Title: The Man Who Murdered a Quarter of the World’s Population: Factual: It Did Happen
Author: Ira J-Ira
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-5246-6730-6
Pages: 114
Genre: Religion
Reviewed by: CC Thomas
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Author Ira J-Ira starts this book with a riddle, one that had this reader perplexed. While I felt I might have known the answer, I soon discovered I was wrong, to my amusement. The point of the riddle serves as a gentle entry into more serious topics. The discussion that follows is not one of amusement, but one of a call to attention for a change in lifestyle and thinking.
J-Ira uses this book to advocate for peace by pointing out the violent and hostile world that we all live in, regardless of religious affiliation or geographical location. J-Ira shows the role that religion has played in past violent incidents and indicates that most violence can be attributed to religious causes. J-Ira’s main point is how misunderstandings of religious doctrine have corrupted society and social customs. Religious standards, when allowed to be individually interpreted, can change according to personal moral and ethical standards. Violence isn’t the only issue discussed, in terms of how we, as a society, have lost our way. There are so many political examples with current relevant connections, especially considering the recent American election. Indeed, the work seems almost prophetic and the ideas will follow you into your daily life as you watch the news—local, national, or global.
So, is this an anti-religious book? Certainly not! The book touches on themes from all walks of life and isn’t meant to be a discouragement for believers. Rather, it is a call to action for believers of any faith. The book also gives instructions, as parents, on how to raise your children in authority and with authority. The lessons imparted are through the retelling of biblical stories with a spin on the comprehension connection to modern ideas. Modern evils are substituted for biblical evils, such as the evil of modern entertainment and the entire entertainment culture.
In The Man Who Murdered a Quarter of the World’s Population, there is no encouragement for one certain religion. While most of the violence in the world is attributed to religious causes, any one religion is not blamed by J-Ira. Rather, the commonality among all religions means not one can be blamed in exclusivity. This is a book in which Christians and Muslims could find common ground, as well as other religions that promote peace and understanding above all other dogmatic concepts. The stories included follow the chronological downfall of man and hearken back to biblical figures. It is easy to draw connections that show modern society emulating the same spirit of hatred and selfishness so common in the Old Testament and has the same spirit of violence. In summary, the book is an appeal to a return to pure biblical perspectives. It’s a call to the return to a better and simpler way of life, an Old Testament style of faith and way of living in a changing new world.
