In some ancient religions it used to be the practice to sacrifice children. Our minds recoil at the thought! Who could do such a thing? It isn't possible to contemplate it in this day and age! Anyone doing so today would be hunted down amid a media fury, condemned and imprisoned, with the key thrown away.
We don't sacrifice children any more, but instead we do the following:
- We use up the world's natural resources that took millions of years to lay down, in just a few tens of years, without a care for our children's future.
- We use carbon resources as if they were renewable, when they are not (within any reasonable timescales).
- We mess with the planet's climate to such a degree that within our children's lifetimes there will be irreparable change.
- We drive cars and ship goods from one side of the world to the other, in order to gain the materials goods we like, and so pollute the planet for our children.
- We put our own happiness and sexual lusts first, lightly putting aside any commitment to marriage and family and the care of our children.
- We over-fish the seas to the degree that our children will have little left, when so many populations depend on the sea for food.
- We live in debt, not just personal but national, to enable us to live the lifestyle we desire in the present, without a thought for our children, who will have to pay this debt back - financially and in terms of their lifestyle - in decades to come.
- When economic downturns occur and unemployment rises, we allow this to particularly hit the young, so that we can continue to maintain our comfortable lifestyle.
- We assume in the West that equality and fair trade is about enabling the developing world to rise to a Western lifestyle, rather than living our lives much, much more simply in order to sustain the planet's resources for our children.
- We argue and protest about our rights, never for a moment thinking about the needs of our children.
- And meanwhile most of our churches squabble over minutiae but say nothing about greed, colluding with all the above.
And in these ways we rape the world and steal from our children, sacrificing them on the altar of our greed, smiling all the while and saying how much we love them.
Maybe this doesn't apply to everyone.
But I'm ashamed to realise that much of it does apply to me...
What about you?
Many people take the view that all religions are really much the same, so it is simply a matter of taste to pick the one that works for you. The choice is of minor consequence as they all lead to God; it's just a question of which route you choose to take to get there. Hence the proposition: there are many paths up the mountain.
Assumption 1: There is one god who shows himself in different forms. And yet:
a. While Christians, Jews and Moslems say there is only one God, other religions say there are many gods.
b. Other religions say the way to salvation is through successfully following a particular set of lifestyle rules; Jesus alone said salvation is by grace and cannot be earned by any amount of following rules.
Conclusion: The god at the top of this mountain is inconsistent; therefore is not God! Sorry, I can't make the proposition work with this assumption.
Assumption 2: There is one god who shows himself consistently, but people are confused.
a. People are often confused, so that seems entirely possible, even likely.
b. But if god cannot manage to communicate well enough with confused people to get his message through, he's not much of a god.
Conclusion: A promising start, but I'm sorry, I really can't make the proposition work with that assumption either.
Assumption 3: There are actually many gods at the top of the mountain
a. But we already know that the God of the Christians, Moslems and Jews has clearly said 'There is no God but me". As other religions disagree about this, they can't all be right. Either the one God is wrong and so isn't God, or the other religions are wrong.
b. Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me", but the Jews and Moslems disagree. They can't all be right.
Conclusion: I'm sorry, we're definitely having problems with this 'many gods' assumption...
Assumption 4: There is actually no god at the top of the mountain, but it's still good to climb for the journey and the view.
a. This would certainly develop our 'muscles' of discipline and persistence.
b. But it's ultimately deceptive, so we would learn disappointment, disillusionment, and distrust. Yet this isn't the experience of the great majority of climbers.
c. Moreover, those who have already climbed the mountain could reasonably be expected to have communicated that they found no god!
Conclusion: I'm sorry, we need a better response than that!
I'm definitely struggling to make this 'all religions are really much the same, so take your pick' proposition work.
Afterthought: Another proposition: people prefer nice cosy ideas to uncomfortable truth...
Conclusion: Umm ... that might work...
We all have some internal way of setting the course of our lives - though we may not think much about it - and this is likely to include having some role models whose lives we aspire to emulate.
Role models are not necessarily people we admire; they may simply be people who have 'gone ahead' of us, such as our parents. But we are also likely to look beyond them to others who are outside our immediate sphere. In our culture, which worships celebrity, we may well look to the rich or famous, to pop stars or Hollywood stars, or to 'celebrities' who have no other role than to be celebrities. These appear to be the successful and beautiful people, when our lives can feel humdrum and plain.
So we emulate their looks, their ideals, their behaviour; we make believe. And why not? Doesn’t this lift our eyes beyond our small horizons and introduce a bit of glamour?
Given that it is impossible to see things with much objectivity (see my last post: 'We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are'), we need some way to maintain a course through life when all else shifts - our moods, our circumstances, and as we move from childhood to adolescence to adulthood and to old age, our perspectives on life change.
Ancient mariners navigating by the stars knew that they needed to find the Pole Star to find true north, for even the stars appear to move round on their axis, with the Pole Star alone giving a reliable course. So, we too need to look much further, much deeper, to a fixed and unfailing point in order to set a true and reliable course over a lifetime.
But Hollywood stars and celebrities come and go; they may be shooting stars, but they certainly do not offer a sure means of navigation for life. Moreover, in emulating them we haven’t fooled anyone, least of all ourselves – our dreams remain only make-believe while our lives continue as humdrum as before.
If they do not offer a reliable means of navigating life, what does?
Many look to the ancient religions, which purport to offer a timeless wisdom, the promise of fulfillment and bliss in the life hereafter. Moreover, these bear witness to having sufficient benefit and wisdom that they have survived over countless generations. There is a selection of such religions to choose from according to taste!
But pause before rushing on, for choosing one's Pole Star is no small matter. In fact therein lies the problem: one cannot choose the Pole Star - there is but one! Choosing any but the true Pole Star will gradually but surely lead us astray.
So what do you navigate by in life, and is it a true and reliable guide when all else is disorientated?
