To the Totchwower spies: I'm going to save my comments to you until a few days after this piece of the puzzle is posted. I will be laying down a challenge then, wherein if you do NOT take it up, it will strip you naked in the eyes of all who read it, including even the heavens. They will see clearly that you are NOT servants of Jehovah as you claim, but faithful servants of Satan instead. If you want that reputation, then all you need to do is to continue giving the Apostate's Answer, namely the hostile silence that you maintain whenever someone brings your wrongdoings to your attention, followed - when pressed, with name-calling and slander.
But now for the second part of "The Uniter"
The Uniter
Part 2
Who to Blame
Down over the centuries we humans have been carefully brainwashed into believing that sin is the result of some inner defect for which we, and we alone, are responsible. Endless guilt trips have been imposed on us by the religious clergy as they threaten us with hell fire, brimstone and other dire consequences if we do not "behave" ourselves and follow their every instruction, and that these, of course, would be inflicted upon us by the God of Abraham himself. Worse, it has transformed Him in our eyes from a loving god into an austere, vindictive god who would gleefully take advantage of our slightest defect to seek revenge.
This has left most of us with a sense of hopelessness and despair, for if we are so fundamentally flawed, what can we do? Why try?
It raises a question that doesn't occur to most people. One of the purposes behind Satan's words to Eve back in the Garden of Eden was to demonstrate that the God of Abraham, Jehovah, had messed up when creating mankind and is therefore imperfect. (See The Uniter - Part 1 http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216396/1/The-Uniter-Part-1-It-was-sent-with-my-Declaration-of-War) Just as some sports fans taunt the opposing team, "Overrated! Overrated!" so Satan has continually played up this apparent "mistake" that he says Jehovah made. The question then, is a simple one: If indeed we are so fundamentally flawed, then didn't Satan tell the truth in claiming that Jehovah made a mistake when he created us?
That leads to a further question: If Satan is a liar, then would not this teaching that the clergy has been cramming down our throats, be nothing more than a continuation of this original lie, one that he is still maintaining? How can we reconcile these questions? Where does the truth lie? Let's get a little more evidence before we make up our minds.
Jehovah's Mercy
As this is covered fairly well in A Role for Humankind (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216507/1/The-Importance-of-Freedom-of-Thought) there is little need to go into it in a major way here. Nevertheless, the question stands as to why such things as the Ransom Sacrifice, etc. should have been provided. If we are indeed as bad as we are made out to be, why would the God of Abraham (aka: Jehovah - See Exodus 6:3) care? Apparently he sees something in us that we don't.
One question that He would likely take into consideration would be whether our imperfections were deliberate - or if they were imposed upon us. Let's illustrate:
Taking Advantage of Our Instincts
Some things are common to all of humankind. King David expressed one of them well in Psalm 139:14. "I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware." Who of us has not looked at our life and body and wondered "How?" and "Why?" at the intelligence manifest in its design?
Another would be the stunningly beautiful arrangement for a man and woman to fall in love. Songs and poems are extent in all races and languages where men and women have tried to express their awe at its breathtaking beauty.
And what of the products of that partnership? What society in this world does not treasure their children?
These three things go to the very core of the reason for our existence, are considered sacred, and human beings of all kinds will do everything in their power to preserve them, even sacrificing their own lives if necessary.
Satan knew this and decided to capitalize on it. If he can create a threat to these things we hold sacred, he can force us into doing horrifying things. How? By keeping us ignorant of each other's humanity and pitting us against each other. Why? So that he can keep pointing to the resulting violence and saying, "See! They are flawed. Jehovah screwed up."
Once violence and injustice start, it is hard to stop. Each group's value system teaches them that they are "The People", and indeed, many of the names that the tribes of the world call themselves will translate into those very words in their native language. The trouble with this is the unspoken implication that if they are indeed "The People", then everyone else is something less and can be expendable if necessary. This devaluing of other people is part of the head trip Satan inflicts upon us in order to keep us in constant conflict with one other, as well as enables us to justify it in our own minds.
In this way, our ancestors were kept endlessly preoccupied with safety. They constructed walled cities and built on the tops of mountains in their efforts to protect themselves and the priceless treasures the God of Abraham had given them, safe from those who would pillage and rape and kill. Then came the siege engines and other methods to breech those walls, until finally explosives made them useless altogether.
So other methods were turned to. Huge armies and technical weapons of all sorts, from submarines to satellites to atomic weapons - those are only a few. The trouble is, each new weapon is only effective temporarily. Soon, some counter measure makes them obsolete.
By now we've reached a point where defenses no longer mean much. If we want to kill someone, we can. If others want to kill us, they can.
Furthermore, the world is tied together in so many ways that while a certain place may be someone else's country, the things they do within that country affect all of us. You could say the ship is much smaller now, and there are more of us. So genocide like the Holocaust and in Uganda, affects us all. So does air and water pollution, the repression of people causing floods of refugees, the drug trade, and any of a hundred other things have made it so that it is everybody's business what goes on in other countries. There's no way out of it anymore, like there has always been in all other eras of human history. There is no place of refuge left.
The bottom line is that we have no choice as to whether or not we face the original cause - the differing value systems - and that means dealing with religion itself. If the devaluing of other peoples and nations continues, these factors will force us into a conflict that will make World War II look like a Sunday School picnic - and we will be fighting the wrong enemy.
Two Case Histories
But this head trip that Satan inflicts upon us - let's examine it a little more.
A friend told me her story a while back. It was heart rending and made one think about the implications behind it, for again it makes one feel that there must be some fatal flaw within us.
One day when she was just a little girl of about 7 years old, a man of another race came in her house when no adults were there to protect her. He then proceeded to torture her by pressing lit cigarettes against her bare legs. Her father walked in and caught him. Without hesitation, he shot and killed the man on the spot. He later stated that it was like shooting a dog.
The story is disturbing on many levels. Part of it is understandable. What that man did went far beyond the pale. The fool figured her father was a coward and would run frantically in the other direction - and paid for his miscalculation with his life. In reality, he got what he asked for.
Nevertheless, what would possess a man to so coldly and deliberately injure a helpless child? That takes no courage and it is a disgrace to anyone who would do such a thing, regardless of culture. It is without honor of any kind.
Another situation comes to mind that is even more horrifying.
Some years ago a young man and woman fell in love, got married, and had a son. Years passed and the son grew to be a young man himself. One day the father and son tied up the mother, threw her in their vehicle and drove into the deep woods where they dug a hole in the ground and buried her alive. At one point they were starting to fill in the hole but the mother was struggling to get out and wiggling her head around. That complicated matters, so the son used his foot to hold her head down while he threw the dirt in on top. She was soon dead.
It would be easy to write these two men off as monsters, as mere psychopaths who have no consciences at all, and it would be nice if we could. However, what they did next increases the horror. They went home and called the police, confessed the entire thing, and even took them out and showed them the grave.
Later during trial they gave no defense and never explained why they did it.
When looking at this from a profiler's standpoint, there is only one thing that fits. Her conduct had apparently been such that they both felt it necessary to sacrifice the rest of their lives in order to rid the earth of an abomination. Then once that was accomplished, they felt that they themselves had become unworthy of associating with normal human beings.
Both cases are haunting. How is it that one man can do such a thing, but another man, perhaps even his own brother might be a fine, loving individual? Why the difference?
Character is a factor of course, but there must be more. The best immediate answer could be a combination of the memories of past injustices, along with an intense feeling of hopelessness and despair. These can overwhelm a perpetrator with rage, and like a wild animal that feels trapped, he will lash out. These are the most common factors in the mass killings that have been happening the past few decades, from the gunmen who walk in stores, workplaces, and courthouses shooting in all directions, to the kids shooting up their schools, to the men (and a few women) who kill their entire families and then themselves.
But there is something else here, something that is much bigger. One can sense its presence but can't put a finger on it, like a word that is on the tip of our tongue but can't quite grasp, and the harder we try the further it slips away. What is it? It is this uneasy feeling that Satan wants us to have: that there is a fundamental flaw within the human race itself. He knows that many of us will buy into this deception and conclude that it's hopeless to resist. In the resulting despair we will resort to similar conduct, and the vicious cycle continues as it feeds upon itself.
And that is exactly what he wants.
The impression events like these force upon us - that we are fundamentally flawed - is in error. Let's go back and look at this situation again.
A Deeper Factor
One man wrote a piece he called, "My Girl" (to be posted soon) about how he had found inspiration and joy in his wife. One passage is relevant here. He was enthralled with the astonishing inner beauty of his young girl when she expressed her innocent desire for children. She couldn't have explained why she felt that way - she just did. Therefore, he felt that he was seeing more than just the girl. He was also seeing our Creator's handiwork in her, and through this window he could see the beauty of the Creator's qualities themselves.
Through this we began to realize that maybe we're looking at the wrong things here. Instead of looking at a grown man who burns little girls, look at the innocent little boy he once was, for THAT was the way the Creator made him. He used to be a little boy with big eyes who found himself in this wonderful new world with myriad things to taste, touch, and explore - and that was all he was interested in. He was like all little boys everywhere. He had no desire to hurt others by burning them or by any other method. He just wanted to play and explore.
But he grew up and did hurt her. What was it that made him change to the extent that he would do such a thing? He obviously had come to view others as being like dogs too, as having no value and therefore, expendable.
Then again, instead of looking at a father and son who would bury the mother alive, look at the beauty of the marriage arrangement (that the Creator himself invented) that they tried - and failed - to live up to. Then ask yourself who or what created the conditions that were so horrible that they felt it necessary to became monsters in their own minds. (Keep in mind that this applies to the mother too, for if she was indeed horrible enough that her husband and son felt it necessary to kill her, what were the factors that caused her to become that way? She too was an innocent little girl at one time.)
Perhaps the thought at 1 John 5:19 should be mentioned here: "We know that we originate with God, but the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one." Not only does Satan have the motive (simple survival) to keep us at each other's throat, but he has the opportunity too, for he is controlling the environment in which we must grow to adulthood. He deliberately nurtures an environment that will spawn unnatural conduct and corrupt the innocent.
So instead of doubting our own worthiness, perhaps we should look closer at the silent testimony that these creations present, for through them we can come to know His personality as well as realize that the fault lies elsewhere. Sure, we are sinners, but that does not necessarily mean that we are damned. Otherwise, He would not have arranged for the ransom sacrifice. Remember Paul's words?
"For what I am working out I do not know. For what I wish, this I do not practice; but what I hate is what I do. However, if what I do not wish is what I do, I agree that the Law is fine. But now the one working it out is no longer I, but sin that resides in me. . . . I find, then, this law in my case: that when I wish to do what is right, what is bad is present with me. I really delight in the law of God according to the man I am within, but I behold in my members another law warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive to sin's law that is in my members. Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from the body undergoing this death? Thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:15-17, 21-25)
Now we have two witnesses, the Bible and the creations themselves that testify that, while we may be in bad shape, the true fault lies elsewhere. Otherwise, the Creator would not have made any arrangements for our rescue at all.
Something else should be mentioned here. While what is written above applies to us as individuals, it applies equally well to all peoples and tongues of any kind. What culture or race is it that does not appreciate and treasure the innocence of children and the beauty of the man/woman relationship?
Isn't one of the most exquisite buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal, best described as a prayer written in white marble to thank the Creator for the beauty in form and spirit that a man saw in his wife? Apparently he too realized that when he looked at her, he saw more than the creature; that he was also seeing the qualities of the One who had made her, for once it was built, he said:
"In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory."
(See Taj Mahal in the Wikipedia)
A Counter Attack
According to the Bible book of Job, there was a time when Satan entered into the heavenly court and taunted the God of Abraham about a man's desires, implying that the only reason he would serve his Creator would be for personal gain. (Job 1:8-11) If the hypothesis in The Outline is correct, the reason for that taunt is obvious. Satan must maintain the fiction that our Creator made a mistake when He made us, and therefore mankind prefers his (Satan's) way of doing things. If he doesn't, he dies, for this unanswered question is the only thing preventing him from being executed as a traitor.
If it was possible for a human being to stand in that same court, (Who knows, perhaps it is. Does not Isaiah 66:1 say that the earth is the God of Abraham's footstool? How much more front and center can one get?) how good it would be to take our stand and give our human answer to that question! We could approach it in this manner:
"Our heavenly Father" (or however He should be appropriately addressed), "your opponent, this little self-styled 'god' who claims to be your equal; this one who is commonly called Satan the Devil - but is more accurately described by one interpretation of the name Beelzebul , 'The Lord of Dung' - has claimed that we human beings prefer his ways of doing things to yours, and his way of ruling over yours. Worse, he claims that we prefer his ways because you made an error in the way you made us. He then points to our wars, hatreds, and strife as a proof of that claim.
"We maintain loudly and clearly that he is a liar and that he has stacked the deck in this matter, in the same way as he did to our ancestors Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
"We would like to submit the following specifics for the court's consideration:
- That he has done everything possible to prevent us from knowing you and your ways, to such an extent that much of what we know of you comes from the study of your creations themselves.
- That even though we love peace and beauty, he continually arranges things so that we have to fight one another in order to prevent the beautiful things you have given us from being destroyed.
- That he has kept us ignorant of one another so that it will be easier for us to believe that our brothers are evil.
- That he has kept us ignorant of you and your ways by arranging for the religious organizations who claim to serve you, to feed us flawed and incomplete information instead.
- That he has constantly imposed such hideous conditions upon us that we experience overwhelming hopelessness and despair. Due to that, many of us give up and surrender to conduct and methods that we detest, and that includes those times when we don't even know your ways. We just hate his.
- That he endlessly 'spins' the good to be bad and the bad to be good, thereby keeping us in a confused fog where we don't know what is real and what is not.
"We would suggest, then, that all of his claims as to our 'preferences', and his accusation that you erred in the way you created us, are bogus, for no fair and proper chance has ever been given us to even know the specifics of this question, let alone weigh the merits of both sides.
"Therefore, we submit a petition to this court by paraphrasing Satan's own words to you in his challenge concerning Job, as recorded in Job 1:11, to wit:
"But, for a change, thrust out your hand, please, and touch this individual who has made such claims.
- Force him to back off so that we can formulate an answer that is from the heart and is not coerced.
- We already know everything he has to offer - all too well - and it stinks. So please give us access to an accurate knowledge of you and your ways so that we can clearly see the contrast and make an informed decision.
- Make him shut up and sit down, so that we can concentrate on answering this question instead of endlessly fighting simply to survive. He has already given all the testimony he has, and there is no need for repetition.
"In Proverbs 27:11 you request of us to give you an answer to the one who is taunting you. Please, grant us the request above and see if we do not give you an answer that will ring in the ears of all creation until the end of time."
In the most sacred of Muslim shrines, Mecca, there is a ritual performed by the pilgrims during the Hajj. It is known as the Stoning of the Devil, wherein they throw seven pebbles at each of three walls that represent the devil's temptations.
It would be nice to know if the Sons of Ishmael would be interested in joining their half-brothers, the Sons of Isaac, and others like us, in taking a more direct action against this "Lord of Dung". They too should have the opportunity to give their testimony.