Skall de 96,75% välja att gräva sin egen grav eller välja att rycka de 3,25% ur sadeln?!
Skyskrapor i den rikare delen av Bangkok. Bilden har inget med artikeln annat än kontrasten att göra. Min partner och jag vilade på en betonggris på andra sidan gata. På en betonggris som skyddade invånarna i ett tält från att bli påkörda.
Skilj på småföretagande entrepenörer och stora jättar som inte längre växer på egen hand utan istället ökar sin profit genom att köpa och lägga ner varandra och tillslut flytta produktionen till ett låglöneland. Det är följden av de rikaste 3,25%:ens ”företagande”. Innan de tar sista steget till utflytt säljer de gärna maskiner och inventarier till hårt arbetande småföretagare som tror de kommer kunna få uppdrag. Det går såklart inte när kunden drar utomlands. Följden blir konkurs, fogden tar maskinerna och säljer dem till underpris — ofta tillbaka till knösen som sålt dem i samband med fabriksnedläggningen, men till högst 20% av vad han sålt dem för. Sedan åker maskinerna också utomlands och kvar står en småföretagare med livslånga skulder och hundratals eller ibland tusentals arbetslösa arbetare.
De där allra rikaste representerades 1917 av Knut Wallenberg… han som Hjalmar Branting tecknade fredsavtal med. Kungen som också var med på borgfreden fick sitta kvar och Wallenberg och hans likar fick behålla makten över naturresurser och storkapital. Idag representeras de mäktigaste procenten av Blackrock, ett finansbolag i USA. Idag har makten över produktionsmedlen flyttat till Amerika. Visst finns det en handfull biljonärer i Sverige och visst har de makt, men inte tillräckligt för att direkt förhandling mellan dem och proletariatet skulle möjliggöra nyordning. Det tåget gick när Branting svek. Idag finns inte samma tydliga person att förhandla med. Idag är det US Air-force B52:or stationerade i Norge som motparten har i backfickan om förhandlingsläget blir skarpt.
Jag håller med om att det inte spelar någon roll att högste chefen på det växande företaget kanske har 10 gånger mer i lön än den sämst betalde i bolaget. Så var det även i stora företag fram till 1980. Men redan 1976 hade S gett upp den socialistiska kursen i inrikespolitiken. Löntagarfondernas utformning hade blivit en tummetott och den började avvecklas redan i början på 80-talet. Samtidigt drog spekulationsekonomin igång och växte med lånade pengar. På 90-talet ”sprack fastighetsbubblan” och de som gick förlorande ut var vanliga knegare som skaffat hus med lånade pengar. Det enorma underskottet betalades av med åtstramningar och utförsäljningar av välfärden under Carl Bildt och sedan under Göran Persson. Löneutvecklingen hölls tillbaka bland arbetare samtidigt som de högsta cheferna i de största bolagen och statliga och kommunala direktörer, ministrar och riksdagspolitiker ökade sina löner.
Idag har en börs-vd ca 60 gånger mer i månaden än en metallarbetare och en generaldirektör ca 30 gånger mer än majoriteten anställda på en myndighet eller ett statligt bolag. Det låter mycket, men det i sin tur är ingenting jämfört med hur mycket de rikaste 3,25% ökat sina tillgångar. Nu är skillnaden i förmögenhet mellan medelsvensson och de superrika tillbaka på 1910 års nivå. Det handlar såklart om större förmögenheter än vad de någonsin kommer att använda. Inte heller det spelar egentligen så stor roll eftersom riktigt stora förmögenheter till stor del är lån från framtiden (EVA based economy). Det som svider för folket är att med de där förmögenheterna följer också makten att styra över folkets arbetsvillkor och ekonomi.
Ivrigast att heja på den här extrema nyliberalismen har traditionellt inte varit M som arbetar efter försiktighets-/snålhetsprincipen, utan det har varit först KD och sedan C och därefter L tills Reinfeldt kom in i bilden och sjösatte Milton Friedmans nyliberala globalism på allvar. Just nu tävlar L och C om att vara längst ut på högerkanten på den socioekonomiska skalan. M har återgått till snålhetsprincipen. KD har bearbetat SD så att de släppt de folkliga frågorna och nu i princip bara har främlingsfientlighet som egen fråga kvar. På den nationalkonservativa skalan är SD längst ut till höger, men KD kommer inte långt efter.
Eftersom S idag i princip redan uppfyller SD:s mål från 2012 i migrationspolitiken, så är en röst på SD idag inte en röst på SD:s idéer om invandring utan en röst på M:s ekonomiska politik för de rikaste.
Man kan inte annat än häpna över hur näringslivet med hjälp av Palme och Persson och Åkesson lyckats lura löntagare att Sveriges bästa är om de 270 rikaste familjerna bestämmer landets ekonomiska framtid. För den båten sitter vi i idag.
[PS. Utrikespolitiskt var Olof Palme en riktig kraft som vågade föra progressiv rättvisepolitik. En riktig statsman som satte Sverige på kartan. Eftersom vi inte har någon egen utrikespolitik längre utan sitter i knät på Washington, så ligger vi geografiskt farligt till. USA:s närmaste utpost mot Ryssland. Troligen platsen för USA:s nästa krig. Varför? För att vi inte följt Palmes linje att vara lika kritiska och lika vänliga mot alla. När Hultqvist leker kelgris åt Pentagon spelar han med allas säkerhet.]
S utan annan agenda än att få sitta kvar och göra ingenting kommer inte att lyfta ett finger förrän folket börjar strejka och demonstrera en masse och väljer att rösta vänster istället. Så länge folk tror att SD kan hjälpa kommer S anpassa sig. Annie Lööf kan fortsätta styra S som en dockmästare och då blir det politik som fortsätter gynna de rikaste procenten eller så blir det en M,KD,SD-regering som kommer att föra samma politik, fast lite snålare eftersom M är med.
I Riksdagen finns bara Vänsterpartiet som står upp för folket idag. Tro det eller ej, men V:s politik ökar möjligheten för småföretagare att hävda sig mot jättarna, övriga partier står på den Internationella elitens sida. Bland arbetarfacken är det bara SAC som vågar ställa riktiga krav.
Alla har ett val och det handlar inte om den egna framtiden utan om barnbarnens. Skall de 96,75% välja att gräva sin egen grav eller välja att rycka de 3,25% ur sadeln? Rösta rätt, rösta rödare rött om ni vill att barnbarnen skall få det minst lika bra eller bättre än medelsvensson idag.
Rösta annorlunda om ni tycker det är viktigare att de redan stormrika skall leva i överflöd medan barnbarnen likt våra förfäder får gå med mössan i hand och be om ett dagsverke och med lite tur faktiskt tjäna några kronor ibland, men för det mesta gå hem med skrikande mage till en utkyld bostad. Förr kunde man iallafall i nödfall äta upp skorna, men idag är ju de i regel gjorda av plast.
Published in April 1960 in a Soviet journal entitled Problems of the East. Selected Works, vol. 4 (Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1962).
Uncle Hô with DDR sailors in Stralsund harbour during his 1957 visit to Germany.
After World War I, I made my living in Paris, now as a retoucher at a photographer’s, now as painter of “Chinese antiquities” (made in France!). I would distribute leaflets denouncing the crimes committed by the French colonialists in Viet Nam.
At that time, I supported the October Revolution only instinctively, not yet grasping all its historic importance. I loved and admired Lenin because he was a great patriot who liberated his compatriots; until then, I had read none of his books.
The reason for my joining the French Socialist Party was that these “ladies and gentlemen” – as I called my comrades at that moment – has shown their sympathy towards me, towards the struggle of the oppressed peoples. But I understood neither what was a party, a trade-union, nor what was socialism nor communism.
Heated discussions were then taking place in the branches of the Socialist Party, about the question whether the Socialist Party should remain in the Second International, should a Second and a half International be founded or should the Socialist Party join Lenin’s Third International? I attended the meetings regularly, twice or thrice a week and attentively listened to the discussion. First, I could not understand thoroughly. Why were the discussions so heated? Either with the Second, Second and a half or Third International, the revolution could be waged. What was the use of arguing then? As for the First International, what had become of it?
What I wanted most to know – and this precisely was not debated in the meetings – was: which International sides with the peoples of colonial countries?
I raised this question – the most important in my opinion – in a meeting. Some comrades answered: It is the Third, not the Second International. And a comrade gave me Lenin’s “Thesis on the national and colonial questions” published by l’Humanite to read.
There were political terms difficult to understand in this thesis. But by reading it again and again, finally I could grasp the main part of it. What emotion, enthusiasm, clear-sightedness and confidence it instilled into me! I was overjoyed to tears. Though sitting alone in my room, I shouted out aloud as if addressing large crowds: “Dear martyrs compatriots! This is what we need, this is the path to our liberation!”
After then, I had entire confidence in Lenin, in the Third International.
Formerly, during the meetings of the Party branch, I only listened to the discussion; I had a vague belief that all were logical, and could not differentiate as to who were right and who were wrong. But from then on, I also plunged into the debates and discussed with fervour. Though I was still lacking French words to express all my thoughts, I smashed the allegations attacking Lenin and the Third International with no less vigour. My only argument was: “If you do not condemn colonialism, if you do not side with the colonial people, what kind of revolution are you waging?”
Not only did I take part in the meetings of my own Party branch, but I also went to other Party branches to lay down “my position”. Now I must tell again that Comrades Marcel Cachin, Vaillant Couturier, Monmousseau and many others helped me to broaden my knowledge. Finally, at the Tours Congress, I voted with them for our joining the Third International.
At first, patriotism, not yet communism, led me to have confidence in Lenin, in the Third International. Step by step, along the struggle, by studying Marxism-Leninism parallel with participation in practical activities, I gradually came upon the fact that only socialism and communism can liberate the oppressed nations and the working people throughout the world from slavery.
There is a legend, in our country as well as in China, on the miraculous “Book of the Wise”. When facing great difficulties, one opens it and finds a way out. Leninism is not only a miraculous “book of the wise”, a compass for us Vietnamese revolutionaries and people: it is also the radiant sun illuminating our path to final victory, to socialism and communism.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency map of the Philippines, published by University of Texas Libraries.
The population census conducted in the Philippines in 2010 for the first time included an ethnicity variable but no official figure for Indigenous Peoples has been released yet. The country’s Indigenous population is estimated to be about 20 million of the national population of 100 million, based on the 2015 population census.
The Indigenous peoples organize in geographical group collectives covering the majority of tribes in each region: in the northern mountains of Luzon (Cordillera) as Igorot and in southern Mindanao as Lumad. There are smaller groups collectively known as Mangyan in the island of Mindoro as well as smaller, scattered groups in the Visayas islands and Luzon, including several groups of hunter-gatherers in transition.
Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines have retained much of their traditional, precolonial culture, social institutions and livelihood practices. They generally live in geographically isolated areas with a lack of access to basic social services and few opportunities for mainstream economic activities, education or political participation. In contrast, commercially valuable natural resources such as minerals, forests and rivers can be found primarily in their areas, making them continuously vulnerable to development aggression and land grabbing.
The Republic Act 8371, known as the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), was promulgated in 1997. The law has been lauded for its support for respect of Indigenous Peoples’ cultural integrity, right to their lands and right to self-directed development of those lands. More substantial implementation of the law is still being sought, however, apart from there being fundamental criticism of the law itself. The Philippines voted in favour of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), but the government has not yet ratified ILO Convention 169.
The situation of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines is worsening under the Duterte-regime. Development aggression has intensified, with various mining, energy and other so called ‘development’ projects encroaching on Indigenous territories. Human rights violations are likewise escalating, with Indigenous activists comprising most of the victims. In 2019, the international watchdog Global Witness has declared the Philippines as the world’s deadliest country for environmental defenders, with 30 deaths recorded in 2018.
China-funded projects violating Indigenous Peoples’ rights
After the Philippine government signed numerous loan agreements with the government of China in 2018, various issues hounded the loan agreements for the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project (even though construction started the same year) and the Kaliwa Dam project. Both projects are located in Indigenous territories in the Cordillera and Cal- abarzon regions affecting at least 3,765 Indigenous people. The loan agreements for these projects have not been disclosed to the public and have stirred criticism when leaked copies reached the public in 2019. Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) denounced the onerous and lop- sided loan agreement between the governments of the Philippines and China for the project, which CPA characterised as a debt trap for the Filipino people and a sell-out of the country’s sovereignty.
Meanwhile, opposition to the China-funded Kaliwa Dam project has intensified as the project will displace over 1,400 Indigenous Dumagat families and affect more than 100,000 peoples. Despite the threats to Indigenous communities and the massive damages to the environment and biodiversity that the project may cause, President Duterte declared he would use ‘extraordinary powers’ to ensure that the project will push through. Indigenous Peoples and various groups also criticised the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for issuing an environmental compliance certificate despite stiff opposition to the project.
On April 4 and May 9, petitions were lodged by the Makabayan Bloc, KATRIBU national alliance of Indigenous Peoples and environment advocates at the Philippine Supreme Court. The petitions were attempts to stop the implementation of the loans for the Chico River Pump Irrigation and Kaliwa Dam projects, since several provisions of the loan agreements violate the 1987 Philippine Constitution. These violations include the confidentiality clause, the choice of Chinese law as governing law, the selection of an arbitration tribunal in Hong Kong and the waiver of sovereign immunity over Philippine patrimonial assets of commercial value. On the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, the Malacanang Palace said it will comply with the Supreme Court’s order for the government to respond to the petition against the project but insisted that the loan deal is constitutional. To date, Cordillera Indigenous Peoples do not know if the government has made any response.
Another China-backed flagship project of the Duterte administration that outrightly disregarded Indigenous Peoples’ rights is the New Clark City, which is envisioned by the government to be the first smart and green city in the country. The first phase of the project, which housed a “state-of-the-art sports facility” that was used during the 2019 South East Asian Games, has already displaced over 27,500 members of the Aeta Indigenous people. Expansion of the project threatens to displace around 500 Aeta families. The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), a government-owned corporation under the Office of the President that is mandated to strengthen the country’s Armed Forces while building cities, maintains that the Aetas are not displaced as there are no Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles in the area.
The latest deal between the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program is the proposed 250-megawatt South Pulangi Hydroelectric Power Plant (PHPP) project, which will flood 2,833 hectares of Indigenous lands in four towns near Davao City and will affect residents of 20 communities. The USD$800 million contract agreement between PHPP CEO Josue Lapitan and China Energy Engineering Co Ltd Chairman Dong Bin was signed in April 2019 without the consent of the affected communities. For many years the Indigenous Peoples’ opposition to the PHPP has been met with militarisation, harassment, indiscriminate firing and extrajudicial killing.
Mining and other energy projects
Large-scale mining remains a constant threat faced by Philippine Indigenous Peoples. In August 2019, Cordillera Indigenous Peoples formed the Aywanan Mining and Environment Network in opposition to the mining applications of the Cordillera Exploration Company, Inc. (CEXCI), a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corporation in partnership with Japan-based Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. CEXCI’s mining applications cover 72,958 hectares of land in the ancestral lands of the Indigenous Peoples in the Cordillera and parts of Ilocos Sur. Petition-signing against the mining applications of CEXCI started in August 2019 and is continuing.
In Didipio, Nueva Vizcaya, a people’s barricade which started in July 2019 led to the temporary suspension of the gold and copper mining operations of multinational company OceanaGold. The company’s mining permit (Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement) expired in June 20 after 25 years of operation. Pending the renewal of its permit to operate, the company appealed to continue its operations but this was denied in a regional trial court. Communities affected by the mining operations opposed the renewal of the company’s mining permit. They have long been complaining of the environmental destruction and human rights violations committed by OceanaGold. In Mindanao, the Lumad Indigenous Peoples continue to oppose at least three mining tenements that were approved by the government and cover around 17,000 hectares in the Pantaron mountain range, which straddles the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur. The Pantaron range is the main source of the major watersheds in the region.
In the energy front, aside from hydropower projects that the Duterte administration continues to build, the Kalinga geothermal project of Aragorn Power and Energy Corporation and Guidance Management Corporation, in partnership with global energy company Chevron, is about to complete its exploration stage. The project covers 26,139 hectares in Kalinga province.
Escalating attacks against Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and human rights defenders
Following the issuance of Executive Order 7022 by President Duterte in December 2018, the Duterte regime has intensified attacks against Indigenous Peoples through the formation of the Task Forces to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict. Executive Order 70 is part of the government’s “whole-of-nation” counter-insurgency operation plan which has an “Indigenous People”-centric approach. The attacks are meant to quell Indigenous Peoples’ resistance to development aggression and government policies that violate Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and results in further marginalisation of Indigenous Peoples in the country.
In the implementation of Executive Order 70, the Department of Education ordered the closure of 55 Lumad schools, leaving 3,500 students and more than 30 teachers out of school and jobs. The closure order was on baseless claims of the government that the Salugpongan schools are teaching students to rebel. The Lumad Indigenous Peoples decried this injustice that only deprives Lumad children of their right to education.
Strategies of disinformation are being used by other government agencies, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and presidential agencies like the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), Office of the Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA). Political dissenters are politically vilified and tagged as communists or members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
In a series of briefing sessions on the Whole of Nation Approach to government agencies in Baguio City, NICA has been presenting Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and Indigenous Peoples human rights defenders as Communist Terrorist Groups and members of the NPA. UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, and some leaders of the CPA were accused of being infiltra- tors to the UN on behalf of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA.
In a congressional briefing on 5 November 2019, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations such as the CPA, humanitarian organizations such as the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center and Oxfam Philippines, and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines were labeled by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of National Defense as communist terrorist groups.
The dangerous labelling of Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and human rights defenders as communist terrorist groups and members make them vulnerable to various forms of human rights violations. As of August 2019, eightysix Indigenous people have fallen victim of extrajudicial killings (at least nine victims in 2019), 66 Indigenous people were victims of frustrated extrajudicial killings (at least eight victims in 2019), 36 are political prisoners, and 31,004 were victims of forced evacuation since Duterte assumed the presidency in July 2016.30 Many of the victims were opposing development aggression, human rights violations and the policies of the government that violate Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Indigenous Peoples’ advocates were not spared from the tyranny of the Duterte regime. Brandon Lee, a Chinese-American volunteer of the Ifugao Peasant Movement in the Cordillera region, has been brand- ed as an enemy of the state and was shot in front of his house in August 2019. He is now back home in the United States for his recovery.
The criminalisation of Indigenous human rights defenders is continuing. From 2016 to August 2019, trumped-up charges caused the arrest and detention of at least 196 Indigenous people, 36 of whom remain unjustly imprisoned. Datu Jomorito Guaynon, chairperson of Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization remains in prison after he was arrested due to fabricated criminal charges. Rachel Mariano, a health worker of the Community Health, Education, Services and Training in the Cordillera Region, was acquitted in September 2019 after a year of detention. However, the judge who acquitted her, Mario Bañez, was shot dead two months later.34 Mariano still faces other fabricated charges and is out on bail.
After two-and-a-half years, the Martial Law in Mindanao was lifted on 31 December 2019. However, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, it will remain under a state of emergency by virtue of Proclamation No. 5536 which was issued in 2016. Indigenous Peoples thus fear that the situation will not change much since the proclamation allows military and police forces to impose checkpoints and curfew. They fear that the continued significant presence of the government’s armed forces in Mindanao and military operations will continue to protect investments in Indigenous territories.
Bringing the issues to the United Nations
Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines look forward to the UN probe on the human rights situation in the country. In preparation for the UN probe and for other international engagements, Indigenous Peoples human rights defenders representing various Indigenous Peoples’ organisations gathered in November 2019 for the national consultation workshop on the issues faced by Indigenous Peoples.
The national consultation workshop consolidated the data on the situation of human rights and economic, social and cultural rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was presented during the Asia Consultation with UN Special Rapporteur Vicky Tauli-Corpuz in November 2019. It also served as the basis for the Philippine Indigenous Peoples’ submission to the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights to contribute in the UN Human Rights report on the Philippines.
The struggle continues
Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines are further strengthening their organisations and their struggles for human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights towards facing the challenges in the next year.
The earliest temple civilization I could find when doing my research was located on the planes between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, 16000 years ago. Let’s start there…
The planes between Tigris and Euphrates
Mesopotamian Gods
Mesopotamian religion (14,000 B.C.) was polytheistic, with followers worshipping several main gods and thousands of minor gods. The three main gods were Ea (Sumerian: Enki), the god of wisdom and magic, Anu (Sumerian: An, Arabic: Anush), the sky god, and Enlil (Ellil, Marduch), the god of earth, storms and agriculture and the controller of fates. Ea is the creator and protector of humanity in both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of the Great Flood. In the latter story, Ea made humans out of clay, but the God Enlil sought to destroy humanity by creating a flood. Ea had the humans build an ark and mankind was spared. If this story sounds familiar, it should; foundational Mesopotamian religious stories about the Garden of Eden, the Great Flood, and the Creation of the Tower of Babel found their way into the Quran, and the Mesopotamian religion is the origin of the Sumerian religion, the Sumerian religion the origin of the Akkadian religion, the Akkadian religion the origin of the ancient Assyrian religion, the ancient Assyrian religion the origin of the Babylonian religion, the Babylonian religion the origin of Judaism, Judaism the origin of Christianity, and Christianity the origin of Islam. Anu would morph from being a god to becoming the son of Sheeth, who was the son of Adam. Adam was created by Enlil, the son of Ea, from clay and the blood of lesser gods that Enlil defeated in battle.
Sumerian Gods
Sumerians religion (6,500 B.C.) was an anthropomorphic polytheism, or of many gods in human form, which were specific to each city-state. The core pantheon consisted of An (heaven), Enki (a healer and friend to humans), Enlil (gave spells spirits must obey), Inanna (love and war), Utu (sun-god), and Sin (moon-god).
Akkadian Gods
Akkadians religion (2,334 B.C.) was an anthropomorphic polytheism. The three main gods were Anu, Bel, and Ea. Anu and Ea were created between the union of Apsu and Tiamat, and along with them the rest of creation came. Anu was depicted as the king of the gods, and a god that only the king could worship. In the Akkadian religion, he has a wife named Antum. Bel was shown by the Akkadians as the god of order and destiny, being the most important god. He was the god of cycles and fertility and the son of the highest god Anu. Ea was a god of great force and power, and was the god of ritual purification, sorcery, and incantation. He was also the god of craftsmen and artists, as he was the god who had given form to things. He was also was and officially the advisor to the king. The Akkadians also worshipped the sun god Shamash, and he finally became the most important god who defended justice and punished wrongdoers. He was shown with rays of light shining over the king.
Assyrian Gods
Assyrians religion (2,025 B.C.) was mainly polytheistic, but regionally henotheistic. Although the religion had approximately 2,400 gods, some cities had special connections with one particular god and built temples that were considered the deity’s home on earth. For the most part, gods had anthropomorphic bodies, but some were also associated with specific animals and astral or natural phenomena or abstract symbols. For instance, the god Ashur could appear as a bearded figure inside a winged sun disk or as just the disk without any anthropomorphic features. Ashur started out as a local deity but rose with the Assyrian Empire to become the supreme god of the Assyrian pantheon, strongly associated with kingship. In Assyria, religion and state were merged; the king doubled as a religious leader, and it was the duty of all Assyrians to serve both their king and their gods.
Babylonian Gods
Babylonians religion (2,025 B.C.) is the best known variant of a complex and highly polytheistic system of belief. Of the thousands of recognized gods, about twenty were important in actual practice. Anush, Enlil, and Ea, were patron deities of the oldest Sumerian cities and were each given a share of the Universe as their dominion. Anush, god of the heavens and patron god of Erech. Enlil of Nippur was god of the earth. The god of Eridu, Ea, was lord of the subterranean waters and the god of craftsmen. The son of Ea and patron god of Babylon, Marduk (Enlil) began to attain the position of prominence in Babylonian religion in the time of Hammurabi. After the political rise of Babylon, Marduk was considered one of the rulers of cosmos. In subsequent periods, Merodach was considered the leading god and was given the epithet Baal. Marduk’s son Nebo, god of the nearby city of Borsippa, was considered the god of writing and scribes and became especially exalted in the Neo-Babylonian Period. Astral deities included the sun god Shamash, the moon god Sin, and Ishtar/Aphrodite/Venus, goddess of the morning and evening star. Sin was the patron god of Ur and Haran, both associated with Abraham’s origins. Ishtar, the Canaanite Astarte/Ashtaroth, had a major temple in Babylon and was very popular as the “Queen of Heaven”.
Lineage of Abraham (Ibrahim):
Ibrahim
Azar
Tahur
Shahru’
Abraghu
Falikh
Abir
Shalikh
Arfakshad
Sam
Nuh
Lumik
Mutu Shalkh
Akhnukh (Idris)
Yarid
Mahla’il
Qainan
Anush*
Sheeth
Adam
Jewish God
Judaism’s (705 B.C.) God Yahweh first revealed himself to a Hebrew man named Abraham, who became known as the founder of Judaism. God made a special covenant with Abraham and the descendants of Abraham is a chosen people who will create a great nation.
Abraham’s first born son was Ishmael. After many years, Abraham’s son Isaac was born. Isaac was the father of Jacob, Jacob took the name Israel, the father of Judah. Israel and his children and future generations are known as Israelites. According to scriptures, God revealed his laws, known as the Ten Commandments, to Moses at Mt. Sinai.
Christian God
Christian’s (Anno Domino) god Jehova is the God of Abraham. Abraham’s descendant Judah was the father of Perez, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, Josiah the father of Jeconiah, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband and cousin of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus, who’s father was God.
Muslim God
Islam’s (570 C.E.) God is the God of Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ishmael plays an important role in the Quran. One day God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son but when Abraham was about to slaughter Ishmael, God halted him, praised him for his loyalty, and commanded him to sacrifice a ram instead. This event is remembered by Muslims as Eid ul-Adha. After some time upon God’s command, Abraham sends Ishmael and his mother Hagar to the desert with God’s promise of protection. The Quran takes a special interest in Hagar and her son, through whom Arabs trace their connection to Abraham. Each year during the Hajj (the ritual pilgrimage) in Mecca, pilgrims reenact Hagar’s desperate search for water for her infant son, running seven times between two hills and drawing water from the well of Zam Zam, said to have sprung miraculously from the dry earth at the baby Ishmael’s feet. Ishmael was the ancestor of Nabut, Nabut the ancestor of Adnan, Adnan the father of Ma’ad, Ma’ad the father of Nizar, Nizar the father of Mudar, Mudar the father of Ilyas, Ilyas the father of Mudrikah, Mudrikah the father of Khuzaimah, Khuzaimah the father of Kinanah, Kinanah the father of An-Nadr, An-Nadr the father of Malik, Malik the father of Fihr, Fihr the father of Ghalib, Ghalib the father of Lu’ay, Lu’ay the father of Ka’ab, Ka’ab the father of Murrah, Murrah the father of Kilab, Kilab the father of Qusai, Qusai the father of Abd Manaf, Abd Manaf the father of Hashim, Hashim the father of Abdul-Muttalib, Abdul-Muttalib the father of Abdullah, Abdullah the father of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).
The Quran stresses twice that it does not make distinction between the revelations by Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes (i.e. the sons of Jacob), and that which Moses and Jesus revealed, and that which other prophets received from Allah (Glory to Him, the Exalted).
What is it to doubt? It's a metaphorical biblical reference by an anonymous Tagalog poet.
Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope…
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