53 years ago today, on February 21, 1970, the Simon and Garfunkel album “Bridge Over Troubled Water” hit number 1 on the UK chart and stayed in that chart for 300 weeks. It went back to the top of that chart 8 times and spent a total of 41 weeks at number 1.
That is astonishing longevity in popular music.
So, I now use today as an auspicious day to launch this website, dedicated to the idea that when we go way back in time, into the depths of our beings, and when we look at the present and into the future, we people are all human and we need to live in peace with each other and overcome any hatreds that get in the way of doing that.
The Abrahamic religions are all cousins.
They should be able to live in peace.
But they can’t.
Lets look at the meaning of a few very similar words to examine human spirituality from an Ibrahamic point of view and beyond.
Eloha is a ancient Hebrew name for God, more often spelt Eloah. Its plural form is Elohim. (According to the website blueletterbible.com the plural form Elohim meaning “God, Creator, Judge” occurs in the Old Testament over 2,000 times.)
Ilaha is an Arabic word, meaning, as I understand it, “God, Deity, Object Of Worship”. It is part of the first half of the Islamic confession of faith “La Ilaha IllAllah.” which I like to transcreate as “There is no god but God.”
Aloha is defined by Wikipedia as “the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, (and) is commonly used as a greeting.”
Aloha is not Abrahamic at all, but allows me to indulge my penchant for discursive thinking and introduce into this post the mention of a personal hero of mine, America’s new Director Of National Intelligence, the extraordinarily intelligent Tulsi Gabbard, who is both a graduate of Hawaii Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in international business and also a serving Lieutenant Colonel, in the US Army Reserve. Gabbard is currently in command of the 1st Battalion, 354th Regiment, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I revere Tulsi Gabbard as an outstanding woman of peace for statements like this:
“My mom was a practicing Hindu, and my dad was a Catholic who practiced yoga meditation and karma yoga. My earliest memories are of the bright colors, beautiful sounds, and fragrant aromas of both Christian and Hindu celebrations ……. My siblings and I grew up studying from both the Bhagavad-Gita and the Bible, going to Mass, and then coming home to a yoga kirtan.”
“When a person thinks, I am a Christian, this other person is a Muslim, therefore he is my enemy, or I am a Muslim, this other person is a Hindu, therefore she is my enemy, they reveal their own lack of spiritual depth. No religion teaches this, and any understanding of any religion that adopts this divisive attitude proves itself false by doing so.”
“The best way to honor our troops, the less than 1% of our country’s population who voluntarily put their lives on the line in service to our country, is by making sure that when they are sent into combat, it is the last option, not the first, and that the mission is worthy of their great sacrifice.”
“While in the Middle East, I saw how quickly religious sectarianism and bigotry can lead to the disintegration of a country – how leaders manipulate people to fear others who are different, who look different, or who have different beliefs.”
“Our actions to overthrow secular dictators in Iraq and Libya, and attempts now to do the same in Syria, have resulted in tremendous loss of life, failed nations, and even worse humanitarian crises while strengthening the very terrorist organizations that have declared war on America ……. There is no denying that the interventionist wars in Iraq and Libya that were propagated as necessary to relieve human suffering actually increased human suffering in those countries – many times over ……. We need to end our country’s counterproductive regime change war policies that have undermined our national security, destroyed so many countries, and taken so many lives.”
“The cause of peace is too great for us to allow political disagreements or partisanship to stand in our way.”
“If we want to change this culture of hate and bigotry, every one of us must stand up and speak with one voice to condemn it, because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”
“As a soldier, I stand ready to serve and protect and defend this country. And as a soldier, I know the cost of war. And as president and commander-in-chief, I will end these regime-change wars.” (when running for President in 2016)
“As a combat veteran, I know the cost of war.”
“We need to stop judging individuals based on their race, profession, gender, religion, or anything other than their own individual behavior and character.”
“Finding common ground means reaching out with respect and aloha – despite the issues that divide us, despite the hurt, despite the fear – and recognize what unites us as human beings.”
Thank you, Tulsi.
Aloha.
Geoff Fox, 21st February, 2025, Mebourne, Australia
MOTHERHOODS MATTER 