God and Donald Trump

Trump

Evangelicals are insisting the President Trump was sent by God.  Obviously, that requires the existence of a deity to do the packaging.  To me, the existence of President Trump is a great argument against the existence of God.

Fortunately, there are many more.

In January 2009, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger successfully guided a U.S. Air passenger plane to a safe landing in the Hudson River after bird strikes crippled its engines.  His skill saved the lives of the 150 passengers and crew.  This was the first time a major airline crash landed in a river with no fatalities.  

Crash cartoon

A nationally published editorial cartoon that commemorated the miraculous effort showed hands from heaven safely guiding the plane into a river.  Presumably, God was involved in rescuing participants in the crash.  The caption read: “Any questions?”

Just one.  Where were those hands when, one month later, a Continental Airlines flight crashed in Buffalo, killing 50 people.  While Capt. Sullenberger’s actions were heroic, it’s absurd to assume divine involvement.  Otherwise, we’d be forced to believe God chose to act in one situation and declined in another.  If that’s true, now the questions really start: was there someone or something special about U.S. Air flight 1549 that warranted divine intervention?  Was someone aboard that God was protecting?  Are fliers leaving a downstate New York airport more valuable than ones that use an upstate facility? And so on.

Such questions point out the futility of understanding why anything happens.  After all, these were two of more than 5,300 documented plane crashes internationally in 2009. How many times did hands from heaven reached down and save passengers and crews?  

Once.

Sullenberger

We can say that God works in mysterious ways.  In truth, however, Capt. Sullenberger had the experience and opportunity to save his passengers.  That’s all.  In the thousands of crashes, odds are that one such situation would occur.

The issue, however, extends far beyond a single plane crash.  The real question is: how much is God involved with human life at all?

If we answer yes, then we should see evidence.  

At a 2009 debate on the existence of God I participated in, one of the speakers insisted the proof of God lies all around us.  For example, he pointed out that the Earth lies in the exact zone at a distance from the Sun that allows life to flourish.  That the Moon is of the right size to support the existence of life.  Even in small ways, he said, God’s hand is evident.  For example, a giraffe is designed in a special way to give birth without killing its offspring because of the heights involved. 

Of course, he was quite correct that such situations exist – and many more.

He’s simply wrong about the order.  We are here because of our location and the Moon.  We would not be here otherwise.  That’s why scientists are now locating other planets with proper temperature ranges and expect to find life.  There will be life wherever the conditions warrant.  That’s abundantly true on Earth where strange creatures thrive in hostile conditions humans could not tolerate, such as recently discovered bacteria that reportedly requires deadly arsenic to endure.  

The same is true for the giraffe.  Giraffes, like all creatures, evolved.  Smaller versions have died out.  If larger ones had not evolved a mechanism for giving birth properly, they would have become extinct, too.

That evidence is all around us.  Right now, humans are evolving larger heads.  This, in turn, is creating problems for women because their birth canals are too small to accommodate bigger-headed babies.  That’s one reason Caesarian sections are more commonplace.  In time, they may become a necessity.  However, at least one female will be born with a larger birth canal that can accommodate the bigger-headed babies.  In time, her descendants will predominate. 

Then, someone can say God created women with big birth canals.  

Six-fingered baby

Natural processes are continually making changes.  Sometimes, there are mutations – changes caused by damage to chromosomes or for other physical reasons.  Some of the mutations are benign.  A baby born with six fully functioning fingers will be the same as a baby with the usual five, for example, but with an extra digit.  

Nevertheless, some mutations are inherently life-threatening: children born with no mouth or other major deformity.  In nature, these children die; their genes die with them.   Humans, however, treasure life.  We help these children to survive through surgery or other means.  That’s why hemophiliacs endure.  An estimated 400 babies a year are born with the condition in the U.S. alone.  In the wild, there are no hemophiliacs.

Snake leg

Some changes are caused through evolution.  Evidence of that is everywhere, too.  Whales still have legs under their skin, proof their ancestors lived on land.  Snakes have hidden legs, too, reflecting a time millions of years ago when they walked.  Our DNA contains coding for tails, fur and other ancient aspects.  Sometimes, those genes are accidentally expressed, and babies are born covered with fur or a tail.  

In the womb, human babies progress from reptile to amphibian to human as if replaying the evolutionary process.  

This is a natural progression.  No divine involvement is required.

In fact, whether or not there is a God is actually immaterial.  Normal natural forces will maintain evolutionary processes.  Life will continue, constantly changing.  Those that survive will be those best adapted to the conditions, what Darwin labeled “natural selection.”  The rest will die out.

It’s all random, which is true for all living creatures, airplane crashes and even presidents.

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history with an occasional foray into American culture.  He holds an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University.   He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at wplazarus@aol.com. He is the author of the novels The Great Seer Nostradamus Tells All, Ice Flow, Revelation and Adventures in Bonding (via Bold Venture Press) as well as a variety of nonfiction books, including The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative Religion.  His books are available on Amazon.com, Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.  He can also be followed on Twitter.

Finding Sacred in Everyday Life

Sacred scrolls in a sacred Jewish ark

This blog isn’t sacred.  Or is it?  It could be, depending on the definition of sacred.

The dictionary defines sacred as “connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration … the power, being, or realm understood by religious persons to be at the core of existence and to have a transformative effect on their lives and destinies.”

Sounds perfect: sacred = religious. 

Gutenberg Bibke

By that definition. religious texts are considered sacred. So, too, the Gutenberg Bible, first printed around 1455.  Only 40 of the original 150 to 180 books have survived.  The last one sold publicly went for $2.2 million in 1978, but experts estimate a single Bible today could bring in as much as $25 million.

Other books are sacred, too.  For example, not that long ago, in Afghanistan, several copies of the Quran, the sacred book of Islam, ended up in a trash heap and were burned in front of NATO headquarters there.  Gen. John Allen, then-supreme commander of NATO troops, said the books were included in trash to be discarded and inadvertently given to troops to burn.

Then-President Barack Obama has also apologized to the Afghans, well aware that Muslims believe the Quran is so holy that it can only be touched with freshly washed hands.

Despite the apologies, the opposition Taliban called on Afghanis to kill infidels who dared to burn the book in what Muslims call an act of intolerance and bigotry. Several NATO soldiers were killed by angry Muslims.  There were also a handful of riots.

Burning the Bible would outrage some Christian leaders, too.  Jews would be furious if a Torah ended up in the flames.

They are all considered sacred.  However, the Quran is a book.  So is the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita of the Hindus, the Avista of the Zoroastrians and every other religious text.  They have no value except as books.  They are seen as sacred because they contain religious teachings.  That means they are only of value to someone who believes in the words.

Besides, where does one stop?  How about the printers’ plates used to produce religious texts?  The electronic images of the pages sent to the printer? Shouldn’t they be saved?  How about the machines that the books are printed on?  In linotype, book pages are put together letter by letter. Ever wonder what happened to the type that was used for that purpose?  It was melted down and recast.  God’s name and all.  Shouldn’t the metal pieces have been preserved?

Coins issued by Caliph Uthman

Has any Muslim ever asked where are all the pieces of paper, leaves and linen used to record down the Prophet’s words?  In Muhammad’s day, the late 6^th and the early 7^th century, there were no stationary stores, no letterhead, no fancy paper with watermarks.  People wrote down their thoughts and stories on whatever was available: palm leaves, walls, whatever.

That material was collected some 30 years later in the reign of Caliph Uthman.  The text became standardized in the middle of the 7^th century, but even Islamic scholars agree that not all of it may have originated with Muhammad.  Some may have been added or subtracted as times and conditions changed.

What happened to the original writings?  They were discarded, of course.  So were early texts of biblical books.  Historians would love to find an original Matthew or Mark, for example, but none exists.  The oldest New Testament dates from around the 3^rd century with only rare fragments from earlier times.

Even the early “sacred” Jewish and Christian texts have a spotty history.  They were discarded, maybe burned.  Once they wore out from use, they were copied (with the usual assortment of errors added) and then the original was thrown away.  They were also written on vellum, parchment and

Dead Sea Scrolls in situ

papyrus, none of which can endure very long.  Parchment documents known as the Dead Sea Scrolls  disintegrated when exposed to the light. Texts written 2,000 years ago and not as well protected hardly had a chance.

Jews developed the policy of not destroying the name of God.  They bury books and sacred items, such as prayer shawls, which may contain God’s name.  In a way, that’s a good thing: the long-lost writings of the famed Jewish philosopher Maimonides were recovered centuries later because they were hidden and not burned.  However, his books were kept in a house.  How long would they have lasted in the ground?  How long do any sacred objects buried today last?  Ask any archaeologist.  The stuff that survives is made of stone.  Almost nothing else endures.

Regardless, the standard definition of sacred is far too narrow.  Consider the collection of plays written by William Shakespeare. 

The great playwright was largely forgotten after he died in 1616.  Copies of his plays, all handwritten, vanished, too.  Then, a couple of his friends, John Heminges and Henry Condell, decide to collect whatever they could find, including handwritten copies created by theatergoers.  In 1623, they published what has become known as the First Folio.

First Folio

It contains 36 plays and claims to be the authentic words, but we know today that other versions of Shakespeare’s plays exist.

Want to buy a copy of the First Folio?  About 40 have survived in various conditions.  The last one sold at auction at 2006 fetched about $2.8 million.   

The books are retreated with great respect and even awe.  To many people, they are sacred. 

How about images?  Sure. 

Several years ago, Palestinians in Gaza gathered outside a French cultural center, chanting "Leave Gaza, you French, or we will slaughter you by cutting your throats” because of cartoons published in Charlie Hebdo, a now-famous French satirical magazine.

In Niger, the Associated Press reported:

173 people have been injured; at least 45 churches have been "set ablaze in the capital (Niamey) alone," and a "Christian school and orphanage were also set alight." Numerous sites were pillaged before being burned.  A video from Niamey showed protesters waving Qur'ans and yelling "God is great" while tearing apart Bibles and throwing them onto the ground.

Pakistan was no better.  According to published reports from there:

Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters outside the French consulate. A Pakistani photographer for AFP was shot and wounded, the news agency reported.  At least 200 protesters were involved in the violence, which broke out after Muslim religious parties called on supporters to condemn the cartoon following afternoon prayers, said Ahmed Chinoy, chief of Karachi's Citizen Police Liaison Committee.  Images from the scene showed police in running street fights with demonstrators.  Those protests came after Pakistan's parliament unanimously passed a resolution condemning the caricatures printed in Charlie Hebdo.

Actual cartoon

That’s rights: drawings of of Muhammad are sacred enough to incite murder.

One Israeli newspaper quoted a Gaza protestor named Abu Abdallah Makdissi as saying, "Today, we are telling France and world countries that while Islam orders us to respect all religions, it also orders us to punish and kill those who assault and offend Islam's Prophet Mohammad."

Actually, that’s not factual.  The Muslim holy book, the Quran, does not ban images of Allah or the Prophet Muhammad in any form.  There are only two lines in the religious text that even offer advice on this subject:

 [Allah is] the originator of the heavens and the earth... [there is] nothing like a likeness of Him. (42:11)

[Abraham] said to his father and his people: “What are these images to whose worship you cleave?' They said: “We found our fathers worshiping them.” He said: “Certainly you have been, you and your fathers, in manifest error." (21:52-54)

Abbreviated Commandments

That teaching parallels the second Commandment in Jewish teachings: 

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. (Ex: 20: 4-6)

The Abraham account in the Quran is also very similar to a Jewish tale about Abraham objecting to and later destroying idols made in his father’s workshop.

In Islamic tradition, however, images of Allah, Muhammad and all the major prophets of the Christian and Jewish traditions are prohibited.  Muslims have gotten around their restriction largely by using calligraphy as art, while Jews have simply avoided depicting anything that could be worshiped as a deity.

Not that everyone paid attention to such rules.  Artists in the Middle East, but principally in Persia, regularly produced images of the Prophet starting in the 7^th century.

Obviously, the definition of sacred linked only to religion is wrong.  Something sacred could be linked to religion, but it doesn’t have to be.

Who knows, then, this blog could become sacred in some distant future.

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Bill Lazarus is a religious historian who also writes about American history.  He holds an M.A. in communication and an ABD in American studies.  He has had multiple books published, both fiction and nonfiction, including Revelation, Adventures in Bonding, Comparative Religion for Dummies and A Guide to American Culture. He can be reached via his website: wlazarus.com.