Soul’s Code

Jay Leno walks Oprah’s Stations of the Cross

Mawlid, birthday of Muhammad

This Friday Sunni Muslims across the world will celebrate Mawlid, the birthday of the prophet Muhammad.  Though the celebration is centuries old, historically Muslims were divided over the issue of permiting the holiday and how it should be celebrated (maybe it appeared too similar to that religious birthday among Christian neighbors: Christmas).  Festive processions and parties can be found in several nations, particularly in India, and though Mawlid is celebrated in nearly all Muslim nations, Saudia Arabia (the birth place of Islam) has not made Mawlid an official holiday.

Old headlines, new knowledge

People around the world are reviewing the events of last year, particularly reported by the media.  How about reviewing  events reported over 100 years ago?  The British Library has made available, through subscription, millions of digitally scanned pages of British newspapers.  Nostalgic seekers can peruse articles on women’s football, political rallies, the abolition of slavery, and that newfangled utility called electricity.  Contemporary gurus (everybody) can now find lessons learned from many years past.

End of 2009 bash fest affects “pretentious prancer” Lady Gaga, rock ‘em sock ‘em Charlie, the Pope and even Kim Jon II

Fred Phelps not gaga over Gaga

According to Reverend Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, Lady Gaga has a “whore’s forehead” and is destined for Hell.  Are we to believe the “Reverend” whose congregation is known for protesting at the funerals of American soliders who have died in battle, insinuating that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is what is killing them and not conventional weapons?  Apparently Lady Gaga’s huge gay following and support of the gay community is making Phelps nervous, if not overflowing with hatred.

“Headscarf martyr” mourned in Egypt

An Egyptian woman stabbed to death in a German courtroom was mourned by a throng of people in Alexandria, Egypt, July 7, 2009. Marwa al-Sherbini, 32 years old and pregnant, was allegedly attacked in court during a case in which a neighbor accused her of being a “terrorist” for wearing traditional Muslim garb. This is what’s in the air over there: President Nicolas Sarkozy has made waves over the past few weeks by advocating a ban of wearing burkas in public.

Swine flu: Pray this way

The Council on Islamic-American Relations — CAIR, for short and the most prominent Islamic civil-rights group in the U.S. — has issued a call for prayer against the swine flu. Muslims have been beseeched to petition the divine during Friday prayers. (Side dish: both the Koran and Old Testament are kosher; several citations in each impeach the consumption of pork).

Soul’s Code invites all people who walk the way of faith and compassion to join us in our sincere and deep prayers to protect all beings from swine flu, suffering and separation. Your Comments here will be posted on our Prayer Wall.

Lost goes all the way with, Namaste

When the Sopranos was on the air, Soul’s Code liked to call the HBO “family” show the TV series with the most mystical messaging. Sorry Tony, but ABC’s Lost now blows your crew off the screen on that score. The way that Lost routinely plays with the notion of both linear time and personal identity as illusions of the mind makes it the most spiritual show on TV.

Episode 9 of Season 5 is called, “Namaste”, a Sanskrit word uttered when you bow to the divinity, or spark in the heart chakra, of another. “Namaste” is also the greeting they say on the Lost island to new recruits at the Dharma Initiative, a 1970′s scientific commune that is now the center of action for Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lily), Sawyer and the other main characters.

Supreme Court: Ten Commandments trump Seven Aphorisms

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Summum, a religious group that blends Egyptian practices like mummification with Gnosticism, could not place a monument in a Utah public park inscribed with its Seven Aphorisms, even though a tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments already stands in the park. In his opinion for the court, Justice Samuel Alito noted that such monuments are erected “for the purpose of presenting the image of the city that it wishes to project to all who frequent the park.”  Maybe next time the court should just decide with a game of “rock, paper, scissors.”

Beliefnet Founder’s Founding Faith

Talking about his new book, Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty, on National Public Radio last week, Beliefnet co-founder, Steve Waldman, debunks the twin myths that the Founding Fathers were either a pack of howling evangelicals or a group of proto-new age spiritualists. The Fathers’ intent, he says, was actually to promote faith by separating religion from government.

Dr. Phil, tear down this billboard!

Residents of West Los Angeles, irked over the size of a huge, 60 by 100-foot Dr. Phil billboard on National Blvd., complained to the city.