The Faith in Power

It's easy to talk about the power of possession in a time of war. Everyday there are mass killings (mostly of civilians) in Iraq. Whether you want to label it a "Police State" or "War," people like you and me are being killed. It's sad that the extreme few are responsible for the average, peaceful majority's' deaths.

And what is this war being fought for? The death of a couple thousand of our own? No. Those deaths have been multiplied in casualties of servicemen over in Iraq. Faith? Perhaps for those radicals, but does that make us any less radical when we create an opponent for them?

As controversial as it sounds, we are fighting this war for power: power of resources, power in politics, and surprise! power over a weak people. We are clever to put a nice face on it: patriotism, freedom, and the American way? democracy.

The truth in facts is undeniable. War is the destruction of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. All of which are fundamentally anti-American.

Much like these American fundamental ideals, religious concepts have always embodied faith, happiness, fulfillment, and spiritual enlightenment. Religious figures or artifacts often materialize these concepts so that the people can "hold on to something real." The figures aren't cherished for what they are in physical form, but for what they represent which will often times out-live the material possession itself.

In the short story "A Prophets Hair" found in the book East, West by Salman Rushdie, the characters exhibit what can happen when spirituality is exploited. The father of the story, Hashim finds “a silver pendant bearing a single strand of human hair” (p. 42) (the prophets hair). When he does so, he exclaims, “I’m a man of the world, of this world. I see it purely as a secular object of great rarity and blinding beauty.” (p. 44). Taking this precious, priceless, and spiritual item from its rightful place “in a closely guarded vault by the shores of the loveliest of lakes...closer than any other place on earth to Paradise” (p. 57) proves to have negative consequences for both Hashim and his family.

Soon, Hashim adopts policies of the Qur’an and “from then on, he began to pray five times daily for the first time in his life, and his wife and children were obliged to do likewise.” (p. 46). It seems that he is becoming more enlightened by his methods of prayer and would prove to be a more likable person, but the contrary becomes true. He orders his servants to set “a great heap of books in the garden” (p. 46) and sets them aflame. His son notices that “the family had entered a state of shock and dismay; but there was worse to come.” (p. 47).

Hashim’s family quickly realizes that the hair has taken over their household and needs to be stolen and returned to its rightful owner. Though Hashim’s son’s Atta failed in his first attempt to steal the hair, his daughter makes an effort at saving her family. Atta loses faith and “buried his face in his hands and sobbed out his opinion, which was that the hair was persecuting them, and had come back to finish the job.” (p. 50).

Indeed, it seems as though Atta had foresight into the future of his family. By the grace of the hair’s presence in their household, Hashim accidently struck his daughter to her death and “overwhelmed by remorse” (p. 57) killed himself. His son had passed moments before resulting from Hashim’s violence previously. Their mother was the only survivor.

Once the hair was returned to its rightful place, all had settled. It is sad when religious figurines are extracted from their natural environments. A spiritual person once told me many times that “right is right and wrong is no one.” I think about that quote when I am faced with moral dilemmas. It was wrong for this man to take the vile of hair as it is wrong for peoples and cultures to be exploited for all their worth whether political, economic or even spiritual power.