I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...
... why do we all cling to our labels, sometimes with such fervor in our desire to each be the ultimate arbiter of what is "right", and often to the detriment of greater humanity?
[Urgent Notice -- I want Joy and Whoopi to stay seated throughout this post. And, also, no fatwas please for speaking my mind.]
I watched an intriguing documentary on NGeo today called "Inside the Koran". What looked like a well balanced description of how various factions interpret this religious document led me to see certain themes. To those of you who believe, I apologize in advance for what may sound like an oversimplification of an incredibly diverse practicing people, but ...
... the Shiites believe more in saints and in the need for an intercessory to relate to a higher being (sound like the Catholics and the Pope to anyone?) and the Sunnis believe in more of a personal connection with their God (partly the cause for the Protestant revolution?)!
... fundamentalism is fueled by extremists who are funded with petrol dollars (heard a far right leader of his flock press for copious amounts of cash recently?) who have "translated" the Koran as fits their cause as they insert more parentheticals than I have in one of my typical posts (and how many versions of the Bible have there been through the years?) and who have turned the Wahhabi sect (from which many of the modern day terrorists have sprung) into the mouthpiece for radicalism (Fred Phelps, thy middle name is Wahhabi, perhaps?)!
... the Sufis have split off to embrace the mystical side of Islam (red string Kabbalah for anyone?) being certain to work in song and dance to their worship sessions (belt it out at the Baptist church much?)!
So what's my point? Travel as much as you can. Seek out others unlike you to engage in discussion and dialogue with them. Research, with an open mind, about things which you don't understand. And, without a doubt, be ever vigilant for extremism (both from within and on the outside) ... because history is riddled with the deaths of the innocent, those who blindly followed a false cause, and those helplessly caught in the middle.
And just know, that when all is said and done, there is more that binds us together than there is that tears us apart.
ANOTHER REVIEW OF THE "MUST-SEE" DOCUMENTARY:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/reviews/article_1421482.php/Nat_Geo_s_Inside_The_Koran_a_must_see_documentary_Aug_5
THE OFFICIAL SITE:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/inside-the-koran-3466/Photos#tab-Overview
IF THE BLACK STONE OF MECCA IS A METEORITE, COULD IT BE KRYPTONITE?:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/saudi-arabia/mecca-kaba
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