Love and Brotherhood

Yes, Love (and its usual manifestation, Forgiveness) heals and transforms the persons and situation involved whereas Hate reinforces and perpetuates the status quo. Siddartha Gautama profoundly understood this dynamics and advised his followers to abjure hate and violence. 

Muhammad understood it, too, contrary to the stereotyped portrayal of him and his followers by those Christians and Zionists who have an obvious agenda. In fact, the concept of Mercy features strongly in the Qur'an. It was Muhammad's practice of Mercy that accounted largely for the mass conversions in the early days of Islam. Only after two Jewish tribes treacherously allied themselves with other Arab tribes with the intention of killing Muhammad and his followers, despite their agreeing to a special covenant with Muhammad not to take arms against him, did Muhammad order the surviving adult male members put to the sword after their ill-fated alliance with the like-minded Arab tribes ended in abject failure in the battlefield. After this treachery of the Jews, Muhammad stopped praying in the direction of Jerusalem (as an acknowledgement of his intellectual debt and his beliefs in the Old Testament) and turned to the direction of Mecca, his birthplace, instead. 

Fairly or not, this attempt on the life of Muhammad by the Jews and their complicity in the death of Jesus of Nazareth, as well as the daily conduct of most Jews, that earned them the enmity of Muslims and Christians. Anti-Semitism did not just arise out of thin air. 

For those who really want to understood Love and Brotherhood, Islam could be an answer. The ideology and brutal behavior of present Islamic extremists do not represent mainstream Islam, just like the ideology and behavior of the Crusaders during the Middle Ages, of the Nazis and the Japanese fascists during first half of the 20th century, do not represent mainstream Christianity and Buddhism.  

If I am not a diehard atheist, I would embrace Islam in a heartbeat. As much as I love its powerful message of Love and Brotherhood, I couldn't bring myself to accepting its nonsensical doctrinal copy of Judaism and Christianity. I don't believe in God, in Judgment Day, and in an afterlife. I only believe in this very life, the only life I ever have; in Love's healing and redemptive power; in fair play and karma; and in my ability to pursue facts and truths. 

Yes, sometimes certain painful memories come back and remind me of my youthful immaturity and impetuosity, but I don't regret for falling in love with certain women who turned out to be even less loving and kind-hearted than me. I made mistakes and I sm learning from them. I was stupid and not a keen reader of the human heart. 

Love is Love. One must keep on kissing a lot of frogs before finding a prince. Yes, like Desiderata says, Love is perennial as grass. Despite the heartaches and pains and disappointments it may bring, it is the thing that keeps us going in this hard, lonely world. I believe in Love and continue looking for it. My heart is always open for its possibilities. Yes, I agreed with the message delivered by both Siddhartha and Muhammad.