The "Promised Land" is a metaphor for peace. Otherwise it's meaningless.
The "Chosen People" are the helpers, as Mr. Rogers would say.
In times of need, "Look for the helpers."
A former colleague in Chaplaincy at Correctional Services described the Arab world as experiencing their Dark Ages. He was Christian Evangelical. We'd just had an info session about Islam he didn't attend.
When I read "The Minaret" I was drawn to its pared down simplicity, the rituals and practices. Here in Ottawa I was on the bus when a clutch of women in hijabs got on, laughing and carrying on, off to a community center to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
It struck me how different it is, the communal celebration, lots of families, vs the Christmases celebrated in individual homes.
The difference I see is cultural, not religious, shaped by geography more than anything else.
We think we're not still in the Dark Ages but clearly we are. So what if we can read. Fascists world over just use old works of fiction to convince their adherents to kill and be killed for territorial gain, beating their chests while proclaiming superiority over other men, raping women and killing children.
Meanwhile, Christian Evangelicals think Donald Trump is the Chosen One, Russian Orthodoxers think it's Vladimir Putin, Stephen Harper thinks it's himself.
It's madness, I tells ya. Madness. A world gone completely stark-raving mad.
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