One of the biggest challenges that as director of FULVIDA in Costa Rica I have had to face, pertains to the fact that when people start waking up from the lethargy they were under when they were part of idolatry, there seems to build certain chauvinism within them and that feeling of superiority tends to make them feel better than everybody else.

It is quite a challenge to overcome that chauvinistic attitude because newly awakened noahides might have freed themselves from the chains of idolatry but they have not freed themselves from serving their egos. I am sure this will come as a huge shock to many who believe they are doing things correctly, since it is one of those vices that religion leaves, creating an atmosphere of superiority, after all, who in his right mind would choose to fetter himself and forgo thinking were it not because he has been offered eternal bliss and prosperity?

Obviously religions do not deal with the present, they always deal in terms of the future; notice how they talk about heaven or hell and the afterlife but they seldom encourage good deeds from their believers so that peace and harmony can occur in this world now. It is so easy to promise anything, liars do it all the time; politicians lie and promise gold and silver to their constituents, priests and imams mention wonders about the afterlife but they establish a very harsh requirement, if one wishes to be part of the afterlife one must submit himself to the cruelties and slavery that religions pose.

It is a paradox because they talk about freedom but they take away freedom, they talk about happiness but they take away happiness, they talk about love but they instil hatred into their believers, hatred for all those outside the congregation and hatred towards one’s self. By doing this they achieve two ends, on the one hand they ensure blind faith and on the other they make certain that dissenters will be eliminated by the fanatics.

Fanaticism is not only endemic to Muslims, notice how so called-born again Christians tend to be hateful towards those who do not worship their “saviour” and how some of them masquerade themselves as lovers of Israel while in reality they despise Israel and the Jewish people. But these are not the only examples of fanaticism. Many noahides who have just woken up make the same mistake a first year Law student makes, they believe they know the law and they believe they are part of an elite which gives them the right to treat others in inferior terms. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When one has been privileged with knowledge, one must share it but in a pacific way, sometimes one does not even need to open his mouth to convince others. Deeds speak for themselves.

There is not to be found any merit when a noahide gets down to the level of those religious fanatics since Noahism is not about imposing credos upon others, rather it is about leading by example and making sure that others see our good behaviour so that they will follow suit and act the same way we do. So next time you are dealing with a Christian, rather than arguing with him or her, try reasoning, not by the means of attempting to yank them from their cell but instead try leading without resorting to words. It works much better and at the same time we are preserving Shalom.

I would like to emphasise on the fact that airs of superiority do not occur in every noahide, I am just talking in general terms nor do I wish to cause any frictions amongst us since our aim is to remain united so that we can build peace and safeguard harmony however part of the building of piece and the protection of harmony lies in the fact that we must know ourselves without the intervention of the EGO and if we err we must accept ourselves as human beings who are bound to make mistakes.

Have a nice rest of the week and I send you my kindest regards.