​Based on the available historical evidence, Jesus and Muhammad were very different people, with largely contrasting morals. Reflecting these character differences, Jesus’ portrayal of God is very different from Muhammad’s portrayal of Allah. Christian scriptures describe Jesus as a loving peacemaker, who never promoted violence against anyone, for any reason. The original source documents of Islam (the Quran, hadith, biographies and histories), on the other hand, reveal that Muhammad was a warlord, who could be ruthless to non-Muslims. They contain striking descriptions of the casual and matter-of-fact way that Muhammad and his followers trafficked in violence and bloodshed. The Quran, which Muslims believe is Allah’s infallible word revealed to Muhammad, has several passages advocating violence against non-Muslims (“kafirs”), particularly Jews. Muhammad's character and teachings are reflected in Islamic law (Shariah), wherein the penalty for homosexuality and apostasy may be death (officially in at least 8 Muslim countries today, but potentially enforceable by radical Muslims anywhere). Under Shariah, women are inferior to men, and must veil themselves in order to avoid arousing male passions. Muhammad, who is considered by Muslims to be the perfect man, to be emulated, had people killed just for insulting him or for criticizing his religion. Therefore, the continued existence of Islamic terrorism today is understandable. Jesus had harsh words for the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees of his time. If Jesus had had the opportunity to confront Muhammad, his words would have been much harsher. However, he would never have advocated violence against Muhammad or his followers. Similarly, those who follow Jesus are to call radical Islamists to task, but we are never to be violent toward them, except, I submit, where necessary to defend others who are unable to defend themselves.

Last night I dreamed that I encountered a group of men discussing how best to deal with a person, in a position of power, whose words and actions they strongly disagreed with. They considered this person (whose actual identity was never mentioned) to be immoral. As their discussion progressed, a consensus was reached that the object of their scorn should be eliminated; i.e., they were planning to act as judge, jury and executioner. They evidently believed that it was more moral to eliminate this person than to allow him to continue abusing (in their view) his position. At this point, I decided to intervene. I stated that they needed to more fully consider the morality of their own planned action. However, rather than trusting their own feelings on this matter, I urged them to ask themselves the following question: “What would Jesus have done?”, and then act accordingly. I further stated that, if they really understood Jesus’ message, they could never go wrong. They would always be taking the moral high ground.

At this point, I awakened. My wife was also awake. I had been talking in my sleep, and she had heard everything I said. She was intrigued by my words and was pleased to have me put them into context.

What a paradise this world would be if we all emulated Jesus. This is clearly far too much to expect considering the current state of affairs, and the manner in which so many children, born innocent and loving, are raised in an abusive culture of religious fundamentalism and/or consumerism. However, every single attempt to do as Jesus would have done makes the world a better place. Let’s do our bit.

As anyone who has experienced the death of a cherished pet can understand, this is not easy to write. I’m doing it both in memory of my dog, and as self-therapy - I want to remember the details. My beloved Dharma, a Gerberian Shepsky (German Shepherd – Siberian Husky cross) died on Easter Monday, three weeks shy of her 13th birthday. She had been the object of a great deal of affection. She would often rest at the entrance to rooms or at the base of stairwells, forcing us to step gingerly over her, so looking out for her presence became automatic. Now our big house feels really empty.

The typical lifespan of a Gerberian Shepsky is 10 to 13 years, so Dharma lived a full life. It was also a mainly happy life, with the first half spent in her birthplace of Northern Ontario, accompanied by her human siblings, and the second half spent with my wife and me overseas in Europe (with visits from her siblings). She looked, and acted, a lot like a wolf. While living at our rural Ontario home, I witnessed her catch and eat a partridge and a rabbit, and I also saw her chase after an adult black bear on two occasions (evidently much more scary for me than for her). In her adopted home in the center of a small European city, she was considerably more domesticated, spending hours relaxing in front of our store-front window watching the pedestrian traffic, and occasionally barking or baring her teeth when feeling threatened by a passing child banging on the glass. Her wolfish instincts would also sometimes display themselves if she suspected that her food dish was about to be taken away from her. However, the only person she ever bit was me, when I foolishly, without warning her, tried to pull from between her teeth a dirty tissue she had scooped out of the waste basket. She quickly expressed remorse. On the whole she was extremely affectionate, and would regularly push her head against my thigh to solicit scritches. She was also very loyal, and would lie patiently outside the classroom door during the entire time my wife was giving private language lessons, no doubt enjoying the sound of her voice. Always sad whenever she was left at home alone, upon our return she would give us hugs by lifting a foreleg and partially wrapping it around our shin. She was really afraid of only one thing – loud noises (including thunder, trains, gunshots and fireworks), and we did our best to shield her from them.

I did not have an easy time, spiritually, during my first year or so overseas, and Dharma was my therapy dog. We went for daily walks, with frequent pauses so she could take in scents left by other dogs, while I made a point of smelling the roses. Strangers often commented on what a beautiful dog she was, but of course Dharma was not at all concerned about her appearance. She remembered where every cat along our numerous walking routes lived, and she would pull hard on her leash as we approached. I would occasionally dream that she was lost, and was so relieved to awaken. We had playtime every evening, during which my wife or I would steal her squeaky toy and toss it, and she would excitedly chase it down and then dare us to try to take it away again, growling threateningly and wagging her tail at the same time. She loved car rides, whether to the grocery store or into the mountains, although this became slightly problematic after she lost the strength to leap into the trunk several months ago. She strongly objected to being lifted or carried, so this was solved by folding down the split rear seat so she could enter the trunk via the back door. She experienced some bouts of arthritis, no doubt exacerbated by a run-in with a truck several years ago, but these had been largely controlled with glucosamine and chondroitin supplements. She also began to occasionally display loss of bladder control, which is a quite common problem with aging spayed female dogs. But on the whole she continued to be active (including digging excitedly for voles during a family outing just a week ago Sunday). However, early last week she suddenly became lethargic and refused all food, including her routine of an evening dental stick (she had perfect teeth) and subsequent snack of potato chips. She even turned down her number one favorite snack of canned tuna in water. Last Thursday evening was very difficult. Dharma lay motionless with her rear legs splayed out behind her, and as my wife gently supported Dharma’s heavy head in her hand, she said that she thought Dharma was dying. This was the first time we shed real tears at the prospect of losing her. She drank copious quantities of water placed in front of her, and peed most of it out where she lay. That night I slept on cushions placed on the floor beside her to keep her company. We took Dharma to the vet first thing Friday morning. By the time we got there, she had perked up a bit. The vet performed a thorough exam, including blood tests. Everything came back normal, and the vet commented that, all in all, Dharma seemed to be in quite good shape for her age. He suspected complications from arthritis, and gave Dharma a shot of cortisone, as well as prescribing anti-inflammatory tablets which we were to start giving her on Tuesday.

​We returned home, much relieved, and Dharma herself rebounded nicely. She quickly became active and regained her appetite. She later settled down in the store-front window and barked at an annoying passerby, seemingly her old self. But, sadly, within two days her condition began to deteriorate again. She refused both food and water. She simply lay motionless on the laundry room floor, apparently resigned to her situation, and started exhibiting labored breathing. By the next morning, she had moved to the adjacent family room, but the labored breathing worsened. Then she arose and staggered into the hallway before collapsing at the foot of the stairs. At this point we were quite sure she was approaching the end. She did not express any signs of fear, but she did seem to be sad. Being Easter Monday, the vet’s office was closed. My wife and I felt that the most compassionate course of action would be to stay by her side and comfort her as much as possible. Amidst our own tears, we took turns stoking her and speaking lovingly to her. She managed to move outside where she lay briefly on the patio before being bothered by flies and retreating to the kitchen, where she collapsed for the last time. Shortly thereafter, her breathing became extremely shallow and slow. It was so difficult to watch as it finally ceased entirely. I was concerned that her eyes stayed open (notwithstanding my attempts to gently close them) and her tongue protruded, but I have since read that this is normal for dogs. I also felt very badly for her that she had to take this final step of her journey by herself.

​In a dazed state, my wife and I buried our sweet girl in our garden, under the apple tree, our tears flowing freely. The fact that Dharma had truly enjoyed life and would have preferred to live longer, combined with my own pain of loss, made me experience anger in addition to sadness. However, I am inclined to believe that Dharma may also have felt sadness near the end because she understood that those who loved her, and whom she loved in return, would feel pain at her passing. She had depended on us for her care and sustenance, and for awhile I felt as though I had let her down. But when I thought rationally, I acknowledged that she had been very well loved and cared for, and had lived a full and long life (for dogs, but seemingly too short for us). I have been blessed with proof that Jesus lives and that he loves me. What finally brought me the most peace was a prayer I made to Jesus to love and comfort Dharma.

​Until we meet again, my good girly-girl.

Religious fundamentalism is largely based on a false premise, this being that God can be offended, insulted or provoked. Only an ego can take offense at anything, and God has no ego. However, the God that is worshiped by fundamentalists takes offense (i.e., feels slighted or insulted and gets resentful  or angry) when human beings "sin" by either performing, or failing to perform, all manner of actions. Religious fundamentalism is generally patriarchal and promotes hard, ego-based actions such as judgment and punishment at the expense of soft, spirit-based qualities such as love and forgiveness. Both Jehovah of the Old Testament and Allah of the Quran have an ego. Fundamentalist Islam teaches that those who do not act in a manner consistent with the commands of Allah, as revealed by the Prophet Muhammad, risk everlasting damnation and torment. Those who reject the call of Islam are to be subjugated or even killed ("jihad"). Fundamentalist Christians believe that no one, no matter how sincere, can ever be good or innocent enough to satisfy God. As a consequence of "original sin", even newborn babes risk God's wrath. The only saving grace is accepting that salvation has been purchased through the sacrifice of God's son Jesus. However, Jesus never claimed that he needed to be put to death so that we could be made acceptable in God's sight. This was a concept promoted by Paul, and was a carry-over from the Old Testament practice of animal sacrifice. The God revealed by Jesus himself is different. Jesus' God loves us unconditionally and would never sentence anyone - regardless of their beliefs or even their actions - to an eternity of exclusion in hell. True salvation lies in discovering one's real identity, which is a magnificent and loving eternal being created in the image of God.

My wife and I traveled to Canada to spend several weeks visiting with our beautiful new granddaughter. Staring into her completely innocent eyes triggered something, and I became depressed and could not sleep. Similar to my previous experiences, my depression was largely driven by obsessive negative thinking about myself. However, my previous experiences had also taught me that these "bad" thoughts had no basis in ultimate reality.  I knew they were simply the product of an ego that had been deeply wounded in childhood, and that in God's eyes I was as innocent and as lovable as my dear granddaughter. I knew that I would always be as God had made me. Acknowledging the truth of my own absolute innocence rapidly lifted my depression, and I was able to enjoy the final two weeks of our stay in Canada.

Similar to what I experienced during past depressive episodes, this particular episode also brought an unexpected gift. In the midst of the pain, I had a profound realization of the truth of Jesus' words when he said "The kingdom of heaven is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it". I did see it, briefly, and it was magnificent.