Monday, September 04, 2006

My Religion is Kindness.

By: Maged Taman

I loved this simple phrase of the Dalai Lama "My religion is Kindness". I was always kind myself in all my life. Kindness is a beautiful negative moral. It means that you are a very benign and harmless person. You may take a lot of unpleasant abuse, oppression and pain from a lot of mean-spirited people and a lot of time you may let it go because you are dissent or they overpower you. In the contrary to "The Dalai Lama kindness religion" a lot of people their religion is "being mean spirited". Their primary religion could be Islam, Christianity or Judaism or any other religion. If there is a morality per capita equation the Jews will be the most moral. This is at least my experience in United States. Of all Jews I met there were only two mean spirited and prejudice I recall, one I met in New Haven,CT and one in Providence, RI. For Muslims I had hundreds of mean people I met when I was in my country. In the United States I would guess I had may be 20-30 Christians. Mean people wait to cause you pain at any potential window. They usually do it to the kind who is less likely to cause them pain. Like good people who enjoy doing the good, mean people also enjoy doing harm. In both the good and the evil there is enjoyment. The means are stupid they listen to their demons and cause the world to be more hostile and they carry a lot of sins when they meet their God. The reasons to be mean are a lot including being prejudice, jealous, inadequate or prime-evil. There is no law to persecute the means. In fact the person who is mean to you is your boss, co-wroker or a family member who overpowers you so you are less able to revenge. The good thing we have a day of judgment that we will face all the means. Until this comes we have to spread morality vertically. Being mean is another form of Injustice that fills the earth now. The means main skill is to pick on people to humiliate them. Some are well experienced and talented in that. It is most dangerous in schools when some students are picking on a vulnerable student causing him outburst of violence. With guns available to a lot of Americans it ends in a deadly shout out. Since it is difficult to spread morality horizontal we would need a new political and moral systems that insure the most dissent in the political positions regardless of their faith. We need the baseline of religions morality and kindness to prevail. It is amazing when you see some of the Arab tyrants come to the United States pretending to be very polite and they would torture any one stand in their way in their countries. My religion is Kindness like the Dalai Lama but I want it to have it as a positive moral. This means most people will follow the kindness of religions. So if you are mean you will be the one who is in fear and danger and not the opposite. Kindness should not be regarded as weakness. When this happens you will not find means and bullies in the schools, the political scene or anywhere. We will be able to strike the ruthless with the rod of our mouth and with the breath of our lips we will slay the wicked. Then the wolf will be a guest of the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid.Maged Taman.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Zaman International: Conference of Al Mahdi.

Committee Letter In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

“And We desired to bestow a favor upon those who were deemed weak in the land, and to make them the Imams, and to make them the heirs. And to grant them power in the land.” (28:5-6)
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatollah,If we look at the world today, we observe that oppression and injustice have escalated to unprecedented levels. There is no sign indicating a change in this dreadful course. However, as all divine religions and great intellectuals have foretold us, the reappearance of the universal savior is drawing closer day by day. The reappearance of Imam Al-Mahdi, the 12th Imam of Ahlul-Bayt, is inevitable, and according to many signs, it may be imminent.
As the Holy Qur’an and the copious traditions of Ahlul-Bayt have expressed, we must make the effort to know the Imam of our time. We must become familiar with him, for we will be asked about him in the grave and on the Day of Judgment. Our answer will determine our final destination.
How much do you know about your Imam? Do you know enough about your leader to claim you are his follower? What can you expect from your leader, and what does your leader expect from you? Why did he disappear in the first place and when will he reemerge? What do other religions say about him? The answers to these questions and many others are crucial to one’s success in this life and in the afterlife.
In order to establish a closer relationship with our master Imam Al-Mahdi, we humbly present the “While We Wait” conference. The purpose of this conference is to understand Islam from a new, unique and complete perspective. It aims to create an educational and interactive environment in which our primary responsibilities are outlined and discussed. As the time for the reappearance of the awaited savior, Imam Al-Mahdi, draws closer, how have we been preparing? The conference serves to provide the opportunity for a higher level of learning taught from the window of Imam Al-Mahdi—a new and unique window that will portray the amazing beauty of Islam and extract its hidden treasures.
“While We Wait” is the perfect place to start from scratch and compensate for all those years we have abandoned our responsibilities towards Imam Al-Mahdi. It is an opportunity to make up for our shortcomings with our leader. Furthermore, it serves to assist us in determining what our priorities are, how we can cope with living in the west, and how to remain steadfast in the face of modern challenges.
Participating in this event, which will be set around the date of Imam Al-Mahdi’s joyful birth, is the first step towards demonstrating support for the Imam. World renowned speakers will impart their knowledge and expertise. The conference will have numerous workshops and breakout sessions so you can share your thoughts and ask questions that help you understand the concept of the savior better, and understand Islam in greater depth. Do not miss out on this exciting event that will celebrate the birth of the universal savior who will revive the earth by filling it with justice and equity, after it has been filled with injustice and oppression. Save the Date……“While We Wait”
WassalamConference Committee
www.zamaninternational.org