Religion vs System

    

    Religion and System

    There is a point where a religion stops being a religion and begins to be a political system.  That’s where Islam is today.  Actually, Islam has been there for a very long time. When Mohammed raced across the desert from Mecca to Medina his purpose was to civilize, and organize the countless tribes he found into one cohesive unit. At first it was a good idea.  The people there were as diverse as possible, and they had ways that were developed over centuries of isolation, evolved in a very harsh world. It was routine to bury a girl alive if she was the first born. Hundreds of gods were worshipped, and the merchants in Mecca made a killing all based around this big stone building they controlled and charged a fee for entry to pray to whatever god one wished to at that particular time.  

    Now I don’t care if Mohammed saw an angel, a palm tree, or camel dung. Something made him seize upon the idea of one god, one world and one book.  He began to recite, and those recitations became the Qu’ran. The recitations started out simply enough. There was one god. That god created all things, controlled all things, and he didn’t like to be second guessed. You had to pray to that god five times a day. God liked dates, but didn’t care a whole lot about ham sandwiches. He didn’t approved of burying new born girls so in short order there was an abundance of women but no problem. A man could have his choice of any four he wanted so long as they weren’t claimed by someone else. And these ladies had to keep their mouths shut and the kitchen open. (Not all of Mohammed’s ideas were all that bad.) 

    Mohammed was not a bum, or a loser. He was a successful merchant who made his fortune by being able to take a caravan across the desert, sell the goods, and bring the money home to his backers, a pretty good gig for six hundred AD. He was married to an older lady who loved him and supported him in all he did. As a matter of fact, she was the one who pushed him on when he came home and told her about his first vision. Mohammed thought he was just crazy. 

    At first he didn’t make much of a stir. He’d trot over to the Kaaba and speak about his ideas and the people who sold the tickets didn’t pay him much mind. Their logic was simple. He was trying to open a Quickie Mart with one soft drink and they already had a Walmart with a liquor store attached. Who in their right mind would listen to him? Friends and neighbors, never under estimate the power of religion. There is this gene in humans that will make them accept anything that suits their fancy so long as the get some kind of reward, and they get to down somebody else. The poor people of Mecca who couldn’t afford the price of entry. . . well, they just trotted right on over to ol’ Mohammed. The math was simple. There were more people who could count to one, and people who could count to gazillion! 

    If he had left the money changers alone Mohammed would have finished his life eating dates, reciting, and gathering a few followers. But, there were greater things in store for our retired wagon master. In short order he got cross ways with the establishment and they ran him out of town. He went up to Medina, where he found a ready market for his ideas, and at that point he added a special sauce. Now here we have to get into “inspiration.” I remember back when I wrote, “Sharon.” Like my friend, Jay, says, “I ain’t even gonna lie to you.” I’d get up every morning, mix up a pitcher of Sangria with the fruit floating in it, retire to my porch, pour a glass an write. When the book came out some people started saying, “Inspired!”  I just said, “Far out!” Mohammed didn’t drink, but he sure could spin a yarn, just like Joseph Smith. The tales he told struck a chord with the desert tribes and after getting run off from Mecca, Mohammed added a new twist. He pulled everyone into an army with one simple motto: Kick their butts and take their sluts. Now I’m not saying he was wrong. When you get run off from your hometown because you want to talk about your religion you tend to get upset. 

    At this point the recitations began to change. The Qu’ran began to acquire rules to live by. Now bear in mind these rules were adapted for people living in hell, with no money, no water and no way out of spot of desert that only a FOOL would call home, but, that having been said, Mohammed recited rules of life that would pretty much get you through the day. Problem was, in the end, if you didn’t follow the rules, you most definitely wouldn’t see the next day, cause he’d cut your head off! 

    That is where religion, and secularism separate. There is a line between, “. . . if they do not hear you leave and shake the very dust from your  feet,” to “Bend over and stretch your neck!” And I’m not just dogging on Mohammed, everybody’s done it. The Catholics burned heretics and the Pilgrims burned witches. Mohammed was unique in that he took on a mess. He HAD to devise a system to get everyone on the same sheet of music, but folks, that’s what it really was. . . a system, not a religion at that point. 

    Mohammed’s dream did not survive him. Not even for five minutes. Upon his death one of his inner circle charged out of the tent screaming, “I will slay the first man who says the prophet has ever died!” Up until that moment his followers really DID believe in him.  They really DID hang on his every word, and it really DID work for them. But, the very rules he set up were the undoing of his belief set. “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet!” Work with me here, if the Prophet is dead then who is now running the show? Well, there are two approaches to that question. Either someone in Mohammed’s direct line, or someone who is inspired by God to take his place, but no one can really take his place because of rule number one. And Muslims are arguing about this to this very day!

    Now this is a very condensed version of history, but I used it to set up my point for this entire article. In the desert today there are groups of people who are still living by what THEY consider to be the letter of the “law.” Forget iPhones, forget world commerce, and space travel, forget global warming, (they already GOT that,) if a pretty girl puts on lipstick you stone her! Ok, this doesn’t work. The idea of god is that god made it, he runs it. If you don’t follow the wishes of that god then HE will take care of it, either here or THERE! You don’t have to burn people or stone pretty girls, god is in control. You can’t second guess god! Burn a pretty girl in France and five hundred years later, “Oops, a SAINT!” 

    This form of Islam is a political system. It has a religious overtones, but it is a system none the less. And, I’m not going to suck up and try to be politically correct here, but there are good Muslims. They’re the ones who have become westernized. Muslims who were born and raised to New York and the only desert they want to  see is in Southern California during vacation. Businessmen who really DO start Quickie Marts and the community loves them because they try to fit in, and they will order anything you want to be put on the shelf. Then there are the “other” Muslims. Crazy-eyed, sociopathic, and determined to make the world turn their way. These people make good use of our freedom of religion, but let me clue you in. When you stop being a religion, and become a political system that rule no longer applies! When you start cutting journalist’s heads off on YouTube you have just crossed that line, swam the river, and stomped BACK off into that desert you came from. 

    The civilized nations of the world need to come together on this. If a system behaves like that you put a fence around them and don’t let anybody OUT or IN! You don’t let radicals preach this system of death and destruction in their “holy” places. Make the rule real simple. “If we catch you doing this we will close you DOWN!” I can hear it already, “Oh Wilbur, you’re attacking freedom of religion.” No I’m NOT! Everyone has a right to pray any way they want, but people have a right to LIVE too! You don’t like the way Frenchi dresses then stop LOOKING at her, you pervert! Be like the Quakers.  If you don’t follow the party line they shun you. “Uh, you can’t be ‘round here no more!” We need to get this right, people, and quit dilly-dallying around. And play by the rules THEY set. They don’t like Bibles in Arabia, fine. . . we don’t like Qu’rans in Austin. You want your women folk to stomp around in a black bed sheet from head to toe, hey, that’s cool. That Texas heat will take care of that, but don’t you harm my granddaughter because she wears jeans and boots. And stop killing people just because they don’t agree with you. We Texans don’t play that. You kill one of us and we will kill you back! 

    The measure of any religion is the happiness and success of the people who adhere to it. If I see a Muslim who owns five Quickie Marts I am proud.  He lived the dream. What he does in his house is his business. I want him to prosper, send all his kids to UT and live a good, long life. Truth is I’ve never met a Muslim who subscribes to the radical nonsense streaming out of the Middle East. That’s why they’re HERE!  They’re tired of it too. One of my dearest friends is a woman in New Jersey. I’ve known her since she was twelve. She’s a mother now, married to a fine man, and she wears that get up every day.  She also loves hot dogs and baseball. And I love HER!