Saturday, April 21, 2007
Pacifica Commentary For April 18, 2007
A Conversation With God
We know that religion is often used as a cloak for malice in the political world. Here is a Liberation Theology reflection on how we might remove religion from corrupt politics. It is in the form of a conversation with God.
Q. What religion do you belong to?
God: I don't have a religion
Q. But we humans do.
God: Of course. Religion is a human attempt to define the indefinable and to bind a certain group of people together in that effort. Religion is a fact of Anthropology.
Q. Are religions a bad thing?
God: Not necessarily, but they are bad if they separate people from human unity.
Q. What about all those people who do not believe in you?
God: That's understandable, it may be because of all of the dumb things they have been told about me. They may not believe in me, but that does not mean I don't believe in them.
Q. Are you Jewish?
God: No.
Q. Are you Catholic?
God: No.
Q. Are you Protestant, Islamic, or Hindu or Buddhist?
God: No, those are human configurations.
Q. Some people say that you are many.
God: Perhaps they see many facets and individualize those facets as many gods. That could be called "many."
Q. How do people serve, and honor you?
God: By serving, honoring and loving each other.
Q. What about all of the religious figures that have been deified over the centuries? Jesus for example?
God: Here is where language is defective. Jesus demonstrated the unity between himself, me and all of humankind. Jesus was asking everyone to share in this divinity. He did not separate himself from the human race or deny the divinity of the human race.
Q. What religion was Jesus?
God: He was Jewish.
Q. Was he sectarian?
God: No, he was universal in his approach and made it clear that everyone who lived the truth understood his message.
Q. You mean, even if they never heard of him?
God: Of course. Anyone devoted to the truth, justice and peace gets the message regardless of their religion or lack of religion.
Q. You seem to be saying that we cannot comprehend the word God.
God: That is correct. You can only speak of me in terms of analogy, you can never comprehend me.
Q. What about all the various religious liturgies, customs?
God: These are all of value if they are celebrating the good you are doing or planning to do. Think of liturgy as a party, a celebration. The liturgy will not build the house, but it can celebrate the fact that you are going to build the house or that you have built the house. The liturgy will not feed the poor. But it can be the celebration that you are about to change the very structures that create poverty.
Q. Should we pray?
God: Yes, of course. This is a way to elevate your mind from the nitty gritty of daily life and enter into the unity of creation.
Q. Did you say creation?
God: Yes, I did. There has never been any conflict between creation and evolution. Science is simply an effort to understand my work. People should revere science as an effort to know and then use science for justice and peace.
Q. Well, God, thanks very much for this reflection at a time when we celebrate Passover, Easter, Norwas and all the multiple celebrations of the Springtime resurrection.
God: You are welcome
We know that religion is often used as a cloak for malice in the political world. Here is a Liberation Theology reflection on how we might remove religion from corrupt politics. It is in the form of a conversation with God.
Q. What religion do you belong to?
God: I don't have a religion
Q. But we humans do.
God: Of course. Religion is a human attempt to define the indefinable and to bind a certain group of people together in that effort. Religion is a fact of Anthropology.
Q. Are religions a bad thing?
God: Not necessarily, but they are bad if they separate people from human unity.
Q. What about all those people who do not believe in you?
God: That's understandable, it may be because of all of the dumb things they have been told about me. They may not believe in me, but that does not mean I don't believe in them.
Q. Are you Jewish?
God: No.
Q. Are you Catholic?
God: No.
Q. Are you Protestant, Islamic, or Hindu or Buddhist?
God: No, those are human configurations.
Q. Some people say that you are many.
God: Perhaps they see many facets and individualize those facets as many gods. That could be called "many."
Q. How do people serve, and honor you?
God: By serving, honoring and loving each other.
Q. What about all of the religious figures that have been deified over the centuries? Jesus for example?
God: Here is where language is defective. Jesus demonstrated the unity between himself, me and all of humankind. Jesus was asking everyone to share in this divinity. He did not separate himself from the human race or deny the divinity of the human race.
Q. What religion was Jesus?
God: He was Jewish.
Q. Was he sectarian?
God: No, he was universal in his approach and made it clear that everyone who lived the truth understood his message.
Q. You mean, even if they never heard of him?
God: Of course. Anyone devoted to the truth, justice and peace gets the message regardless of their religion or lack of religion.
Q. You seem to be saying that we cannot comprehend the word God.
God: That is correct. You can only speak of me in terms of analogy, you can never comprehend me.
Q. What about all the various religious liturgies, customs?
God: These are all of value if they are celebrating the good you are doing or planning to do. Think of liturgy as a party, a celebration. The liturgy will not build the house, but it can celebrate the fact that you are going to build the house or that you have built the house. The liturgy will not feed the poor. But it can be the celebration that you are about to change the very structures that create poverty.
Q. Should we pray?
God: Yes, of course. This is a way to elevate your mind from the nitty gritty of daily life and enter into the unity of creation.
Q. Did you say creation?
God: Yes, I did. There has never been any conflict between creation and evolution. Science is simply an effort to understand my work. People should revere science as an effort to know and then use science for justice and peace.
Q. Well, God, thanks very much for this reflection at a time when we celebrate Passover, Easter, Norwas and all the multiple celebrations of the Springtime resurrection.
God: You are welcome
