Monotheism and Hate

Does monotheism lead to hate?

One critic of religious faith that I've recently read claims that monotheism, in general, seems to foster intolerance. It's hard to argue against it in our current world climate. Judaism has done nothing to foster a resolution with the Palestinians, Muslims are blowing themselves up everyday in the name of Allah, and fundamentalist Christians feel the need to wipe out what they consider to be social liberals.

I don't know if the problem is monotheism itself, but I find it interesting that there is a move toward the extremes in monotheistic religions. On the one side we have "liberal monotheism", influenced by existentialism, that must dismiss a large portion of the scriptures upon which they are based, and on the other hand "fundamentalist monotheism" which turns those same scriptures into fuel for hate and violence.

Perhaps these extremes are what happens when people who have not had an authentic religious experience take control of religious institutions.

What do you think?

Life Is An Experiment

You can tell a toddler that he will fall and hurt himself if he hangs upside-down off the end of the couch. I've not seen a toddler yet that didn't have to find out the truth for himself. Maybe it's something built into our genes. It's just how humans learn.

I believe life is an experiment. We push and pull, give and take, crawl, walk, run all in experimental fashion...we succeed, and we fail, and we learn. We learn what music we like. We learn what diet makes us feel good. We learn what our body can do, and can't do. . .

Why is it different when it comes to spirituality?

I read an article recently that brought home the point. One of the latest studies seems to imply that a large portion of people either dismiss or don't know the fundamental teaching of their faith. I'm no sociologist, but I think one reason is that most people attending organized religious institutions trust their religious leaders to learn, know and diseminate the truth for them. Therefore, they have a limited understanding and experience of their own belief system.

Can I just be honest here? Modern Christianity does not facilitate personal responsibility, and that is a serious liability for any person seeking a spiritual life, and assures the dysfunction of the institution.

When I became a Christian I jumped in with both feet. I wanted to know God, to feel loved by God, to experience talking with and listening to God the way they did in the Bible. So I experimented. I went to church. I took responsibility for my education and went to bible college. But at some point I began to just accept what the educated experts had to say about spirituality and life. I made the assumption that people who were Christians for a long time had experienced deep connection with God, so just did what they did. I tried to cram my experience into the box for a lot of years.

The Apostle Paul said to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling". (On a side note, Buddha said "Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others" about 500 years earlier.)

I have the choice to blindly accept what "talking heads", experts, and the educated have to say about a particular topic, or I can find out for myself. I've decided to find out for myself.

When I remove the religious authorities from my life the experiment becomes my own. I own it. I begin to be aware of the beliefs and practices that are helpful, useless, or harmful in my life. I begin to see which belief systems best explain the universe as I perceive it. I take personal responsibility for my spiritual journey.

Melvin Klegerman says, "The concept of religion as a universal paradigm means that each person becomes a scientist experimenting with his or her own life, over which he or she has total control."

These are not experiences that I was forced into in order to belong to a religious club. They are not the experiences that a religious leader said I "should have". They are not the experiences of a "church father" from long ago in a distant country. They are mine!

So here's wishing you good questions, spiritual success and failure as you experiment, and a life filled with the freedom and adventure of this beautiful mystery that is life.

P.S. Yes, there are risks involved in taking personal responsibility for our spiritual life, and I may address them in a later post. But I think the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Crash and Burn

My hard drive crashed. Posting from the library.... May be awhile before I post again.

Nothing personal...