While reading a report on rises in violence against Muslims, I was struck by the feeling that I had when I read "Peter and the Wolf" as a child and the lesson that is part of the story. I felt sorry for Peter and in my child's mind cam bubbling up the question, "He was telling the truth. Why didn't you believe him?" I still wonder why.
Then again, I had not lived through the decades where I became all too familiar with the lies the government -- and my family -- told me for my own good. I still do not agree that lying is the best policy, but the best policy is not what tripped up Peter when he lied the first time. It was fear. Fear is at the heart of every lie, big and small, and why those who know the truth go along with the lie, a new version of the emperor who has no clothes.
Though we don't know it, and often don't find it out, most of the reality we allow is based on lies . . . and has been from the beginning. The lies begin with how Man came to be and how man owes his allegiance and submission to an All Powerful God. The names change as do the manner in which we pray and how often we pray. We get our visions of God from artists who chose people in the street to paint to serve as the model for our views of God and the prophets, sybils, Adam and Eve. The same is true of Hell and damnation, burning in a fiery pit for all eternity, a concept I could not understand and would not believe because I had not read Dante where he created the circles of Hell and who is tortured and punished at each level. Artists, poets, and writers fashioned the very Heaven and Hell we believe in. The artists and writers and poets of antiquity used their imagination to create the horrors and the pleasures that await us and we accept them because the ones that stick with us, the visions that remain, were fashioned by the most adept and most talented among us. We accept them, marvel at the visions, and take them with us through every hour of every day and night . . . and they are all lies. We base our whole existence on the pretty lies because we are creatures of mind and fear and we fear the punishment we deserve when we believe in the tenets and pronouncements of our leaders and teachers, parents and wo/men of faith who have fashioned the path we are to follow. Gods' retribution, Gods' punishment for disobedience will be swift and terrible and the rewards great . . . if we believe. And they are all lies.
Taqiyya is one technique that is part and parcel of one branch of faith. Taqiyya is codified and is a keystone of the Islamic faith that allows adherents to lie to a friend or a foe secure in the knowledge that Allah will forgive. If the kaffirs (unbelievers) fall for it, so much the better for Allah and his followers. After all, everyone lies and everyone believes the lies even after they find out the truth. Look at all the countries where taqiyya has helped carve out a space for the adherents and faithful followers of Islam to understand how taqiyya works. If the kaffirs fall for it, so much the better. The kaffirs will either convert to the true religion, to submit themselves to Allah, or they will die and water the earth with their blood.
A child brought up in a devout household learns taqiyya and knows to lie to unbelievers, to kaffirs, and to keep the truth for only the submissive and devout Muslims who taught them taqiyya. A child learns taqiyya at the earliest moment of life, imbibing it with the mother's milk and reinforced with the father's and siblings' pride or condemnation. Children are natural liars and will use their Allah-given gifts to perpetuate the lies. In this modern world with cameras on every phone in every pocket, lying comes easily and frequently and the warm feeling that suffuses the body when submitting to Allah's will to further the cause of jihad and the earthly Caliphate are reward enough -- as long as the ultimate reward of Paradise will also warm you on cold nights for your loved ones after you have gone on to enjoy the virgins of Paradise and the warmth of Allah's regard.
Jesus Christ and Yahweh also promise their obedient followers a paradise of their own devout belief that will fade when the Final Battle is fought and the true and faithful warriors have been raised to Paradise to Gods' reward on a mountain of the skulls of kaffirs and sinners and Jews upon the bedrock of taqiyya. How could the unbelievers be fooled? It is Allah's will.
When all is based on lies, what can we do but continue the lie and deceive the followers so they will not lose faith?
That is all. Disperse.
No comments:
Post a Comment