so in the last post, we asked why values did god have?
and here we ask, what values should god hold?
is it enough for us to understand the positive values of Jesus
or must we act upon the values of Jesus? again, a question
of disobedience…
so what values should one’s god hold?
let us imagine a god, so what values should god hold?
let us think about this in terms of other religions…
the Greeks for example, their gods were humans, who had
human failings and human attributes but these gods were
superhumans… they had superior powers that man did not have
but they had the same failings of man…
so what does that say about the Greeks that they needed their
gods to display human characteristics?
the Judeo-christian god doesn’t display human characteristics…
but the Greek gods do…ask yourself, why?
what does this say about the Greeks and what does it say, about
the Jews and the christians who followed the Jews…
so if we were to follow the Gods of Greece, what would those
values say about us?
they are human, all too human values that the Greek gods had………
but we dismiss those values, why? because for some reason, we must
have a god that is perfect and inscrutable and has his own
reasons for whatever happens?..…… what kind of god is this?
and what values does this god offer us? the random, unpredictability
of god, the Christian god, does match the randomness, the
unpredictability of life as we know it… so perhaps that is the point
of the Judeo-Christian god…… to prepare us for the random,
unpredictability of the universe…………………
and our only answer for such unpredictability is, god has his own
reasons for such actions or unpredictability as it may be…………
perhaps that is the only value of the Judeo-Christian god,
to give us some solace for the unpredictability of the universe…
to allow us to set the blame for such unpredictability on a random
and capricious god… that is the Christian god………
let us look further into this by understanding the Buddhist god…
and the Buddhist universe that is about suffering………… the point of
existence is to escape the suffering that is the lot of all living things…
let us take that as the value the Buddhist god offers,
nothing positive, escaping suffering………
but if god, the Buddhist god had anything to do with the creation
of the universe, then why did they create as the main value of existence
suffering? why is suffering the value of the Buddhist god?
and escaping the suffering as the point of existence…
why value does that offer us?
it is a rather limited understanding of the universe…
the entire point of existence is to escape suffering…….
I would hope that existence is something more then just
escaping suffering or some other limited value…………
and that is the problem of religions…… the values offered
are limited……. in the Judeo-Christian religion, the limited
value offered is one of obeying……… to escape this existence,
one must obey god… and in the Buddhist religion, one
must escape suffering……… such limited understanding of
the human existence… to obey and to avoid suffering…
is that really it? is that really the point and being of existence?
are those really the values that bring us an understanding to the
human condition?
is that the failure of religion in that its understanding of the
human condition really exists in the simple act of either obeying
or the escaping of suffering? We understand the human being
as being much more complicated then just the act of obeying or
the act of escaping suffering…………
why not engage the entire human being… the entire range
of what it means to be human… not by a negative
perception of what it means to be human… “thou shall not”
or to escape suffering?..………. what does it really mean to be
human? not just to obey or to just to escape suffering……
such a limited understanding of what it means to be human…….
for we are such diverse and complex creatures that one simple, limited
understanding of what it means to be human such as obeying or
escaping suffering, fails to properly value what it means to be human…
we are greater then any one single purpose goal of religion be it obeying or
be it escaping suffering………. we are creatures of many and diverse
forms of what it means to be human……… one form of one such answer
be it obey or be it to escape suffering, fails to properly understand
what diverse being we are… to account to us such limited values
as obeying or avoid suffering… is to miss the entire human condition which
is as wide a number as the stars in heaven…
we are a diverse lot, we human beings and what drives us can be
as diverse as the number of stars in the heavens………
we can be driven by hate and love and mercy and curiosity and
kindness and cruelty and often within seconds of each emotion
and we have such emotions that we cannot be as limited as
just having one such emotion as guilt or simply obeying the law
or avoiding suffering… we are far more diverse then that……
let us create a religion that celebrates and understand such diversity
of the human soul that we can be many people and many diverse
emotions often within seconds of each other………………………………….
reject the old school religions because they have failed to
capture what it means to be human… for being human
is more then just obeying the law or to avoid suffering…
it includes obeying and it include avoiding suffering and it
include such idea’s as avoiding and accepting guilt, and
such human possibilities as we have shown us capable of…….
religion must begin by explaining the human creature
in terms of our many diverse and often
opposite emotions and actions………………
our religions have failed us because they have failed to
actually explain who we are in all of our diversity
and possibilities…….
if you want a religion… find one that takes into account who
you really are or, or who you want to be……
and that is the next phase… religion that
explains who we are AND who we might become…
what values are the values that we really need and the values
that will help us become who we want to be…… a religion
leads us into the future, not into the past…
and we don’t have that religion right now……
and that is for the philosopher of the future…
to create a religion that answers our questions as to
who we are and what can be possible for us…
it tells us who we are and who we might become………
I await the religion of the future………
Kropotkin