Why Muslims Can’t Laugh at Themselves

InExodus 33, Moses reminds God that if he, Moses, is to lead God’s chosen people, God had better present himself to inspire them. After all, says Moses, “What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” The Lord obliges, but the narrative undercuts the occasion with bathos: to see God’s face is to die (33:20), so God carefully arranges Moses in a cleft in the mountain rock so that God can pass by and allow Moses to view only his backside (33:23). The satirical meaning of this story is clear: God is implicitly mocking Moses’s vain request to distinguish his people from all the other nations. The other religions present the full likeness of their gods in the form of statues, images, and other idols. But the Jews will be distinguished by their God’s rear end (because God is so high and mighty that he’s beyond our ken). No representation of God is permitted in Judaism, but we’re to imagine that Moses brought with him the radiant presence of God’s rear end to lead the people. <a href="https://medium.com/interfaith-now/why-muslims-cant-laugh-at-themselves-1bf35b09b9d1">Visit Now</a>