Author: Sarah Gavoci

I am a citizen of the world, a slave, a psychologist, a daughter, a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend. I have an undergrad psychology degree, a psychiatry master's degree. I am a reading fanatic always have been and a writing enthusiast. So, here's my opportunity to give writing to a wider audience a chance.

Women’s Rights in Judaism


Judaism is not regarded as a mere philosophical religion, as those that practice it allow it to infiltrate into many aspects of life including; how to start out the day, dietary restrictions, what clothes are permissible, how to celebrate religious holidays, who to marry, their relationship with God, other people and animals, etc. The details on how to conduct all of the above is brought forth to the people through the Jewish law, halakhah. Through the halakhah a woman’s position in society is explained. Women under this are seen as equal to men, but differ in responsibilities and roles. Traditionally women are seen as having a greater “binah” (intelligence, understanding, intuition) than men. Rabbis have based this off Bereshit Genesis chapter 2:22 “And the LORD God built the side that He had taken from man into a woman, and He brought her to man.” The term utilized to support that argument is the use of the word “built”, that a woman was “built” and not formed unlike the man (Bereshit Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul.” However, I personally do not find that convincing as there are many interpretations, translations and many versions. I have found an abundance of alternatives used from “formed”, to “made”, to “fashioned”, “taken out of man into a woman”, etc… But then again how reliable are translations.

It has been said that the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah) were held in higher regard than their counters the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Rosh Chodesh). Then there is Miriam, Aaron and Moses’s sister she is seen as a prophetess, and all three siblings as the saviors of the Children of Israel. The Talmud and Rashi incorporate fifty-five prophets and of them seven are female. The fifth commandment of the ten commandments is “honour your father and your mother..” All of the above does suggest that females are highly regarded and respected in the Jewish religion.

Historically, there have been many educated Jewish women. The Talmud and various rabbinical writings mention Rabbi Meir’s wife, rebbetzin Berurya. It is stated that she and others were consulted on marital issues, menstruation, and dietary laws (kashrut).

Today’s Western, modern world suggests that the Muslim female veil is a sign of oppression imposed upon women of that background by the oppressive domineering patriarchal society. But, the question is, is the female veil only a custom of Islam? This article just as the one published a few days ago is about women in Judaism and through my research I stumbled upon the following verse.
Mishnah Ketubot 7:6 “The following women are divorced, and do not receive [the amount of] their ketubah: One who violates Mosaic Law or Jewish custom. What constitutes [a violation of] Mosaic Law? If she feed him untithed [food] if she engages in intercourse with him while she was a niddah [a female who has menstrual discharges which render her impure]; if she does not set apart challah [a portion of a batch of bread dough given to a kohen which becomes holy upon separation, and can only be consumed by kohanim or their household]: and if she makes vows, but does not fulfil [them]. What constitutes [a violation of] Jewish custom? [If] she goes out [in public] with her hair uncovered; [if] she spins [thread] in the market, and converses [flirtatiously] with any man. Abba Saul says, “Also one who curses his children in his presence.” Rabbi Tarfon says, “[Also] a noisy woman.” What constitutes a noisy woman? One who speaks in her own house [so loudly] that her neighbors can hear her voice.”

Numbers 5:18 describes the unveiling and unbraiding of a woman’s hair as a humiliation as the priest would only do so when said woman was accused of adultery. “The cohen will place the woman before ADONAI, unbind the woman’s hair and put the grain offering of remembering in her hands, the grain offering for jealousy; while the cohen has in his hand the water of embitterment and cursing.”

I think that concludes this article for now, I can tell you that this new angle has intrigued me so. I will be publishing again soon.

Till next time.

Two Halves of a Whole

This newest chapter’s aim is to explore females’ rights, roles, position in the three Abrahamic religions. I aim to write this in chronological order, as Judaism is the oldest that’s where we will start. Happy reading :)! Bereishit – Genesis – Chapter 1 “And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and they shall rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heaven and over the animals and over all the earth and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth” {26} In Judaism, unlike the Western interpretation of Christianity, God is a gender neutral, omnipotent, omnipresent deity. The modern English language does not designate genders to inanimate objects. It can be argued that the English versions of the Bible use “He” because it is simply the domininte gender and not because God resembles man. However, both Hebrew and Arabic share that similarity. In both Islam and Judaism God is ascribed the masculine pronouns (He, His), but that’s not to suggest that either religion suggests that God is of the male gender. Both religions teach that God is a single being, the only one of His kind; that there is only one God, only one worthy of worship. “And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him: male and female He created them.” {27} Jewish scholars have interpreted the above verse to mean that the first ever human was both male and female at once. “And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the earth.” {28} Bereishit – Genesis – Chapter 2 “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man is alone; I shall make him a helpmate opposite him.” {18} It is important to recognize that the above verse utilizes the phrase “helpmate opposite him”. If man and woman were created as unequal beings those words would have not been chosen. The word opposite is used when describing elements of a similar nature, belonging to the same category. The opposite of day is night, the opposite of tall is short, the opposite of big is small, the opposite of male is female. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon man, and he slept, and He took one of his sides, and He closed the flesh in its place.” {21} “And the Lord God built the side that He had taken from man into a woman, and He brought her to man.” {23} The above verses mention that the woman was created from man’s side, which is taken to mean from his ribcage. Chapter 1 and 2 profess that man and woman were once a single being, which would mean that one is not complete without the other, that it is in the unification of both man and woman that they become a whole being again. The book of Leviticus delves into the rulings regarding sexual relations. It prohibits sexual relations while a woman is menstruating and describes her as “unclean”. “If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she will be in her state niddah for seven days. Whoever touches her will be unclean until evening.” {Leviticus 15:19} “You are not to have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter, nor are you to have sexual relations with her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are close relatives of hers, and would be shameful.” {Leviticus 18:17} “You are not to take a woman to be a rival with her sister and have sexual relations with her while her sister is still alive.” {Leviticus 18:18} “If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is depravity; they are to be put to death by fire, both he and they, so that there will not be depravity among you.” {Leviticus 20:14} “If a woman approaches an animal and has sexual relations with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal; their blood will be on them.” {Leviticus 20:16} “A man or woman who is a spirit-medium or sorcerer must be put to death; they are to stone them to death; their blood will be on them.” {Leviticus 20:27} “He may not marry a widow, divorcee, profaned woman or prostitute; but he must marry a virgin from among his own people.” {Leviticus 21:14} I must say I am surprized to observe that much of this book is written to the “man”. I would also like to note that my research into women’s rights in Judaism has been difficult to say the least. Till next time, S

The End is Near

Where there is a beginning, an ending will always follow. Whether its days, months, years, centuries or millenniums later everything comes to an end. As humans we have little control over any part of this cycle. A woman gets pregnant and whether she wants to or not there will come a day when the pregnancy terminates, whether with a miscarriage, an abortion, or with the start of a new life. With the start of this new life an ending will always follow, whether its an ending before their first birthday or when they are old and grey; the ending is inevitable and there is nothing we can do to stop that course.

Everything that begins will sooner or later end. This world that we live in, this planet that we inhabit will meet its end one day. There is an ideology that confuses me so, and it is one we cling onto harder than we do anything else, and its that we know what’s best, what’s true, what’s real. We are the generation of technology, we are the generation of social media, we are the generation that relies on the internet for everything, be it for education, entertainment, socialization, it is what we thrive on and rely on. Yet with all of that we have been found out for what we truly are, which is a humanity without intellect, a human race without humanity, lacking empathy and sympathy for our fellow humans. We stomp around this world thinking, no believing, that we “own” it, we judge, we criticise, we voice our disagreements loudly and arrogantly. We turn up our noses in pride and look down upon those that differ from us; whether its religiously, culturally, ethnically, nationally…We focus on the elements that divide us rather than everything that unites us.

As human beings we have created all these constraints, we have divided this planet into different continents and countries, we have created arbitrary lines on paper maps to create pseudo-borders so that we can prosecute the offenders, the offenders of course being those that are not of the “appropriate” race, that don’t hold the “correct” passport, those that were not born on the developed land of a first world country. I believe that the only worthwhile factor that we can offer each other is mercy. Today’s world is full of hatred, intolerance, bigotry, spite and division. We identify each other’s worth by firstly our ascribed identities “where are you from?; what passport do you hold? and then our acquired identities “where did you study? how much do you make? which social class do you belong to? what occupation do you hold?”. Where is the decency? Where is the kindness? Where is the basic human compassion? We support animal causes, we argue how inhumane being an omnivore is, we protest animal rights, we chastise those with different beliefs, but where is the compassion for our fellow citizens of Earth. We have become a people that humanise animals and dehumanise fellow humans.

The world is full of brutality, cruelty, oppression, yet most of us turn our backs and assume the role of the deaf, dumb and blind. We blame the victims because it must be there fault that they face the circumstances they exist under.
I don’t see it; therefore it does not exist.
It is not happening to me; therefore it does not matter.
They differ from me; therefore they are not worth my time.

All I can say is that there will come a day when we will be asked why we stood by idly in silence as all this unfolded around us, indeed that day will come.

Till then,
S

Is there a God?

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So many people walk through life questioning God’s existence, so many of us believe that God has not presented us with evidence to validate His presence. Is that true though? It is so easy for us to become so used to the world around us that we don’t see the miracles that surround us. There are those of us that don’t see what surrounds us as “miracles” or are simply too jaded to think of them as such. There are those religions that teach us that science and God or science and religion are polar opposites, two diverging ideologies that present two conflicting arguments about the world around us.

I have been an inhabitant of this world for a while now and for every morning I have woken up, the sun has never failed to rise, the birds have never held back their songs, night has never ceased to fall on the world, the moon has never deserted the skies. Everything that surrounds us from the wonders of the skies, to every nature scene that encircles us is evidence of the Creator’s existence.

Since the beginning of humanity there have been people sent upon us to lead us and show us the word of God. Each one has spoken of the end of time, of judgement day, of the day of revelation, of the end of the hour. They all mentioned signs, lets put their words to the test. This objective will take quite a bit of time to execute so it will be tackled in more than one entry.

Till next time,
S

WHO TO TRUST, A JEW, A CHRISTIAN OR A MUSLIM?? (1)

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The modern opinion of the Judaism, Christianity and Islam is that they are different religions with entirely different beliefs. But, we need to ask ourselves how true is that? Do all three religions preach the existence of the same God or are they entirely different religions that are more likely to be at war than at peace with one another. There is a school of thought that suggests that Moses and Jesus prophesized the coming of Muhammad. The following article will explore whether that theory is truthful. This exploration will be carried by investigating the Old and New Testament and the lives and words of Moses and Jesus in comparison to Muhammad’s.
[This idea will be investigated within a few different entries this is the first, keep your eyes peeled for the rest :)]

Let’s start at the beginning with the Old Testament. God indicated that Abraham’s lineage would extend through Ishmael and Isaac. “…through Isaac shall your descendants be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman [Ishmael] also, because he is your offspring.” (Genesis 21:12-13)

Abraham was ordered to abandon Hagar, his slave wife and their newborn Ishmael in Paran the now referred to as Makkah.
“When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went, and sat down over against him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “let me not look upon the death of the child.” And she sat over against him, the child lifted up his voice and wept. And God heard the voice f the lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “what troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” (Genesis 21:15-18)

“And God was with the lad [Ishmael], and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran.” (Genesis 21:20)

“This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. He said,
‘The LORD came from Sinai, and dawned from Se’ir upon us; he shone forth from the Mount of Paran, he came from the ten thousands of holy ones: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saint are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of they words.'” (Deuteronomy 33:1-3)
– Mount Sinai was the setting of the coming of Moses’ revelation.
– Mount Se’ir is a range of moutains stretching south and west of the Dead Sea extending through Jerusalem and Betlehem, the birthplace of Jesus.
– Mount of Paran, is in reference to Muhammad as he was born in Paran (Makkah) during his lifetime he migrated to Yathrib (Madinah) and later returned to conquer the city followed by 10,000 of his companions.

“I (God) will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee (Moses), and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18)
The verse above clearly states that the “prophet” will be from the Brethren of the Jews. Abraham had two children, Isaac and Ishmael, the Jews are the descendants of Isaac and the Arabs are of Ishmael. Thus, the brethren of the Jewish nation is none other that the Arabs. The Bible confirms this:
“…and he (Ismael) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethrens.” (Genesis 16:12)
“And he (Ishmael) died in the presence of his brethren.” (Genesis 25:17)

The verse concludes with God stating that this prophet will rely His words through His commands. The Qur’an incorporates a verse that states that Muhammad fulfils this prophecy:
 “Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed.” (Qur’an 53:3-4)
Many Christians believe that this prophecy refers to Jesus. So, as always let’s put the theory to the test and compare the three: Moses, Jesus and Muhammad may God’s mercy and blessings be upon them all.

1. Let’s start from birth, both Moses and Muhammad were conceived through natural means while, Jesus the son of Mary was conceived through a miracle as we all know she was a virgin. So, naturally that meant the Jesus only had a mother while Moses and Muhammad both had both, a mother and a father. As for the men themselves, both Muhammad and Moses got married and had children while Jesus never married and never had any children.

2. Both Moses and Muhammad were accepted and recognized by their people, while Jesus was rejected by his {“He (Jesus) came unto his own, but his own received him not.” John 1:11}

3. Both Moses and Muhammad had political authority while Jesus did not {“Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36}

4. Both Moses and Muhammad overcame their opponents, the Pharaoh drowned and Makkah was reclaimed and its inhabitants defeated, while the Christians believe that Jesus was crucified.

5. How about their death, Moses and Muhammad were both buried, while Jesus tomb is vacant. Moses and Muhammad are both not considered to be divine, while Christians believe that Jesus is. Moses and Muhammad both began their prophecy as the age of forty while Jesus’ began at thirty.

6. Finally, Muhammad and Moses were both not resurrected, while Christians believe that Jesus has already been resurrected once.

-Till next time S

WHO IS GOD??

starsSurat Al-Ikhlas
Say: “He is Allah the One.”
The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor drinks.
He begets not, nor was He begotten;
And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him. (Qur’an; 112.)

The above is a translation of a chapter from the Qur’an. Through those statements we can comprehend that it refutes the possibility of God being human. Those verses state that God is incomparable to any other. God has no beginning on no end, which means that He has no wife, parents, children…This might seem impossible, but think about this atheists are unable to believe that the universe was created by an entity and to an extent they are correct there is no creation that could of purposely created the universe. But then again that’s the point God is not a creation, God is greater than we can comprehend. It must of taken a supernatural entity.

-S

CHEW ON THIS!

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I have been working fiercely on my MSc dissertation, however I will be done soon and back regularly. However, till then here’s a little something to hold you over for a little longer.

The following is a direct verse from the Holy Qur’an followed by a translation.
اعلَموا أَنَّمَا الحَياةُ الدُّنيا لَعِبٌ وَلَهوٌ وَزينَةٌ وَتَفاخُرٌ بَينَكُم وَتَكاثُرٌ فِي الأَموالِ وَالأَولادِ ۖ كَمَثَلِ غَيثٍ أَعجَبَ الكُفّارَ نَباتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهيجُ فَتَراهُ مُصفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكونُ حُطامًا ۖ وَفِي الآخِرَةِ عَذابٌ شَديدٌ وَمَغفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضوانٌ ۚ وَمَا الحَياةُ الدُّنيا إِلّا مَتاعُ الغُرورِ
Al-Hadid 57:20
Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you and rivalry in respect of wealth and children, as the likeness of vegetation after rain, thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw. But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment (for the disbelievers, evil-doers) and (there is) Forgiveness from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure (for the believers. good-doers), whereas the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment.

Till then,
S

MUSLIM OR TERRORIST?

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I contemplated back and forth on whether I should address what is currently happening on the news or I should turn the other cheek. I eventually decided for it. I started this blog with a soul purpose in mind, to help show people or who knows maybe one day the whole world the truth. There are a lot of discrepancies occurring in today’s world. It is unfortunate to know that we cannot trust the word of our governments’, media and societies to portray the truth. Alas, the truth is getting more and more difficult to come by. So, I wanted to put in time to research the truth and help my fellowman discern the truth from the lies we are fed.

Well, I guess this is a topic that needs no prolonged introduction, so I think I should just delve into it. Religions in general have always been under attack from those select people that do not see room for them in our society. Through history we can see that Christianity was attacked based on the ideology that some people hold that there is no room for science in religion and so on. However, I am not going to talk about what has happened in the past. I am going to speak of occurrences happening now.

Islam is now portrayed and believed by many to be an extremist religion. Hype words have been manipulated to sound almost dirty, frightening and have been tied strictly to Islam. Words including, terrorism, jihad, oppression…etc. The aim is to explain these three terms.

The legal definition of terrorism (USA): the term “international terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.
How about domestic terrorism, it includes activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

Terrorism according to UK law
Terrorism: interpretation.
(1)In this Act “terrorism” means the use or threat of action where—
(a)the action falls within subsection (2),
(b)the use or threat is designed to influence the government [F1 or an international governmental organisation]F1 or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and
(c)the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious [F2, racial]F2 or ideological cause.
(2)Action falls within this subsection if it—
(a)involves serious violence against a person,
(b)involves serious damage to property,
(c)endangers a person’s life, other than that of the person committing the action,
(d)creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public, or
(e)is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system.
(3)The use or threat of action falling within subsection (2) which involves the use of firearms or explosives is terrorism whether or not subsection (1)(b) is satisfied.
(4)In this section—
(a)“action” includes action outside the United Kingdom,
(b)a reference to any person or to property is a reference to any person, or to property, wherever situated,
(c)a reference to the public includes a reference to the public of a country other than the United Kingdom, and
(d)“the government” means the government of the United Kingdom, of a Part of the United Kingdom or of a country other than the United Kingdom.
(5)In this Act a reference to action taken for the purposes of terrorism includes a reference to action taken for the benefit of a proscribed organisation.

Terrorism is a term that seems to be used both objectively and subjectively simultaneously to benefit some situations and to blur the truth in others. Let’s take a look at what is happening around the world today. Is the persecution of the Muslims of Burma validated? The burning of live humans, is that not violence? How about the Muslims in Gaza, is it excused that they have been under blockade for seven years? Is it fair that an oppressive “president” is allowed to attack the citizens of his own country for four years (Syria)? Why aren’t these incidents referred to at terrorist attacks? Is it simply because Muslims are the victims and not the oppressors in the aforementioned examples? Are Muslims not human? Is their blood not worthy enough to count for anything? It doesn’t matter what they believe in they are people like you and me.

Let’s move on. Jihad, jihad is a word that is not exactly simplistic. Yes, Allah does require Muslims to perform jihad, but its not what the international community paints it out to mean. There are forms of jihad, there is self-jihad which means going against sinful desires whether it be against the devil or against oneself. If a person spent his/her leisure gambling and one day decided against it on the days that that person experiences turmoil with the desire to return and the abstaining for the sake of Allah; that is self-jihad. Jihad can come in the form of giving charity to those that are oppressed by their governments. And finally, yes jihad can be used to refer to defending one’s religion. Furthermore, jihad in combat has many limits; from its beginning to the end, legitimacy matters. Jihad in the reference to combat is only performed with the authority to do so, whether from the leader of a nation or a leader of an oppressed majority. Basically meaning that there needs to be an established governance. Nevertheless, why does the world accuse only Islam of that practice.

What about Judaism, what does its scriptures preach?
Deuteronomy 20:16
However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.

Samuel 15:2-4
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

Numbers 25
17 “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them,
18 because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the affair of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of Peor.”

Now Christians might argue that they do not follow Mosaic Law. However, the first coming of Jesus didn’t set grounds for what kind of contact a nation should make with another nation. A nation based on this coming would not have a military strength, a judge following this teaching would have to let people off for offenses under the ideology of forgiveness; this would be unjust, a nation couldn’t defend its people and no people would have justice. The law from Moses should fill in these gaps because Jesus intend to amend what was wrong, not remove and set new law. So, what about the second coming? The events of the Second Coming of Christ are found in the Bible, including the Book of Revelation–which is the last book in the New Testament.

13 He wore a robe dyed[a] with blood, and his name was called the Word of God. 14 Heaven’s armies, wearing fine linen that was white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword that he will use to strike down the nations. He is the one who will rule them with an iron rod. And he is the one who will trample the winepress of the Almighty God’s passionate anger. 16 He has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of kings and Lord of lords. 

The rider then went on to ask the nearby birds to take part:

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he called out with a loud voice and said to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come and gather for God’s great supper. 18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of the powerful, and the flesh of horses and their riders. Come and eat the flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.”

The rider (Jesus) will go fight a war in the name of God against the disbelievers; Waring with a weapon that comes from his mouth and a large army to strike down all that oppose, nations upon nations, and with such a strict rule as, ” with an iron rod.” He will win this war so easily that birds will have been invited to eat the dead carcasses of those who will have fought him, from kings to slaves, “both small and great.” Thus, none that opposed him will be left alive, no mercy. This is such a stark contrast to the first coming of Jesus with the preaching of turning the other cheek.

The idea that there are people alive in this world that pick and choose the verses that suit their desires is a disturbing thought in itself. When God sends a book, when we hold faith in the book we follow and believe it is the word of God, how does it make sense that we follow and live by certain verses and not by others. Are we really questioning God Almighty’s knowledge of the world, humanity and the future, that we argue that some verses are too outdated for this day and time? How can they be outdated and be the word of the All-knowing, Creator of the heavens and the earth, how can He not know that certain verses would not be suitable for the 21st century or whatever century humanity continues to exist in? If these scriptures are indeed sent from the Lord above then how can they not stand the test of time? If we argue that they simply don’t suit our day and age then we are claiming that these books were written by a lesser being than God. As using the word God in it of itself commands that this entity has certain attributes that make Him worthy of worship.

-S

MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL

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Death is a curious phenomenon. Death is a reality mankind has known from the beginning of time. We observe it in everything that surrounds us; from the flowers that wither and die in winter, to those bloody feathers we have seen dispersed on a sidewalk. Death is a reality we cannot ignore or disbelieve in. From everything we watch die around us there is the death of one that stands out, stings more than the rest; that is the death of a fellow human. Some Christians nowadays believe that if a person is “good” (whatever that means) and believes in Jesus then the heavens above will open their doors to him/her. The world around us was not created for our pleasure, the heavens on the other hand were. The world was created to test mankind, to separate those that are worthy of God’s greatest gift and those that will rot in the pitfalls of the fires of hell. Unfortunately in today’s world there are so many people from all three Abrahamic religions that have twisted and turned the words of their books. There are Muslims that think they are better than everyone else simply because they believe and testify that there is only one God. There are Christians that ignore important verses of their book, verses that forbid drinking, premarital sex, tattoos, pork, etc.

1. “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2)

2. [Jesus] said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (NRSV, Mark 7:20-23)

3.“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:28

4. “And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.” – Leviticus 11:7-8

There are Jews that still hold on firmly to the ideology that they are the “chosen ones” and that simply being a Jew will earn them a guaranteed a place in paradise.
1. Deuteronomy 14:2,
“For you are a holy people to YHWH your God, and God has chosen you to be his treasured people from all the nations that are on the face of the earth.”

2. The Torah also says,
“Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me from all the peoples, for all the earth is mine” (Exodus 19:5)

To the people of all three faiths I say, God has created mankind to worship Him. Love for Jesus or the mere belief in a verse will definitely not guarantee you a place in heaven. If you want to a place you have to earn it through strictly following God’s doctrine and to not ever pick and choose what suits your desires; to not just pray, but worship Him and hold a belief in his prophets.

Pray for the dead, they need it!
Till we meet again,
S