I visited the Auschwitz-Berkenau Nazi death camp the day after Christmas 2 years ago with a friend. It was sobering. If I ever think I am having a bad day, I will remind myself that even my worst days would have been a relief for the victims of the extermination camps. Most of the photos which I took speak for themselves.
One picture we were not allowed to take was of the room behind a glass wall filled with nearly 2 tons of human hair.
My mother taught me to never say anything bad about someone that you wouldn’t want them to say about you. And so it is with religion as well. I could find lots of mean things to say about other religions, but I choose not to. I appreciate the freedom to express an opinion, even if it is mean, profane, ignorant or just plain stupid. But that right doesn’t make me immune from consequences.
Religion is a wonderful thing for many people. It gives meaning to their lives. It unifies people. It often brings out the best in humanity. But it can also warp some people to commit crimes in the name of their religion to justify darker motives. This is an old story.
However, no one deserves to be murdered for simply expressing an opinion about a religion with a cartoon, regardless how offensive.
While I may have the right to express a negative opinion about the Prophet Muhammad, I don’t believe it serves any greater good to do so. Therefore, I will say something positive about some of the world’s major religions.
Buddhism: I appreciate that you get more than one chance through reincarnation to finally get it right and achieve enlightenment.
Hinduism: I like how the progress toward enlightenment is measured by the karma you accumulate based on good and bad deeds in life. Islam: I respect that Muslims believe in one creator who is just, omnipotent and merciful and, by submitting to God, believe they will return to Paradise after death.
Judaism: I like that Jews believe in the inherent goodness of the world and its inhabitants as creations of God and do not require a savior to save them from original sin.
Christianity: I am amazed that nearly one-third of the world’s population views Jesus Christ as a teacher, a model of a virtuous life, a revealer of God, and a saviour of humanity.
Atheism (not technically a religion): I am impressed with people who can live good lives and not believe in a God at all.
{WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURE}
My dear friend Mary Lou was house sitting the past few days and experienced some unnecessary drama. Tragically, Evangeline, one of the hens in the back-yard chicken coop, froze to death. She never made it into the new year, but lived a good life in 2014.
Quite fortunately however, Mary Lou discovered some scratchings on the floor of the coop and was able to copy and decipher the scribblings. As best as she could determine, the chirography appears to have been Evangeline’s New Year predictions in no particular order of importance:
I actually hope Evangeline is correct on some of these! We will just have to wait and see if that old girl knew what she was clucking about.
epicrambler 