Muslim Minarets a Threat?
Posted: Saturday, December 05, 2009
by e
Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation
According to the futurist Raymond Kurzweil, "The primary role of traditional religion is deathist rationalization-that is, rationalizing the tragedy of death as a good thing."
"Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a "way of life" or a life stance." (Wikipedia).
Muslim minarets are "distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. As well as providing a visual cue to a Muslim community, the main function of the minaret is to provide a vantage point from which the call to prayer (adhan) is made. The call to prayer is issued five times each day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. In most modern mosques, the adhan is called from the musallah, or prayer hall, via microphone to a speaker system on the minaret." (Wikipedia).
These minarets seem to establish boundaries of the Muslim community which houses their cultural and religious customs and laws, therefore potentially creating, according to conservative opinions in Switzerland which has recently banned minarets, a conflict with state laws.
"This is a curious iconic transformation. Is the Swiss People's Party suggesting that Switzerland, in which currently there are only four minarets, is at risk of becoming a missile-minaret launching pad threatening the rest of Europe with Islamization?" (Paul Woodward).
It seems that the spread of Islam is more of a demographic phenomenon (they migrate and then have lots of kids!), than a conversion/proselytization kind of thing. And the question is; is Islam really a threat to other religious parties, or is Islam merely another religion that wants to practice their particular rites and rituals without interference?
It would seem that the laws of each country would prevail over religious customs if there are conflicts, (the protection of religion/state separation) and the results of the outcome of the conflicts - peaceful or violent - would indicate the threat a particular religion is to a society or country.
So, are minarets a threat? If the tenets of one's religion is to merely refine oneself within a tight context of one's particular set of dogmas, and there is no room for "non-believers," then of course there can only be endless bloodshed.
Can't we all get along? That's a simple enough question. Can't we see past our narrow beliefs and take in the bigger picture of humanity, understanding that humanity is and will always be bigger than a set of confined beliefs? And even if one was to browbeat the entirety of humanity into what one believed was "truth," what about the rest of the universe, where cultures on countless planets are developing and fading endlessly. Can we reach out to them and convert them also? Or what about all those beings who existed before our particular religion was invented, and all those who will come after our particular religion fades from existence?
And what of the endless celestial beings, formless beings, throughout this universe and countless other realities? How about them? What would take all of this in account without one word of religious dogma being spoken? What universal truth would prevail for all of these beings in the many worlds that were and are to come?
There is one law that prevails, one law that permeates all worlds, material and spiritual. This is the law of cause and effect, which says that whatever you do has consequences, and these consequences are irrefutable. What goes around comes around, so to speak. When you do good, good eventually results, and when you do evil, evil eventually reaps its karma on you.
Regardless of how we explain away our indiscretions or cover ourselves through our various dogmas, this law holds true, and the consequences, both good and bad will be felt, if not in this existence, in future existences.
So the question is; do our dogmas and beliefs become causes for good or for evil? Do we make others, who may not be particularly interested in our personal beliefs, more comfortable? Or do we persecute them for no reason other than prejudice, which is always based of narrow minded fear?
If a certain religion feels that they are always being persecuted by other religions, which is a statement that I have heard from both Christians as well as Muslims, then we must first of all, before making a rash condemnation of the persecution, look at ourselves, our actions, our philosophies, our impact on other human beings, and of course the impact of our actions on our own personal stress levels, and how our actions increase our stress levels with other religious groups.
Keep an eye out for the religions that accept all other religions with an open heart, and that emphasize peace over contention. "The door of my heart is always open to you." (Ajahn Brahmavamso).
I believe that here you will find the precursor of what religion will look like in the future. (If we have a future and don't kill ourselves off in the name of God!)
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Good article, E. I especially like your focus on the law of cause and effect. Regardless of a paticular belief system, I think everyone acknowledges this 'law.'Thanks Joyce, there is lots of common ground in religions, we just have to root them out and decide to agree rather than disagree.
Good article E.Rock. It has prompted me to post a comment I made to this issue elsewhere, here on SearchWarp with the title Switzerland Bans Minarets. You may find some of points from the Swiss perspective interesting. But we basically agree on what religion should and should and not be.JimThanks Jim, it's so refreshing to come across rational comments!
Great article! - It's such a pity that Homo Sapiens - thinking man, has such a narrow train of thought and can't see the 'big picture' and unfortunately in most cases isn't even looking for the 'big picture'.Thanks John, in my experience, the big picture comes up when thought is absent. That's a tough one to comprehend, but it is true, real creativity arises when thought subsides. Unfortunately, most would think that this is absurd and continue to value thought. And here we are. . .
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