Freedom of Music

Somalia radio stations are forced to stop broadcasting music because of new Islamist ruling. Many people are upset about this law as it has been a tradition in Islamic culture for quite awhile now.  Is this going too far?  Is there anything in the Qur’an that says that music is wrong?  I guess I cannot be the judge of that because I do not know much about the Qur’an.  I just want Islamic people to answer their own question?  Why are they doing this and how will it benefit the Islamic tradition? 

I myself have seen music used as an act of worship.  It brings people joy and sometimes sorrow but for great purpose of bringing out emotions that might not otherwise be expressed.  That is why music is a key part of worship in Christians’ faith life as well.  An overwhelming gratitude for God can be expressed through song which is difficult to express any other way for some people.  God uses many different forms of worship to speak to his people and music is defiantly one of them at least from a Christian perspective.  But let the individual person be the judge of that.  It’s such a small issue that Islamic rulers shouldn’t even both spending the time on even thinking about it.  It is like if all of a sudden Christians were only allow to listen to Christian music, well that should be up to the person on whether secular music hinders their walk with God then they can decide if they shouldn’t be listening to it. 

                Then again all cultures are different and one must put that into account.  Their culture is probably less individualist than ours and it is important to come to a mutual agreement  on the subject so one can support one another.  We must remember that what is good for one culture might not be good for another.  I myself have to remember that when I am judging another culture that I am not accustomed to. 
 http://www.canadaka.net/link.php?id=57150    

Earthquake and ‘Boobquake’?

A bunch of students try to prove theory from Iranian cleric that if many women dress immodestly than the chance of earthquakes will increase as well.  In order to prove that the hypothesis is correct Jen Mcreight is gathering a bunch of followers to on a certain day put on their most scandalous clothing for the day.

Well God has revealed his wrath before; I mean look at the great flood or Sodom and Gomorrah.  God did reveal is discontentment then.  These instances did happen because of the corruption of the people.  Although I doubt God would spend time sending earthquakes to a bunch of women for wearing skimpy clothing.  It just seems too silly to imagine.  There is so much evil in this world there’s no way God would just focus is anger on just one kind of ‘evil’.  I feel this is just something that some parents made up to scare their young teenage girls into dressing more modestly.  Most Muslims are pretty good in that compartment; better than most individuals anyways.  God does not just focus on one kind of sin and then choose to punish those who commit it.  The entire world is full of sin, not one person is free from it.  We all deserve punishment but the final judgment will more severe than an earthquake.  It will be the scariest most frightening disaster on earth.  We should be afraid of it because it will be a sign to us that Jesus has come back and he will decide if our faith lives up to his standards.         

http://www.canadaka.net/link.php?id=57477

A Sudden Policy Change

A rental car company called Hertz suddenly suspended 34 Somali Muslim shuttle drivers for praying on company time.  The workers said that they were not aware that the policy was changed.  Hertz spokes man said that it wasn’t about getting more money it was about the time limitations at the job and they were not meeting the proper time slots.

Muslims are required to pray at least 5 times a day, at least that’s the observant ones.  What do I have to say about this you may ask?  Well I know one thing if I was in that situation I would just quit.  It’s just like the Christians and asking for Sunday off so you can go to church.  The job just isn’t worth it.

Some of me says hey why can’t they pray and work at the same time.  Well what’s important to me may not be important to you and what’s important to you may not be important to me.  The point I am trying to get across is that each religion has something that is vital to their “faith”.  For Christians we find church very important to our growth; for Muslims it’s prayer although don’t get me wrong Christians use prayer daily as a way to communicate with God. 
 http://www.canadaka.net/link.php?id=72079  

Religious Freedom

To what extent does religious freedom end?  That is a question on everyone’s mind after the German Government has banned the practice of circumcision on babies.  The claim is that circumcision can causes bodily harm to babies .  They say that the surgery is un-necessary because it is more of a personal preference than an actual emergency where it is necessary for the baby to have a surgery for their own well being.  Many critics of circumcision also mention that the baby does not have choice in the matter of circumcision because they are too young to know if they want to join the Jewish or Muslim faith to begin with.  I myself thing hey if they want to circumcise their children let them do it, they have been doing it for this long.  The other part of me does question the free will thing and I will tell you why in a second. 

This issue reminds me a lot of what the Christian faith calls Infant Baptism.  Many Christians are in great conflict over this subject because just like circumcision, infants have no choice in the matter of being baptized and symbolically being welcomed into the Christian family.  Some may say that infant baptism is just an invitation into the family but the child or adult can still choose to accept or reject it. Is it just a matter of deciding what the symbol means to each individual person? Well maybe it’s just a personal choice that each parent has to make and will they suffer consequences for it, I don’t think so.   Is it just the technical term that is making people upset?  I do know one thing though, I don’t think baptism is causes any bodily harm to the babies.  Well can least rest assure of that.

Article from:  http://www.canadaka.net/link.php?id=75736

Best of Friends

What does a black Christian mayor, a rabbi running for Congress and a Mormon university president have in common?  Not much that is for sure.  This has to be the most interesting article I have encountered since I have started these blog postings.  These men do have one thing in common though, a deep love and respect for each other despite the fact they do not practice each other’s religion.  I was just talking to a friend the other day of what it would look like for all religions to stop fighting but to unite and get along with each other.  Now sometimes I think I do not know what that will look like.  I mean is it the fact that we can say to each other, ‘let’s agree to disagree but I still love you anyways’, or is it much deeper than that.  Well for one maybe we should actually know something about the other religion before we fight against it.  I thought it was pretty cool that as friends with one another they were willing to teach and learn from one another freely, it shows great humbleness.  The article claims that through their friendship they were able to build and interact with more people of that faith if they just saw them walking along the street corner.  There worldview has been widened by being challenged to think about life in a different way then what they are used to.  Religion if devoutly followed changes a person’s way of life but if a person just knows about that way of life how can they step into someone else’s.  They can listen and learn so that they learn how to connect with the rest of God’s people.  God did not intend on everyone living separate lives from one another but full and interactive lives. 
From CNN News Website.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/30/despite-fights-about-its-merits-idea-of-american-exceptionalism-a-powerful-force-through-history/

Religion and Slavery

Religion and Slavery

In this article three of the most popular religions are being critiqued on their stand on slavery.  Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have a controversial history from their founders for not having a clear standing on objecting slavery.  Jesus never expressed his opinion about slavery but most Christians would say that he didn’t have to because the rest of his actions showed that he would never be for such an idea.  Now when it comes to Judaism, in Moses time there were many of God’s people in the Bible that had slaves but they were instructed to not mistreat them.  Did slaves back than mean the same thing as they do now; is it still the same context?  Probably not, I hope this article is not on a outsiders perspective because if one does not study the scriptures in a hermeneutics fashion they might misinterpret what is actually being said.  Same with Muhammad’s teaching, I do not know much about it but can we assume that Muhammad had slaves, not unless we have proof.  Muhammad did say that freeing slaves was an act of piety.

            Maybe the history of slavery was a very rocky slope at the time and maybe it was a symbol back then, a symbol for our slave to sin.  I mean God did say that after we disobeyed him in the Bible that life would get harder and maybe slavery was a part of that.  I do think that God knew that we could get out of it, that with his help we can learn to not be a slave to sin.  All these religion figures that we looked at had one thing for sure in common, they followed God.  So I do believe that Moses and Muhammad tried to follow God and maybe at the time slavery was not ready to be abolished yet.  Jesus on the other had since Christians consider him to be perfect in his deity then he knew exactly what he was doing when he did not say anything about slavery at least in scripture.

Buddha

Buddha

Recently an artifact was discovered from archaeologists searching through the ruins of a Buddhist monastery in Afghanistan.  Surprise it was a stone statue of prince Siddhartha.  If you do not know who that is, it’s the founder of the Buddha faith.  It was said that this statue was a depiction of Siddhartha before he created Buddhism.  His Dad did not want him to see what the real world looked like because he knew his son would be burdened by it.  Sure enough once Siddhartha did adventure out of the palace on his own he was burdened b all the pain people had to go through.  Apparently it was noted that when Siddhartha came back from adventuring out he was pessimistic about the world around him.   

            It is when he abandoned palace life that the real story began.  He became a poor man who only grew more and more in his knowledge of the world that many started to follow him.  Before he founded Buddhism it was said that people followed him like cult worship.  I’m assuming it was a deep respect for Siddhartha that brought people to follow Buddhism in the first place.  People are looking for something to hope in somewhat on their own terms.  Also Buddhism advertises inner strength than relying on someone else that may fail you.
link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47722249