Re:the heavens declare - Alice

[Guest guest]

Carol says: >>What does it mean that god is dead? Why are so many people unfulfilled bythe 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. >>Now, 2,000 years have passed and again god wants evolve. Psychologically, god must evolve because the

god-image represents our religious values and our value system that have become outworn and no longer suited for dealing with modern life.<< --Which triggers paranoia in groups whose religious security demands that God punish their enemies or give them special priveleges. Fear of communism or terrorism, claims of Zionist conspiracies, and hatred against the US are all manifestations of that paranoia, for which justification can always be found. As long as there is justification for fighting, nobody has to see their own shadow or repent for misusing it. C. Lockharthttp://www.soulaquarium.netYahoo! Messenger: grailsnailBlog: http://shallowreflections.blogspot.com/"The most dangerous things in the world are immense accumulations of human beings who are manipulated by only a few heads." -- Carl Jung"If you can't be a good example, then you'll

just have to be a horrible warning." -- Aird"LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE." -- Unknown"While many say only God has the authority to forgive men, men are quick to take it upon themselves to judge the sins of other men. Thus, the urge to punish has always had an unfair edge over the impulse for mercy." -- Unknown __________________________________________________