In the Name of a God - Part 1

Do you pray? Do you get down on your knees every morning and every night, put your hands together in front of your face, bow your head, close your eyes and pray? Do you clear your mind of all other thoughts except for that channel that express mails your prayerful requests and declarations to your supreme higher power, and then, and only then, do you clique the send button that is in your head? If you do, what address do you send your prayers to?

What is the name of your God? Does your God have more than one name? Do you have more than one God? ? Are you willing to publicly declare the name of your God? Of your Gods? What if I demand that you declare the name of your God, or Gods, and what if you were to be faced with the fact that if your God (s) did not have the same name as mine you would be punished physically, mentally, financially, publicly, and horrendously?

Before you decide to stop reading, let me tell you that this is not a silly exercise in "what ifs". The fact of the matter is, the government of Malaysia is faced with this very question, and it is serious business in that country.

This week, the people of Malaysia were attacked when Islamic terrorists on motorcycles lobbed Molotov cocktails into three Christian churches. The reason for this attack, as claimed and justified by Islamic clerics and adherents who number more than 60% of the Malaysian population, was that the Catholics, and Christians in general of Malaysia, have been using the word "Allah" when referring to their God.

Let me make sure you understand this. The Islamic population of Malaysia, for the most part; The religious majority in the country of Malaysia, is enraged that people who are not of the Islamic faith have been using the word "Allah" to refer to their (non-Muslim) God. Not only that, but they are so upset about the misuse of the word, their word, that they feel that having several of their young toughs act as religious henchmen and deliver what is essentially just a first warning to stop using the word in the form of fire bombs thrown through the windows of 3 different churches is the right thing to do. I probably don't need to tell you that these churches are, of course, the houses of a God, or Gods, worshiped by a fraction of the fraction of the population in Malaysia who are non-Muslim.

If you, my avid, beautiful, thoughtful, and greatly appreciated reader, don't find your info seeking and unusually attractive head spinning from the inane idiocy of these acts and stupendous criminality that has been perpetrated against everything dear to the freedom loving humanity in the people of Malaysia, worry not. I will delve into the issue in greater detail in my next article.

For the time being, however, let me just tell the Muslim aberrations who are attempting to vociferously and violently claim the word, "Allah", for their exclusive use that I have been sitting with my G-d all morning as I researched this issue, and if I were you, I would seriously reconsider my position, get down on my hands and knees, and pray like hell.