#PrimordialWisdom 101: Beyond biology, what is a human being?

Etymologically, the word, "human" (adj.) is of the mid 15th century, humain, humaigne, "human," from Old French humain, umain (adj.) "of or belonging to man" (12c.), from Latin humanus "of man, human," also "humane, philanthropic, kind, gentle, polite; learned, refined, civilized."

Beyond the biological connection with the universe around us, there is something we need to discover about “being human.” 

“Human” can be considered a composite word and creature whose constituent parts are “Hu” and “Man.” We therefore need to determine the meaning of the two constituent words.   

“Hu”

 ‘Hu’ is the term for the fundamental forces of nature in various ancient civilisations and languages:

1. In ancient Egyptian mythology, ‘Hu’ or ‘Huh’ (“hw”) (pronounced ‘Hhooo’) is the deification and personification of the first word of creation exclaimed by Atum/Aten/Amen, according to Egyptian Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts 251 and 697. This is considered the original and Creative Utterance or Vibration and thus the “Word” of Power or Glory in ancient Egypt and that was always reverently whispered to those of “eager intellect, worthy of an unimpeachable character and made prepared.”

"The word Hu is the (breath) of all sounds and of all words, and is hidden within them all, as the (breath) in the body. It does not belong to any language, but no language can help belonging to it. This alone is the true name of the (deity), a name that no people and no religion can claim as their own. This word is not only uttered by human beings, but is repeated by animals and birds." 

The ‘Papyrus of Ani,’ a manuscript created in the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt (c. 1,250 BCE), states that it signifies eternity and is the personification of the profound utterance, vibration and authority of the spoken word and the first breath in ancient Egypt as creation is considered an act of communication and manifestation of an essence. 

Plutarch says, “The end of the Egyptian rites and mysteries was the knowledge of the One, who is the Lord of all things, and to be discerned only of the soul. Their theosophy had two meanings — the one holy and symbolical, and the other popular and literal. The figures of animals which abounded in their temples, and which they were supposed to worship, were only so many hieroglyphics to represent the divine qualities.” 

In the ancient language of India, Sanskrit, the same word is the Great Word of Invocation and it was adopted by ‘Eckankar,’ a religious movement founded in the USA in 1965, which focuses on exercises enabling practitioners to experience what its followers call "the Light and Sound of the Divine." 

The companion and counterpart of “Hu/Huh” (the creative utterance) is “Sia” which means wisdom or consciousness or awareness. “Sia” is the reverse of “ais,” the ancient Egyptian word for brain. 

2. In Hinduism, the primeval word which is the basic mantra (an invocation and affirmation), the Great ‘OM’ written with three letters, ‘A-U-M’ which stands for the threefold totality and potency of the liveable universe – sky, atmosphere and earth; or intuitive, mental and physical. The Hindu trinity consists of the philosophical expression – Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Happiness), while humanoidly presented as the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The three stand for Principles of Creation and Truth; all pervading transformative Light; and Destruction and Regeneration, respectively. This represents the triune or threefold nature of life. 

Brahma is the “energy-consciousness” and the egg of Brahma is the solar system. In Hinduism, it is also considered the immortality and eternity in nature. In Svetasvatara Upanishad of ancient India, an anonymous sage wrote: “There is a (Breath) who is hidden in all things, as cream is hidden in milk and who is the source of self-knowledge and self-sacrifice. This is Brahman, the Spirit (Breath) Supreme.”

"Brahman is the one, indivisible, silent basis that is all-existent, ever-aware consciousness. Because of its all-pervasive presence it is wholly complete and its fullness is always abiding as a silent presence." - Jane Cleary, "OM: Its Purpose and Meaning," Quest 100.1 (Winter 2012): 21-24.

“The Sanskrit term is derived from a root “brh,” which means “to expand or grow,” so brahman is that which expands or grows into the universe.” - John Algeo, ‘The Bhagavad Gita: A Study Course’ (The Theosophical Society in America, 2000).

Etymologically, the term means "that which expands or grows" (brhati) and "which causes to expand or grow" (brhmayati). 

As a mantra, ‘AUM’ (‘OM’) centers the mind on the thought “I am manifestation of supreme consciousness.” It is considered the primordial ‘Word’ of power, glory, strength, firmness, solidity and truth; and a sound or vibration of creation. Its figurative is found on top of every Hindu temple and is always reverently whispered under the most solemnity. The letter 'A' is the beginning of alphabets of various languages. It is the commencement of the word and expresses the beginning and is pronounced without the help of the teeth or tongue. The letter 'M' ends in a nasal sound, a sound that signifies life. 

"All three powers, creation, preservation and destruction/regeneration, are manifest at all times. They are inseparable. Creation and destruction are like two sides of a coin. And preservation is an integral part of the processes of creation and destruction. For example, morning dies to give birth to noon. Noon dies when night is born. In this chain of birth and death the day is preserved. To indicate that these three processes are one and the same the three gods are combined in one form of Dattatreya." “Whenever the Law declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth. I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to re-establish the Law. – Hinduism, ‘Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita’ 4.7-8.

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the ‘A-U-M’ represents different aspects of the trinity of the Buddha or an enlightened being: the Body, Mind and Speech, respectively. It also symbolises the formula of life: Visualization (Thought) + Vocalization (Word) + Manifestation (Action). 

In all schools of Buddhism, adherents are taught that the ‘Three Jewels/Treasures/Gems’ are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. 

The ‘Buddha’ represents Enlightenment/Awakened, arising from the word ‘Buddh’ means “light” and ‘Buddha’ means “the enlightened or the highest potential that exists in all beings.” The ‘Dharma’ are the enduring perennial and self-evident Truths. The ‘Sangha’ is the community of those who have attained enlightenment or simply a fraternity of practicing Buddhists.

"The letters AUM also stand for the Latin Artifex Universus Mundi, which means the Great Architect of the World and has the numerical cipher sum of 33. While the sacred word of the Brahmins is AUM, the Buddhists use O-mi-to and the Druids OIW. Plato identified the Tetragrammaton: Tell me of the (Divine) of On, which was, is, and shall be." - The Alchemy Key. 

3. ‘Hua’ means ‘He is’ in Rabbinical Judaism, based on the transliteration of Deuteronomy 6:4 and also related to the three upper emanations of the divine (‘Kether-Chokmah-Binah’ representing the triune of ‘Will-Wisdom-Understanding’) and the ‘Absolute Infinity Light’ (‘Ain Soph Aur’) in esoteric or theosophical Judaism. “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. – Matthew 5.17-18.

4. ‘Huwa’ in Sufism (esoteric Islam) added to Allah to mean, ‘He is Allah’ (Sura Al-Ikhlas 112:1) while "Hur" in Arabic means the beauties of heavens or the expression of heavenly beauty. "Zahur" in Arabic means manifestation, especially that of the impersonal force of life in nature. In Sufism, the “Hur” is considered to be the highest vibratory mantra that can be sounded. 

The word "huma" in the Persian language stands for a fabulous bird. There is a belief that if the "huma" bird sits for a moment on someone's head it is a sign that he will become a king. Its true meaning is that when a person's thoughts so evolve that they break all limitation, then he becomes as a king. It is the limitation of language that it can only describe the Most High as something like a king. It is said in the old traditions that Zoroaster was born of a "huma" tree. This explains the words in the Scriptures, "Except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of the divine" (John 3:5).

In the word "huma", "hu" represents breath and the word "mah" in Arabic means water. - Hazrat Inayat Kahn, ‘The Music of Life’ (Omega Publications, 1998). 

5. ‘Heu/Hu’ is the seed or essence and the creative principle throughout nature and the impersonal fundamental forces of nature, and of Light in ancient Irish or Western Celtic mythology.

“Man”

Etymologically, the word ‘Man’ is either considered to be derived from Proto-Germanic ‘mannaz’ meaning person or Sanskrit words, ‘Manu’ (‘Mena’ in ancient Egypt) and ‘Manas.’

In Sanskrit, the root of the 'man’ is 'manas,' which means, "mind, the thinker or the thinking principle in a human being.” It is that which makes a being intelligent, have a sense of discernment and links one to own causative power.

So a 'human being' is a creature above an animal because of a Mind that thinks beyond the physical limitations and is imaginative, perceptive and aspirational.

The word "animal" comes from Latin, "animale" meaning a living being or creature, which breathes. In Latin, to breath or a current of air is called "anima." In Greek, wind is "anemos" and in Latin, “ane” means "to breathe or blow." 

"Ane" is related to Sumerian and Assyro-Babylonian creator sky-feminine cosmic power, An, the consort of Anu, the creator sky-masculine cosmic power. In Sumerian and Assyro-Babylonian creation mythology, Anu was the King of the divinities before Enlil, who is the cosmic power of the Wind or Air also. The masculine cosmic power Anu and feminine power An are considered to have given birth to all life.    

Therefore, the Mind as a thinking principle exists in a male or female body, alike. In the strictest sense of the word, a "human being" is an animal or creature with the capacity to be rational; discern about what is right or wrong, and good or bad; and an agent of causation. 

‘Manas’ in Sanskrit means, "to think," "to cogitate," "to reflect," actions all considered as mental activities. The word is derived from Hindu mythology, ‘Manu’ who was filled with great wisdom and intensely keen to virtue, became the representative name of the progenitor of humanity and the very first Brahman king to rule this earth, who saved humankind from the universal flood and the alleged author of the “Laws of Manu.” 

In Sanskrit, the “father-mother” of ‘Manas’ is ‘Mahat,’ and this means a universal principle. “Mahat” is the root of the Indian name, “Mahatma” derived from Mahatman, Sanskrit for "Great Self" derived from 'Maha,' "Great" and 'Atman,' "Higher Self."

As a human principle, ‘manas’ or mental faculty is “the coordinating organ of intelligence, thought, understanding, perception and will.” Accordingly, human moral excellence resides in the "active life of the rational element" (Aristotle, Nicomachaean Ethics).   

‘Manas’ has a dual nature – Lower and Higher Manas. The conditioned Lower Manas is the thinking faculty that gravitates towards the uncontrolled malevolence or beastly cognition, desires and passions of the physical senses; while the unconditioned Higher Manas gravitate towards sublime qualities (prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, altruism, humility, sincerity, insight and aspirations) to make “future possibilities infinitely greater than its present attainments.” 

Cannot you see why the Mind is the slayer of the real? Of course the word 'slayer' is but a figure of speech. You might phrase it otherwise and say the Mind filled with its tramping, useless, fugitive, silly thoughts keeps out all higher intuitions, all higher thoughts, all higher things. In other words, there is no room for them." - G. dePurucker, 

www.theosociety.org/pasadena/soph/sopqa14.htm#mind

In Indian Vedic times, ‘manas’ meant the individual interiority and the basis of speech.

(www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Manas.aspx).

The three states of the Mind are inertia (unconscious), activity (conscious) and harmony (subconscious).

‘Manas’ is the rational faculty of the mind, with both active and passive functions. Actively, it is responsible for the production of feelings and wishes; and passively, it is a sense-data instrument and thus receives, orders and interprets data through the five physical senses. Passively, it is a function of social conditioning, habits and traditions and can be modified through self-knowledge. - John Bowker, ‘The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions’ (New York, Oxford University Press, 1997). 

The Mind is "the spark of self-consciousness" and is “used to step down or transfer the energies of the principles above it to those below it. Mind can be thought of as the link between the two higher principles above and the four principles below, and is influenced by these principles. The Mind thus has two aspects. The higher aspect is susceptible to the influences of the higher principles of (the enlightened Self). It is thus intuitional and does not depend on reason. The lower aspect is purely intellectual and logical and can be cold if not influenced by (the enlightened Self).” - Marilyn O'Day, 'The Seven Principles of Man,' (2000).      

“According to Indian psychology, we have eleven senses. Five are senses through which the outside world affects us: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell; five are senses through which we affect the outside world: speech, handling, movement, excretion, and generation; the eleventh is the mind, which is the greatest of all.” - John Algeo, ‘The Bhagavad Gita: A Study Course’ (The Theosophical Society in America, 2000).   

According to Justice Thomas Troward, the word ‘man’ can also be said to be derived from Latin ‘mens,’ "the faculty which compares things and estimates them accordingly." Therefore, a ‘human’ is a measurer. 

"Man is the measure of all things: of those that are, that they are; and of those that are not, that they are not." - Protagoras (481-420 BCE). 

The periodical phases of the moon provide the standard measurement of time. This led to the creation of a calendar leading to what we call months. The word “months” is derived from “moons.” Biologically, the moon measures the life of a ‘human’ while its monthly movements are related to female fertility.   

Humanity’ is a “spark of a unique manifestation of life." This Greek is “entheos” i.e. "having the creative power within," which the words enthusiasm and inspiration came from. ‘Entheos’ is formed from en, "in, within," and theos, "the divine."

Related to “entheos” is “apotheosis,” which means “humanity realising that it is the divine within” or that a human being is “an infinite power manifesting and expressing itself through the physical body.”

The glass container with the water from the sea is not ‘the’ sea but it carries the water that has the exact Essence and attributes with the water in the sea. From an esoteric point of view, at birth, all human beings are born with the same impersonal fundamental forces of nature, veiled in physical form and awaiting discovery, actualisation and manifestation. We have a powerful element in ourselves because the origin of our own primal being is itself evolutionary. 

Benedict Spinoza asserted, “Each of us is but a very small part of (the fundamental forces of nature), yet each of us equally an important…in (the fundamental forces of nature) we live.” 

Due to willful ignorance, irrationality and fear, we make our own lower natures or beastly character to rule over us. To discover and realise our own agency as the higher nature, we have to go through painful and trying processes of liberating ourselves from the lower or beastly nature (greed, anger, envy, sloth, avarice, lust and intemperance). When we have done so, we become masters of our own lower selves, the vehicle of "pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow."

If the innermost depth of our own agency is distorted and intoxicated, then our sense of being is equally vulgarised and disrupted.    

Therefore, a ‘human’ is the Creator-Mind (‘Hu-Manas’). This makes a human being an external reflection of his/her own “lowest depths of ignorance” or “the greatest heights of intelligence.”

The fundamental force of nature (‘Chi/Qi’ in Chinese or ‘Prana’ in Sanskrit) is individualised in each human being as agency in a latent or active state awaiting discovery and actualisation. 

The omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent fundamental forces in nature (gravitational forcem electromagnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces) is the creator (Masculine Principle), preserver/sustainer (Feminine Principle) and regenerator/transformer (complimentary union of the other two, the Child). 

The religious have presented this force of nature as "an anthropomorphic figure, an almighty being in human form and with human tendencies...regarded as susceptible of propitiation.. bestowing favours on some and withholding them from others,...distant in a far off place called heaven…”

The innermost aspirational Self “is like a seed, in that it contains the potentiality of the parent plant." 

“This seed is “sown” or born on Earth, puts forth shoots, stems and leaves, and eventually it flowers. The resultant human individuality in its four vehicles is strengthened by the winds of adversity, purified and refined by the rain of sorrow, beautified and expanded by the sunshine of happiness and love, and ultimately reaches the fully flowered state.

“Just as in seeds all parental powers are inherent, so in (the primal absolute aspect,) the Monads, of human beings all causative powers are potentially present from the beginning. The experiences of life, combined with the interior evolutionary impulse, bring these inherent causative powers to increasing fullness and perfection of expression… Indeed, there is nothing to be saved from, nowhere to be lost, for (the force of life), as the enfolding and indwelling life of the universe, is omnipresent. Human beings need only to be on guard against the defects of their own character and the transgressions to which they lead, for all sufferings arise from such transgressions.” – Geoffrey Hodson, “Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible” (Quest Books, 1993). 

What is the height of such accomplishment? It is to evolve and recover our citizenship through the razor’s edged path (Katha Upanishad 1-III-14. Arise, awake, and learn by approaching the exalted ones, for that path is sharp as a razor’s edge, impassable, and hard to go by, say the wise"), the Eightfold Noble Path of Buddhism or “narrow way” (“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,  what and few there be that find it” - Matthew 7:13-14) for a Nirvana or Edenic life based on the law of cause and effect.

This means a human has a direct and internal relationship with the impersonal fundamental forces in nature. 

A human being is “the exact reflection of that particular stage which he (or she) has reached in the perception of the (aspirational) nature and of his (or her) own relation to it” because "power can only work in terms of the instrument it works through." 

"As a thought of a building is generated by a man gradually takes form within his mind, and as he puts his plans upon paper and straightway procures material wherewith the building is to be erected…" - Augusta Foss Heindel.

#PrimordialWisdom 101: Is “Mwari” the same as the Abrahamic God?

In Christianised Shona worldview, there is an assumed cosmic power or a deity that is considered to be beyond one’s progenitors or ancestors (midzimu/vadzimu) called "Mwari" (Venda, "Nwali") and is not mentioned in the lived experiences and relational values of the people. 

In Malawi, such an assumed deity is "Mulungu," sometimes spelt "Mlungu." It is worthy to note that the indigenous word for the Caucasian is "Mzungu," a term closely related to “Mlungu” for the assumed deity. This is related to Shona's "Murungu" for the Caucasian.

In Tanzania where Swahili is the major language, the assumed deity is "Mungu," while the Caucasian is called "Mzungu." Why the assumed cosmic power and a Caucasian be closely termed like this is a subject of another day.

In Swahili, a girl is "msichana" ("musikana" in Shona, from “musika vana”). Once she becomes a young woman of marriable age or is engaged, she is called "mwali/mwari." On her marriage day, she is called "bibi harusi." “Mwari” is also a first name in areas where Swahili is a predominant language like Tanzania and Kenya and it means a “young woman.” 

In Kenya, “Mwari” is a reference to a girl, while in Chewa, "mwali" is a young woman reaching childbearing age. This can be noticed that its to do with young age of maternity, the life bearing ability and fertility. This should be connected with Mwari in Shona.

In Malawi (Mang'anja, Chewa, Lomwe and Yao of Malawi) and Zambia (Chokwe, Ila, Luchazi, Mbunda, Luvale and Chewa), there is an initiation rite called “chinamwali” (‘domba’ in Venda). The girl or maiden is called ‘mwali’ (plural 'anamwali'). 

The initiation rite is for the coming of age for girls and a ceremony held in secret places. This is where girls are helped to get through their transition to mature womanhood and the sexual and maternal responsibilities that come with it.

The pre-marital initiation of girls is more than a sexual role. It is about them being their future as the actualisation of the Feminine Principle - conceiving, nurturing and caring through their sexual roles. Sexual education of the young women is given by means of symbols, riddles, songs and simulated action. They are also taught about responsibilities of marriage, observances associated with pregnancy and childbirth and parenthood. 

From this narrative, it can deduced that “Mwari” is the sexual creative power (life bearing ability and fertility). In Christianised Shona, it is "Mwari ndiMusiki" or "Mwari Musiki." "Kusika" is a Shona term for the procreative role and the organs of creation are "nhengo dzesika rudzi."

We are all creatures of our parentage procreative role. Without this parental relationship, we won't be in existence!

The Swahili word for teacher is ‘mwalimu’ (‘mwali-mu’), a role ordinarily associated with motherhood as the mother is the first and eternal teacher of a child.

In the Christian-influenced Venda ethnic group found in Zimbabwe and South Africa, the source of life is called 'Nwali,’ while the Shonas of Zimbabwe say ‘Mwari.’

This shows “Mwari” has to be defined in the context of the sexual creative power (life bearing ability and fertility) in nature, plants, animals and human beings. That creative power is the conjunction of the masculine and feminine energies.

So when one then says “Musikavanhu,” we are not acknowledging the reproductive power in plants and animals. It should be “Musiki.”

God 

"God" is a term that came only into existence in the fifth century when the Germanic Teutons conquered the Christian Western Roman Empire. For the conquering Teutons, “God” is the English derivative of their mythical human ancestor, “Gaud/Gawd.” - Craig Bluemel, “The Origin of the English Word for God” (2007). 

On the basis of language, “God” is a fiction to anyone who is not Teutonic or Germanic. Christian-wise, it is a term for a personal humanoid figure assumed or believed to have power over the universe and people.

Elohim

"Elohim" is the earliest Hebrew word for the humanoid deity in Genesis 1:1. The word “el”has been considered to be both the Canaanite word for the life forceand a name for the humanoid deity. The Hebrew adopted the Canaanite religion after their contact with them. Read, “The name El in the Bible” www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/El.html#.V1bNWlc9bFI

Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, Elohim created heaven and earth." From a deep study of Hebrew, “Elohim” is a plural word to mean "divinities/deities."

This means “Elohim” is a composite word consisting of "El" (masculine) and "Eloah" (feminine). The prefix or suffix, "El" is found in Hebrew names. Examples, Yisra-El, Ab-El, Emmanu-El, Micha-El, Rapha-El, Samu-El, Gabri-El, Ezeki-El, Jo-El, Phanu-El, Adri-El, Am-El, Ans-El, Beth-El, Dani-El, Rach-El, Nathani-El, Migdal-El, Gamali-El, Haza-El, El-isha, El-ijah.

Yahovah

The other Hebrew name for the life force is "Yahovah/Jehovah." Yahovah is combination of the Tetragrammaton, YHVH, and the vowels of Adonai, meaning “the Lord.” This would render it as “YaHoVaH.” 

As a Tetragrammaton, YHVH is meant to be unpronounceable. YHVH was an abbreviation of four related words "Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey."

The composite of YHVH is psychologically "Masculine-Feminine" combined to the biological "Male-Female." This means the harmonious conjunction or combination of masculine and feminine sexual energies creates and sustains life.

The Feminine Principle is made of Passion (“Yod”) +Air (“Hey,” Breath). The Masculine Principle is Water (“Vav”) + Earth (second “Hey,” Physical Body). These are the elements of impersonal nature - Fire, Air, Water and Earth. Every human being is a microcosm and reflection of nature.

A further study of the Hebrew alphabetic pictographs of the four words, “Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey,” will further show some profound about how reproduction was symbolised.

In conclusion, it can be noticed that Mwari, Elohim and YHVH are simply linguistic constructs for the symbolic and figurative representation for the sexual energy in the creation of a new life connected with femininity and fertility. Without a balanced relationship of masculine and feminine metaphysically, psychologically and biologically, there is no harmony, creation and innovation.

Life is the harmonious union of three powers: metaphysical (sub-conscious and conscious), psychological(masculine and feminine energies) and physiological(male and female). These are all aspects found within and for each every human being in different measures and DOES NOT need human attention, praising, supplication and submission. 

#HumanistQuestioning: Is Christianity a Moral Force for the Public Sphere?

Among those who are leading lights among the legal minds and corporate figures of Zimbabwe is Tawanda Nyambirai. Of late he has been expressing his views on various public and national issues as a citizen. I fully respect him for such public engagement on matters of public and national interest. If those who have the power to change things can listen to him, he has very well thought views. As he has publicly engaged, he has not been restraintful from exhibiting his religious affinity and denominational affiliation. Constitutionally, religion belongs to the private sphere but enters the public sphere as a learnable or academic subject. So once one becomes exhibitionist about personal choices, decisions and lifestyle that should remain in the private sphere, it can be considered to be an open invitation for anyone to be a dialectical about such a personal life that should belong to the Private Sphere. It is against this background that I write this article. On June 22, 2016, he said, "The Churches must take the lead in the fight against corruption. The Churches must lead the fight for the restoration of values of hard work, honesty, integrity, love for self, for neighbor and God, accountability etc. That fight must start with church leaders becoming accountable for the public funds that they handle and learning to separate personal property from public property and abandoning models that tend to encourage the flow of wealth from the impoverished followers to the leaders most of whom now lead celebrity life styles. The Government should not regulate this process. But churches must self regulate through their own associations. They can be trusted to be able to do this." - Tawanda Nyambirai - "Diffusing the Economic Time Bomb Set by the GNU: A Lawyer’s Perspective," www.facebook.com/tawanda.nyambirai/... I read these views as meaning that Christianity should be a moral force for the Public Sphere as if we are a theocracy and yet Zimbabwe is a secular constitutional republic. Is it true that Christianity is a moral force for the Public Sphere? This is the space where we freely and unlimitedly share our common humanity and citizenship without regards to race, sex, ethnicity, religion, etc. In its current domineering and monolithic literalist and historicalised form, Christianity has allowed bigotry, idolatry and superstition to thrive in its name thus permitting theological immaturity, perversion and vulgarity. Being social reformists that we should be, religion in general and Christianity in particular should not be destroyed but purified of superfluous outgrowths and then regenerated and transformed. This comes from an inspiration of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan who reconstructed orthodox Judaic theology “so that it remained ever-changing, evolving to meet the needs of people.” Kaplan called for an emphasis on knowledge over faith, discovery over revelation, and “connection, opportunity and responsibility over commandment.” This is because the Divine should be considered as “a force for the source of meaning, the power within that urges us toward generosity, responsibility, concern and self-fulfillment.” Therefore, religion in general and Christianity in particular should not be destroyed but hewn and shaped like a sculptor’s stone by a hand chisel. The hand chisel is used together with a hammer to vigorously but patiently knock off defects and faults to extract the latent or inherent beauty. To hew anything is to curb vices and encourage good dispositions. The hand chisel symbolizes corrective methods while the hammer represents willpower (“ratzon” in Hebrew, Strong’s Concordance #H7522 and “theleo” in Greek, Strong’s Concordance #G2309) and the force of “inner drive to ethical action” or reason-based conscience ("suneidesis" in Greek, Strong’s Concordance #G4893). Within Christianity, there is a pure core of life-affirming sparks under thick debris or malevolent husks (“kellipot” in Hebrew) or Buddhist three poisons of life made up of ignorance, self-indulgence and malice. Religion is in serious need of people of goodwill and integrity to individually and collectively conquer the three poisons, which lead to a life of “perverted thought, uncurbed emotions and destructive actions.” We need to search, discover and actualise the pearls or precious stones in religion in general so that it becomes a platform of shared and common humanity motivated by aspirational interiority and urges. To pose the question about Christianity as a moral force is not an attack on the personal integrity of anyone affiliated to Christianity. Instead, it is an effort to impersonally scrutinise the institution and the lifestyle called Christianity. For this reason, I mean not to be disrespectful towards any well-meaning Christian. Those who appreciate critical thinking and open mindedness will not find my views and questions objectionable if expressed with decorum and impersonally. 1. Is Christianity a moral force when the Christian Western civilisation was the motivating force that urged the brutality of racial hatred, racially-based slavery, inquisitions against heretics, crusades against other cultures and religions or lack of it, colonialism, Nazism, apartheid and the hatred we still find among some Christian conservatives? 2. Is Christianity a moral force when its first scriptural ban ("thou shall not") (Genesis 2:17) was an edict decreeing perpetual human ignorance and darkness imposed on humanity by an anthropomorphic or humanoid divine figure? 3. Is Christianity a moral force when human knowledge was banned under the threat and penalty of death? "Thou shalt not eat of (the Tree of Knowledge), for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen 2:17). Later, the message of Christianity is confirmed as not for intelligent people but for the childish-minded only. (Matt 11:26, Luke 10:21). 4. Is Christianity a moral force when one has to seek to benefit out of blind faith by suppressing critical thinking and without questioning, inquiry and examination, “Whoever would draw near to (the Divine) must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6). 5. Is Christianity a moral force when the scriptural vision is to make everyone gullible and believe without facts and evidence because "believe, and ye shall be saved; believe not, and ye are damned already" (Mark 16:16; John 3:18). Damn the unwilling or willing (“nolens volens"), undamn only willing and credulous. Be born and be damned; believe unbelievable things and be saved. 6. Is Christianity a moral force when Saul/Paul, the chief advocate of these beliefs of babes reiterates his enthusiasm for ignorance and his fearful scorn of knowledge. (1 Cor 8:1; 14:88). He encouraged people to be bigoted even if alternative religious views harm or injure nobody, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”- 2 Cor 6:14. "The wisdom of this world is considered foolishness with the Divine" (1 Cor 3:19) while the adherents are warned to be "beware lest anyone spoil you through philosophy" (Col 2:8). The converts and members of the church "are made as the filth of the world" (1 Cor 4:13). To ensure the perpetuation of ignorance, Saul/Paul then defined "faith" as: a. Faith cares not for facts or evidence, but boasts that it "believeth all things, hopeth all things” (1 Cor 13:7); and b. Faith is all-sufficient, in lieu of fact and evidence - "the substance of all things hoped for, the evidence of all things not seen" (Heb 11:1), not known and altogether unknowable. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of (the Divine): Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). 7. Is Christianity a moral force when it has promoted and validated childish credulity (Matt 18:3, 11:14; John 3:18,36), lack of a critical mind (Romans 14:23), bigotry and harvest of blood (Matt 10:21, 19:29), prejudice and hate (2 Cor 6:14,15) and strife and disharmony in families (Matt 10:34-37, Luke 12:51-53)? 8. Is Christianity a moral force when the priestly class has continued to enforce the ban and the consequential ignorance has been perpetuated? They do so by way of deriding knowledge while persisting "primitive cosmological notions" made obsolete by modern scientific discoveries within the "narrow limits" of their universe. 9. Is Christianity a moral force when organised churches made sure it has a grip on people by eternally damning those not agreeing with its tenets and beliefs by saying that, "Whoever will be saved, it is necessary above all things that he hold to the (Christian) faith. Unless each one keep this whole and unbroken, he shall without doubt perish into eternal death...This is the (Christian): unless each believe it rightly and firmly, he cannot be saved" - 8th century Athanasian Creed? "The whole fabric of the Christian faith are not its admirable moral precepts which are not peculiar to it at all, but it's laboriously built dogmatic theology of...beliefs and practices enforced by terrific threats of eternal damnation." 10. Is Christianity a moral force when true believers are figured as "flocks," the old members of the flock are dubbed "sheep," the tender ones who are wholly innocent of sense are affectionately termed "lambs," they are herded and driven by venerable pastors called "shepherds," and the shepherds are always allegorically pictured as going about armed with "crooks," to hook the stragglers into the "fold" and to keep them there once hooked in? By definition, "the flock of the good shepherd" are the simple-minded and silly persons. To be "sheepish" is to resemble a sheep in silliness or dullness. The sheep is to this day the symbol of the vacuous herd, all blindly following some equally stupid old bellwether which heads the flock this way or that as his inner lights lead or the crook of shepherd pulls. 11. Is Christianity a moral force when Saul/Paul admitted that he lied in the name of the humanoid God (Romans 3:7) and that religion is a profitable enterprise (Gal 1:14)? This was later developed by the organised churches that when there is a just cause, an untruth in self-defense, charity and zeal of the Divine's honour would not be considered a lie even if it's to the dishonour of oneself. So one would rather say what is needful and not what is truthful. 12. Is Christianity a moral force when there has been priestly chronic pious lies, frauds and pretenses by way of suppressing and concealing the truth to protect and encourage credulity among the faithful and the glory of the Divine? "To undo the Creed is to undo the Church. The integrity of the rule of faith is more essential to the cohesion of a religious society than the strict practice of its moral precepts." (Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 7:259). "When a clearly defined dogma contradicts a scientific assertion, the latter has to be revised." (Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 8:607). This means that methods of dogmatic fraud, forgery and imposture are superior to the principles of moral truth and virtue. Compare and contrast the precept by Buddha, "Thou shalt not attempt, either by words or action, to lead others to believe that which is not true." 13. Is Christianity a moral force when its scriptures declare and you believe 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which proclaims, the word of the humanoid Divine, “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”? 14. Is Christianity a moral force when its members are therefore to accept Matthew 5:18’s pronouncement that every last bit of the scriptures shall be implemented, including the Hebrew Scriptures, which enjoins the death penalty for all manner of often minor infractions and approves of behavior that, to put it kindly, is no longer acceptable? 15. Is Christianity a moral force when one has to accept the Scriptures in its totality? Do you think sex workers should be burned alive (Leviticus 21:9)? Should women submit to their husbands, as per Colossians 3:18? Should women also, as commands 1 Timothy 2:11, study “in silence with full submission?” 16. Is Christianity a moral force when its members have to adhere to Deuteronomy 20:10-14 and ask their parliament to pass a law punishing rapists by fining them and making them marry their victims and forbidding them to divorce forever? 17. Is Christianity a moral force since the Scriptures ordain genocide (as in 1 Samuel 15:2-3)? Will its members work for the release of those imprisoned for their role in mass killings? 18. Is Christianity a moral force when its members should call on parliament to legislate slavery, since in 1 Peter 2:18, de facto sanctions the horrific practice and demands that slaves submit to their “masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel?” 19. Is Christianity a moral force yet there is a warning in Jeremiah 8:8, 'How can you say, "We are wise, and the law of the Divine is with us?" But behold the deceitful pen of the scribes has produced falsehood'? 20. Is Christianity a moral force yet Jeremiah 5:31, "The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority, And my people live it so! But what will you do at the end of it?" In the Scriptures, one finds ancient cosmological legends, primitive folklore, rude and violent tribal chronicles, some minor historical events and some fables. Superstition is thus defined by a high lexicographic authority: "A belief founded in irrational feelings, especially of fear, and characterized by credulity; also any practice originating in such belief; excessive and unreasonable scruples due to ignorant dread of the supernatural. Specifically, a belief in a religious system regarded by others than the believer as unreasonable and without support; a false religion, or any of its rites" (New Standard Dictionary of the English Language). "For two thousand years mankind in Christendom has been the victim of these priest-invented superstitions imposed on it as the holy will of (the Divine); has from infancy been priest-taught to believe fishermen's tales as inspired truth; has been duped into reverencing, obeying, and supporting for life a horde of parasitic, hypocritic, indolent, insolent soul-savers who have dealt damnation to all who eluded their thraldom. "Numberless millions of the most intelligent and independent human beings have been tortured by fiendish devices, murdered, and sent to everlasting torment in the fires of hell for daring to doubt, to question, to deride, and to despise the priests and their deadly superstitions. The human intellect has been atrophied and debauched, the mind paralyzed and debased, God-given reason crumbed or confined into puerile and worthless channels, by enforced bondage to priestcraft. "Freedom of thought had been martyred; learning, discovery, science have been cramped and thwarted; the progress of civilization itself has been hindered and delayed by priestly oppression." 21. Is Christianity a moral force when every conceivable form of religious lie, fraud and imposture has ever been the work of the priests and ministers of religion? They have not been ashamed by skeptical ridicule and exposure of the critical minded because it's their age-long stock in trade and sole means of existence. 22. Is Christianity a moral force yet in the brain of innocence of children, seeds of superstition are planted because of dangerous obedience as exemplified in Genesis 22:1-19? The helpless minds and imaginations of children are polluted and frightened with threats of pain by the superstitions of the priestcraft, which is incapable of the perception or utterance of truth by a humanoid divine figure that is so brutally murderous as indicated in Numbers 31:17-18. "It is inconceivable that a government would tolerate the inculcation upon helpless children of beliefs that will not stand the most strenuous scientific examination and professed only by fools, bigots or liars." 23. Is Christianity a moral force yet it does not call upon its members especially those who are public officials as politicians and public administrators “iuris praecepta sunt haec: honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere” ("to live honourably, to injure no one, to render to everyone his due") – the three fundamental maxims of a moral compass, precepts or commandments of the law (Institutes 1:1,3-4), published in 533? Has it disciplined its members who are public officials failing on these maxims?

24. In the Public Sphere, don't we need a life of being human of clean hands and pure hearts; of facts not fetishness; of doing good deeds justly, compassionately and humbly and not based on unquestioning compliance, credulity and gullibility? 25. In the Public Sphere, don't we need to live a life of truth, honest, justice, purity, love and of good report as the golden rules of highest human righteousness? 26. In the Public Sphere, don't we need to be saved from a crude and violent ethnocentricity that gives genocidal commands Israelites to “utterly destroy” the tribes they will find in Canaan (Deut. 7:1–5), savagely instructs the preferred tribe (Israelites) to indiscriminately destroy, “you shall not leave alive anything that breathes” (Deut. 20:16–18), and decadently charged that, for the Amalekites, Israel should “put to death men and women, children and infants” (1 Sam. 15:2–3)? The crude and violent ethnocentricity of a humanoid deity that was sadistic beyond imagination: “So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 20:25–6). "Thoughtful Christians who hold the Old Testament in high regard must at some point come to terms with those passages in which God is said to command what appear (to us) to be moral atrocities. In the present paper, I argue that the genocide passages in the Old Testament provide us with a strong prima facie reason to reject biblical inerrancy - that in the absence of better reasons for thinking that the (Scriptures are) inerrant, a Christian should conclude that (the Divine) did not in fact command genocide. I shall also consider and reject the attempts of two prominent Christian philosophers to show that (the Divine) had morally sufficient reasons for commanding the Israelites to engage in genocidal attacks against foreign peoples." - Christian philosopher Wes Morriston, Did God Command Genocide? A Challenge to the Biblical Inerrantist, Philosophia Christi, Vol.11 (2009), No. 1, pp. 7-26 “Just after the genocide passages in Deuteronomy, the tribal deity forbids intermarriage with these foreign tribes (Deut. 7:3). The prohibition against intermarriage is also given in Ezra (9:2, 10:10) and Nehemiah (chapter 13). King Solomon was chastised for his foreign wives (1 Kings 11). Slavery is an excellent way to see the discriminatory and hateful tendencies. It was limited to six years for fellow Jews, but it is for life for slvaes from other tribes (Lev. 25:44–6). Let’s not imagine that Israelite tribal deity was colorblind. The apologist might respond that the prohibitions against intermarriage were meant to avoid temptations to worship other deities. “Okay, but they’re still anti-miscegeny laws. Are they wrong today? If so, why excuse them back then? See more at: www.patheos.com/blogs/crossexamined/2013/01/rationalizing-away-the-canaanite-problem-2-of-2/#sthash.MVmV6jSx.dpuf 27. Therefore, is Christianity a moral force when its scriptures are considered the inspired infallible words and yet contain narratives that are grossly littered with fears, brutal violence, immorality, falsehoods and cruelty? Resource: Joseph Wheless, "Is it God's Word?" (1926)

#HumanistCoreAffirmation: All are equal humans and citizens in the life

Since 2014, I have been writing for a weekly newspaper column. This was after fellow Africans were made to mow grass, drink fuel, eat raw snakes, got sexually abused and do many other humiliating and degrading things.

I have received open and private messages that were accusing me falsely that I am disdainful towards Christians. 

Firstly, I have found this allegation personally insulting and an attack on my integrity as it does not correctly characterise me at all. 

Secondly, I have very loving Christian family members, friends and acquaintances who are persons of goodwill and whom I have bonds of affection with without consideration of their religious affinity and affiliation. 

Thirdly, I do not consider religious affinity, affiliation and practices or lack of that for me to 
affirm and recognize the humanity of anyone, with all the self-evident rights to life, liberty, 
property and pursuit of happiness. I have constantly refused and will continue to refuse to have humanity and citizenship qualified based on race, ethnicity and religion. This would amount to being degenerative, demeaning and degrading of me. There is an unrestrained tendency by some Christians to bully and impose their religiosity on others. Their personal Abrahamic God is theirs alone. There is no universal consensus on the existence, nature and relevance of their personal Abrahamic deity. There are many instances of monolithic and domineering Christian tendencies in non-religious organisations, places and occasions. Like any country, Zimbabwe has a constitution as the supreme law of the land. It prescribes the Public and Private Spheres. Religion belongs to the Private Sphere because Zimbabwe is a secular republican and constitutional democracy. The State holds no brief for any preferred religion. Its citizens should interact and engage each other freely without regard to religious qualifications or lack of them. When people are born, they have no religion until adults socialised them into it. From birth and infancy, all of us were full human beings without regard to any affinity to a deity or affiliation to a particular religion. Our childhood contact and association with Christianity (or any religion) in the family and later in the school was not based on our own voluntary choice and informed decision. It was indoctrination. 

It is this Christianity's legacy of colonial privileges and advantages that has been a source of any sober and civil call to have a transformed and secular Public Sphere. 

Since 2004, I have refused to be defined religiously. My humanity and citizenship cannot be qualified by my religious affinity or lack of it. It is suffocating and stifling! We are creatures of our parental love. Biological science informs us of the process of our conception and birth. If there was any religious label or association to the conception, it was out of a social construct or socialisation and therefore human-made.

Being religious or non-religious doesn't make anyone a better human being and citizen.
What makes us better human beings is when we seek a shared values, common ground or the highest common denominator (HCD). The HCD or common values that should bring together all humanity and citizens (theists and non-theists, the religious and the non-religious) is the need to affirm, acknowledge and recognise individual life, liberty, private property and the pursuit of self-chosen happiness without harming others. The common values can be listed as follows: 

1) recognition and affirmation of the humanity of all and any regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, political creed, etc;
2) honour of commitments (“say what you do and do what you say”); 

3) derive earnings out of honest labour; 

 4) take full responsibility for the results, effects or consequences of one's own voluntary choices, informed decisions and judicious actions; 

5) realize and actualise own agency and causative power within your own locus of control. We need to accept the consequences, results and effects of our own actions; while relying on rationality to understand and deal with any matter and concern. 

We need to organize the our lives based on human inherent worth, causation and responsibility; and to develop it based on merit (developed ability or skill), willful effort and sustainable impact. Living conscientiously means we exercise our humanity in a better, helpful and meaningful way.
By content, "morality” has the following attributes: 1) Harm - do no harm to another or oneself; 2) Integrity - live honestly, speak truthfully and act usefully, meaningfully and productively; 3) Exercise compassion and empathy; 4) Reject the false, wrongly motivated and hurtful; 5) Willingly value excellence; and 6) Warmly reward productive effort (value “the fruit of meritorious deeds”). In Plato’s Republic, moral law or morality is defined as, “the precepts of the (moral) law are these: to live honestly, to harm no one, and to give to each his fair due.” This was later codified in 533 CE as "to live honorably, to injure no one, to render to everyone his due" (Institutes 1:1,3 4). These are the aspects of the "universal moral law." They best answer the question, "What is good or bad, and right or wrong?" This requires no authority, tradition, convention or dogma but a nurturing, learning, grooming and continuous training for a utilitarian basis of moral or ethical conduct. If you are to judge or relate with any fellow human being based on a religious consideration and qualification, be informed that you are being discriminatory, hurtful and to the extreme, hateful. 

Judge me by my character!