The monotheistic religions of the Middle East and the pursuit of power by any means

Danilo Antón
These reflections only seek to show some aspects of organized monotheistic religions that practically from the beginning were used as tools to obtain and preserve power and to achieve control of territories, resources, societies and minds.
Some of the most important religions developed in the countries of the Middle East, both from the point of view of the number of believers and their influence on the political and social geography of those nations.
Judaism emerged as a set of traditions, originally transmitted orally, that tell the legendary story of a people influenced by the intervention of a unique God. Jehovah (in Hebrew יהוה transliterated YHWH). This story is contained in the Torah, a sacred book that contains the founding narrative of the Jewish people: their trials and tribulations, and their covenant with their God, which consists in following a way of life embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws.
While the first prophet (Abraham) would have lived in the 20th century BCE and the second prophet who received the divine commandments in the 12th century BC, most biblical scholars believe that the Torah was actually written between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE , although some components may be earlier.
On the other hand, the second monotheistic religion that acquired historical importance, derived from Judaism, is Christianity. It is based on the teachings of a prophet, Jesus, whose life is narrated in a sacred book usually called the New Testament, which is constituted by four officially authorized or canonical Gospels (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
Christianity also includes the sacred books of Judaism, generically called Old Testament. The real existence of Jesus has been confirmed only by the different Gospels, not only the official ones, but also several others that have been preserved or fragments are known, but which were not recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities. According to biblical historians, the gospels were transmitted orally and were only written between the 65th and 100th DEC or more than 30 years after the date on which Jesus was crucified.
Like Judaism, Christianity bases its religious system on the existence of only one God and confirmation of the arrival of the Messiah announced by the prophets of the Old Testament, and whose death would allow humanity to be redeemed from its sins. The books include moral teachings transmitted by Jesus during his life.
Islam, which is also a monotheistic religion, developed as a religion in Arabia where a prophet (Muhammad), considered by his followers as sent by God (Allah), preached a faith based on ancient Jewish and Christian books to which added a new final and final message, the Koran, which contains the fundamental premises of the new religion. It states that "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. The Koran also defines the obligations of Muslims (followers of Islam) including the five pillars of Islam, profession of faith, daily prayers, zakat (almsgiving), fasting in the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in life, and several moral teachings, many of which are included in the other sacred books (Old and New Testament) and accounts of the life of the previous prophets, mainly Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Like the Torah and the Christian Gospels, the Koran was memorized by the followers of Muhammad and was only written or compiled several years later. In short, the three monotheistic religions began as oral traditions and only later, some years, decades or centuries later were recorded in writing.
The faithful of these three religions are numerous. There are about 2 billion Christians, 1,500 million Muslims and 15 million Jews. For that reason, to a large extent, the thoughts and actions of many societies that embrace these faiths are influenced directly or indirectly by the moral, social or political mandates fulfilled or not fulfilled by these religions.
Now, all these religions are originally from the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Arabia) and since its inception the adhesion of the peoples of that region has been disputed. The history of the Middle East is to a large extent the confrontation of organized groups that in the name of these religions clashed in successive wars over the control of territories, resources and societies. In fact these religions were the reason or the excuse of bloody confrontations, deaths, rapes, looting, torture, racial or religious intolerance, enslavement or ethnic cleansing that began more than twenty centuries ago and still continues today.