The Question, and what comes after it

A couple of days ago, I was in a bible study group with a few friends, and they started discussing the idea of Salvation and whom it is likely to encompass.

Then came the question everybody who has a heart should ask at some point:

Why would all the others who are not of whatever creed one professes, why won't they enter heaven?

In more compassionate groups (like the one I like to think I attend), the question is modified into:

Can (with a note of hope) others enter heaven? and how??

More often than not, the "how" part isn't about the means with which they may be saved, but rather how that notion can be reconciled with Scripture.

This time, I stayed silent while they debated, because I wanted the conversation to run its full course, before I ask the more or less rhetorical question that mentally knocked me out about two years ago, which is:

In your opinion, what percentage of people needs to be saved before God calls his "Creation" project a success?

I expected almost any response except the one I recieved, which was an uproar of different cries so mixed up that I couldn't understand a word anybody was saying.

This I understood though, people seemed to be saying that I was wrong to ask the question, and this notion of blasphemizing a question was probably the first of its kind for that particular group.

After the initial torrent subsided, a few people began arguing with me in an attempt to defend God, but the rest of the group seemed to want to close the subject.

And so the subject was closed hurriedly, which I didn't mind, since all I wanted was merely to put that question on the table.

The one thing I felt bad about was how the table seemed to want to slip away, and trying to hold it still is something which I wasn't about to do. (I know better than to try that)

I am writing it here though, because I feel the need for it to be out there...

So let me ask that again:

How many people need to be saved, and what is the percentage of humans throughout the history of the world that needs to be redeemed, in order for "Creation" to be deemed a successful project, one worth the trouble it's caused so far?

Oh and please bear in mind, that for an Omniscient God, that number must've been known before the beginning of Time, and with that knowledge, he still went on with creating us.

Why can't that mean something? And why shouldn't we wonder what that something is?!

The Fun Road Game of "Bingo & Oops!"

Since I 've begun to frequent the streets of Cairo more, and especially now that I've returned to it, I've struggled to determine if my fresh impressions of it have any real base lying at their core, or whether they are just illusions...

I was mainly concerned with the striking impression that the number of unveiled women is on the rise in Egypt.

So to objectively determine whether that supposition is true in the strictest scientific sense, me & my wife came up with The Road Game of "Bingo & Oops!"!

(circus music)

The rules of "Bingo, Oops!" are fairly simple, and those familiar with other road games such as "Slug-a-Bug" and "Zitch Dog" will find it just as simple. Here's how it's played:

If you spot an unveiled woman and yell "Bingo" first, you score a point. If you spot a munaqqaba woman and yell "Oops!" first, you score a point (two points if it's after dark).

If you make a mistake (like for example, you yell Oops! at the back of a woman clad in black... then as you drive past you find out that her face is not covered) you lose two points.

And here are some additional rules that stem from the higher purpose of the game, and were not in any way made-up on the fly to strike out points made by another player:

1- Bingos yelled at sightings of unveiled girls below the age of ten years old do not count. No... make that thirteen years old... In fact, make that 15 or 16 years old!

2- Bingos yelled at sightings of unveiled women who are clearly not Egyptian do not count. Example:- Filipina maid: does not count. And no, her father can't have been Egyptian!

Now I'd like to invite all of you who reside anywhere in Egypt to play along, and help yourselves assess the social makeup of Egyptian women today, and I'm sure that if you live in Cairo, you'll appreciate the endless fun the game will bring to your drives through its infamous traffic.

Have fun, and drive safely!

Warning: To be in compliance with rules of other games that might be created in the near future, this game gives you no warranty to stare at people on the street. A glance should suffice to determine whether a Bingo, an Oops or nothing at all is in order. Prolonged staring puts you under the risk of losing your recently scored point, in addition to any penalties incurred by other games and possibly crashing your car.

Post-Script by the Post:

I know that I am touching upon a certain subject, from a certain viewpoint and in a certain manner that is very likely to offend many good people in the good Country of Egypt.

However, since I am personally acquainted with this viewpoint, I've known it to be suffering for a long time from an urgent need to be expressed... And so I've dedicated myself to its expression.

Furthermore, I understand that most of the people who had been offended by laying eyes on me

-and to those I'd usually say, look the other way... though not today-

may not have been quite as offended had I not been ridiculous...

but I think the gravity of the matter called for my satirical behaviour.

For I'm sure you will agree with me, that nothing can be quite as serious as a good joke.