Connecting to Islam Through My Native American Roots

Logically, I cannot understand how the followers of any religion can have such unwavering blind faith in religious texts and practices and not question any corruption or contradictions. It seems the majority of true believers trade their critical thinking skills for exchange of feeling of belonging to the group, becoming the metaphorical and literal sheep. One of my favorite quotes was on plaque in my high school junior year history class that read, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is my belief that religious people do not remember corrupt leadership of the past and keep repeating the same mistakes in following the same leadership style over and over, like sheep being lead to slaughter.

I believe organized religion may look good on paper but when humans get involved then manipulation is used to satisfy their religious leaders’ lust for greed and power which contradicts the very beliefs the religion was founded on. Many religious founders seemed to practice what they preached, however, once they die, the leadership that follows seems to travel the road of corruption in order to maintain or gain additional power (Armstrong, 2002). Historically, wars have been fought, assignations committed, persecution of other religions, land conquered, and even beliefs changed over time to fit the needs and wants of the current leader over the common good of that same leader’s own people (Esposito, 2011). These corruptions are not isolated to solely the Old Testament era; even current religious leaders abuse power. I can recall the headlines I have read in Yahoo News over the years about Christian televangelists who have stolen money from church donations or committed adultery, to Catholic priests sexually assa...

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... of that religion that relate to parts of me that I hold dear. If we all had that better understanding and connection to one another, then we would move closer to understanding and peace between all people, no matter their tribal affiliation.

References

Armstrong, Karen (2002) Islam: A Short History New York: Random

House, Inc., ISBN-13:978-0-812966-18-3;

Esposito, John L. (2011). What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, 2d. New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN-13: 978-1-60927-041-4

Robinson, B.A. (2008) Native American Spirituality. Beliefs of Native Americans,

from the Arctic to the southwest. Religious Tolerance.Org. Retrieved from http://www.religioustolerance.org/nataspir3.htm on February 22, 2012.

White-Kaulaity, M. (2007). Reflections on Native American reading: A seed, a tool, and a weapon. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(7), 560-569.