Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, in chronological order, spring from a dysfunctional family. (Have ya read the book?) Actually, according to the Bible, the Book which after all first told the story- we are all descended from a dysfunctional family: Adam and Eve.
Can you imagine the emotional baggage of a couple thrown suddenly out of Paradise, and arguing over whose fault it was- Wow! The guilt! The accusations! No wonder Cain killed Abel (not very functional behavior). Parents hadn’t read the right books on child-rearing. Highly un-spiritual, probably alcoholic.
But look at the family Cain came from! (We ALL came from, if you believe the Bible story. And even if you don’t, if you go back that far you’ll find dysfunction big time.)
Even politically correct families deemed to be functional in their own time, are now seen as dysfunctional by The Powers That Decide Such Things Today. Hey, it was hard to be “Politically Correct” before they thought up the term, or had the universities and big media to enforce it.
And it is all but certain that today’s “Politically Correct” will be the “What were they thinking?” of the future. So… were Adam & Eve Politically Correct? Probably- but not by today’s standards.
So many generations of accumulated experience after Adam & Eve, came Abraham.
Let’s look at Abraham and his family, perhaps unfairly, through “modern eyes.” (Do we assume our eyes and viewpoint to be God’s? If we do, there’s an above average chance that we have undiagnosed alcoholism. Or narcissism. Or both? there’s a lot of overlap there.)
Abraham & Warren Buffet? For openers, the biblical Abraham seems to have been one of the richest, most successful men of his time. Big Daddy. Lots of cattle and gold and all the stuff of wealth in his time and place. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, the Sheikh of Oman, Edgar Bronfman and George Soros, in wealth if not personality style.
An old guy, past retirement age, we might say. But he had this very spiritual dimension, and got a message from God. He believed in it. He packed up the whole kit and kaboodle and took off with all his minions on a great cattle drive south to claim someone else’s territory.
Human Nature? A lot was different then. But human nature was the same. And a small percent of the people ended up with a big percent of the goodies. Some were good guys, some not. Abraham has come down to us as a good guy.
God promised him a son, long after he and Sarah were past childbearing age, and Sarah had the promised “miracle,” Isaac. Apple of their eye. Even so, when God asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, he was ready to do it. There is no record that Sarah was consulted, and God was just testing Abraham, so Isaac became the heir. (Genesis 22, 2). Abraham also had another son, Ishmael, by the handmaiden, Hagar, possibly 13 years before the birth of Isaac. (And 6 more sons by his second wife, Keturah, after Sarah died. Not much is said about them.)
But the tradition is that the Jewish nation descended from Isaac, and the Muslims trace back to Ishmael, so both look to Abraham as “Founding Father.”
The 3 great “Abrahamic Faiths,” Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, in chronological order, spring from Abraham’s family.
Trialogues. Like Dialogues, only 3-way instead of 2-way. Conversations among the 3 “Abrahamic” faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam ( in chronological order).
They all trace their origins back to the same “Founding Father,” Abraham.
Not surprisingly, then, they have much in common. Despite the headlines and hateful activities going on now — and historically— among them. But criminal acts are criminal acts, and reflect badly on the (usually addicted) mind of the criminal and those of others who led him or her down that path.
I have good friends who are Jews. Good friends who are Moslems, including Arabs, Palestinians, Iranians, and more. And good friends who are Christians, including Catholics and Protestants, Baptists and Lutherans and Moravians, and on and on. I’ve belonged to or regularly attended Methodist, Congregational, “Community,” and Episcopal churches— and I’m an ordained Presbyterian Elder.
The opinions here are not to be blamed on any church, religion, or other group. (Just so you know.) They may, however be shared by a lot of good folks. I’d like to think so.
Note to our Friends:
We put this site up some time ago, but haven’t had time to get to it as promptly as we would have liked. Imagine our surprise when we discovered it had been hacked into by spammers hawking cheap, probably fake, pharmaceuticals, laptops (stolen?), cheap suits, and a dozen other categories of product or service. It took me an hour to clear it out and change passwords etc.
My apologies to anyone who had heard of 3Faiths.com and were coming here on a sincere personal visit.
We’ll be working on it from time to time now ‘til it‘s ready for official “launching.”
Thanks for your patience, and for your interest in 3Faiths.com.
