The Sermon at the Mosque
2.
(By
the way, I am wearing a new shirt now, a shirt that was offered to me by the owner of one
of the local stores. No one would let a messiah walk around half-naked for long in these
parts, although the messiah himself would not necessarily
have objected. Yes, it is that hot you see. I shall be sweating
bullets as I speak.)
3.
“We have been fed so many prejudices in our early years, to the
extant that our very humanity has gotten compromised in the process. We all need to
reconstruct our humanity somehow. We all need to regain control over our own conscience. Believe me. Believe me.
4.
“I may be naïve, I know, but I am not naïve enough to have expected,
at any time ever, that I would be able to put an end to any of the world’s religions.
Indeed, this is not my aim.
5.
“Neither am I foolish enough to have ever entertained, not for the
fleetest of moments, that I would be establishing a new one.
6.
“My disciples and followers should rather keep the religions which
they have chosen for themselves, and not simply the ones they were born into. I only
exhort them to keep an open mind, and to always continue to break down the walls between
themselves rather than allowing them to increase.
7.
“Indeed, this would prove a continuous strife that should never be
ignored, in the same way cancer should never be ignored.
8.
“For this reason, I say to my Muslim follower that he should often
pray in churches, read the New Testament, wear crosses and icons and celebrate Christian
holidays. If he really believes, as he says
he does, that Christians and Muslims do
worship the same God, he should not feel offended by any of these practices.
9.
“And by understanding the wisdom behind this exhortation, my
Christian, Jewish and Buddhist followers, and all my other followers, should know what to
do. Look at the composition of the community, of the country, of the part of the world you
live in, and you will know what to do.
10.
“And blessed are those from among you who already follow only the
dictates of their conscience.
11.
“And to all my followers I say:
intermingle and intermarry. Do not isolate yourselves from each other. Break
down all artificial barriers between you, and come all of you, together, united in love,
in decency, in mutual respect for your basic rights.”
12.
Having
said this, having concluded my admittedly bizarre yet necessary sermon, I jump down to the
ground and immediately head towards the other end of the suq, winnowing my way around the
shop-owners, who are now closing their shops, the last bundles of shoppers and tourists,
my own followers and disciples, and all the curious people who have been listening to my
sermon, not to mention the small-time smugglers who only now arrive to the suq to exhibit
their stuff all over the dirty sidewalks announcing the not-too-shy presence of the
parallel economy which is the real lifeblood
of this ragtag haphazard nation.
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lust for salvation, Brother, as though it were a woman, and I - a man.
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