The Trade Center Mosque

At this writing, Muslim leaders in New York are still hoping to build a community center and mosque some two blocks away from Ground Zero, the now-sacred ground that once held the World Trade Center.  The WTC was demolished when Islamic terrorists commandeered planes and flew them into the buildings.  More than 3,000 people died in the horrific attack.  

No one recorded the religion of the victims, but best estimates are that 400 to 500 were Jewish.  Other religions represented included Muslim, Hindu and, of course, Christian.  A Hindu friend of mine worked in the Towers and survived because he went to work late that day.  Many of his friends and colleagues did not.

The religion matters because the idea of a mosque next to such a site has inflamed the conservative sector of our society.  The complaints are vicious, laced with anti-Islamic sentiment and downright hatred.  

One friend wrote that it was no different than building a monument to Adolf Hitler.  I respectfully disagreed.  No one is talking about building a memorial to the Islamic zealots who died in the plane crashes.  In fact, the leader of the moment to build the mosque is renowned for his interfaith efforts and was openly appalled—as were virtually all American Muslims—by the nefarious actions of their co-religionists.

There are compelling reasons to allow the mosque planners to go ahead.

1)      It’s legal.  Even opponents agree there’s nothing wrong with the plans.  How logical is it to defy the law to prevent the construction?  Does one illegal act, however awful, warrant a parallel response?

2)      It falls under constitutional guidelines.  The Puritans who founded Massachusetts came here for religious freedom.  That basic concept helped created Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and is enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.  It is the basic cornerstone of our country and the one thing that separates us from other lands.  We cannot discard it simply because of objections to the murderous actions of some members of a particular faith.  No religious is free of so odious behavior.  You can bet no one would object if the plans called for a church and/or synagogue, despite egregious behavior by some members of each in support of religious beliefs.  Rabbi Meir Kahane was hardly a pacifist, for example.  Neither are the Hutaree, a self-proclaimed Christian terrorist group arrested in March, arrested and charged with plotting to kill police officers around the country in support of their extremist views.

3)      It divides.  Refusing to allow a mosque simply drives a wedge between Muslims and American society.  Ironically, that’s exactly what the terrorists were trying to do: they believe Islam was the superior belief and wanted to rid it of Western influence.  That puts opponents to the mosque on the side of the terrorists. 

Our country has always been inclusive: there’s room for everyone.   The Statue of Liberty proclaims that in the immortal words of Emma Lazarus (no relation) : 

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Isolating one element of society in response to this terrible event only undermines our society and encourages anti-Americans.

I’ve heard people compare the events of 9/11 to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  They do not correspond.  The 1941 bombing was the deliberate act of a nation hoping to undermine America’s ability to wage war.  In contrast, the four hijackings in 2001 were the result of a conspiracy of a small group of terrorists bent on creating as much havoc as possible in misguided defense of their religious ideas.  The only thing the two landmark situations shared was that our country was less vigilant than it could have been, but, other than that, the events have nothing in common.

Unlike our war with Japan, we cannot easily strike back against the 9/11 plotters.  Some died in the crashes.  The rest are in hiding.  They were Pakistani and Saudi Arabian.  In our zeal for revenge, we attacked Iraq and Afghanistan, creating more deaths among innocent people and more animosities.

This has to cease sometime.  There is precedent: Germany and Israel are now allies, less than 70 years after the Holocaust ended.

One way to speed up that eventuality this time and heal the rift between the Muslim community and the rest of American society would be by welcoming the mosque.  Let’s make it a center of peace and understanding, rather than the subject of bitter controversy. 

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history.  He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net.  He is the author of the famed Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; 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.

You can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1

Happy Valentine's Day

Anyone can write mushy prose,

Heaven knows.

Valentine’s Day cards flood the store,

Filled with slushy sentiment and more.

The airwaves daily over-spill

With heart-laden and breathy trills,

Lachrymose and so poignant,

They only add to my vast annoyment.

I just can’t seem to produce

Such heart-felt effuse.

The feelings there --the warmth and care –

But my vocabulary is of no use.

In the end, I’m left,

Quiet and bereft,

With the standard line:

Be my Valentine.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day has a certain charm,

A scent of roses in Venus’ arms; 

A hint of romance with a dash of moonlight above;

A recipe of kisses on a menu of love;

Many look forward to this bliss,

Convinced they’ll finagle a kiss.

But, I am more than sure

With emotions less than pure.

Candy they offer, flowers and such,

Hoping for a little from far too much,

Struggling to find the right words to say:

A blush and a stammer never far away.

I have no reason for such a display.

Married to you, it’s always Valentine’s Day.

Holy Cow

I’ve been thinking about starting a religion.  I realize this is nothing particularly new or even exciting.  People start religions all the time.   In the last 200 or so years, new religions have been popping up regularly like acne on a teenager.

Here are just a few:  Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Baha’i’, Christian Science, Rev. Moon’s Unification Church, Scientology and many more.   We know about them because they have survived.  Many others did not.  The Shakers come to mind.  My wife’s grandfather started his own small, liberal Christian group.  It died with him.  

If I’m going to start a religion, I’d like it to endure.  To accomplish that, I have spent a lot of time studying the survivors to figure out what they had that other religions did not.  I examined not only the newer versions, but such long-lived religions as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto and more.

The first thing I noted is that they share very little in common.  Shinto, for example, is simply ancestor worship.  Buddhism has no god; Hinduism has thousands.   Judaism has no heaven or hell; Islam and Christianity happily consign each other’s followers to their own hells. 

To me, that was the easiest requirement:  I can be as inconsistent as anyone.

What did they share?

1)      Holy texts.  They all have writings of some kind that are accepted as somehow divine.  I think I write well.  I imagine I could come up with a book and claim that some great power dictated it to me.

2)      Rituals.  All religions have some sort of rites that must be followed by adherents.  This helps set them apart.  Unitarians light a candle prior to a service, for example.  Catholics have sacraments.  I’m not sure what mine will be, but it won’t be onerous.  I’m not fond of ritualistic requirements.  Maybe everyone in my faith should know a secret greeting.  We still use the secret greeting of the followers of Mithra although the religion died centuries ago: a handshake.

3)      Some kind of belief.  It doesn’t have to be logical – in fact, illogical is a strong selling point with religion.  After all, how can anyone prove the existence of heaven or hell? Or that every Mormon will be king of his/her own planet.  Or that virgins await every heroic Muslim?   Or that Hindus are reborn to work off karma?  No one knows if any of that is true, which makes it perfect for religion.  I believe in taking cruises.  I think that’s something everyone can embrace.

4)      Obligations.  Every religion has something: no fish on Friday; fast on the Day of Atonement; no alcohol; walk around a sacred stone seven times; rest on the Sabbath; and so on.  I’m reminded of Woody Allen in his movie "Bananas" in which a revolutionary takes over Cuba and requires everyone to wear underwear on the outside.  I wouldn’t go that far, but I can imagine something easy to do, but distinctive.  Such as requiring all members of my faith to eat artichokes at least once a week.  I really like artichokes.

5)      Clergy.  Someone has to teach the faith and serve as a spiritual guide.  Otherwise, how would anyone get married in the faith?  In Catholicism, the priests are given special powers, but that’s not true in most other faiths.  I like awarding powers.  My clergy can fly.  No one can see that, of course.  They fly during secret, arcane ceremony that only they can attend.

6)      Promises.  This may be the biggest thing.  Every religion promises something.  In many, a believer will live forever in unity with a deity.  The bigger, the more impossible the promise, the better.  This is one thing I know I can do, in spades.  I can promise anything to anyone.

The successful religions are all built on existing beliefs, sort of adding new scaffolding to an existing building.  Or, in religious terminology: old wine in new wineskin.  This may be the hardest.  I really don’t want to tie into messianic faiths.  I don’t accept that idea and certainly don’t want that role for myself.  Messianic figures tend to get really badly hurt.  I also don’t want to link up with deity-based faiths like Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  They only want to fight each other to “prove” their divine support.  I’m a pacifist.

There are a lot of unusual religions to join.  For example, my religion could build on the Church of Euthanasia.  Its motto, “Save the planet; kill yourself,” says it all.  But, it’s a bit drastic for my taste.   So is Raelism, founded by a man named Rael (surprise!), who insists that extraterrestrial beings created human life.  This idea is absurd enough to become really successful in the future, but I don’t like anything completely refutable by DNA and science.

There's Church of Maradona, named for a famed Argentinean soccer star who apparently invested heavily in drugs and desperately needs a weight-loss program.  While hero worship is commonplace, I tend to shy away.  It can be a very tricky business.  Who wants to pray to Tiger Woods these days, for example?

Happy Science argues that in 2050 the Angel Gabriel will be reincarnated in Bangkok, Thailand and that, 50 years later, angry gods will sink the U.S.  That’s a good way for a religion to grow: predict something beyond the lifespan of most people.  And I do like Thailand.  Nevertheless, I don’t want to associate with a religion with such a dire future for my American descendants.  

The Church of All Worlds is based on a fictional religion created by a science fiction writer.  That’s similar to Scientology, but this one’s only sin is hypocrisy.  Apparently, followers are unaware that hypocrisy is a prime requisite for a successful faith.  I don’t hold out much hope this will survive.

Chen Tao started a religion based on the idea of founder Hon-ming Chen that, in 1998, God would appear on a television station.  Chen offered to be crucified when that didn’t happen.  His followers declined, but are still waiting.  Since 1998 isn’t likely to come around again, I think I’ll pass on this one.

Actually, I couldn’t find any faith my new religion could merge with that wasn’t already absurd, illogical and beyond plausible belief.  I’ll keep looking.  Maybe I should focus on creating a religion based on something no seems to have considered yet:  one that makes sense.

Bill Lazarus is a religious historian who teaches classes in the Stetson University Continuing Education Department and has written 14 books on the subject.  Books are available at www. williamplazarus.com.

Meaning of Life

No one disagrees that the Holocaust was a truly horrible, unprecedented event in human history.  Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime in Germany killed at estimated 12 million people – the exact number will never be known – because of perceived racial superiority.  Close to 6 million of the victims were Jewish, whose sole apparent crime was belonging to a religion the Nazis despised.

When World War II ended, the search for meaning in this tragedy began.  Jews, in particular, sought to explain why God had allowed this to happen.  Orthodox Jews claimed to know the answer: God was punishing European Jews for not adhering to His laws.

That’s disgusting.  That answer converts Nazis into messengers of God who killed at His behest.  How someone can propose that idea without vomiting is beyond me.  It also ignores a reality that millions of non-Jews, who clearly are not remotely interested in God’s dictates to Jews, did not survive either.  Why were they punished, too?  Or, are only Jews expected to follow God’s rules and face mass murder of they don’t?  None of the people who needlessly died were pious?  If so, what happened to the idea of righteousness that informs all faiths and has long been endorsed by Jewish leaders?  In fact, Jews honor righteous gentiles who helped Jews during the Holocaust.  

There is a better answer.  There is no meaning to life, whether we are talking about the Holocaust or the random death of 12-year Bryan Griffin, a Florida child killed by an alligator in 2003.

It is not easy to accept that.  An Islamic student who has been discussing religion with me was appalled by the concept.  He could not accept that a “bad” person faces nothing more in the grave than someone who is “good."

I understand his concern.  However, who decides what is good or bad?  A terrorist, for example, is evil to those who are hurt and a hero to those who are being defended.  What was bad in one era may be considered good today and vice versa.  God would need very flexible standards.  How could He justify punishing one person for a sin at one time, when the sin becomes required in another era? 

Besides, we only have the human concept of sin.  The Bible hardly serves as a guide.  People pick and choose which laws they obey.  

To me, the only meaning to life is what we give it.  In reality, we are on a planet making laps around a star.  That’s all.  However, we can find meaning in what we do every day.  I find it teaching and writing.  I see some of my students moving on to achieve their dreams.  That is fulfilling.  I see other people who enjoy my books.  I like that, too.  Others find meaning through different activities.  My wife teaches; my sister-in-law drums and makes glass jewelry.  

It doesn’t matter.  What can only matter is here and now.  The great thinkers and guides from religion and secular life – Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Shakespeare, Mozart, Locke, Einstein and so many others – found meaning in their lives.  Their efforts gave some to us.  That is their greatest accomplishment.  Just as we no longer know the inspirational forces among the Cro-Magnon and Home Erectus, future humans will not remember those we honor today.  Instead, others will arise to create meaning from meaninglessness.

I do have one caveat to this concept of nothingness.  Not near death experiences (NDE), which supposedly “proves” the existence of an afterlife.   Some people have claimed they saw a great light and were greeted by former relatives.  I am sure that the trauma of death activates memories, and that was what created the NDE.  Besides, some people claimed to have seen or heard nothing during their ordeal.

Past life experiences (PLE) divulged under hypnotism fails to impress.  Hypnotism, too, activates memory.

On the other hand, none of us can imagine ourselves not existing.  It’s impossible.  As Rene Descartes noted in the 1600s: “I think therefore I am.”  All of us have that inner feeling that makes us feel different.  Dogs, cats and other mammals, even birds, have that, too.  I imagine that, eventually, we’ll discover that all higher species share that trait.

Our essence may live on.  Since we are all a form of energy, it’s possible that we do not die – that is disappear completely.  Energy does not die, but takes new forms.  That would be true for us.  Buddha suggested that concept.  The Hindu belief system is built around that.  To me, that would explain ghosts, NDE, PLE, and other, similar phenomena.  

We’ll all find out on our own in due time.

One thing I am certain of is that we will not find a God after we die.  A dear friend suggested there is a God, but we, as humans, cannot understand Him.  In that case, what use is prayer?  What use is ritual?  What use is religion, which is based on the idea that we are in communication with God and that He cares about us?

That’s no different than having no god.

The sad truth is that we are alone.  Atrocities, such as the Holocaust, are human events without a God watching or caring.  There is no heaven and hell, both inventions to try to curb human behavior.  There’s nothing except whatever we as individuals do to find elusive meaning amidst the void. 

Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history.  He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.com.  He is the author of the famed Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; 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.