by BB Curtis
The making-up stories behavior that starts in early childhood before a child is aware that adults can usually tell the truth from a fabrication generally gets left behind as the child gets older and realizes that lying isn’t getting him/her a positive. However, over the last couple of decades or so I’ve come to see that there’s an inordinately large number of adults who missed that growth phase. I’ll use this as an example because it’s rather easy to fact-check and not politically based. During the Iraq war, this was circulating like hotcakes. I got it in email form more than five times overall from people who didn’t know each other. None of these people bothered to fact-check or even question it, but I did before I sent it out to anyone since it seemed so, I’ll be blunt, stupid. Here’s what the email contained:
“IRAQ – VERY INTERESTING – DID YOU KNOW?
- The Garden of Eden was in Iraq.
- Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization!
- Noah built the ark in Iraq.
- The Tower of Babel was in Iraq.
- Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq!
- Isaac’s wife Rebekah is from Nahor, which is in Iraq.
- Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.
- Jonah preached in Nineveh – which is in Iraq.
- Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
- Amos cried out in Iraq!
- Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.
- Daniel was in the lion’s den in Iraq!
- The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had been in Iraq also as the fourth person in the fiery furnace).
- Belshazzar, the King of Babylon, saw the ‘writing on the wall’ in Iraq.
- Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
- Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
- The wise men were from Iraq.
- Peter preached in Iraq.
- The ‘Empire of Man’ described in Revelation is called Babylon, which was a city in Iraq!
“You have probably seen this one. Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq means country with deep roots. Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible. No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated with it than Iraq. This is something to think about! Since America is typically represented by an eagle, Saddam should have read up on his Muslim passages. The following verse is from the Koran, (the Islamic holy book):
“Koran (9:11) – For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; and there was peace.
“Note the verse number. Hmmmmmmm?! God bless you all, Amen!”
I made numerous grammatic corrections to the text and deleted the threat at the end concerning breaking the chain because I could not reprint it in good conscience in that form. At first, I was mildly amazed that others found all this information new and enlightening. It rather made me wonder what some people were doing in World History class and during church. I did not stop to look up all the Biblical references (at least one of which is a bit loosely interpreted), but I was still stupefied that it appeared that folks in the US just don’t seem to understand that the Middle East has been fighting over the same small piece of land since before recorded history and that every Western European and Middle Eastern “religious” war for centuries has also involved that same piece of land that is claimed by more than three major religions.
Abraham – of both Judeo-Christian and Islamic fame since all three religions trace their heritage back to Abraham – had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, by two different wives. The Tribes of Israel are descendants of one half-brother, Isaac. The other half-brother, Ishmael, is the forefather of the Arabic/Islamic group. The older son, Ishmael, was supposed to inherit his father’s legacy, but Isaac, the younger son, tricked Abraham into giving that legacy to him. Ishmael was banished after losing his inheritance to his younger brother. So, in essence, this is a family feud, which we are still fighting about today – after how many generations [typed with eyes crossed]?
I have read a bit about the Islamic religion, its history, and its values. The teachings of Islam match those of the Judeo-Christian faiths in amazing ways. For the sake of the point of this article, both religions call their God “the God of our fathers” and each purports that their God is the one and only God. Please correct me if my knowledge of family trees is wrong, but if two family lines can trace their lineage back to the same guy, then the God of which each of these religions speaks is the SAME GOD. Since there are restrictions in the Jewish faith about pronouncing the name of their God, I’ll enter it here as YHVH in an effort not to offend. Some Christian groups call the deity Jehovah. The God of Islam is generally called Allah or Al-ilah. In all three religions, though, this deity is known as The God of Abraham. Keep in mind that names are different in different languages. If my name were Peter in England, and I moved to Mexico, people there would call me Pedro, but that does not change me in any way. I would still be me. Calling a deity a different name because of a difference in linguistics does not change the deity.
One could ramble at length concerning the stupidity of the war that never ends; however, suppose that The God of Their Forefathers really has mandated this war, and it’s really not just a human greed and jealousy issue. Maybe this is the way that this deity has chosen to punish his people for their transgressions. Maybe it is His way of ridding the Earth of those who have not lived as He ordained. Could we still be paying for Abraham’s sin of taking a second wife? That is, after all, how this got started, according to the traditional stories passed down by word of mouth before they were written into the holy books by which these religions operate. Is it time to look at this for what it is and begin a new way – the way of love that was the original mandate from The One, no matter what name you apply?
I checked the reference to the Qur’an from the email that I got repeatedly. 9:11 reads thus: “If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, they shall become your brothers in the Faith. Thus, do We make plain Our revelations to men of Knowledge.” I see no comparison to what was quoted in the email. Unless I have issues understanding words, this passage seems to me to say that if anyone shows contrition regarding their sins, prays, and gives the religious entity the proper amount of charitable donation then they shall be accepted and treated as members of the religion. The passage that went wild around the Internet, which is reprinted above, says something entirely different and is a farce. It is propaganda. It is a lie. It was meant to create hatred and havoc. I can guess at the intention of the writer, but it would have made far more sense to tell the truth. Making a bad situation appear to be a prophecy from God is a sacrilege in any religion. It’s called deception, something that is frowned upon by The God of the Fathers. This email should incense American citizens, not give us a false sense of superiority. The email makes it seem as though we are simply living out some prophecy of long ago, giving credence to being bullies — something else that makes Jehovah scowl in displeasure.
I am befuddled mostly by the lack of character shown by those who forwarded the email without thinking for one minute what it could incite. How did I receive this same email (within the space of four days) from five different people who do not know each other and then a few more times afterward? How is it that information can travel through so many hands so quickly and not have someone fact-check a bit? I read a post about growing old a few months ago. I also received it from several people who do not know each other. It referenced the hula hoop and indicated that it was a 1920s toy as if that were the time of its invention. Hooping dates back to the ancient Greeks. British sailors noticed in the 1800s how similar the hooping motion was to the hula dances of the Hawaiian Islanders, and the name “hula hoop” was introduced. The plastic version of the hoop was mass-produced in 1958 as a toy and the name “hula hoop” was trademarked by Wham-O at that time, 150 years later. This is, of course, a far less radical “mistake” than misquoting a holy book; but, just as another example, I looked it up out of curiosity. It took me less than a minute to find out what I wanted to know. Yet, none of the folks who shared that post mentioned that it was in error. We live in an age where information is but a few clicks away; and, although we take our time to read and send these emails, texts, posts, and comments to our friends and families and the random public, do we ever question their veracity? Do we ever wonder who wrote them and from where the information came? Are we curious enough to take one more step and see if what we are reading and sending is of real value or serves any positive purpose? As you can see, this has been an area of interest to me for twenty years – longer but I didn’t save all that stuff. The Internet is truly a miracle. Are we using it for its intended purpose – The Information Superhighway? That was what it was called early on. I don’t think so, and I am in awe.
Think. Question everything. Be well. Be informed. Don’t believe everything you read, see, or hear. Investigate and learn. Grow and evolve. Become more than who you are right now.
Blessed be
Bobbi
Sources: https://www.alislam.org/articles/judaism-christianity-islam-common-tradition/
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2747610/jewish/Ishmael-Abrahams-Other-Son.htm#:~:text=Abraham%20had%20two%20sons%2C%20Isaac%20and%20Ishmael.%20Son,but%20ultimately%20he%20repented%20and%20was%20considered%20righteous
https://quran.com/
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