I had an interesting conversation with a Muslim friend of mine the other night. As I sat in BrewBQ, inhaling my ground chuck burger, I noticed that Omar seemed more stressed than normal. This I found odd as I had rarely seen him with anything but a smile his face. I believe Omar is, in fact, the poster child for the world's "half-full" believers.
Being one that rarely shies away from an opportunity to delve into someone's life, I asked what was on his mind and was surprised to hear that he didn't really know. All he could express was that he was, like me, beginning to see the world as more "half-empty".
After chastising him for allowing me to become a bad influence, I turned to talk to his friend Ahmed as Omar sat in contemplation, the wheels of his mind obviously spinning. When he was finally able to put words to the thoughts pinging around his brain, I realized that I was in for an entertaining conversation.
You see, Omar considers himself devout in his Muslim faith. As such, he takes the word of Mohammed and his faith in Islam very seriously. The Word, as he has been taught, is a very strong voice in his life. Yet, even with this strength of belief, he is always open to hear other's opinions and thoughts; the main reason he and I get along so well.
When pushed to explain where his frustration came from, Omar explained that he had been listening to some Egyptians known as the Light Bringers. What he learned (or, rather, what he was reminded of) was that not all of what he was told as he grew up was 100% accurate. While listening to these Muslims living in Egypt, Omar was surprised to hear that they believed that not all of what was being taught was rooted in the actual words of the Quran. Some of it was simply man's interpretation of those words.
When he researched the actual verses that had been used by devout Muslims to justify behaviors (in the instances he provided: a) that Muslims needed to make the path for Jews and Christians difficult and b) that it was acceptable for a man to marry a child) he realized that the words and ideas he had been taught had either been altered or completely fabricated simply to justify man's wants. This insight lead us into a lengthy conversation about the fallacies of humanity's love of religion.
The reason I found this conversation so entertaining was that this exact concept (that man manipulates words, thoughts and concepts for their own benefit) is something that troubles me about all religions. Throughout history we have been given examples of man's propensity to bend the words of their religions to gain money or power (the Crusades as a simple example). In fact, the most often cited reason for the formation of new religions (Buddhism and Confucianism to Christianity to Islam to Sikhism to Mormonism...) is because each new religion believes that the religion before it has become corrupt.
This belief is, more than anything, indication of what has always been a sad, yet common trend: Human sees humanity struggling. Human "hears" the word of God and creates a religion to express the "necessary" path. Coveting guidance and rules, people flock and said religion grows in power. Human realizes the extent of their power and shifts their focus from education about how to live a good life to maintaining power (usually through the argument and teaching that their religion is the only TRUE religion).
This trend has happened time and time again, and it is a trend that will probably continue throughout the existence of humanity. As it turns out, few people want to acknowledge that every religion, at its core, teaches the same messages; the only thing that changes from religion to religion is who is in power. Even with something as powerful and meaningful as spirituality, the only thing that matters to some people is that they picked the right side.
