Merry, Happy, ………

A Christian lady standing at a well in Pakistan offered two Muslim men a drink of water.  They refused because she had defiled the water by touching the vessel that contained it.  She is a Christian, you know.  She claimed that she had not made the water impure by being a Christian.  They claimed that she had.  The argument resulted in an accusation of blasphemy against the Prophet, which carries a death sentence in Pakistan.  The woman, Aasia Bibi, is now in jail awaiting her execution.  Her family now lives  in a safe house.  Although no one has ever been executed by the Pakistani government for blasphemy, many accused people have died at the hands of Muslim believers after being released from jail.

Marine Staff Sgt. Jordan B. Emrick from Holyeton, Illinois died in combat in Afghanistan.  He was to be buried in the cemetery of his home town Lutheran church.  The Westboro Baptist (unaffiliated) Church announced it would be there to defile his memory with their hate mongering.  These folks are the ones who display placards claiming that our young people are dying because America has become too tolerant of homosexuality.  One placard says, “God Hates Fags”.  Another says, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”.  They are sometimes carried by small children.  These folks didn’t show in Holyeton because it seems that there was not going to be enough publicity for them.  They want national coverage of their unique brand of hate.

In Israel, an ultra-conservative Rabbi, has determined that praying at the Temple wall is no longer allowed on the Sabbath.  Because in the strictest interpretation, Jews are not allowed to work (read operate electronic devices) on the Sabbath.  It seems that their physical movements initiate a security camera’s operation at the wall.  Consequently by being there to pray, they are in effect, causing the operation of an electronic device.  This is a serious infraction of the law regardless of the good intentions of the prayers.

What do these three stories have in common?  Well for one thing, religion.  For another, extremism.  For another, all three incidents happened in countries that claim majority religious demographics; Pakistan is majority Muslim and America is majority Christian.  Israel is majority Jewish. 

The common attribute that catches my attention most is that in all three incidents interpretations of ancient religious texts are being used as justifications.  That is, they are literally applying words written thousands of years ago to modern issues.  So what is it about ancient religious texts that allow so much latitude in interpretation?  Well for one thing, there are lots of them.  For another, they were written in a different time in a different context.  And finally, they contain many contradictions.  These facts alone allow them to be perverted to justify any kind of human mischief.

On the home front, some folks are distressed about the fact that the Pulliam Hall Clock Tower at SIU is playing “Holiday” music instead of only “Christmas” music.  I guess the “good will towards men” spirit of Christmas isn’t strong enough to overcome a little competition.  Fortunately, I can’t seem to recall a New Testament Biblical passage that invokes me to withhold my good will toward people of other faiths.

What I’m writing here is that personal interpretations of our various religions can result in some pretty anti-religious feelings toward other human beings.  And the sad thing is that they often show up during religious holidays like in our case, Christmas.

Well I, for one, wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday celebrations whatever they may be.  And for the New Year, I pray that humanity can upgrade its image of a small god who worries about religiously defiled water, hating his own creations, electronic devices on the Sabbath and the kind of music being played from a university clock tower in southern Illinois.

Robert DeFilippis