7 Comments
User's avatar
Ron Chism's avatar

To borrow a term of exasperation used by our Yiddish brothers and sisters [No pro-Zionist sentiment implied, incidentally], Oy vey!! I say the following out of my personal exasperation, not (I hope) out of some self-perceived sense of.....what....."brilliance" on my part? I mean, how "brilliant" does one have to be, after being smacked upside the head with "the obvious," in order to see massive injustice? Well, anywho (as my childhood friend, Ralph, would say).....

Had I known, in the third grade, at Corpus Christi Grammar School, what I had learned later, by the age of 18; and had I expressed that knowledge in Religion Class, Sister Mary Holy Water would have asked the Archdiocese of Chicago for the services of an exorcist to come to Corps [nickname for Corpus Christi. How appropriate: Corps] to drive "the Devil" out of my captured soul.

This article is....of course, dead on target. Yet, it scratches the surface, unless he talked, elsewhere, about the Christian religious components that created Zionism: Puritanism, Millenialism, and, later, Dispensationalism. And that ain't "indirect." The Christians created Zionism before the "Zionists" even existed.

What an historical mixture!!! Christianity, British imperialism, colonialism, global racial supremacy, Jesus-and-Mary-burning-in-hell-in-a-pot-of-excrement Rabbinic "Judaism," all added together to create a "Racist, nuclear armed, violently delusional," State [and state] of "Israel" that has the very real potential to bring an instant end to all life on earth--plant, insect, animal, and human. Oy vey!!!!!!!

Qur'an mentions the "Hotimah." It's the small particle that Allah would cause to "open up" and engulf everything. I think I need to go back [not that it would do any good] to read if that verse, or the ones preceeding or following it, has any reference to Bani Israel [the "Jews."] Oy vey. 🥴 Or maybe I should just stick to my piano music lessons, and stay disconnected. Learn me some "Listen here," by Eddie Harris. Yeah. My headphones arrived, from Amazon, yesterday. Space-out time!!!

Expand full comment
Nana Baakan Agyiriwah's avatar

I left a link to Michael Smith's blog, you should go check out some of his other stuff. I think that religions are the problem. Folks should just be spiritual and leave religious ideology over there. If you have to take stuff out and move stuff around, then it is not wholistic enough for me. There is no one religion better than another. There is no one religion superior to another. They are all mind controlled tools. That's my humble opinion, Ron.

Expand full comment
Ron Chism's avatar

Nana, I need this outlet. Sorry. I need to speak at length. I agree with you. No preaching here. I gotta talk about my experience, though, 'cause I want you to know that.

Nana, I wholly respect your opinion. And that respect is partially rooted in my own experience, both as a Catholic for 14 years and as a Muslim from 1975 to this very second. Wanna know why [in my opinion], though every other term in Qur'an is translated, but the word "Islam" isn't? Because (in my humble or not so humble opinion), the translators, either consciously or subconsciously, wanted to create a new religion. So, rather than translate the word "Islam," they transliterated it. That gave it the sense of being something new--which it ain't.

I ain't no scholar. So, I can't prove my little theory in scholarly terms. But, I been watching Muslims since '75. And they ignore the verse that says, "The Jew, the Christian, the Sabian--Whichever from amongst these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day shall have their reward with their Lord."

Some "Muslim" once told me this: "You see, my brother, when Allah said 'the Jew, the Christian, the Sabian," he was talking about the Jew, Christian, and Sabian that had converted to Islam." Oy vey!! 😡

You see it Nana? When He told me that, I wanted to say, "Bullsh*t!" If they

"converted," as he saw that word, then they ain't a Jew, Christian, or Sabian anymore, right? Sooooo, Nana, I stay to myself. I stay to myself. Sorry for the length. Sorry, sorry, sorry, but I gotta talk.

What pushed me away even more, so that I keep my beliefs to myself, is the day I took Dee--a Lady of the Night that I eventually pulled out of The Game--to the Mosque, and the "brothers" were clearing their throats; literally wringing their hands, and all that crap. That did it for me. I mean, damn, she was dressed properly. It wasn't like she was on The Strip with everything hanging out. My big brother had taken two off the streets in Detroit, and raised them up. I don't know, I guess it's in our family.

The one I took off the street, after 9 grueling months of simple friendship [She asked me, after 9 months, to help her get out of The Game] went on to great success in life as a real estate person, sending her daughter, with her legitimately-earned dough, through college to graduation. I cried happy tears when I saw her "walk," as it's called, across the stage to pick up her degree formally.

I thought about how "walking," on the streets, meant Ho'n. But there was Nee-Nee [I'll call her], walking to get her degree. Where were my Muslim brothers? Why didn't they come? Why? Why didn't they come? It was an Allah moment, wasn't it??!!! Damn straight it was.

Anyway, enough of my bitching. I live my "religion," or whatever one wants to call it. And I can see the bullsh*t. Like, "Muslims," in Iraq, throwing homosexuals from roof tops to their deaths, Nana, because it was claimed, without proof, that they did The Nasty. Well, Nana, Qur'an says that if someone is accused of committing The Nasty, there has to have been four witnesses that saw it. That can hardly ever happen. So it was Allah's way of telling people to, "Mind your own damned business!!" At least that's how I see it.

Also, Rasolulah allowed the homosexuals to say their prayers in congregation with eebody else. Why did that change? And who changed it?

Oh, but no four witnesses needed in Iraq!!!!! They just turn their backs to that verse, so they can "be Muslims" and throw a homosexual from the roof. And then holler, "Allah-u-Akbar!!" F*cking assholes!!! 😡 I've seen the "religious" shit in Sanatana Dharma ("Hinduism"), Judaism, Christianity, Islam, you name it. I was born in "The Deen," as Qur'an says: "You are born Muslim [meaning, in submission]. But it is your parents that make you a Jew, a Christian, or a Sabian].

Nana, human beings can f*ck up anything. That's why I stay away from them. LOL!! Well, I'm only half-joking.

Guess what, Nana. I worked for the Baha'i Faith the last 10 years of my work life. The chump that fired me was an African Baha'i from the Congo. [Apparently they didn't get the message in the Congo: "Black lives matter!!!"] And everybody [although I knew it] told me it was for nothing. He was just a known a**hole. The Ni-qq-uh came all the way from the Congo just to fire me. Tell me about Black Power.

Labels; Slogans; Symbols. It's like George Carlin said: "I leave symbols for the symbol-minded." I got no problem with who you are, Nana. I respect you even more than the average "religious" person of whatever religion. My daddy called them all, "hypocrits."

Expand full comment
Nana Baakan Agyiriwah's avatar

Ron, for a large part of my life, I would make sense of the contradictions by saying look at the book not the people who claim to follow it. Then I took a long hard look at the book myself and a long hard look at the followers and then another hard long look at the book and came to the conclusion... no wonder every thing is all over the place. You have to live in a constant state of cognitive dissonance in order to follow any of these "organized" religions. I have a hard enough time staying sane in this crazy world. So again, I think that organized religions were designed to create hierarchies and control the masses. I want to live like the animals do, in tune with the natural law of nature. Commune in the Divine Essence without the trappings of manmade laws and conscriptions. But that's just me. You do you, and hey, I will am happy for you!

Expand full comment
Ron Chism's avatar

You might know a sister named Naimah Latif. I met her in 1986. We became engaged. She was Christian when we met. Even though I was Muslim, I went to her Church with her every Sunday--Reverend T.L. Barrett. The dude could jam on the piano and could really sing! Aside from supporting her, that was the other reason I went: entertainment.

Anyway, she decided to accept Islam and join Ahmadiyyat. It would be said that I "converted" her, though I'd never tried. She was too independent for me to be tryna "convert" her.

Eventually, we broke up. But we're still friends. Over the years, she came to the same conclusion that you just outlined for me that you came to--exact same conclusion and exact same words you used. She says that she keeps her Ahmadi friends. But she's moved on, as you have.

Even when I was what they call "active" in Ahmadiyyat, I simply was never an "organization man," though I wrote five books, all of which, in one way or another, referenced some about Ahmadiyyat.

On scripture content, I won't box with you on that. My thang is cool peoples. And yooza cool peoples!!! 😊💃🧡🌷🙏 That's great for me. Ain't too many cool peoples on the set, so I cherish the relationship. I think you know one of my ace boon coon friends: Charles White. I call him Naz.

Expand full comment
Nana Baakan Agyiriwah's avatar

Yep, Chaz bombards me with videos on Whatsapp. LOL. It’s like he’s your other half but instead of words, I get videos. LOL

Nope I don’t know Naimah Latif, but she sounds like someone I’d like to know.

Expand full comment
Ron Chism's avatar

Well, you're lucky. He sends me emails; forwards stuff from a female activist I think he wishes was his (Johnstone?); sends me videos. Charles is cool. He's a genius in electronic stuff. Can "play" is ass off (Kung Fu expert). Sometimes writes more than me.

Expand full comment