Obama wrong About a Just and Loving God
For the most part America is not a very religious country. In most polls Americans will indicate that they believe in gods, angels and saints. But in reality most Americas do not practice their religion (or faith as they sometimes call it). But there is a very conservative group of people in the country. Many recent presidents have tried to win the support of these conservative voters in many different ways (whether they actually believed in a god is a different matter). President Clinton was a fairly liberal individual and did not appear to be overtly religious. However, it was common to seem him step out of the church on Sunday mornings. President Bush was a representative of the conservative base of the Republican Party. He openly talks about his belief in the Christian god (in a Republican primary debate he indicated that Jesus Christ was his favorite philosopher).
Whether President Obama believes in a god is unclear. He and his mother (Ann) have lived in many different parts of the world (Ann has actually lived in a Buddhist monastery in India). They have also attended churches belonging to many different sects within Christianity. In his speeches he normally stays away from religion (he won me over when he said in his inauguration speech that America is “a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers”). Talking about other religions and about disbelief (atheism) is not a smart political move for an American president.
However, Obama made a few religious statements during his speech at the memorial service for the 13 soldiers killed by Army Major Hasan that took me by surprise. The president indicated that it is “twisted logic” that led to these deaths. He added “no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice in this world and the next”. Couple of questions immediately came to my mind. First of all why did he bring religion into the picture? How can he assume that all the people who lost their lives believed in religion and afterlife? But the most important question for me is whether Obama is right when he says that no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts and that no just and loving god looks upon them with favor. I am including the following passages from the Bible and the Koran that shows that gods can be extremely violent and that there is no such thing as a god who is always loving.
Bible (Deuteronomy 13: 13-19): God asking his followers to kill and plunder villages where people who believe in “foreign gods” live.
“Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. “The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him.”
Koran (4:89): The following statement is what God says in the Koran about the Jews and followers of other Gods.
“And whomsoever Allah causes to err, you shall by no means find a way for him. They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be all alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly their homes in Allah’s way: but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper”
Whenever there is a violent act that has a religious flavor to it leaders from all over will say that the individual or organization that committed the crime does not represent that particular religion and that the religion in question (whether it is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism etc.) are religions of peace and not violence. Statements like these help diffuse tensions in the short term but are only partially true. Most of the individuals and organizations who commit these crimes are much more religious than the average person, can quote numerous verses from the religious texts that allow such acts to be committed and in many cases have the consent of key religious leaders in their community (almost all the Christian crusades against the Muslims from 1095 AD to 1292 AD were undertaken with the consent of the Pope).
In my opinion whenever such an act is committed the community leaders (including the President) have an opportunity to educate the public on the evils of religion. There is a real danger if people start taking religion very seriously or literally. For Eastern religions like Buddhism, Jainism or Hinduism (which is actually a combination of many religions) everything is debatable since very little of the philosophy or traditions are written down. But for book religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) everything is clearly documented. A bad person can use the same book to commit crimes against another person who is using the same book to try and be a good person (I am not saying that Gods of the Eastern religions and their followers are for peace. Hindu-Muslim violence in India, Sinhala Buddhist-Tamil Hindu violence in Sri Lanka and violence committed by the Japanese Buddhists in World War II are examples of violence committed under the name of Eastern religions and their gods).
Related posts:
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- We Are All Atheists
- President Obama Reinforces Indian Stereotype?
- Barack Obama: Inspiration From Mahatma Gandhi?
- Are Minorities in India Descendants of Hindus?
Category: Culture & Religion