-11-
(Bringing
The Creator Into the Creation )
For far too long, theology, quite
irresponsibly, has been looking to the Divine at a Divine level - at the expense
of removing the Creator from the creation. The religions that are built on
present theologies are so preoccupied with a world to come and the preparation
for it, they are ignoring the religious responsibilities to the word in which
we live. We have so deified Jesus in our Christian theology that we loose sight
of his human nature and its purpose. We spend so much effort on the worship of
God, the proclamation of Her Word and the assertion of our faith in Him; we
loose sight of the simple truths behind so much of the message. Many of our
religious concepts encourage magical thinking, whereby, we wait for God to
provide miraculous solutions to our human problems.
Our faiths seem to emphasize a world to
come, which manifests itself in this world by little more than our declarations
of faith. We have also anthropomorphized God to the point where She often seems like a tyrant instead of Divine. The
psychology of our Christian beliefs often lead to a
God who acts like a dictator, seeing the whole of His creation as merely an
insignificant test. Religiously, we have constructed an Image of a God who is
more concerned with what we do in our beds than what we do to our planet.
Our, religious logic has us declaring sin
in having a baby out of wedlock, but there is no sin in a social structure that
allows employers to pay sub-living wages even if the children suffer because of
it. We see pornography as a great evil, which brings the wrath of God upon
humankind; but, remain somewhat silent about the rape of the earth's land, sea,
and air with pollution. Our religions would not tolerate a television station
showing an act of copulation, but offer little resistance to the murder and
violent acts which pass in our living rooms as entertainment every night of the
week. The religious faithful stand in front of abortion clinics declaring the
right of the unborn to live; while, they remain indifferent to the intolerable
conditions that so many living children are subjected to. Are these things not
hypocritical!
Our theologies have led us down a path
which tells us of this wonderful world to come where the water is clean, the
streets paved with gold, and it is without suffering or pain. They proclaim
that God will give all this to us as long as we believe as other men proclaim
we should believe.
But what does such a message imply about
this world? Doesn't it imply, at least psychologically, that this world is
somehow a miserable failure? - That this world is a punishment for some misdeed
of some ancient ancestor?
Encouraging us to be like greed stricken
children, our religions tell us to ask God to take care of us. We are
encouraged to pray for peace; but God doesn't make wars, so how can She ensure peace? We pray to God to protect us when we
drive, but God doesn't do the speeding, nor control the vehicle, nor think
about things other than driving when at the wheel! We ask God to cure us when
we are sick, but does God eat the junk foods, does He put us under stress, or
does She expose us to dangerous chemicals? Didn't God give
us the brains to contribute to our own good health? Didn't She
give us the ability to develop medicine so we could cure ourselves? Do we not
have the ability to compromise and work out our differences as to avoid wars?
Are we not capable of being more responsible behind the wheel to avoid
accidents? Don't all these gifts imply that we should PUT FORTH SOME EFFORT
before we go running to God for solutions? And doesn't this God given human
potential, at least imply, that we have responsibility for the conditions that
exist in our life?
Even our present theologies acknowledge
that God did not bring sin into the world [we use the definition loosely here].
It is a human endeavor, human responsibility, and a human act. If we create
sin, how can we expect God to rid us of it? Psychologically, we can never
overcome a fault or problem until we acknowledge and accept responsibility for
it. Religious ideals which lead us to believe that our wills are weak, or the
devil brings evil into the world, are steering us away from acceptance of our
own responsibility; which, has us pleading for forgiveness instead of trying to
solve our problems!
There is no argument that religion must
offer hope, but it cannot be at the cost of denial. Starving masses of
humanity, human exploitation, corruption in business, wars, pollution,
destruction of the environment, crime, drug abuse: are all problems created by
the social structures of human beings - they
are not Divine in their origin. Nor, is there any devil depriving children
of food all over the globe; or, filling our air and water with filth; or,
starting wars; or, murdering people; or, planting seeds of social decay.
We may argue about the source of
temptation, but ultimately the decisions we make are our own; otherwise, we cannot
claim free will. Mankind's failings are due to human beings, and when theology
implies otherwise than they are shortchanging both their followers and the God
that they claim to represent. Salvation is man's responsibility. Until our
religious ideals accept this principle, we will continue to walk the wrong
paths. Jesus didn't die to earn us forgiveness for our wrongs, he lived to show
us how we might do it for ourselves.
Too often, our theological concepts are
leading us to a faith that replaces action with words - replaces
responsibilities with projections - and replaces reality with fantasy.
In religions of old, people's rituals and
prayers were accompanied by actions - thus, God was an active part of the
everyday reality. Farmers performed rites and prayers and then planted their
crops, or gave thanks and then harvested. Hunters had their rites and then they
hunted. People made religious offerings to God or their gods and then did what
they needed to do to ensure the actualization of their prayer.
Somewhere along the line we have lost
these ideals. In our magical supernatural world, we have lost a correlation
between the realm of the Divine and the realm we live in. We expect God to grow
the crop, or provide the game, based on our words alone - without ever planting
the seeds or going on the hunt. This concept is not taught outright of course,
but it is the psychological suggestion, which can be implanted from so many of
the existing theological arguments.
There is no question that the revelations
do tell us that God is concerned about our welfare and that She helps us in
every way that He can. But religious attitudes that imply that God will save us
from ourselves are based upon an irresponsible theological concept. There
simply is no evidence, religious or otherwise, to support the idea that God
would violate His own natural law, or our free will, to save us from what we
are most capable of saving ourselves from. Those who continue to preach our
salvation in the "blood of our God" are missing the whole
point of revelation; especially, of the Gospels. Salvation is in the life of
Jesus and its message of Love and Compassion. True hope is in our picking up
our cross and bearing it; not in having Jesus do it for us. Love of God is expressed
in our attitudes about the gift of life He has given; not in the proclamation
of what She has to give. The true devil in humanity is
in its ability to cast blame for our shortcomings; instead of, acknowledging
and accepting responsibility for them. This projection is often made easier by
our existing theologies.
Faith has been and should be a catalyst
for action; not merely the end unto itself. The "Word" should be that which guides us to improve our reality; not a dogma
that excludes from the
Theology cannot ignore God, but it cannot
fulfill its obligation to Her by removing the Creator
from the creation and placing Him in a land of Oz where He is the Wizard and
the Devil the Witch who control reality. The problems of our nation, and the
world for that matter, go beyond accepting faith in Christ. They go beyond
issues like abortion or smut. They go beyond our sexual preferences or the
prayers in our public schools. And they go beyond what we profess to believe
about Jesus' Divine nature.
The evils in our society are rooted in our
intolerance. Evil is in a social economic structure that puts profit before
human life, in the individuals that put themselves as the highest priority -
and, theology must address this truth if it is to be responsible to the
faithful and God.
It is time that theology encourages us to
look for the wonders of God in the natural order; instead of, encouraging our
hopes in the supernatural. When we begin to acknowledge the reality of God's
presence in what is created, we will ultimately begin to treat those things
with more respect. It is no wonder we cannot see the reality of God buried
within ourselves, for we cannot see Her majesty in the
wonders of our world. It is no wonder there are so many human iniquities,
because we often live in denial of our ability to overcome them. So much of our
theology has us seeking a God who will magically do for us. But what Jesus,
Buddha, Muhammad and many other great prophets have told us; is, to accept
responsibility for our own shortcomings and change our hearts accordingly.
Theologically, the best way to approach
this is to see the importance and reality of God within the creation itself. If
we see this world as being inferior to God, or as a temporary stepping stone to
something else that is far better, we are justifying our own lack of
responsibility.
If religion is going to serve God and help
advance humanity it must be rooted in reality; not in superstition or fantasy.
It is not what we say we believe that counts, but what we do with the faith we
profess. It is the responsibility of theology to encourage a faith in action so
that people do not simply pay God "lip service" by professing
their beliefs.
In a time so filled with heartbreak and
pain, theology should not be encouraging people to find God in Grottos, crying
paintings, or in so many of the magical ways it fosters. We need to see God in
the faces of every man woman and child. We need to see God in the majesty of
His creation. We need to see God in the Mother Earth. We need to find God in
our own hearts. This is where a responsible theology will lead people through
its speculations and interpretations.
Our ancient ancestors saw the sun coming
up in the morning as an act of God or the gods. They saw the rains and seasons,
death and rebirth, stars and rainbows, and all the wonders of nature as signs
of the power, love and reality of God. God participated in His creation, and the religious beliefs were interwoven with the
reality of the world in which they lived.
We now understand how the world works to a
great extent, and because of this we choose to blind ourselves to the miracle
of WHY it works. Science may
contribute to our attitude by claiming to be able to explain everything. But,
religion has an even greater fault because they lessen the importance of God's
creation by emphasizing a world of the supernatural. Often, they cannot
harmonize 'what is' with their beliefs, so they make the natural mundane and
less important to the Almighty. They make the miracles of everyday life, of the
workings of the universe, insignificant through their literalization
of the great supernatural wonders God works in their revelations or through
Divine promises of better worlds to come.
We can proclaim what we want about our
faiths, but the truth is our religious ideals are nothing but verbal
platitudes. Rich Christian countries ignore, and even exploit, the poor and
underprivileged of third world nations as well as the plights of their own
peoples. Medicine is a commodity with a much greater emphasis on the profit it
can generate than on the people it can help. Business has become a world where
deception is much more the rule than the exception. Social economic structures
are often unfair, rewarding excessively at the top levels, while often paying
sub-standard to the people who make those excesses possible. And human masses
are looking more and more to the "buck" for their fulfillment, very
often out of the sheer necessity that life brings to bear. The society is
ridden with drug abuse, both legal and illegal; with crime, deception, poverty,
and ignorance - all, while our clergymen proclaim God's wondrous paradise to
come if only we believe. We raise money to proclaim the so-called "word of
God" over our airwaves; but, where is the justice, honesty, equality,
mercy, and love that is expressed in that "word" in the reality of
our world? Where are the ideals of Jesus in the societies that claim to be
Christian? These are the attributes that theology should be about!
What responsible theology must do, is:
recognize that the world of our reality is the world of the supernatural as we
are experiencing it - in the here and now. We have to recognize that this world
is God's miracle incarnate, and we are part of that miracle. Until we open our
eyes and see the spirit of God in our reality, we will never have the incentive
to be responsible in our use of the world, or, have the incentive to overcome
the injustices in our societies!
Theology needs to serve humanity by
helping us improve the human condition in the here and now, at the level of the
individual as well as the collective. Its message needs to concern itself with
the reality of living to a greater degree than its pronouncements about the
world to come. We need to stop telling people what God is going to do for them
and concentrate on what it is we can do for God in the life that we live - not
because of Her reward, but because of our love!
In looking to revelations, we need to
develop theological concepts that allow God to be active in our everyday lives
in the modern world. We need to look at scripture for ideals which foster a
faith that helps us to deal with social, economic, environmental, and everyday
problems.
Inspiration that comes from God should be
useful. God's revelations will help us to move forward in a positive manner,
lead us to brotherhood and peace, be effective in addressing the problems we
face everyday, and above all be about living the life that we have been given.
Just like any good parent, God is plugging for Her
children. But, like that good parent, He wants us to be able to stand on our
own two feet. We will never grow up and reach our full potential until we are
willing to accept responsibility for ourselves. Until we face the fact that we
can be better than we are. Until we realize that because we are God's creatures
we have the ability to reach the perfection which God has given us to reach.
God most certainly extends His help, but we must do the work.
NEXT-12-A
Summary of Practical Theology
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