The pursuit of power by any means
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the monotheistic religions 
of the Middle East 

Danilo Anton
These thoughts only seek to show some aspects of organized monotheistic religions that virtually  since their inception were used as tools to obtain and retain power and to gain control of territories, resources, societies and minds.
From the point of view of the number of believers and their influence on the political and social geography of these nations the three main religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the most important in the world history. All three of them originated in the Middle East.

Judaism emerged as a set of traditions, originally transmitted orally, that narrate the legendary history of a people influenced by the intervention of one God, Jehovah (in Hebrew יהוה transliterated YHWH). This story is contained in the Torah, a sacred book that contains the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: their trials and tribulations, and its covenant with God. It describes a way of life to follow embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws. While the first prophet (Abraham) has lived in the twentieth century BCE and the second prophet, Moses, who received the divine commandments in the twelfth century BC, Most biblical scholars believe that the Torah was actually written between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, although some components may have been recorded in earlier times.
Therefore the role of the legendary prophets in the inception of these complexe traditions is probably nil.
The second monotheistic religion that acquired historic importance was Christianity, which was derived from Judaism. It is based on the teachings of a prophet, Jesus, whose life is chronicled in a holy book usually called New Testament, which consists of four officially approved (or canonical) Gospels (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Christianity also includes the ancient sacred books of Judaism, generically called Old Testament. The actual existence of Jesus was only confirmed by the gospels, not only official ones, but also several others that have been preserved or its fragments are known, but were not recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities.  Even the mere existence of Jesus has not been confirmed through other sources. 
According to the biblic historians, at the beginning, the gospels were transmitted orally and only were written between 65 and 100 DEC or more than 30 years after the assumed date on which Jesus was crucified.
Like Judaism, Christianity bases its religious system in the existence of one God and on the confirmation of the arrival of the Messiah announced by the prophets of the Old Testament, and whose death would redeem mankind from their sins. The books include also the  moral teachings transmitted by Jesus during his life.

Islam, who is also a monotheistic religion, developed in Arabia where a prophet (Muhammad), considered by his followers as sent by God (Allah), preached a faith based on the ancient jewish and christian sacred books. Muhammad added a new final divine message, the Koran, which contains the fundamental premises of the new religion.

A basic belief of the religion was that "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet". The Quran also defines the obligations of Muslims (followers of Islam) including Islam five pillars, profession of faith, daily prayers, zakat (alms), fasting in the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in life, and various moral teachings, many of which were included in the other holy books (Old and New Testament). They included also the life stories of the previous prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Like the Torah and the Christian Bible, the Quran was memorized by Muhammad's followers and was only written or compiled several years later. Ultimately the three monotheistic religions began as oral traditions and only some years, decades or  even centuries later were recorded in writing.

The faithful followers of these three religions are numerous. There are about 2,000 million christians, 1,500 million muslims and 15 million jews. For that reason, largely, thoughts and actions of many societies that embrace these faiths are directly or indirectly influenced by the moral, social or political mandates (fulfilled or not) of these religions.

We must consider that ALL these religions originated in the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Arabia) and since its inception the have disputed for the control of the territories and peoples of that region. The history of the Middle East is largely the confrontation of organized groups on behalf of these religions who fought successive wars for the control of lands, resources and societies.

These religions were the reason or the excuse for wars, bloody clashes, killings, rapes, looting, torture, racial or religious intolerance, enslavement or ethnic cleansing that began more than twenty centuries ago and still continue today. Not only they have these religions have violently confronted among them but their different organized divisions or sets also have bloodily fought to obtain or preserve power. These concepts apply to these organized religions, their churches, and mainly to those leaders who base their power in religion.
In that sense we can consider that monotheistic organized religions organized, almost from the beginning were used as unscrupulous tools to obtain and retain power, and to better manage resources, territories, societies and minds.
And still they are.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Monotheistic religions of the Middle East and the pursuit of power by any means
Danilo Anton

These thoughts only seek to show some aspects of organized monotheistic religions that virtually  since their inception were used as tools to obtain and retain power and to gain control of territories, resources, societies and minds.
From the point of view of the number of believers and their influence on the political and social geography of these nations the three main religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the most important in the world history. All three of them originated in the Middle East.

Judaism emerged as a set of traditions, originally transmitted orally, that narrate the legendary history of a people influenced by the intervention of one God, Jehovah (in Hebrew יהוה transliterated YHWH). This story is contained in the Torah, a sacred book that contains the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: their trials and tribulations, and its covenant with God. It describes a way of life to follow embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws. While the first prophet (Abraham) has lived in the twentieth century BCE and the second prophet, Moses, who received the divine commandments in the twelfth century BC, Most biblical scholars believe that the Torah was actually written between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, although some components may have been recorded in earlier times.
The second monotheistic religion that acquired historic importance was Christianity, which was derived from Judaism. It is based on the teachings of a prophet, Jesus, whose life is chronicled in a holy book usually called New Testament, which consists of four officially approved (or canonical) Gospels (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Christianity also includes the ancient sacred books of Judaism, generically called Old Testament. The actual existence of Jesus was only confirmed by the gospels, not only official ones, but also several others that have been preserved or its fragments are known, but were not recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities. According to the biblic historians, at the beginning, the gospels were transmitted orally and only were written between 65 and 100 DEC or more than 30 years after the date on which Jesus was (probably) crucified.
Like Judaism, Christianity bases its religious system in the existence of one God and on the confirmation of the arrival of the Messiah announced by the prophets of the Old Testament, and whose death would redeem mankind from their sins. The books include also the  moral teachings transmitted by Jesus during his life.

Islam, who is also a monotheistic religion, developed in Arabia where a prophet (Muhammad), considered by his followers as sent by God (Allah), preached a faith based on the ancient jewish and christian sacred books. Muhammad added a new final divine message, the Koran, which contains the fundamental premises of the new religion.

A basic belief of the religion was that "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet". The Quran also defines the obligations of Muslims (followers of Islam) including Islam five pillars, profession of faith, daily prayers, zakat (alms), fasting in the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in life, and various moral teachings, many of which were included in the other holy books (Old and New Testament). They included also the life stories of the previous prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Like the Torah and the Christian Bible, the Quran was memorized by Muhammad's followers and was only written or compiled several years later. Ultimately the three monotheistic religions began as oral traditions and only some years, decades or centuries later were recorded in writing.

The faithful of these three religions are numerous. There are about 2,000 million christians, 1,500 million muslims and 15 million jews. For that reason, largely, thoughts and actions of many societies that embrace these faiths are directly or indirectly influenced by the moral, social or political mandates (fulfilled or not) of these religions.

We must consider that ALL these religions originated in the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Arabia) and since its inception the have disputed for the control of the territories and peoples of that region. The history of the Middle East is largely the confrontation of organized groups on behalf of these religions who fought successive wars for the control of lands, resources and societies.

These religions were the reason or the excuse for wars, bloody clashes, killings, rapes, looting, torture, racial or religious intolerance, enslavement or ethnic cleansing that began more than twenty centuries ago and still continue today. Not only they have these religions have violently confronted among them but their different organized divisions or sets also have bloodily fought to obtain or preserve power. These concepts apply to these organized religions, their churches, and mainly to those leaders who base their power in religion.
In that sense we can consider that monotheistic organized religions organized, almost from the beginning were used as unscrupulous tools to obtain and retain power, and to better manage resources, territories, societies and minds.
And still they are.

About Kamal Salibi, deconstructing official religious history in the Middle East

• by Robert Fisk 
  

"Almost two decades ago, recording a BBC radio programme on Islam, I dropped by the American University of Beirut to interview an old Christian Protestant friend, Kamal Salibi. I asked him the same question I had already put to many Muslims: what happens after death? They, of course, assured me of their belief in an afterlife. Salibi, the great breaker of historical myth, did not share this conviction. "After life is nothing," he said, eyes cast slightly upwards, his voice almost shaking with indignation. "It is the end. We are dust."

I sincerely hope not. For Salibi, who died last Thursday after a stroke, was perhaps the finest historian of the modern – and the old – Middle East, fluent in ancient Hebrew as well as his native Arabic, his English flawless, a man whose work must surely shine into the future as it has illuminated the past. In one sense, his desire to deconstruct history, his almost Eliot-like precision in dissecting the false story of the Maronites of Lebanon, his highly mischievous – and linguistically brilliant – suggestion that the tales of the Old Testament took place in what is now Saudi Arabia, rather than Palestine, made him a revolutionary.

In one sense, his wish to live in a world unstifled by the texts of dictators made him one of the founders of the new "Arab awakening", 30 years before his time and scarcely 40 years after George Antonius first used the phrase as the title of his great work on the British betrayal of the Arab revolt. History, Salibi believed, should not only draw on original sources but should have a beginning and a middle. He was a "chronology" historian – such creatures are now back in fashion, thank God – who was also the first Lebanese writer to confront the country's civil war. His Crossroads to Civil War, Lebanon 1958-1976 was published less than 12 months after the 15-year conflict began."

Reproduced from:   http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kamal-salibi-scholar-and-teacher-regarded-as-one-of-the-foremost-historians-of-the-middle-east-2350184.html

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Monotheistic religions of the Middle East and the pursuit of power by any means
Danilo Anton

These thoughts only seek to show some aspects of organized monotheistic religions that virtually  since their inception were used as tools to obtain and retain power and to gain control of territories, resources, societies and minds.
From the point of view of the number of believers and their influence on the political and social geography of these nations the three main religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the most important in the world history. All three of them originated in the Middle East.

Judaism emerged as a set of traditions, originally transmitted orally, that narrate the legendary history of a people influenced by the intervention of one God, Jehovah (in Hebrew יהוה transliterated YHWH). This story is contained in the Torah, a sacred book that contains the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: their trials and tribulations, and its covenant with God. It describes a way of life to follow embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws. While the first prophet (Abraham) has lived in the twentieth century BCE and the second prophet, Moses, who received the divine commandments in the twelfth century BC, Most biblical scholars believe that the Torah was actually written between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, although some components may have been recorded in earlier times.
The second monotheistic religion that acquired historic importance was Christianity, which was derived from Judaism. It is based on the teachings of a prophet, Jesus, whose life is chronicled in a holy book usually called New Testament, which consists of four officially approved (or canonical) Gospels (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Christianity also includes the ancient sacred books of Judaism, generically called Old Testament. The actual existence of Jesus was only confirmed by the gospels, not only official ones, but also several others that have been preserved or its fragments are known, but were not recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities. According to the biblic historians, at the beginning, the gospels were transmitted orally and only were written between 65 and 100 DEC or more than 30 years after the date on which Jesus was (probably) crucified.
Like Judaism, Christianity bases its religious system in the existence of one God and on the confirmation of the arrival of the Messiah announced by the prophets of the Old Testament, and whose death would redeem mankind from their sins. The books include also the  moral teachings transmitted by Jesus during his life.

Islam, who is also a monotheistic religion, developed in Arabia where a prophet (Muhammad), considered by his followers as sent by God (Allah), preached a faith based on the ancient jewish and christian sacred books. Muhammad added a new final divine message, the Koran, which contains the fundamental premises of the new religion.

A basic belief of the religion was that "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet". The Quran also defines the obligations of Muslims (followers of Islam) including Islam five pillars, profession of faith, daily prayers, zakat (alms), fasting in the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in life, and various moral teachings, many of which were included in the other holy books (Old and New Testament). They included also the life stories of the previous prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Like the Torah and the Christian Bible, the Quran was memorized by Muhammad's followers and was only written or compiled several years later. Ultimately the three monotheistic religions began as oral traditions and only some years, decades or centuries later were recorded in writing.

The faithful of these three religions are numerous. There are about 2,000 million christians, 1,500 million muslims and 15 million jews. For that reason, largely, thoughts and actions of many societies that embrace these faiths are directly or indirectly influenced by the moral, social or political mandates (fulfilled or not) of these religions.

We must consider that ALL these religions originated in the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Arabia) and since its inception the have disputed for the control of the territories and peoples of that region. The history of the Middle East is largely the confrontation of organized groups on behalf of these religions who fought successive wars for the control of lands, resources and societies.

These religions were the reason or the excuse for wars, bloody clashes, killings, rapes, looting, torture, racial or religious intolerance, enslavement or ethnic cleansing that began more than twenty centuries ago and still continue today. Not only they have these religions have violently confronted among them but their different organized divisions or sets also have bloodily fought to obtain or preserve power. These concepts apply to these organized religions, their churches, and mainly to those leaders who base their power in religion.
In that sense we can consider that monotheistic organized religions organized, almost from the beginning were used as unscrupulous tools to obtain and retain power, and to better manage resources, territories, societies and minds.
And still they are.