I recently check out a video from TheFuelProject on YouTube
which compared Jesus and Muhammad:
And immediately I think of the COEXIST bumper stickers that
a proliferating the nations cars. They started to appear after 9-11-2001 when
there was apparent profiling of Muslim profiling. Suddenly the granny grope became
ok with TSA while ones who may be profiled walk unchecked so not to offend the
Muslim. As with the previous methods of ensuring our safety on flights, no
threats have been stopped and granny has been humiliated in the process.
Anyway back to the bumper sticker which is a New Age shot at
Christianity since the implication is often we are the only non-tolerant religion.
As we can see from the video which takes the “Holy” texts to show the
difference between Muhammad and Jesus. The bumper sticker means the following.
C – This is a crescent moon that represents Islam, whose
Holy book says kill non-believers. O – This is the peace symbol or pagan/Wiccan
pentacle, the interesting thing is these are the most intolerant towards
Christians. E – It is the male/female symbol or a scientific equation, science
again when discussing God become very intolerant of any suggestion of His role
in the universe even though the data suggests His activity. X – This is the
Star of David and represents Judaism, the Jew has become the focus of the hate
in the Middle East since all the surrounding nations want (and have wanted)
them obliterated. I – It is a pagan/Wiccan symbol used, interestingly this is
the second use of a pagan symbol. S – This is a Chinese yin-yang symbol, while
today the Chinese seem benign their past has been less than that. Granted this
has been more because of communism and less about their religion. T – The cross
is used to represent Christianity, which ironically is the focus of most of the
disgust by those who “wear” these stickers.
Ironically the C and the T represent the opposite ends of
the spectrum. Although many point to Christianity as equally violent in their acts,
this is two misrepresentations. First, as we see in this video, Christianity
does not promote violence rather peace. Second, events like the Crusades and
the Holocaust were pervisions of scripture. Also, the crusades started as a
defensive measure against a Muslim Caliphate or invasion.
So while the underlying idea of COEXIST seems benign, it
actually is dangerous to all parts, since it diminishes each and their
contributions to peace or war to a slogan. Also, it is not to open the
discussion but rather to END it. COEXIST means no more heated discussions but
rather silence and that is the major problem, since with silence comes
ignorance. So COEXIST and stop killing, but also open the dialogue about each
faith and eventually all can see the T is the end or the ANCHOR!!