Bishop Spong’s Critique of the Traditional Christianity

re: tesah # 10

``has come to face a challenge to its own existence due to the onset of the global village``

Islam shouldn`t take the blame exclusively. Belief in only-my-theism of any variety becomes untenable the moment travel around the globe becomes fairly easy, and no one only-my-theistic minority can militarily impose itself upon religious majorities.

Unless violence and demographics rescue them soon, only-my-theistic ideologies are bound to become anachronistic in the eyes of more and more informed people.

A very good critique of Christian Dogma, which can also be applied, mutatis mutandis, to all Judaistic religions including Islam but to what avail as each religious truth claim exists in a reality constructed by itself. The world of religion is a make-believe world like the play of children but the question is can we do without it even as rationalists or ‘Aarifs’in Islamic terms. The great Aarif, Ghalib, says: -

Bazeecha-e-ittifal he dunia mere aage
Hota he shaboroz tamasha mere aage
Ik baat he aourange Suleman mere nazdeek
Ik khel he ehjaaze Massiha mere aage
And again:-
Kia woh Namrood ki khudai thi
Bandgi mein mera bhalla nah hooa

And Iqbal says: -

Sach keh doon ae Brehman gar too bura nah mane
Tere sanam kade ke but ho gae purane

And Josh Maleehabadi says: -

Momin nah kare sajda to muslim nah rahe
Aur aarif jo kare sajda to kafar ho jae

The fact that Spong can still claim to be a Christian is due to the fact that he lives in a society which has adopted a culture of ‘enlightened moderation’. The religion, which is active today with extremist and terroristic tendencies never witnessed in history before is no other but Islam. Islam which was inherently a religion of conflict denying any coexistence with the non-believers (Kafirs) has come to face a challenge to its own existence due to the onset of the global village which has deprived the Muslim world its existence in isolation so as to make it face a do or die situation. This had to come sooner or later as prophesied by Allama Iqbal in his couplet: -

Jaanta he jis pih roushan batane ayyam he
Mazdikiat fitnae farda naheen , Islam he

Let us see how this `Fitna` ends up.

Dear raazi:

Yes I meant this ``to apply generally to all beliefs - including Islam.`` According to Socrates, ``The unexamined life is not worth living,`` and I believe in this maxim.

Regards,

Mohammad Gill

Mr Gill - A very interesting article, thanks for the useful summary.

Your conclusion and the general gist of Spong`s thesis points to a more general issue:

You state in your conclusion :

``...Purely from a rational viewpoint, such candid criticism should be welcome; it provides incentive for the theologians to ponder seriously on dogmatic belief and attempt to make religion more realistic in whatever manner they can...``

I take it that you mean this to apply generally to all beliefs - including Islam. In which case how much of this kind of `rationalist critique` is evident amongst muslims ? And if it is, to what extent are new interpretations which may contradict traditional interpretations (Quranic or Sunnah) voiced or tolerated ? I would say very little (indeed they would more likely then not be charged as blasphemous) but please correct me if I am wrong.

Would be very interested to hear your and other peoples view on this

How to deal with a `rationalist believer`

Lafangi: According to Time magazine, you are a rational person who believes in evolution and rejects miracles and inconsistencies in the bible as not the word of God..

Bishop Sponge Bob: Yet I wear a watch to bed..

Lafangi: Umm, what does that have to do with what we are talking about?

Bishop Sponge Bob: You see, I have this need to keep time ALL the time. I don`t think, as conscious human beings, we can go about our business unaware of the time of the day..

Lafangi: I kinda agree with that although I can imagine some people not keeping time and still being able to function and some others can have what is called a mental clock.. but what does this have to with you being rational?

Bishop Sponge Bob: I was just explaining my primal urge to keep time and how I do it. It is important to me that my watch is accurate otherwise I`ll be seriously out of synch..

Lafangi: Do you wear it 24/7?

Bishop Sponge Bob: Nooooooo, only when I am naked. When I am wearing clothes, I don`t need to wear a watch.

Lafangi: I`m almost scared to ask why..

Bishop Sponge Bob: Because I know the time when I am wearing clothes. When I am naked in the bathroom or when I sleep, that`s when I need the watch.

Lafangi: I wish kaka was here to pursue the questions in that direction, but lemme go back to the reasons why you criticize the bible as inconsistent and old fashioned.

Bishop Sponge Bob: You should check out my book `http://chowk.com/show_article.cgi?aid=00004486&channel=university%20ave` for details. But in short, in the Bible there are conflicting accounts of creation, conflicting versions of the Ten Commandments, conflicting understandings of who Jesus is and was, conflicting details concerning what happened on the first Easter, conflicting views on the meaning of Pentecost, and even on when, or if, the end of the world will come. There are concepts in the Bible that are repugnant to the modern consciousness. There is a vicious tribal code of ethics that prohibits internally behavior that is actually encouraged in dealing with outsiders. Moses was a murderer, but this was not a character flaw because his victim was an Egyptian (Exod. 2:11 ff)…Adultery was said to be evil, but both Abraham and Isaac tried to pass their wives off as their sisters, even though this meant having them sexually used by Abimelech, king of Gerar (Gen. 21:1-18; 26:6-11)…Captive peoples, if spared from death, were reduced to slavery. Captive women were used for sexual sport by their Hebrew conquerors. Judah treated his daughter in law Tamar as a prostitute and then proposed to kill her when she became pregnant (Genesis 38)…God appeared in some passages to be not only a nationalistic deity but also as a sadistic one who delighted even in killing the first-born in every Egyptian household (Exod. 11:4-6),” (10). So on and so forth.

Lafangi: And yet you believe that you can tell time by wearing clothes.

Bishop Sponge Bob: Listen, fifty years ago my grandfather gave this antique clock that I keep in my basement. It is an exquisite artifact that is dear to my heart. But do I go by the time that it tells me?

Lafangi: Err.. is it because it`s broken?

Bishop Sponge Bob: Exactly! You are smart! Why do you hang out with that imbecile kaka?

Lafangi: Because he goes well with the rest of the furniture.. khair I hope you realize that even your broken clock tells the EXACT TIME TWICE A DAY!

Bishop Sponge Bob: That is a facetious argument. My watch keeps pace with the rest of the world. All that antique clock does is just stay the same way, and obviously the time will eventually coincide with WHAT it SAYS AT SOME POINT! After all its a cycle..

Lafangi: Bishop Bahadur, it was a joke for godssake! But it made me think about something deeper.. you know, how even static things get it right just out of luck or is it because the history tends to repeat itself.

Bishop Sponge Bob: Exactly! Suppose if the face of the clock, instead of numbers and hands, had neon lights and potpourrie in it. It wouldn`t be able to tell time even once!

Lafangi: Such wisdom! In my family of watch-wearers, some of us keep our watches ahead by 5, 10 or even 15 minutes. But I still don`t get the part about you believing that you can tell time just by wearing clothes.

Bishop Sponge Bob: As long as the watch is moving, it is OK but nobody should go by a broken watch. That is just insane!

Lafangi: You are still not explaining why you would take off your watch when you get dressed. Why not go all the way and KEEP THE WATCH ON All THE TIME so that you know the time all the time..

Bishop Sponge Bob: It is not a superstition.. It makes sense from the point of view of someone who needs to wear clothes to go out.

Lafangi: Abay, who is saying not to wear clothes. Why not keep the watch on All THE TIME if you need to keep time All THE TIME! Why are you claiming that you don`t need the watch while you are wearing clothes. Not that I am saying that you need to tell the time all the time..

Bishop Sponge Bob: I am not saying that people who wear the watch all the time are doing anything wrong. They have their own reality to take care of. It does make sense to wear it, but I don`t need to wear it while I am clothes.

Lafangi: Bishop BhosRi-kay! Why are you being so rational and everything and still keeping this indefensible belief!

Bishop Sponge Bob: Why is that such a big issue anyway? How does it harm anyone if I keep believing in this? I believe in human rights, women`s rights, evolution and I also make sure that my caesium watch is kept accurate by Greenwich Mean Time which is the standard in the world.

Lafangi: You are not wearing any watch right now, since I see you are wearing clothes. What time is it right now?

Bishop Sponge Bob: It is daytime right now, I can also tell you that it`s night time on the opposite side of the globe.

Lafangi: ullay kay paTThay, I am going to look at my watch right now as you tell me the exact time.

Bishop Sponge Bob: If you are going to go by the objective exact time in seconds and milliseconds, then it might change as I speak right now.

Lafangi: Bishop BhaRvay, the exact time is what right now...?

Bishop Sponge Bob: Nobody has all the answers to each and every qestion. Daytime is the right time to look at God`s creation and think about how wonderful it all meshes together.

Lafangi: Oh my gawd, its already 5`o clock. This interview took too long. I gotta ask you a last prepared question.

Bishop Sponge Bob: I was gonna say about fivish too. Anyways, what is your question?

Lafangi: After all the criticism of bible and mircales within it, are you still a Christian who believes in God and Jesus?

Bishop Sponge Bob: Yes, I do. It is sometimes daunting to maintian faith in face of the objective reality of science but my faith is totally different than, say, how my grandfather`s faith was. He used to take the Bible from off the top of his big antique clock and read it every morning. He actually believed that the Bible was the literal word of God. Haha.

Lafangi: I think it`s kinda cool that you have maintained your faith in God and Jesus even if you criticise the Bible the way that you do.

Bishop Sponge Bob: Thank you. Don`t you think it`s kinda cool out here today. I should have worn something warmer today..

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Nikki beti,

aap bahut samajdar baatain karti hain.

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