The Good Guys vs. the Bad Guys: Islamic Author Speaks at Maryland Unitarian Church

April 16, 2010 - PRLog -- A Muslim author whose first novel includes a courtroom trial of God for crimes against humanity will speak at the Cedarhurst Unitarian Universalists in Finksburg, Maryland on April 18, 2010.  Mohamed Mughal, author of Resolution 786, uses a literal and contextually selective interpretation of Biblical scripture to arrest, charge and try the Lord for the crimes of mass infanticide, homophobic genocide and felony animal cruelty.

In his upcoming talk titled “The Good Guys vs. the Bad Guys,” Mughal uses scripture and other literary sources to explore cultural notions of who’s “good” and who’s “bad.”  He provides examples of typical characterizations of “bad guys” using current headlines, the writings of Martin Luther, quotes attributed to Idi Amin, and George Orwell’s novel, 1984.

In his Theory of Special Relativity, Albert Einstein concluded that there are no privileged frames of reference.  Mughal’s discussion extrapolates this concept into a model of “moral relativism” that suggests that there are no intrinsically good or bad guys and that the designation is largely one of relative perspective.  Mughal cites the “villain-less” writings of Kurt Vonnegut as an example of circumstances without “bad guys.”

The talk ends with an open discussion where the speaker and the audience collectively develop answers to:  Is the God of Abraham behaving “badly” when he kills sleeping babies in their cradles?  Is it OK to worship a deity that kills entire cities because it disagrees with their sexual orientation?

Asked about his upcoming talk, Mughal said, “When I saw that the Cedarhurst Unitarian Universalists consider themselves a congregation that advocates spiritual growth and religious freedom, I knew their church was the perfect place to have an open-minded conversation about scriptural interpretations and about notions of good and bad.”

Mohamed has a website at http://www.mohamedmughal.com and also maintains a FaceBook page.