I’ve recently had a thought, a premonition if you will (sense the sarcasm), if I were a religious leader: What if Josemaría Escrivá was a Shi’ite Muslim gone sour? It may be a crazy or offensive thought to many, but it’s certainly likely that someone got upset with the people of his religion and joined the other side, still practicing similar ideas. After all, it’s not like religion today is about dedication…at least not for most people.

Now I’m not very familiar with the concept of sainthood in Catholicism, but the Opus Dei is declared as a part of the Catholic Church, alleged by some to have been formed by the Catholic Church; a group started by Josemaría Escrivá which claims that everyone should work towards sainthood.  Encyclopedias and various sources on the internet also claim that there are many religions which indulge in corporal mortification, but i’m not aware of any sects of any divine religions which indulge in that activity except the Opus Dei and Shi’ite Muslims. Now, since I’m making the comparison, I have to alott the creation of Opus Dei to a rogue Shi’ite Muslim because the Shia belief has been around for centuries before Opus Dei came into being in 1928.

What’s very interesting is that the reason behind the corporal mortification in both sects of their own religions is very similar. Shi’ite Muslims abuse their bodies and weep to remind themselves of the tragedy that happened at the Battle of Karbela and the martyrdom of the Husayn ibn Ali, to remember the pain that he put himself through, to exemplify his sacrifice. Opus Dei, on the other hand, scar their body to remind themselves of the difficulties, pain, and sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for his people. I’m not sure either party has given too much thought to the idea, but that’s what just my opinion, and it can easily be incorrect.

What’s to be kept in mind is that neither of these parties were present at the time that Ali was martered or Christ was crucified. Both the sects have come centuries after those events, Shi’aism, of course, superceding Opus Dei by a millenium or so.Â

It’s not for me to pass judgement, but critics of catholicism have repeatedy warned people from the danger of the Opus Dei. That they are a secret organization. That they are a right wing secretive organization that sometimes does the dirty work for the Catholic Church (which sadly, the Catholic Church has now become famous for). Similarly, the United States of America has accused Shi’ite Muslims of being the destructive force in Islam. Well, I take that back, not the United States, but the Republican Party and especially George W. Bush & Co. They’ve done this by primarily accusing Iran as the only high threat posing Islam country in the world. They just happen to be Shia. Now I may be pushing it a little here, but you’re telling me there’s not even a touch of resemblence between Shi’aism and Opus Dei? I beg to differ, in fact, I think the Catholic Church could have a learnt a lesson from Muslims here to create their own sect of rather harshly dedicated Christians, for whatever purpose.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 2:27 pm and is filed under News & Discussion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.