Spreading The Good Word
People are like that. When they discover something really earth-shatteringly good they're eager to share with others. It just brings out the best in us, doesn't it? After all, if we discover some great secret that promises to change our lives unalterably and for the better, it's human nature to want to gift others with the same opportunities. Religion is one of those huge human experiences that brings light and hope to peoples' lives.And people who succumb to the lure of religious belief in an Almighty God believe so fervently in the holiness of the experience, that they are willing to go out of their way to spread the word of His existence, to encourage others to embrace the goodness of fellowship in spiritual belief. For many it becomes a mission in life to extend knowledge of the one true God to as many potential new adherents as possible.
We know these people as missionaries and throughout history believers have dedicated their lives to spreading the word of God to unbelievers, to enable them to find salvation in belief, to the greater glory of God. Ancient theistic beliefs were branded mere cults to be superseded by monotheism, the only, the true God. Human beings exult in the challenge of moral superiority over others, and pagans were prime targets.
When it comes to modern Christianity, mellowed and enlightened over the ages in the Western world which for centuries badgered and harangued and bullied African countries to embrace this religion, it is now African countries looking askance at the Western countries, turning mission work on its head by accusing the West of abandoning the true religion for a lighter version verging on paganism.
But nothing quite outstrips the efforts of the true believers of Islam who deride all other religions, including those of other Muslims whose religious practices don't quite measure up to the standards of truly conservative Islam. The triumph of tribal Islamists in militating Islamic observance conveys to the world at large the image of fanatical intolerance par excellence.
It is in this atmosphere that the word 'honour' can be coupled with 'killing'. It is in this atmosphere that search for inner meaning and the word 'jihad' can be reconciled with waging a war of terror on infidels and insufficiently-observing Muslims. It is in this atmosphere that an Islam-inspired collective of terrorists can name themselves "Swords of Islamic Righteousness". Allah grants divine permission to their life-work.
Their life-work is the work of death. They see Allah at their side in their virtuous work, not the Grim Reaper, although to the latter goes their dedication and the completion of their work. In Gaza City in the Gaza strip this work began with caution, targeting first Internet cafes as a symbol of the corrupting influence of western culture. So music shops DVD stores, cultural centres, recreational clubs, pharmacies and Internet cafes became the first order of business.
"Get back to Allah and away from all those dirty, corrupting things", the group wrote in a warning delivered after it attacked one Gaza City Internet cafe. "Because you will never withstand the fire of hell and the torture at the end of your life." "We don't know who our enemy is", said a Gaza City rap group manager that curtailed performances after Islamist Hamas took control of the PA. "If we knew our enemy, we would fight it."
Would they? One Gaza police investigator, who agreed to speak confidentially, claimed explosives the Swords of Islamic Righteousness had used in some of the bombings were the same kind used by the Hamas militant wing known as Izzedine al-Qassam. And isn't that a great huge surprise. He claimed also that the group included people who served by day as members of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority security service, Executive Force.
Attention has now turned elsewhere. Women accused of prostitution are now being targeted. They are not being spoken to politely as might befit an emissary of God eager to do His work. The first body was found on a deserted beach, the second dumped in a farming town and the third left in a Gaza City neighbourhood. All the women met death with one shot to the head, another to the chest.
Palestinians worry about a great many things, not the least of which is their tenuous hold on a vision of normalcy for their future. Now they worry about the hardline Islamists' growing aggressiveness.
Missionary work in God's good name.
Labels: Middle East
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, March 03, 2007
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