After the previous series of articles, and since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, I have received many messages, one of which I will choose. One of the readers sent me, asking: What are the tenets that we have learned from religions? Are they the teachings that Adam and Eve received, or are they the principles and ethics upon which humanity is based? However, if we want to repent, should we return to God, or to Adam and Eve? Which is the origin: religion or humanitarian principles?
I would like to thank my dear reader for these questions. We know for certain that there is one God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Based on the foregoing questions, there is a terrible struggle over man’s desire to become like God – God forbid! Christianity pointed out man’s desire from the beginning to be like God: “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So it condemned it when man fell and was expelled from the garden: “therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man;” In Islam, it is said: “[Allah] said, ‘Descend, being to one another enemies. And for you on the earth is a place of settlement and enjoyment for a time.’ He said, ‘Therein you will live, and therein you will die, and from it you will be brought forth.’” From that moment on, humans, who used to live by principles, deviated from the right path, an example of which was the first murder in the history of mankind, when a man stretched out his hand to kill his brother. I can say with full confidence: If the humanitarian principles are the protectors of the goodness and righteousness of humanity, where were those principles and morals when a brother killed his brother? Therefore, let us agree that religion is the fons et origo.
The war between good and evil is still raging in order to deny the existence of God – Blessed be His name – and confirm the existence of man! It is a war that seeks to replace religion with humanity under the names of love, principles and ethics. I recall here the saying of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Thalib: “A word of truth by which falsehood is intended.” Leader Gandhi also said: “I am very afraid to hear Satan say the name of God!” However, we must realize that when God – Blessed be His name – created man, He gave him commandments to live with, advice, and freedom of choice. He said: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;” God also gave the opportunity to sinners that they may repent and revert.
The so-called “Humanitarian Principles” that came from Adam and Eve, not from God – Blessed be His name – are meant to be used as a means of deception, taking the name of unreal, immature and heartless love, that is, love for interest’s sake. It is a kind of false, deceptive and politicized love! Let us remember what happened with Jonah the Prophet: When strong winds blew and the sea arose on the ship he was in, everyone cried to their gods, which indicates that there were many cults in ancient times that called for invoking the gods in times of adversity and distress.
Some people try to implant new concepts that deny the existence of God and place man, human mind and humanity in the first place! It seems that this struggle will remain till the end of days. But how could man become like God? God forbid! Destructive movements emerged with different names; many people took part, with the intention of destroying the world under the guise of freedom, equality, or brotherhood. Indeed, they aimed to fight mankind with the deadliest weapon ever recorded in history, in an attempt to dazzle the simple, youth and blind. They used soft and gentle weapons in a war designed to topple nationalities and nations, and to eradicate the noble traditions they retain. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
In the name of freedom, some people began to denounce the existence of God – Blessed be His name – and insult the Apostles, Prophets and Holy Books. They also declare that religion is the cause for the backwardness of peoples, as well as the enemy of reason and science. In its name, too, the beliefs of the nations and the innate traditions that incite morality are underestimated. In the name of freedom, there is a call to finish off the religions of nations, as a way to destroy morals. There are some people who seek to implant in the souls of humans (peoples) heresies and doubts, including, but not limited to:
- They declare that there is no god but man, and that there is no master, creator or idol except man, as he is the master of the existence that abides by his laws. They affirm that we should not be subject to multiple religions; rather, we should rise above faith in any deity. They believe and proclaim that they have to crush that terrible Being that we call “God”, and that we would be fool if we believed in or worshipped God. God forbid! This is disbelief and atheism.
- They ask human beings to ruin the machinethat the clergy make use of, and by “machine” they mean religions themselves. They also claim that teaching religion is the biggest obstacle preventing young people from growing and developing. They consider that the solution lies in obliterating every religious soul, whatever it may be. They work with invisible and active hands to bury all religions and dissolve them in the crucible of humanity, which could only be saved by returning to God.
- They fight the clergy by breaking the influence of scholars, priests and sheikhs, criticizing them and fragmenting their opinions. Furthermore, they allow corruption, spread vice among peoples, and seek to spread corruption everywhere.
- Those people have stretched out their hands to the homelands, by inviting and teaching people to give up their homelands and create on its ruins another country with a new concept. They are also trying to do the same with religions by applying all that is new.
- They aim to tear down the human race by allowing everything that would create disputes within each country to break it up.
Dear readers, dear scholars, dear sheikhs and priests, have you seen what those people are calling for now, such as love, leniency, public benefit, and service to humanity, which are not found in your Bible and Quran? Do we want to honor ourselves and avoid harm and disgrace when they tie our necks with ropes, blindfold our eyes, strip us of our religions, and liken us to brute stones, so that we would become smooth stones fit to be bricks in the wall of a new system, whatever its name?
How could we act against our consciences, feelings and beliefs when we ascend to the pulpits of churches or mosques? Shall we teach worshipers about judgment and other noble matters while we do the opposite to get what we want or seek high positions? Do we realize that those who are not good for the religion they embrace will not be good for people with special interests? Let us protect ourselves, adhere to virtue, and reject darkness, for we are the salt of the earth and holders of the key to knowledge, so we should not defile the churches, the mosques and all places of worship with snakes!
I address those with pure white turbans and sacred black kalansowas. We should realize that there is a plague that seeks to outbreak among us, and we must beware of its danger. Let us be wary of the hidden, black and soft path, which seeks to tear out the roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the ground. This fateful path takes several names: … humanity, the new … etc. Those who try to push us this way are more subtle and long-sighted than us. They recruit our children and prepare for a terrible battle. We should not say that we are able to deceive them, because they are fraudsters, spies and dodgers, and their presence is useless to us. Have we missed awareness and rationality? Do we think about the consequences of the fire that we play with? Those who have decided to rise to their feet will not kneel or bow their necks to anyone, even if they ruled them with strict laws. Let us gain our souls and the hearts of our children, for what relieves us is the presence of people loyal to God – Blessed be His name – all over the world, who do their best to investigate facts and uncover hidden things.
Indeed, talking about “Beautiful Egypt” has no end.
General Bishop, Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
