All A Matter of Faith

First in a new series:

This is not about belief in a particular religion, prophet, savior or teacher; but, rather, the faith that a man or woman places in that thing or things which they claim to believe. Strange as it may sound, almost all events, conflicts, and policies can be traced to faith, or the lack of it. Join me as we examine the world's hypocrites, rogues and religious imposters.

First stop, Iran. This seems only appropriate as mullahs rule the country and its people with strict adherence to their brand of Islam; and are engaged to the idea of a nuclear Iran. They want the bomb. Does anyone seriously believe a country that sits atop some of the world's largest oil AND natural gas reserves (the two most economicaly feasible energy sources known to man) would want or need to spend resources developing the most expensive and dangerous form of energy? They want a bomb. There should be no doubt.

Personally I would not mind if Iran had a nuclear missile or two, as long as the country was controlled by the Iranian people, and not a radical band of religious hypocrites who only clothe themselves in piety to lend some hint of legitimacy to their rule.

You can read about the "new rich" in Iran and realize the hypocrisy of the mullahs. You can do a little research and discover that Iran's unemployment rate is easily three times that of any country (except for France and the third world). You'll also discover that Iran has a very young population. All of which bode ill for any ruling class. The young especially despise hypocrites. When there is little hope for fairness, there is greater chance for rebellion.

Adding to the hypocrisy of the mullahs, we find, inexplicably for men so holy, a tremendous lack of faith. The mullahs claim to have formed an Islamic Republic and have endeavored, endlessly, to export their divine providence. They are the hand of Allah in the world today. Yet they must forcefully shut down newspapers, arrest those with different views, and drive their people like cattle under an Islamic whip.

Is Allah so weak that he must close Al-Jazeera; so feeble as to need the mullahs to disallow opposition candidates from running against them? Truly men of faith would welcome all unbelievers, explain the beauty of their beliefs and let nature take its course. A man of deep faith would allow the world to run against him in an election, confident in his god and secure in the faith.

What kind of god needs to be enforced with a gun? What god is so frail as to fear his opponents? Either you truly believe, or you just use a god to advance you own agenda.

What I am saying, is that God is God. While he may use people according to his divine Will, the older you get, the more you realize that those who loudly claim to be doing God's will, seldom are. Rather, it is by the quiet march of its disciples that a religion truly advances. The way the adherents live their lives, the way they interact with non believers, these are the honest testimonies of any God's people.

1 Judge not, that ye may not be judged; 2 for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.

12 Therefore all things whatever ye desire that men should do to you, thus do *ye* also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.