two human incarnations of God is in the doctrine of devotion that they impart to their followers. Although I did not see it before, because I scorn the Christian mortification of the flesh, it was not until I recently read Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ that I became aware of the similar relationship between Krishna and Christ. A fundamental belief of Hindu doctrine espoused by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita and later in the Uddhava Gita is that what we know of as “the self” is an illusion, a projection of the ego that seems real and permanent. Krishna teaches that we must give up this seeming reality of a self and become devoted to him; that through this devotion we will be liberated from the m?y? (the illusion) and mistaken appearance of all created things as real in terms of their “permanence”. This is called bhakti yoga and is exemplified in the tenth Book called, “Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God” of the ?r?mad Bh?gavata Pur?na which is the story of Krishna’s childhood and adolescence. As Edwin Bryant, translator of this tenth book states in his Introduction, “Bhakti yoga . . . involves saturating the senses with objects connected with Krishna’s l?l?, [his sporting/pastimes] and constantly filling the mind with thoughts of him. It is a process that transforms the focus of the mind and senses . . . .”[2]

This is the same experience that Christ desires from his own disciples and followers—to repress and abandon the desires of the self, very much a real ego in Christian dogma, and be devoted to him. In Krishna, as in Christ, as Bryant succinctly remarks, “The highest meditation and goal of life is total absorption in God.”[3] This is the fundamental objective of both Krishna and Christ’s religious beliefs: give up the self, whether we see it as real or an illusion, and become devoted to no one and nothing but me. They both conclude in their respective scriptures that they are the fulfillment of all ceaseless desire and the peaceful joy that the restless human soul desires. In the introduction to Kempis’ Imitation, translator Leo Sherley-Price states that in Christian teaching, “the way of purgation . . . is the first stage of the soul’s progress towards its divinely appointed destiny of union with God.”[4] In the Christian manner, we have a self that leads us to sin and corruption, away from the presence of God. Thus, Kempis writes his mystical text imparting to his readers the wisdom of denying the sinful desires of the self that tear us from the presence of and fulfillment we are destined for in God. In Hindu terms, the self has no coherent realness and cannot experience any fulfillment of desire because all things suffer change and all less real than God who is the true fulfillment of the soul given a physical form in the flesh.

In The Imitation Kempis states, “Who has a fiercer struggle than he who strives to conquer himself? Yet this must be our chief concern—to conquer self, and by daily growing stronger than self, to advance in holiness.”[5] Thus, the self, a love and desire for worldly things in the self is the barrier between God and us. In The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, “Restraining all the senses, one should sit, yogically disciplined, focused on me . . . When a man meditates on the objects of sense he becomes attached to them; from attachment desire is born, from desire anger.”[6] Here, Krishna emphasizes two major beliefs, restraint of the senses and by implication, the self, towards objects of desire and the devotion to him that results from this. If we discipline ourselves towards the experience of him as the only fulfillment of desire, then we will see that desire has no satisfaction in attachment to sense objects that endure change and so are not permanent and thus not real. Christ’s Crucifixion is the greatest example of the sacrifice of self that he taught his disciples and that those raised in the Christian faith also learn to abide in through the memory of this act. Mystically speaking, Christ’s transformation of the bread and wine into his flesh and blood in the Last Supper is a more mysterious and microcosmic experience of his surrendering of self in contrast to his Crucifixion.

Krishna descended into the natural world in human form and imparted his knowledge concerning the self, restraint, and detachment towards the material world, while Christ himself descended in human form and enacted this experience of loss of self in his Crucifixion. Although each of these incarnations of God took different paths towards showing humankind the way to become devoted to him through knowledge of and renunciation of the self, each of them had two fundamental principles to teach their followers. First, the self is not what is real; the only thing that is real is God. Second, for us to find redemption from this painful experience of self and return to God, we must remain detached to objects in the sensual world for attachment to worldly desires moves us further away from the presence and salvation of God towards sin and corruption in mind and body. Lastly, having purged our minds of the notion of a self, we can then devote ourselves fully and completely to God, the only object in which all desire can be sated.

________________________________________
[1] See my essay “Shiva as Christ in the Hindu Trimurti”.
[2] Introduction to the Penguin Classics translation of Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God. xxix.
[3] Ibid. xxx.
[4] Introduction to the Penguin Classics translation of The Imitation of Christ. 14-15.
[5] Book One: Counsels on the Spiritual Life, Chapter 3: On the Teaching of Truth: 30-32. 31.
[6] The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2: 7-13. 12.

–Dominick Montalto

Shiva as Christ in the Hindu Trimurti by Dominick Montalto

It has gone down in Church history that between His Resurrection and Ascension, Christ allotted to each of His disciples a foreign land to which each would go and preach the Gospel. Thomas, claims suggest, was the Apostle whom Christ told to preach the Word in India. Taking these suppositions as truth, I wish to expound on the similarities I perceive between Christ and the Hindu god Shiva.

Alternately called the Son of God and the Son of Man, Christ is the second Being in the Trinity of the Catholic Church. In the Hindu religion, one learns in passing that there are over 333,000 gods, and that there is a Trimurti (trinity); not unlike the Christian one in which Shiva is the third Being. Christ is the man who gave up his life as the ransom for the evil of humankind to wipe out their sins and defeat Death, whereas Shiva is the god appointed the task of burning up the world at the end of time. After he destroys the Creation, he will bring out of the conflagration and ashes a new Heaven and a new Earth, does this sound familiar? Though they occupy different positions in their respective trinities, the Book of Revelation states that Christ will return in the Second Coming in which he will destroy Satan and all evil, raze this world and from its ashes resuscitate life in a new Heaven and a new Earth. As a digression, I believe it would only be right for the Holy Spirit to be the force behind the Apocalypse and Eternal Peace seeing that its tertiary parallel Shiva is the god who will do the same in the Hindu tradition.

I wish to draw my readers’ attention to the idol of Shiva and the icon of Christ in the following manner. In the bronze cast idol of Shiva as “Lord of the Dance, or Nataraj”, a ring of fire surrounds him unto which he raises his four flaming hands while one of his legs is raised in motion to denote the “dance” of death and destruction. As serpents flame from his hair and he is burning up the world, he has his other foot on the head of the Demon of Ignorance. Aside from the belief that in both Christian and Hindu doctrine that fire will destroy Creation and that as I have stated above, Christ and Shiva will be the impetuses behind this act, I want to discuss the Demon of Ignorance and his role in this process. I think it is safe to assume that the correlation of the Demon of Ignorance in Christianity is Satan. Is it not so that Satan’s ignorance of God in His Power and Glory cost him his angelic station and dragged him into the world of sin and evil? Does not the Book of Revelation state that in His Second Coming, Christ will defeat Satan and lock him away in Hell? Will not Christ, like Shiva, in the Apocalyptic War of Good and Evil, crush the head and metaphorically the ego of this demon of ignorance, Satan? Here I hope to have delineated a parallel between Christ and Shiva, not only as destroyers of Creation at the end of Time, but also as destroyers of all vice and evil in the embodiment of Satan, or the Demon of Ignorance.

I also want to make a brief point in a further similarity between Christ and Shiva before I end my discussion, once again using the figure of Satan. I recall the image, whether it is literary or iconic, of Christ crushing the head of the basilisk, a type of serpent representative of Satan in his evil as I have pointed to elsewhere. Undoubtedly, whether or not the Hindu Demon of Ignorance has the form of a serpent anywhere in Hindu myth, I believe once can see a terribly forceful and true parallel between Shiva’s foot on the head of this demon and Christ crushing the head of the basilisk. Whether or not the parallels between Shiva and Christ asserted here are viable, I think they are viable not necessarily in themselves but to where they lead. They lead to the validity of the saying “all paths lead to God” and moreover, that from God all these paths are born no matter how heretical and distorted they may seem in the eyes of another or to their own religion or particular belief system.

Dominick Montalto is currently pursuing a career in publishing as a copy editor and writer. His interests vary from art history to literature to philosophy and religion to music. He has degrees in literature, with minors in art history and philosophy. His literary interests include the long 19th Century in Britain and France, from the French Revolution through the early Modern novel, with particular emphasis on British Romanticism, the Gothic, and British and French Decadence. His philosophical and religious interests join with his Romantic background; he is specifically interested in Catholicism and Eastern philosophy, particularly Hinduism, and to a lesser degree, Buddhism and Taoism. His written work, both poetry and critical prose, examines and explores his interest in these religions and literary worlds. His critical prose focuses mainly on mysticism–the roots of religion; the relationship between art and religion; the relationship between literature and religion; and the similarities, hidden to many, of not only all religions to each other, but in particular the similarities of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs to those present in Christianity, especially in the figure of Christ. He has had several publication credits to his name since January 2006 in print and online, in both poetry and critical prose.

Ahh! To Be Black, Female, And A Rabbi

There are black women in sports, entertainment, politics, and religion. I bet the first religion that popped into your mind was Christianity. Can you believe that a black woman is actually studying to be a rabbi? I was a bit surprised when I read the article about rabbinical student, Tamar Manassah. She apparently grew up Jewish since her mother “reverted from Catholicism to Judaism.” Whatever the case, I was intrigued by this story. While I personally would not join the Jewish faith, I am fascinated with people who step outside of the box and go where few of their type have ever gone before. I am especially encouraged by women who take positions of leadership within religion. BTW, was it a woman who wrote the book of Esther?

The Church Of Oprah?

Heart of Flesh has an eye opening post about Oprah’s views on religion. Apparently, God is in everything and everyone. Does that mean God is in my cell phone? According to Oprah, perhaps. I still like her, but the woman is deceived.

Atheists Don’t Believe in God, but Chris Hedges Doesn’t Believe in Atheists

“For example, they believe that the human species is marching forward, that there is an advancement toward some kind of collective moral progress — that we are moving towards, if not a Utopian, certainly a better, more perfected human society. That’s fundamental to the Christian right, and it’s also fundamental to the New Atheists. You know, there is nothing in human nature or in human history that points to the idea that we are moving anywhere. Technology and science, though they are cumulative and have improved, in many ways, the lives of people within the industrialized nations, have also unleashed the most horrific forms of violence and death, and let’s not forget, environmental degradation, in human history. So, there’s nothing intrinsically moral about science.”

I’ve read all three books written by the new atheists. They certainly do lift science up to the level that devout believers lift up a deity. The problem is, atheists generally don’t acknowledge the negatives within their demographic that theists do. Do I see them as dangerous? No. As far as I’m concerned they are men writing about what they believe according to their own perceptions of what is true…not necessarily what IS true. Are they dangerous to their own cause? Perhaps since they are overly confident. The Judeo-Christian God is way too realistic to go the way of Thor, Odin, Ra, or any of the other “gods.” The sooner they realize that, the better.

Jerry O’Connell’s Take On Tom Cruise’s Recent Video

I need a laugh after that “frightening” Tom Cruise Scientology evangelism tape, LOL. Take a look and enjoy:

the parody video Tom Cruise WANTS you to see! on FunnyOrDie.com

The Folks At Westboro Baptist Church Are At It Again

I’m quite sure that Heath Ledger’s funeral and memorial services will bring out a host of people from celebrities, close friends, fans who will crowd the sidewalks, and freaks. If you want to know who the freaks are, click here. According to this article, Phelps and the gang will attempt to disrupt a memorial service for Heath Ledger. The question is why?

Well, we all know that Ledger had a starring role in Brokeback Mountain as a gay cowboy. Now allow me to be the first to say that I have not and will not see the movie because of that very theme. But that is no reason for me to disrespect the actors. As far as I’m concerned, Heath Ledger was the tall and handsome Australian actor with the oh so sexy voice. As a result of my schoolgirl crush, I decided to “look beyond” the movie by simply ignoring it, LOL. But not Phelps and his crew. According to them, “God hates fags” so they are unknowingly on a grand crusade to crush the idea of a God who will free people from their sins. Rather, God simply wants to beat them down before frying them in hell.

That leads me to one very important question. Why do so many Christians take tragedies such as this and use it as an opportunity to turn people against the faith rather than to it? It may be unintentional, but it’s disgusting nonetheless. Any thoughts?

Would You Like To Be Osama Bin Laden’s Daughter-In-Law?

The stupid things we women do sometimes… This article is about a 51-year-old British woman who married the 5th love of her life, the son of Osama Bin Laden. Her young stud, Omar Bin Laden, is 27. Wow, that is probably the same age as one of her children. Allow me to make one thing clear, I see nothing wrong with her marrying him per se. Just because you are related to an infamous, evil person (whether it is a relative of Hitler, or Osama) does not mean that you are also evil thus undeserving of marriage. What blows my mind is what appears to be happening to hers. Take a look at a quote:

 “Today, she is taking family loyalty to a somewhat improbable level, insisting again that the Bin Laden patriarch might just be innocent. With a jaw-dropping combination of stupidity and naivety, she says in her best school ma’am voice, when I raise the question of the Twin Towers: “I mean, do you know - beyond all doubt - that he did it?

“If so, I’d like you to show me the evidence. I don’t think it’s nice to make assumptions about someone when you don’t know the facts.”

I hope that I am wrong about this, but why does it appear that women fall for such nonsense more so  than men do?

Lord, help me not to be so gullible.

I Don’t Have A Crush On Obama But…

I do think that he is presidential. However, I am quite surprised that he took Iowa of all states. If he takes New Hampshire, I will be utterly flabbergasted. Why? Well, why do you think I feel the way that I do?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZaq-YKCnE&rel=1]

Obama really does seem to be sincere in what he says. When you view the victory speech, notice he states that he will be a president who listens to the people. That is so unlike the president we have currently.  We can only hope that when he or any one of the other candidates get elected, they will not let circumstances hinder their promises. Did I just say that? Have I ever seen any candidate remain true to his ideals?

I firmly believe that this country needs a change. Not only do we need a change in who our president is, but a change in which party actually controls the White House. As mentioned in an email that I received from the Democratic Party, anything would be better than another four years of Republicans. I can only hope that Democrats refrain from doing anything to disappoint me from now until the election. After all, they’ve done just that before. But, will they disappoint me after the election? Not half as much as a Republican would.

Of course you know that Mike Huckabee also slid into victory there. To be honest, I am not crazy about having a Southern Baptist preacher as president of the United States.  A Southern Baptist perhaps, but certainly not a preacher.

I’ll be attending and reflecting on some local political events of both parties in the upcoming months.  Judging from what I have attended in the past, these events can get quite heated. I love a bit of controversy so I can’t wait.

Next Page »