lost in Brooklyn

I live in Queens and work in Manhattan. Hence I rarely go to any other borough (county) in the city. Said all this, I had to go to Boro Park and I was practically lost. To make the experience a bit more uncomfortable, it's a 99.9999% Orthodox and/or Hasidic Jewish neighborhood and most people wear black clothes and hats (tradition that I'm barely familiar with). Meanwhile I stood out like a sore thumb in my black sport shoes, dark gray pants, blue shirt and sweater, black jacket and dark gray knit cap. I normally don't have care in the world how odd I often look, but this was different. I hadn't felt so awkwardly out of place since high school (a bit past two decades). It was a case of wrong colors, wrong set of traditions, wrong set of beliefs, in short the wrong society. At least, the bakeries in the area have deliciously fresh Challah bread like Kaff's (718-633-2600, worth a plug).

Christian individualism

Christianity -- as most religions -- is a social expression of love and worship to the Godhead. Nonetheless, at times, we don't want to be surrounded by other humans and/or other creatures for that matter. Hence we remain as individuals -- away from society, away from others with our faith in one hand and doubting pains in the other. As odd as this concept (personal point of view) may seem, I've done the latter several, especially as I was looking for my faith (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2008/12/confused-no-news-there.html). In this personal search, I've found God several times especially sharing my faith and lack of with friends I've made in church (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-church-friends-unexpected-fellowship.html) and others in and outside the Church environment. Considering this last statement, I wonder if I'd feel as much faith as I've got right now (so immensely little, broken & in doubt) if I were going to another church. I honestly think it could be much less (if any spiritual change if any at all) going somewhere else. Hence I thank the fellows at FAPC for giving me a chance to grow spiritually (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/05/open-letter-to-my-friends-86-weeks.html), not merely intellectually knowing facts about Christianity (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/11/denominational-non-denominational.html) and its comparison to other faith systems (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/07/without-spirit.html & http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/08/quarreling-siblings.html).

the Jewish sect

something to think about...

"The Christian is simply a Jew of the 'reformed' confession."
– Friedrich Nietzsche

"Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the mid-1st century. Originating in the eastern Mediterranean, it quickly grew in size and influence over a few decades, and by the 4th century had become the dominant religion within the Roman Empire."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity

"For a long time Christianity regarded itself as part of Judaism. It had its center in Jerusalem (Irenæus, 'Adversus Hæreses, i. 26); its first fifteen bishops were circumcised Jews, they observed the Law and were rather unfriendly to heathenism (Sulpicius Severus, 'Historia Sacra,' ii. 31; Eusebius, 'Hist. Eccl.' iv. 5; compare Matt. xv. 26), while they held friendly intercourse with the leaders of the synagogue (see Grätz, 'Gesch. der Juden,' iv. 373 et seq.; and Ebionites, Minim, and Nazarenes). Many a halakic and haggadic discussion is recorded in the Talmud as having taken place between the Christians and the Rabbis (see Jacob the Gnostic). Probably the Christian Congregation, or Church of the Saints, did not distinguish itself in outward form from the "Ḳehala Ḳaddisha" at Jerusalem, under which name the Essene community survived the downfall of the Temple (Ber. 9b; compare Eccl. R. ix. 9: 'Edah Ḳedoshah). Of course, the destruction of the Temple and of the Judean state and the cessation of sacrifice could not but promote the cause of Christianity (see Justin, "Dial. cum Tryph." xi.); and under the impression of these important events the Gospels were written and accordingly colored. Still, Jew and Christian looked in common for the erection of the kingdom of heaven by the Messiah either soon to appear or to reappear (see Joël, "Blicke in die Religionsgesch." i. 32 et seq.). It was during the last struggle with Rome in the days of Bar Kokba and Akiba that, amidst denunciations on the part of the Christians and execrations on the part of the Jewish leaders, those hostilities began which separated Church and Synagogue forever, and made the former an ally of the arch-enemy. Pauline Christianity greatly aided in the Romanizing of the Church. It gravitated toward Rome as toward the great world-empire, and soon the Church became in the eyes of the Jew heir to Edom (Gen. xxvii. 40). The emperor Constantine completed what Paul had begun—a world hostile to the faith in which Jesus had lived and died. The Council of Nice in 325 determined that Church and Synagogue should have nothing in common, and that whatever smacked of the unity of God and of the freedom of man, or offered a Jewish aspect of worship, must be eliminated from Catholic Christendom."
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=489&letter=C#1631

(excellent article to read completely...
enough to prove my point, so please no lawsuits)

Three Faiths

New York Public Library (http://www.nypl.org/) has an exhibition titled Three Faiths (http://exhibitions.nypl.org/threefaiths/) from 10/22/2010 to 02/27/2011. It's weird that the local government's decided to use tax-payers money on an exhibition on the three religions of Abraham, but I'm glad for this exhibition.

hacking the source code of faith

In a perfect world or rather in a perfect religion, the perfect faith should have the complete and correct understanding who God (whatever name) truly is. In my sole opinion, all religions have this concept partially right and fairly wrong.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam teach us that there's only ONE GOD. At the same time, Christianity also teaches us that God has three persons or rather interpretations (Trinity) -- not three gods in one.

Krishna (my favorite religion or set of beliefs to read about) teaches us that all creatures on earth have some specific purpose to comply with the will of the Godhead. It also gives us the belief of cleansing of the soul by correcting our previous mistakes (repentance, atonement of sins).

Pagan beliefs also tell us that God is in nature as an undeniable a part of nature. This is the same belief of Lectio Divina, in which all creation's an extension of God.

What'd the perfect faith be like? It'd teach us (1) that there's ONE GOD all around us, all knowing, all mighty, (2) that all of his creation or lack of in the cosmos is an extension of God and (3) that this creation works together for a greater good or purpose. We could even see creation as an object in the palm of God's hand. Hence we're one with God and in God.

religious differences vs non-believers

The problem's not so much whatever group of religious differences between Judaism, Christianity, Islam and any other religion. It isn't whose god or interpretation of God is the "true" God.

Belief in the Godhead or its lack of is bigger issue. Nowadays we can't say "God bless America" without some idiot complaining about the word "God."

To make matters worse, non-believers do have their own gods -- money, greed (any or all of the seven deadly sins to be included in this list), Darwin (evolution) and themselves. This is such hypocrisy that punishes believers in order to make this little population of the nation happy.

Other cultures (even those within the US) make constant references to God (Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Krishna, Ra, etc) in their day-to-day speech. This is something rarely found nowadays in US English heavily tainted with political correctness. At least, it's good to know that this isn't true in other cultures.

The Muslim greeting "Salem malenku" is both a greeting and a blessing. The expression means "May the peace of God be with you."

The Arabic expression "Insh'allah" means "God willing" and it expresses the hope that God would allow something to happen. This expression was adopted in Spain as "Ojala."

At the same time, the Spanish goodbye expression "Adios" means "Go with God," which comes from the Latin expression "A Deus." The same remains true for similar expressions like "Adiu" in French. Unfortunately many of the people using this and similar expressions aren't aware of the religious meaning of these words and phrases.

In Hebrew, a person may say "Shalom" as greeting which means "May God be with you." Although Hebrew doesn't have as many references to God in its speech, worldwide most people consider Hebrew as the language of the People of God.

In English (American especially), the expressions "For God's sake" and "(May) God bless you" have rather been changed to accommodate atheists and others. These expressions have changed to "For Pete's sake" (even "For fuck's sake") and a generic "Bless you" or the German expression "Gesundheit," which means "healthiness." Expressions like "In the year of our Lord" are no longer common, but at least it survives in classic English literature and poetry.

At the least, the common expression "(May) Lord help us" or "(May) God help us" is still used as a reminder that this is a nation of believers (82.31% of Christians, 1.77% of Jews, 1.58 % of Muslims; 2006, http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/country_234_1.asp) by many including Presidents.

this old Jewish town

Without a doubt, NYC is a (mostly) Jewish town. Some of city laws are based on Jewish traditions -- like a child's religion being based on the mother's faith.

Today's in Rosh Hashanah -- the Jewish new year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah). The city doesn't seem as chaotic as other days. Many people are on holiday at home or temple.

Well all this doesn't mean that mostly everyone here's Jewish (although a good percent, especially in Brooklyn, Rego Park, etc). There are many religions and faiths. For the most part, most of us get along.

As a Christian, I celebrate Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Christmas and New Year's day -- aside from the holidays that take place on Sundays like Pentecost.

quarreling siblings, just what I had proposed last week

just what I had proposed last week...

"What would be interesting is having a religious complex with a mosque, a synagogue and a church in the same building."
http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/08/quarreling-siblings.html

now on Fox News, the same idea (really cool)...

NYC community board head wants interfaith center to be part of proposed mosque project
"NEW YORK -- The chairwoman of the community board that voted for a proposal to put a mosque near ground zero says an interfaith center should be added."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/30/nyc-community-board-head-wants-interfaith-center-proposed-mosque-project/

quarreling siblings, revisited again

Maybe the opinion of the Mayor of NYC makes sense after all. By the way, I voted for him.

quarreling siblings, revisited

By the way, in response to my previous entry (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/08/quarreling-siblings.html), The Axis of Evil Middle East Comedy Tour (http://www.axisofevilcomedy.com/) is one of the best favorite comedy shows that I've watched in a long time.

quarreling siblings

The whole religious stance of Jews and Christians against Muslims -- at the same time Muslims against the world -- is stupid. After all, these three faiths come from Abraham (a common beginning).

Jews and Christians have gotten along as these two groups have much in common. As a matter of fact Christianity is based on Judaism. Surprisingly Jews and Muslims have not although Judaism is the faith on which Islam is also based. It's basically like three siblings fighting each other or actually two against one -- as if my two sisters, my brother and I quarreled and get in groups to quarrel the other(s).

The problem in all three groups is the fundamentalist idiots who hate and kill using the name of religion as a shield of sorts. As the saying goes, a bad apple spoils the whole bunch. The view of one of these groups becomes negative in the eyes of the others especially since fundamentalists are loud enough to cause the most damage. Abraham would or could be fuming in anger at this point.

"When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world." - CS Lewis
8:38 AM Aug 23rd via web
https://twitter.com/CSLewisDaily/status/21910343402

Said all this, should a mosque be built near the World Trade Center (WTC) in NYC? Yes, a temple (not a complex) would be a good idea. As a matter of fact, a synagogue and a church should also be in the area. What would be interesting is having a religious complex with a mosque, a synagogue and a church in the same building. Of course, at that point the question and fight would be which temple takes the first floor or the area of the first floor each could take. As most siblings, there's a degree of jealousy and stupidity pulling them apart and close at the same time even in a city like New York.



Has anyone really stopped to think what God thinks of this whole quarrel?

that weird thing called the canon

The Christian Bible consists of previously established Jewish texts plus texts telling the story of Jesus. Some books were excluded at will perhaps for challenging ideas or beliefs of priests of the time. Others had previously been destroyed by man, time or nature. At the same time, others were found after the canon was put together like the Dead Sea Scrolls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls), which give us a good picture of Judaism about the time of Jesus. At the same time, depending what main group (Catholic, Protestant, Eastern, Eastern Orthodox, etc) you look at, the Bible may have or exclude some books.

This sort of mix-and-match process was handled under some opinion, discretion and/or will. It makes me wonder what made these people put the Bible together as it was done.

Could the word of God -- as we know it and accept as true -- be incomplete or corrupted by people of the time?

Could we missing great messages from God that some people didn't want us to know about?

without the spirit

Common ideology and theology can be tricky and sometimes hard to accept to say the least.

"Civilization is static unless there is spiritual movement. The soul moves the body, and the living body moves the world. We are concerned about the body, but we have no knowledge of the spirit that is moving that body. Without the spirit, the body is motionless, or dead."
-- "Science of Self Realization"
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

After reading this quote of one of my favorite books, most would think that the author of such book is some sort of Judeo-Christian theologian, philosopher or at least writer. The use of the word "spirit" is so loose in religion that it may refer to the Holy Spirit (Christianity), the spirit of God, a person's soul as a synonym, a ghost or other life force. Hence a Christian might conclude that the author refers to the Holy Spirit. We could understand it as, "Without the [Holy Spirit], the body is motionless, or dead."

The text above is actually from my favorite book on Krishna -- "Science of Self Realization" by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (http://www.iskcon.org/).

The concept of the Godhead is shared by many religions. It was actually reading this book that I understood that all living creatures exist to accomplish a common will of God.

"We living entities, being parts and parcels of God, are dutybound to serve Him."
-- "Science of Self Realization"
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

This common concept explains our function in God's creation. Of course, there are other details in Krishna that don't apply to the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Hence I'm not interested to talk about them here.

At the same time, in the same book we can see the common belief that we must accept God in our lives.

"God is there, and we can see Him at every moment. If we refuse to see God in our life, then He will be present before us as cruel death. If we do not choose to see Him in one feature, we will see Him in another."
-- "Science of Self Realization"
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Once again, it may feel confusing to understand that these quotes that I'm using here are Krishna -- a religion that we -- Christians -- tend to see as Pagan or even ungodly. Of course, at the end of the day there's only one God and we -- humans -- have given Him different names. Then again, Christianity may be derived from the same core concepts of a common ancient and forgotten religion or mere group of beliefs. This latter can be highly rejected by many, but understood by those who aren't too blind or stubborn.

DC vs Marvel vs Image vs Dark Horse vs God

Comic books are an American institution -- though adopted by many people around the world. Most (if not all) children like them and has at least one comic book hero.

On a personal note, my all-time favorite character is The Batman (DC; http://www.dccomics.com/). Others include The Hulk (Marvel; http://www.marvel.com/), Spawn (Image; http://www.imagecomics.com/) and Hellboy (Dark Horse; http://www.darkhorse.com/). In all, I like dark and troubled characters.

Spider-Man (Marvel) is my 9-year-old's all-time favorite character. He likes Marvel super heroes rather than those from other publishers. Nonetheless my son and I watch The Batman and other super heroes cartoons/animation on TV.

Why am I writing an entry on comic books? Well in this godless society of ours, we still have religion or religious overtones in these stories. Although we (the readers) are never told what religion each character believes in. Nonetheless we can assume they represent some level of Judeo-Christian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-Christian) beliefs and principles since most of the creators of these characters followed or were brought either with Jewish or Christian values or beliefs.

For example, Crosses (representation of Christ) and staring at the sky (Heaven) in grief or pain are common in comic books. At the same time, more than one character has said "God" instead of "Gosh" (so politically correct and absurd). Some authors have even thrown in verses of Bible in their stories.

Comics were even used as propaganda during America's darkest hours. In these editions of several comics, super heroes have emphasized old American values like this being God's land or that this nation's protected by God.

Of course, the idea that this (sole) nation's protected by God might be a little too conceited. Yet the idea that this was and hopefully still is a Christian nation's most predominant. This core value's still promoted in comics either to sell these books or simply as for tradition.

Go to http://www.google.com/search?q=religion+and+comics for lots and lots of information on this topic and to http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html for a list of super heroes with their religious beliefs.

too much for my own good

Maybe I analyze religion, its beliefs and practices too much for my own good (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/06/nietzsche-vs-gott.html). Maybe my faith is based on the philosophy and sociology of Christianity more than just what my grandmother taught me as a child (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/05/remembering-my-grandmother.html). In the past almost two years that I've gone to church non-stop (08/2008 to now), I've been reading many more papers on Christianity much more than how much I used to (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2009/01/beginning-before-experiment-circa-2006.html). It makes me wonder if I'm a "real" Christian or merely a reader of theology or simple fool lying to myself. Well only time would tell.

Nietzsche vs Gott (God)

As much as I like Kant and Huxley, I'm deeply fascinated with Friedrich Nietzsche. His criticism on Christianity was and still is dangerous as in the quote below.

"The Christian is simply a Jew of the 'reformed' confession."
- Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist (1888)
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19322

Maybe this is a reason or the only reason why his writings and ideology are highly recommended for anyone interested in theology and/or philosophy. In both, the philosopher was clearly trying understand and explain the social phenomenon that we know as religion (especially Judaism, Christianity & Islam) while pointing out the errors and lies in religious practices and/or beliefs.

In the quote above, he pointed out that Christianity has its roots in Judaism (same as Islam). In other words, Christianity is a mix of Judaism and the teachings that Jesus left us.

Said the latter, the differences between the three religions of Abraham (Judaism, Christianity & Islam) are similar. What he didn't explain is why followers of one religion sometimes fight with members of the others. Maybe it's mere sibling rivalry.

Anyway philosophy (especially that of Nietzsche) is exciting and fun even when it offends us or simply makes fun of us. It forces us to think and reevaluate our core beliefs and principles, which is important if we're to dare calling ourselves "real" Christians. In conclusion, Nietzsche, the biggest critic and enemy of religion, is perhaps the best professor of religion.

one of my favorite books, Maus

If I'm writing about religion, maybe I should mention the bad aspects of religion too.

Let me start by expressing how deeply confused and repulsed I am by the evil during World War II that meant the demise of 1.1 million Jews at the concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz). Perhaps this is why my favorite book that talks about the horrors of Auschwitz is Maus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maus) by Art Spiegelman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Spiegelman).

(picture from Wikipedia; all rights reserved by the owner and/or author, Art Spiegelman)

church as a social club & the Christian poser

in response to http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/22680

A church -- regardless of the religious background -- can be seen as a social club where different peoples can share their personal and unique as well as common "journey of faith" (an expression commonly used by Rev. Dr. Scott Black Johnston from FAPC; http://www.fapc.org/). Therefore the individuals who go to a specific church building or who are part of a specific congregation and/or religious group practice a common religious and/or denominational background and traditions hence knowing what to do and expect in such environment.

In comparison to a social club, a church building should house individuals both searching for God's grace and trying to emulate God helping those in need. The problem comes when individuals act like Christians in church, but continue being everything but in their daily lives. Going to church and/or posing as a Christian for others to contemplate and/or simply bragging to be a Christian doesn't make a given individual a Christian.

I can't say that I'm not in the latter category. I've fallen in it many times and continuously ask myself if I'm a real Christian or a mere poser. Maybe I'm just excessively curious about human behavior and how it's affected by religious beliefs (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Krishna, Buddhism, etc). Am I poser?

during those 13 years away from church

I learned or at least read about Islam, Judaism and even Krishna (http://www.krishna.com/). I've even supported different religions and groups like International Society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON (http://www.iskcon.com/). Well my friends and kin are of every possible religion and/or faith. For example, my mother follows teachings of guru Sai Baba (http://www.sathyasai.org/). My oldest son (a hardcore Catholic since a little boy) freaks out every time my mother makes a comment about this guru.