Re: Re:the heavens declare - Alice

[Guest guest]

Perhaps there are no truly modern images of god in play. It seems to me that

something is just beginning to come together, at least in certain people who

are open to the unc.

Carol

Re:the heavens declare - Alice

> Carol says:

> >>What does it mean that god is dead? Why are so many people unfulfilled

> by

> the Church?<<

>

> --God is dead when the values and priorities associated with God no

> longer have the power to give people courage and integrity in the face of

> current problems. Right now, God is part of the problem, because so many

> groups feel they have a priveleged relationship with the divine, and

> cannot see divinity in other groups and act on it to overcome divisions. A

> dying image of God as a vengeful, punishing ghost cannot save humanity

> from divisions that threaten global economic and social stability. Only a

> more unifying image of God, one that can work through all branches of

> monotheism and through non-religious or pagan people, can have life,

> because only that kind of image can help humanity solve its current

> crisis. There is little point in having a deity if it means losing

> everything that deity stands for, and all modern images of God, even those

> that see God as a vengeful warrior-king, contain the basic idea that

> justice and freedom are values worth sacrificing for. We're just

> not ready as a species to sacrifice ourselves for our enemies, for people

> we see as contaminating or threatening our uniqueness and security in our

> tribal/religious/national boundaries. The fear of a global conspiracy

> against faith is part of the dying image of God, prevenging people from

> accepting an image of God as having global concern for the welfare of all

> human beings. We still say " Take care of number one " , we still use status

> divisions and material wealth as dividing lines, we still use religion to

> sort people into categories rather than uniting to save lives or solve

> problems that can only be solved with a critical mass working together.