God's Incompetence

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

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.