So this is what I do in math class.

The idea that randomly wormed its way into my head is basically this; that if we didn’t believe in an afterlife, or second or third lives, we would never let injustice go as far as we do now. We would take to the streets and fight tooth and nail because this is all we we’ll ever have and this life right here is what we have to make the most of. The idea of an afterlife keeps people sedated, just put up with whatever’s thrown your way in this life because after all there’s a “perfect”, eternal life waiting for you. Grit your teeth and try to stay comfortable as possible where you are, there’s no point in bringing on even more hardship on yourself trying to “fight the system” when it’s temporary anyway.

Yeah the injustice is horrible but the people perpetrating the injustice will be punished “in the end” after all. I think the idea of divine justice carried out at the end of time by an almighty God (Allah, Jehova, whatever you call Him) plays a huge role in the amount of tolerance of injustice people have. It is human nature to want fairness, have you noticed how kids will make a fuss about the tiniest imbalance of scales but as we grow older we’re told more and more to “let it go”? We suppress our rage, we suppress the restlessness that is a result of oppression, and we suppress it because God’s gonna make up for everything later. Just stay put now. And if we don’t directly suffer ourselves, we feel as if though our “duty” against injustice to others in humanity is lifted off our shoulders because, again, God’s going to put them in Paradise for their suffering and those who made them suffer shall go to Hell.

Can you imagine, just for a second, if everyone suddenly stopped believing in religion? I don’t think anyone would be able to “tolerate” unfairness anymore, or just settle for “comfortable as possible” throughout this life. No one would yield to the the tyrants because why the fuck would you let them take the only thing you’ll ever have? And I think people’s need for justice would propel them to go after the few making life for the majority hell and make sure they suffer. It wouldn’t be pretty.

Now I’m not saying religion itself teaches us to be docile in the face of oppression, in fact many teach the opposite. Many religions preach the importance of justice and fairness and the right to fight for what is yours. But as the reality of the world is that many injustices go unanswered for and there is suffering caused by nature not just man, religion promises us compensation for these and I think that that has the negative side-effect of people becoming complacent. And I don’t just think that it’s the “idea” of an afterlife and divine justice that keep people down but also the fact that religious leaders teach you prayer > action. Worship the dogma, forget the principles. Pray to God that your injustices will be forgiven and those that are unjust to you will be punished. Instead of trying to eradicate wrong in this life, let’s let it be answered for in the next. Which, I think, is all completely bullshit, if religion preaches against injustice, and you truly believe in that religion, then should you not be trying your damn hardest to be true to the principles of your religion and fight against the oppression? I think the reason religious authority always conveniently leaves that part out is because then you might become a threat to their very own authority. It is the people in power, religious as well as political, that need to subjugate to keep their higher standing. If people were to realize that perhaps we need religious education and principle more than religious authority and dogma then maybe we’d overthrow those who garner power and wealth hypocritically under the banner of God.

Finally I understand that there are other things that keep people complacent; entertainment, materialism, hopelessness etc. etc. but I honestly think this underlying belief of something better later is a huge factor that keeps people in inaction. This was just me rambling about it from one viewpoint, what are your thoughts?

verbalresistance:

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities annexed 76 dunums of land from a village east of Bethlehem on Thursday, local officials said.

Head of al-Khas village council Khader Hamdan said that the land was taken on the basis that it is absentee property, the official PA news agency Wafa reported.

Villagers had not been able to access the land since 2007 due to the separation wall, he added.

Landowners have submitted an appeal against the decision, Hamdan said.

When the 435-mile barrier is complete, 85 percent of it will have been built inside the occupied West Bank. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that the separation wall was illegal and “tantamount to annexation.”

Ma’an

Land taken by Israel on the bases it was unused —> land was unused because it was cut off from its owners by the (illegal) separation wall Israel built (on Palestinian land)…

I can’t…. how can you justify… Just -

readyokaygo:

Pro-Peace, Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine, Pro-Democracy, Pro-Justice, Pro-Human Rights.

The group almost has 50 members from Tumblr that are Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Israeli, Christian, atheist, etc. We get together and engage in dialogue on inter-faith issues, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Middle East (Iran has been a HOT topic lately), Israeli and Palestinian culture, sometimes we speak a little Arabic and Hebrew. It’s a great group and I highly recommend you join us. Chances are you have Tumblr friends who are already members!

Do it. Though you have to abide by our constitution, we have recently discovered this thing called democracy ;p

If Joseph and Mary were making their way to Bethlehem today, the Christmas story would be a little different, says Father Ibrahim Shomali, a parish priest in the town. The couple would struggle to get into the city, let alone find a hotel room.

I might have to puke.

Again, I can’t believe I’m repeating this again but is it really that hard to say that extremists and ignorant people are the cause of terrorism? Is it that hard not to bring Islam into it?

When somebody else commits an act of terrorism a new religious term isn’t invented for it (and rightly so) so why are Islamism and Islamist terms (that immediately cast a negative shadow over the entire religion because these negative connotations have the root “Islam”) but there’s no such thing as “Christianist” or “Judaist” to imply extreme factions in Christianity or Judaism- it’s because acts of terror from those groups are not associated with the religion and rightly so.

So can we please hold individuals to account for their own actions and not condemn entire (huge, 1.5 billion people huge) groups?

morganbrie said: Exactly. The actions of one cannot represent the feelings, motivations, or actions of the whole, and just because someone claims to be a Christian or a Muslim (or w/e) doesn’t mean they are acting in a way corresponding with those values. You rock :)

♥ Hey atleast from this we learn that there seem to be more sane people than the bigots- I’m sorry if I missed anyone’s response =/

…

There’s this one part where a man is showing this conference type of thing a picture from his visit to Jerusalem and in the picture he’s photoshopped out the Dome of the Rock and replaced it with Solomon’s Temple and he goes “So we got rid of that gold thing” and the whole room starts laughing and clapping.

And I’m sitting here like “…”