Scott's Thoughts

God's Incompetence

2011-06-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, "I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created - people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." (Genesis 6:5-7, New Oxford Annotated Bible)

These words introduce the story of Noah, which according to traditional interpretations, places the blame for the sorry state of human existence on humans. We are willful, we subvert God's purposes, we are selfish, we are disobedient, we are fearful, we are greedy, and we are violent. And all this misbehavior is a function of gifts, the God given power to make decisions and the God given freedom to do as we please. And what did we do with our power and freedom? In theological terms, we failed to honor our creator. However, in the above passage, God deemed his own efforts to create creatures, who would steadfastly and bravely return his love, as a complete failure. God blamed himself.

Strangely enough, it never occurred to God that the creatures might use free will to protect and serve themselves, to love their own kind and find pleasure in each others' company. It never occurred to God that humans might band together in different groups and seek to dominate one another. It never occurred to God that humans might be fearful and use their groups to fight each other. The great designer, the prime mover, the source of all the finely turned laws of the universe, miscalculated the place of human emotions in the grand scheme of things. And even with the advantage of foresight, God seemed to have been surprised at the results.

All of this is curious given the current day touting by conservative Christians that the perfection of creation is evidence that evolution could not possible be true. They say we are fearfully and wonderfully made, far more complicated than a watch or a computer. But at least, watches and computers do what they are designed to do and many are quite elegant.

Now back to the above passage, the Genesis story has it that there was one exception, one righteous man, namely Noah, with whom God was pleased. So God decided to wipe out all the failures and begin afresh with his one success. But again, God miscalculated because he assumed that the offspring of this one good man would be spiritual clones. Well, the rest is history, humans went astray again. But the Bible always blames humans for the mess; not the creator. And the biblical apocalypses inform us that God intends to correct his second huge mistake by destorying the universe and replacing it with two eternal locales, namely heaven and hell.

And what does not get highlighted is that the sufferers in hell will outnumber the saints in paradise. And when we step back and assess the plan from start to finish, the design God put together, it doesn't seem to be a very good one. In order to create a group of people who of their own free will would love God, he had to create a vast number, perhaps as much as 97% of the human race or more, whose destinies necessitate being tortured for eternity. Couldn't this all powerful, all knowing God create creatures with dispositions to love with any more efficiency?

And theologicans consider this to be an expression of God's love for the world? And conservatives consider this to be finely tuned divine design? If this were a human plan, it would be judged as incompetent; a three percent success rate is unacceptable in any industry. Genesis tells us that God was sorry that he made us. Well, if the Bible's narrative, traditionally interpreted, is the truth, then I also share that sentiment. We, that is the human race, would be better off never having been created.

The Balance of Power

2011-06-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

Social balance of power, just like the balance of nature, is constantly in flux. Occassionally, one force begins to dominate the others and gets the entire system so out of whack that it needs adjustment. We, in the United States, are living in such an era; greed has become our God once again. And as a result common decency suffers in the hands of heartrless supervisors, politicians, corporate moguls, doctors, bankers, bishops and preachers, who not only despise the weak but also pick their pockets. Who is supposed to be the balancing force? Who is supposed to trigger guilt and slow our mad dash into self-aggrandizement? Who is to call us back to values that serve all of us? And who is to teach us that God expects us to watch out for, to care for and to protect our sisters and brothers? And who is to remind us that all humans are God's children? Who is to proclaim that human compassion is God mandated? Who is to teach us right from wrong?

From a sociologial point of view, churches, synagogues, temples and mosques are charged with that responsibility. We are warned that we cannot serve both God and money. Yet, I do not hear a single voice raised against our delerious pursuit of money and political power. All three western religions honor ancient prophets whose chief task, contrary to what the loudest religious voices are saying, was not to predict the future but to expose the dark energies in human souls and to point at the inevitable destruction greed and power-lust wreak upon whatever society gets caught in their webs. Strangely enough, Walt Disney, a celebrity well known for his anti-religious attitude, provided us with a modern story of the importance of conscience in the animated film, Pinnochio, where Jimminy Cricket tutored the wooden puppet in doing the right thing and recognizing evil in order that Pinocchio might become human.

The ancient prophets also nurtured conscience much the same way as Jimminy Cricket. They reminded society that some sins were deadly, always have been, always will be. And they still serve by reminding us that this kind of self-destructive behavior never appears as some slimy, greasy creature, but as a well dressed, good looking, soft spoken salesperson, who promises safety, security, success, salvation and svelteness. Salespeople who also fail to mention the downside, the hardening of hearts, the searing of consciences, the dehumanization of self and enemies and the necessity of destroying anyone who gets in the way. Just take a look at the religious right's support of torture and their justification that it saves lives. Our current crisis is what happens when religious institutions abandon their prophetic calling. They blame abortion rights, women's liberation and gay marriage, but not their own worship of power and money, which is idolatry of the most destructive kind. Our decline is not due to extending human rights to minority groups which is nothing more than loving one's neighbor as oneself, but to unbridled ambition to get rich and remain powerful at any cost.

We tolerate lies, avoid our social responsbilities, and demand that we should not have to pay taxes. We pretend that people and corporations need no laws or regulations. We argue that the marketplace if left alone will correct itself and cause no harm. We pretend that our group knows everything and has no blind spots. We argue against facts and when caught show no shame. We pretend that because we have been annointed by God, it doesn't matter if we sin. We hate the earth and refuse to believe it is in any danger because we believe it will soon be destroyed anyway. Our hearts have grown cold, we have closed our minds, and our ears filter out anything we don't want to hear. All that matters is money and power. All that matters to religion is money and power. We are worshiping Mammon, not God.

God help us. We need to adopt Jimminy Cricket as an example. He was ignored because he was humble and exercised no real power. But, as we know from religious teachers in all religions and in all times, St. Jimminy holds the real power, the kind of power that changes people and societies. It is the kind of power that softens hearts and opens minds. He humanizes life and makes the world a liveable place.

TRASHING FACTS AND LOGIC

2010-03-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Over the last year or two I have been dumbfounded by the national political discourse. In the media facts and logic seem to be blithely dismissed as outrageous charges get leveled without the blink of an eye. Even when challenged regarding wrong information, the purveyors of these errors don't seem to be the least concerned or embarrassed.

While watching Rachel Maddow the other night, she cornered a politician who made a factually incorrect statement regarding the law in the State of Massachusetts that legalizes gay marriages. Rachel read the law to the politician to prove that what he said was wrong and got the response back, "Well, that is your opinion." She came back at him stating, "No, this is not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of fact. Either what you said is there or it is not there." The politician stuck with the same line, "You have your right to your opinion and I have the right to mine." He didn't pause, hem or haw. He showed no chagrin, no blush or shred of shame.

Two weeks ago Lynn Cheney attacked several lawyers for being willing to represent people imprisoned at Guantanamo and characterized their behavior as giving comfort to the enemy. What is even more astounding is that Ms. Cheney has been trained as a lawyer and is quite familiar with how our adversarial legal system functions and the philosophy behind it. We, therefore, can only assume she was trying to undermine the public's support for the laws upon which American justice stands. While these statements horrified even right wing lawyers such as Kenneth Star, Ms. Cheney has not offerred a single word of retraction. There are a hundred other examples of this kind of behavior and I have wondered, "What is going on?"

Then I ran across a chapter in Timothy Ferris' book, The Science of Liberty, entitled "Academic Antiscience" where I read that the Post Modernist movement in our universities has been teaching that logic and the scientific method are culturally and politically bound to the white male perspective. And that "objective" reality is nothing more than a faith statement which cannot be demonstrated Therefore, the facts that logic and science profer are subjective and "no more trustworthy than those obtained through any other procedure." (The Science of Liberty, P.247.) When Ferris says "other procedures", he means things like divine revelation, anecdotal personal experiences and folk lore. Thus, scientific evidence is no more to be respected than voodoo. And what we generally refer to as objective reality is just one perspective among many, all of which should be given the same weight. Taking such a position would leave us with no grounds by which any system of thought can be critiqued. And as it turns out that is just fine with radicals from both the left and the right.

If the Post Modernist philosophy were true, then each faith system, assumed to be of equal value philosophically, would be free to compete for political power without having to justify its existence or its version of the truth. In such a world, truth becomes whatever the powerful say it is and the other people just have to deal with it. In such a world, the ultimate premium is placed on power, not truth, which makes people who espouse this kind of world prefer authoritarianism because once in power the only thing that would be of significance would be staying in power. Truth and facts don't really count because they are always subjective and capable of being twisted into whatever shape the establishment deems.

Now, take these ideas and see if they fit what we have been seeing and hearing in our media. Take a look at the Cheney's; take a look at the politicians from C Street; take a look at Fox News and anyone else who has trouble admitting to objective facts. All of a sudden, Post Modernism is an intellectual framework that makes sense of all these people. They do not believe there is any objective reality; and everytime they are challenged, they hide behind the mantra that what they are presenting is an opinion of the same value as all others.

What Post Modernism has created is a Machiavellian world in which competing subjective points of view vie to be king of the mountain. All is fair in love and war. Think Dick Cheney. As far as the radical right is concerned, this is a culture war that they intend to win any way they can. They are willing to lie, cheat, and steal their way to power. The facts do not matter; they have convinced themselves that what they are doing is righteous because in the end they will get to deem their point of view as the one point of view everyone else must embrace. And they envision that to be fundamentalist Christianity.

These are truly frightening thoughts, but Post Modernism is the only intellectual framework that explains their behavior. How do we fight this? We fight by professing and teaching the commonsense of objective reality, the value of democracy, the principles of the scientific method and the universality of logic propertly applied to all our discourse. We also need to understand that not all faith systems are equal; and we must be willing, following the example of Rachael Maddow, to call people to account and make them factually responsible. The road is not easy or fast, but it is the only way to protect the gains made by science and democracy.

FAMILY AGREEMENT

2009-12-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

I just returned from my holiday vacation visiting relatives where arguments abound. To my surprise, my brother and I agreed on politics and economics for the first time in memory. He lives in Texas, has been a life long Republican while I live in Southern California, vote Democratic and support various progressive agendas. Until now, I have been cynical that the crisis on wall street had changed anything; but my brother ended up arguing in favor of new financial regulations deemed necessary by unbridled greed on Wall Street and further pointed out that human nature always tries to get away with whatever it can thus needing to be curbed by rules enforced by an agency with some teeth. And he was disgusted by the huge salaries paid to CEO's of financial organizations. Perhaps, the crises of the last year, despite the political turf wars taking place on the internet and in Washington, D.C., have created more common ground throughout the nation than party leaders are willing to acknowledge. I remain stunned, pleasantly so, and maybe a touch more hopeful than I was before my trip to Texas.

A Dragon's Observation

2009-12-10T22:53:00.000-08:00

"Turmoil accompanies every great change, said Saphira to both of
them."
(Brisingr, Christopher Paolini, p. 18.)

Even when we favor change and know its necessity, it is not easy. We draw upon our internal warriors, doing battle driven by visions of justice, truth, goodness and loved ones. We know that In waging such a war, certain customs and norms will be destroyed or made increasingly irrelevant. But that doesn't make it simple to let go of the past because we will have to say goodbye to ideas that once served us and put to rest beliefs that once warmed us. It is like returning to our childhood haunts only to discover that we no longer belong there. What used to impress us now seems so small; and in some cases what seemed so clearly right, now is wrong. We are living in an age when knowledge expands so quickly that we are forced either to ride its wave or wipe out. Sadly, many good people cannot stomach so much change, so they fight it and become the enemy of history, the enemy of time. Yet changes will happen despite their efforts because that is the nature of life.

Epic Battle Literature

2009-12-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

I have been watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy on television and noticed that literature of epic battles seem to be a mark of our age. Fantasy literature, perhaps the genre most in touch with the modern subconscious, seems to revolve around forces pitted against each other in a way that threatens to destroy or enslave whatever exists. The good of course ends up triumphing over evil and usually introduces an era in which many of the familiar forms give way to the new created out of the fiery crucible of the war. Other examples are the Star Wars Saga, Harry Potter, Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Saga and many others. What they reflect is a subconscious awareness that we are living in age of momentous transition. Politically this has been vocalized in what the conservatives call the "Culture War".

An older order is being replaced by a newer order, but the roots of this conflict reach back hundreds of years and are not shallow or recently conceived. In a nut shell, the conflict is between science/reason and revealed religion. All of the liberation movements from the outlawing of legalized institutional slavery, African-American liberation, to women's liberation to gay rights, are justified on the basis of a scientific view of human life which categorizes each of the people involved as equals. And the conservative forces which have opposed advancements in each of these areas has always pointed back to the Bible as justification for not changing things. And of course, there are many people who have tried to bridge the differences, but as time goes by that tactic seems less attractive. Thus, the modern flowering of the epic battle literature which heakens back to the great myths of past transitional ages such as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Like it or not, we are in the midst of great social change.

The Roaring Twenties and Now

2009-12-04T00:05:00.000-08:00

Last year's financial collapse and its continuing fallout in the form of extravagant management salaries, gouging interest rates on bankcards, insurance companies working overtime to keep from having to honor their commitments and the powerlessness of the middle class to do anything about it are all signs of decline. What happens to a society when large numbers of its citizens worship power politics and glorify greed? Even the churces are doing it. Afterall, isn't that what mega-churches are all about? Isn't that what the C Street Church in Washington D.C. is all about? Also, we hear religious people justifying torture and turning a deaf ear to the economic plight of the poor and the middle class; it all seems beyond belief. But that is the era in which we live.

The roaring Twenties, which the movie, Caberet, uses to illustrate Berlin's decadence shoud serve as a warning to us. We are out of balance and lets hope we make some changes so as not to duplicate Germany's descent into hell. It is not a mistake that greed is one of the traditional seven deadly sins. And real politic practiced on a wide scale will rip a society apart. The good news is that Germany survived and rebuilt itself. We can do the same and hopefully we will not have to descend as far as they did.

Time and Chance

2009-11-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; but time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiates 9:11, New Oxfored Annotated Bible)

This is a rarely quoted verse, not cited because the idea runs contrary to what we expect from religion. And from the clerics point of view, it undermines a large portion of moral teaching. Most of the Bible assures us that if we obey God's commandments, we are guaranteed to prosper (cf. Deuteronomy 29:9) We want to believe that religion makes us better people and that society improves because of God's influence. Indeed that is the idea behind fundamentalism's political involvement in the world today.

Yesterday, I was reading an article from Newsweek (cf. Newsweek, "Furture Perfect" by Geneive Abdo, November 18, 2009)which was reporting that the theological ideals upon which the Iranian Islamic State was established thirty years ago are now being questioned because having a religious leader control politics has not ushered in an era of peace and justice as promised. The opposite has happened and even seminarians in Iran, after last June's brutal suppression of oppostiion forces and cynical manipulation of the election have come around to admitting their new system does not prevent corruption and persecution.

Perhaps the religious right in the United States should take notice as they strive to gain control of our government. Do we have to learn all over again from bitter experience that religion and politics, religion and economics, religion and justice don't always function well together? And the reason is hinted at by Ecclesiastes - this world is ruled by time and chance. Jesus put it another way when he said that the sun shines on the just and the unjust alike. (cf. Matthew 5:45) The Deuteronomy guarantee of temporal success arising out of moral obedience is not the truth.

This Fundamentalist Age

2009-11-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

Somewhere back in my youth, I made choices which created distance between my church/family and myself. I was reared as a fundamentalist Baptist and my choices, which arose out of a sincere piety, ended up being a pathway to liberal thought. At the base of it all was a story from the life of Jesus where a Talmudic scholar asked him what was the greatest commandment and Jesus responded that it was to love God with all your soul and that the second greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself. Then Jesus stated that all of the Law and the Prophets are based on those two. (cf. Matthew 22:34-40) The Apostle Paul went a step further when he declared that all the commandments are summed up in the following words, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Romans 13:9) Thus, Paul's statement omitted the first commandment and thus defined religion in one sentence.

To me that sounded both simple and right. Furthermore it offered a benchmark against which we can judge theological debate and behavior. Love of God and neighbor, whenever the pious lose sight of these two commandments and become hateful or fearful, they have clearly lost their way. So I made those my operating principles and took my first giant step away from fundamentalism. It never occurred to me at the time that my decision would create any problems with either my family or church. However, my spiritual journey began that day and it has broadened me beyond my imagination.

However, from the 60's to the present, America and the world has gone in the opposite direction. The people, the traditions and mindsets I left behind have triumphed politically and materially not just among Christians, but also among Jews and Muslims. Fear, hatred, greed and cynicism have triumphed as a means of trying to protect certain traditions against change. We need to think about this and the kind of people we as a society are becoming. We need to challenge the pious with their own teaching and reverse their direction. To put it into religious language, they need to repent.