The world's mainline religions are all at a critical crossroad as they rapidly approach what appears to be the end of their 2500-year reigns. Unless they are willing to evolve theologically and embrace a 21st century consciousness, membership and the over-all relevance of mainline religions will continue to decline.
The Conservative elements of our mainline religions are already beginning to experience growing political and social headwinds. Imperialistic claims of religious superiority by the conservative elements of all of the world's mainline religions, especially the conservative Christian and Islamic fundamentalists whose primitive ego generated black-and-white claims of absolute certainty regarding their faith beliefs, and their claims to represent the only "true" faith, are creating levels of religious terrorism and violence that our emerging global culture can no longer safely ignore or tolerate.
Despite the fact that fundamental and evangelical religions openly and publicly endorse intolerance and injustice in their black-and-white primitive ego faith beliefs, they are currently growing because they do take a clear stand on issues. These churches are attracting people who want the security of simple black and white answers to complex social issues to avoid the anxiety of paradox and uncertainty.
Liberal mainline religions, on the other hand, try to embrace everything so as to avoid offending anyone. To avoid looking intolerant, they are unwilling to take a firm stand on important moral and ethical issues such as intolerance and injustice.
Any religion that refuses to take a clear stand on the basic religious issues of unconditional love and compassion is a religion that will rapidly become ideologically irrelevant. To be an effective member of any viable mainline religion should mean that your ultimate goal in life should be focused on confronting intolerance, manifesting compassion, and performing concrete acts of loving-kindness.
In this issue of the Stonyhill Newsletter we will conclude this series of articles by looking briefly at the small progressive churches that are quietly emerging around the world, and the impact that they might have on the future of our mainline churches.
The full article of the same title, including all seven of the reforms that I believe will be needed for our mainline religions to survive in the 21st century, will be posted on the Stonyhill.com web site by the end of April.
Reflections on The Future of Mainline Churches In The 21st Century- Part 3
The Danger of Imperialism in The Theology of Mainline Religion
In the two previous articles in this series, we have seen how the child-like, black-and-white primitive ego thinking process that the pre-modern faith beliefs of virtually every mainline religion are built upon, and the rigidity and theological imperialism woven into those faith beliefs, renders them incapable of effectively supporting or ethically guiding humanity in the creation of a compassionate global culture. Our mainline religions are simply incapable of manifesting a sustained non-judgmental compassion. Compassion in black-and-white rigidity is impossible.
Their primitive ego based need for "absolute certainty in their unverifiable faith beliefs" predictably creates a theological intolerance that causes them to lose contact with their hearts. To state it simply, a primitive ego "absolute certainty" in one's faith beliefs inevitably creates conflict and violence, and is therefore the very anthesis of empathy and compassion.
Because of these realities, our willingness as a species to tolerate or ignore the high level of conflict and violence currently being created by the religious intolerance of our mainline religions is rapidly fading. It simply no longer makes sense to an evolving and increasingly enlightened 21st century global consciousness to tolerate such dangerous primitive ego thinking.
Liberal mainline churches are clearly in membership decline and losing relevance. However, despite the fact that conservative and evangelical mainline churches represent an alarming lack of intellectual integrity and a significant level of self-imposed ignorance in their pre-modern faith beliefs, it appears likely that they are going to continue to grow and project their dangerous imperialism and judgmental intolerance into the world for at least another generation; perhaps longer.
Because religious fundamentalism is simply too dangerous to be ignored or tolerated in a global culture, the high level of conflict and violence that will continue to be created by these conservative churches will eventually force the world's social and political institutions to take action and bring an end to their power and ability to create instability in the world.
They may represent a small minority of religious people in the world, and the primitive ego thinking and simplistic faith beliefs of their theologies may reflect a significant lack of intellectual integrity, but at this moment in time, they are currently the primary voices of faith and religion shaping the religious landscape.
For example, a recent poll reported that 83% of Americans believe in the virgin birth and only 29% believe in evolution. The New York Times editorial writer Garry Wills responded to the results of this poll with the question "Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an enlightened nation?" Theologian Robert W. Funk believes that "We will not make significant inroads into the hegemony of fundamentalism and literalism unless or until we break into the dominance of public rhetoric by the Christian right and their political cronies." I would also include the public rhetoric of Islamic fundamentalists.
To summarize, there is little doubt that the need for voluntary, internal theological reform, intellectual integrity, and scriptural literacy in our mainline religions is urgent and critical. It is becoming clear that humanity will be unable to create a viable and compassionate global culture until the immature primitive ego thinking process of childhood currently used in our social, political, and especially our mainline religious institutions, is transformed into the matured observing ego of a more enlightened consciousness.
Until the world's mainline religions are willing to embrace the concepts outlined in the seven areas of reform outlined below, the use of social, economic, and political pressure to limit the violence currently being created by their imperialistic self-righteous theologies is all but inevitable.
The Emerging Progressive Church Movement in Mainline Religion; Implications For The Future
While the future for our world's mainline churches appears to be rather grim, there is one small but growing light of hope. A quiet, yet powerful, revolution is taking place in Christianity and other mainline religions around the world. Although institutionally un-organized, small progressive churches are springing up in cities and communities all over the world. No longer comfortable with traditional imperialistic theologies and intolerant faith beliefs, these open-minded, openhearted progressive churches have been quietly germinating and growing at a grass root level for the last 15 to 20 years.
Representing virtually every mainline religious denomination, these progressive churches are open advocates for theological reform, the causes of women, the rights of homosexuals, the transgendered, the bi-sexual, and pro-active protection of the environment. Their primary focus is on the development of a vital, authentic middlepath spirituality based on intellectual integrity and a deep sense of social justice for those marginalized by intolerant social, political, and religious institutions.
They reject the simplistic dualism of black-and-white primitive ego thinking and choose instead to employ a more mature, observing ego consciousness; a consciousness theologically comfortable with a middlepath spirituality based on not-knowing, uncertainty, the built-in complexity of diversity, and the inherent paradoxes contained in all truths.
Unlike liberal Christian churches, these small progressive churches tend to be physically and emotionally expressive in their worship, and less focused on traditional left brain preaching. Worship often includes meditation, artistic forms of worship such as ethnic music and dance, and includes rituals from Eastern, African, and Native American religions. They are intellectually curious and willing to openly challenge and explore their traditional faith beliefs so-as-to redefine them and thereby introduce new and fresh ways of understanding traditional Christian faith beliefs.
Enthusiastically grounded in a modern, 21st century consciousness that is comfortable with biblical scholarship, advances in science, new understandings and ways of talking about God, and the belief that all paths to God are valid and contain truths that need to be understood and incorporated into their own faith beliefs. They openly reject, and are willing to confront, all forms of theological imperialism, intolerance, and bigotry.
Unlike traditional mainline churches that focus primarily on God and faith beliefs, these progressive churches are not focused on changing or converting others to their beliefs. They are committed to growth in self-awareness and the spiritual work of personal transformation. Their outreach ministries are based primarily on helping their own members, and the unchurched in the larger community, cope with the struggles and problems of day-to-day life. They tend to be open, welcoming to persons of other faiths, and "non-religious" in their style of worship. They offer a spiritual consciousness that is enlightened and hopeful for the 21st century.
While these small progressive churches offer a theology that is relevant, refreshing, has intellectual integrity, and offers a new vision for the future of mainline religion that is indeed hopeful, it is important to remember that this movement is still in its infancy. Without significant help, support, and encouragement from liberal mainline churches, they are unlikely to exert a significant impact on the reformation of mainline religion in the near future.
The one bright ray of hope that these small progressive churches do offer however, is the possibility that when the liberal and conservative churches of our mainline religions eventually decline in importance and influence, they might be in a position to preserve the wisdom and spiritual insights contained in those mainline religions. As seekers of truth rather than defenders of previous post-modern definitions of truth, these small progressive churches may be well positioned to offer a 21st century mainline faith experience in a religious and spiritual context that makes sense for the spiritually hungry people of future generations.
Conclusion
The reforms suggested below, and the implications of each reform, are in no way meant to represent a complete list. They are offered only as a rough guideline to facilitate further reading and discussion on the reformation needed in all of our mainline religions.
To insist that any one religion is the only true path to the Creator, that any one scripture is inerrant or represents the literal "word of God" only reflects the ignorance of the individual or institution making such claims.
Religious institutions or religious authorities that insist on a literal interpretation of their scriptures, and who insist on teaching the ethics and morality of a world view 3500 years deceased, no longer have much of value to teach a 21st century consciousness. Because they already have possession of "ultimate truths", they do not need to be open to new truths. The result of such imperialistic thinking is they have become brittle and lifeless relics of the past. They are no longer relevant to a modern consciousness.
It should not be necessary to expect a person to suspend his or her intelligence and be required to adopt the consciousness of a pre-modern culture in order to have a belief or faith in a higher power. It should not be necessary for an educated or intelligent 21st century member of a mainline church to feel embarrassment when they admit or publicly acknowledge that they are Jewish, or Christian, or Muslim, or Hindu, or Buddhist.
It is time that we openly recognize and accept the reality that the pre-modern beliefs that our mainline religions are based on not only represent an alarming lack intellectual integrity, their theological imperialism is extremely dangerous for the future evolution and well-being of our species and our human civilization. Only an enlightened middlepath spirituality will assure the future survival of our species and the survival of our modern civilization.
It is time for a radical reformation in the faith beliefs, scriptures, and theologies of all of the world's mainline religious institutions. Our antiquated, obsolete, pre-modern dualistic, primitive ego understandings of God must be abandoned to make room for a more enlightened, compassionate, 21st century, adult observing ego understanding of God; an immanent God that is embedded in all of creation thereby making all of creation sacred.
Suggestions For The Reform Of Mainline Religions In The 21st Century.
Reform #1) Mainline religions in the 21st century will need to teach that true spirituality and authentic spiritual growth are always about enlightenment, growth in self-awareness, and compassion; that compassion and rigid unverifiable faith beliefs are not compatible. ( (Expanded in issue #17).
Reform #2) Mainline religions in the 21st century will need to practice and teach a matured middlepath consciousness; an enlightened observing ego thinking process that struggles to eliminate primitive ego black-and-white dualism by searching for the truth in all positions. ( (Expanded in issue #17).
Reform #3) Mainline religion in the 21st century will need to embrace the concept of veracity (embracing reality); in other words, the ability to fully embrace change, growth, and life "in" the 21st century. ( (Expanded in issue #18).
Reform # 4) Mainline religions in the 21st century will need to shift their focus, priority, and institutional resources from the current goal of institutional survival, to the support and encouragement of authentic spiritual growth in their clergy and laity. ( (Expanded in issue #18).
Reform # 5) Mainline religions in the 21st century must learn to adopt a leadership role in the creation of 21st century ethical and moral guidelines for humanity. ( (Expanded in issue #18).
Reform #6)
Mainline religions in the 21st century must be open to changing their definition of God from that of a holy "Person" or "Being" created in our human image to a more Immanent God that creates through the creative evolutionary process itself. They must teach that all creation is sacred, and support the development of a responsible Co-creative relationship with the Initiating Consciousness we call God.
We must abandon our present monotheistic definition of God and adopt a definition of God that is more immanent and spirit based as in Native American spirituality. The monotheistic definition of God in Judaism, Christianity and Islam encourages right/wrong dualistic thinking regarding who's God is "right"? Which God is the "real" God? Which mainline religion represents the "true" path to God?
Most of the violence and conflict we are currently experiencing around the world has its roots firmly embedded in the assumption that the fundamentalist group of each mainline church possess the one true faith and understanding of God. A belief in the Oneness of an Immanent God would eliminate virtually all of the current religious violence and conflict.
What ever God is, "It" is certainly not a "white, bearded, male, being" created in our human image sitting on a throne in a place called heaven meting out reward for obedience, and severe and violent punishment to "His" followers who disobey "Him".
To assume that the religious scriptures of our mainline religions are anything other than a human creation is also form of ignorance. To affirm "this is the Word of God" following the reading of any mainline scripture is meaningless. Virtually all credible academic biblical scholars believe that the scriptures of our mainline churches were written and then edited, modified, and rewritten over several thousand years by many human authors.
None of these scriptural authors, no individual religious leader, and no religious institution has ever had a direct phone line to God. To assume so is absurd. All paths to the Initiating Consciousness of the universe are valid.
Implications of Reform #6
Religions in the 21st century will need to;
- embrace Panentheism, the concept that God, the Initiating Consciousness is present in all of creation and that all of creation is therefore sacred. There is no part of creation that is not sacred. The dualistic concept of sacred vs. profane is meaningless.
- teach that the Initiating Consciousness we call Creator is the Life Force and Consciousness present in the creative evolutionary process itself. The pure energy released at the moment of the big bang contained all of the physical laws of the universe, all of the basic elements of matter, and the DNA seeds for life and reflexive consciousness.
- understand that God is not a parental person or being, created in our human image, sitting on a throne in heaven judging our behaviors and meting out rewards and punishment. Only a faith in an immanent God; a God that is contained in all forms and aspects of creation, is a faith capable of manifesting true compassion, non-violence, and non-judgment. The theistic definition of God embraced in monotheistic mainline religions leads to an inevitable dualism between reward and punishment, good and evil, and right and wrong.
- understand that heaven is not the reward for living a just and meaningful life. There is no verifiable proof that heaven even exists. Meaning and purpose in life will come from what we choose to do in our lives and the contribution we make when we work as Co-creators "with" the Initiating Consciousness of the universe in the creative evolutionary process itself.
- teach a morality and ethical definition for our species that is more evolution friendly regarding the global ecology and environment of the planet that birthed us, the survival of other life forms, the rapid depletion of our natural resources, the pollution of our air and water, and global warming. Mainline religions must teach that we were "not" put here by "God" to use the resources of our "birth mother" and support the myth and illusion called unlimited economic expansion.
- recognize that the evolution of reflexive consciousness (our ability to be conscious of our consciousness) gives all humans the ability to create form; in-other-words, consciousness precedes the creation of all form. Because of our reflexively conscious ability to create form, we are full Co-creators "with" the Initiating Consciousness of the universe. We are individually and collectively responsible for the forms we create. We can create justice and compassion or we can create pain and suffering. The Initiating Consciousness of the universe is not going to "fix" our mistakes. We are fully responsible for the consequences of our choices and behaviors.
- teach that "God" does not answer prayer. God does not tinker with the laws of the universe. the purpose of prayer is a verbal expression of our intention to be in a Co-creative relationship with the Initiating Consciousness. Through prayer and the gift of human consciousness which allows us to be Co-creators "with" God, we are responsible "with" God for the on-going creation of this universe. This is the responsibility that provides ultimate meaning and purpose for our lives. What we contribute or fail to contribute is the gift of immortality we give ourselves; immortality has nothing to do with going to heaven. The concept of heaven was a superstitious illusion created to support the authority and power of our mainline religions.
- understand that we can no longer continue to exist as helpless, immature children waiting for our "parental" God to reward or punish us, fix our problems, or give us eternity in heaven if we are good and do not annoy "Him" or make "Him" angry. We must learn to take full responsibility for the consequences of our choices and the forms we create and stop waiting for God to come and fix them for us.
- be willing to rewrite all mainline scriptures and remove all violence in them and all references to a violent, punishing, theistic God. God does not kill newborns, God does not annihilate whole peoples, God does not take sides in a war, and God does not support any one particular religion. Our mainline religious scriptures condone and legitimize violence when they foster belief in a male, bearded, Santa Claus God that is incredibly cruel and vengeful.
- recognize that the male reference to God found in all the scriptures of our monotheistic mainline religions is a result of male dominance that existed in the human culture when those scriptures were written. Sexist language for God is demeaning and prejudicial against women. A God defined in sexist terms is clearly a God created in our own human image. To state that we were created in God's image means that as reflexively conscious beings, we too have the Co-creative ability to create form; especially compassion.
- fully embrace the interconnectedness and systemic interrelationship of all of creation. There is no part of human creation that can be labeled as sub-human; including all categories of race, sex, or sexual orientation. To assume that any one group is sub-human is merely a reflection of intolerance, prejudice, and bigotry.
- God is paradox; the unity of all creation, and the diversity of all creation.
Reform #7)
Mainline religions in the 21st century need to teach that all paths to the Initiating Consciousness of the Universe are valid and contain truth. Authentic spiritual growth should include an intentional study of the knowledge and wisdom contained in other religions.
A large part of the problem in the conflict between our world's mainline religions is the reality that members in each religion know virtually nothing about the wisdom contained in the other mainline religions. Not only have they not read the scriptures of other religions, they have rarely read the scriptures of their own religions. Yet they do not hesitate to assume that only the faith beliefs of their own religion represent absolute truth!
One recent religious pole of Christians in the United States conducted by Stephen Prothero and reported in his book Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to know---and Doesn't discovered that a large majority of those poled thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple, that Joan of Arc was married to Noah, and that half of American adults could not name even one of the four gospels in the Christian bible. Most Christians have never heard of the Gospel of Thomas, and those who were familiar with it knew nothing about the wisdom or insights contained in the gospel; or even where it came from.
This level of biblical illiteracy is amazing given that America is a Christian nation and that Christianity has significantly influenced the shape of American politics for the last fifty years. It has even supported and aggressively shaped the creation of a power hungry imperialistic Christian theocracy in Washington for the last eight years.
Until all of our mainline religions relinquish the narcissistic, primitive ego driven imperialistic belief that they alone represent the "one true path to God" and actively encourage their members to read the scriptures of the other mainline religions so they can come to understand and value the wisdom contained in them, we will continue to experience the current global violence and conflict created by humanity's unverifiable religious faith beliefs.
Implications of Reform #7
Mainline religions in the 21st century will need to;
- teach that all paths to the Initiating Consciousness of the universe and the life force that permeates the universe are valid.
- work with other mainline religions, eliminate their narcissistic judgmental primitive ego thinking, and embrace the teachings of the other mainline churches.
- teach that a rigid faith based on unverifiable religious beliefs that are presented as absolute truth always creates intolerance. Mainline religions should teach that no forms of intolerance are acceptable.
- understand that only a primitive ego thinking process uses vertical power to rule over others. Compassion always uses cooperation, teamwork, horizontal power, the inclusive diversity of community, and systemic thinking.
- must learn to teach the importance of honoring all of the true spiritual teachers of history and of modern times.
- encourage the reading of scriptures from other mainline religions so the truths and wisdom contained in them is both understood and valued.
- teach that the primary requisite of all mainline religions is to manifest compassion. Any belief or behavior that obstructs the manifestation of compassion and loving kindness should not be tolerated. Compassion is based on not knowing and emptiness of primitive ego. To make claims of absolute certainty regarding any religious belief is simply a reflection of ignorance, evil, and religious imperialism.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
It takes hundreds of millions of years, but the Buddhists say that if we could speed up time, even the most majestic and timeless mountains could be seen as "Dancing Mountains"; caught in a never ending process of rising up, being eroded down, and then replaced by new "timeless" mountains.
What they are teaching with their "Dancing Mountain" metaphor is the reality that nothing is unchanging or static; even "timeless mountains" are in a continuous process of change. Change happens through evolution and is the reality at the foundation of all of creation. Even the human institutions called mainline religions are all subject to the reality of change and evolution.
Every species, every culture, every institution, every religion, every government, every biological life form, is in a constant process of evolution and sub-division into new species and new life forms, new sub-cultures, and new religions. Everything in creation, including all mainline religions, are subject to the rules of diversification and evolution. Any living system that stops growing is a system that is dying or dead.
For any religion to insist that it has never changed, that it has not evolved, that its scriptures are the direct unchanging word of God is a form if ignorance that attempts to ignore the reality of change, evolution, common sense, and the whole process of creation itself. To make such a claim not only rejects the concept of intellectual integrity, it is essentially an admission that the religion in question is already in a process of decline that will end in death. The louder and more aggressive a religion's claim of possessing absolute unchanging truth, the closer that religion is to death.
The progressive churches of all mainline religions are diversifying and evolving into new forms. We don't know what they will evolve into, any more than we could have predicted the evolutionary future of single cell life. That is the on-going mystery of the creative evolutionary process. We don't know what the future will look like until it arrives. Our progressive churches simply have not yet completed the process of evolving and transforming themselves into what ever it is they will become. They have all the ingredients and DNA of who they were, but they are still in the larva stage of growth.
We can guess what some of the transformations might look like based on the fact that most of these small progressive churches are already incorporating many of the seven reforms listed in this series of articles on The Future of Mainline Churches in The 21st Century. It is probable that an Immanent God will replace theism, and religion will embrace a middlepath evolutionary Co-creative spirituality based on an observing ego emptiness of ego and an attitude of not-knowing. Simple answers designed by a primitive ego to reduce anxiety will no longer be accepted as "absolute truths."
We can assume that religions in the future will teach that it is our job as Co-creators to work with the Initiating Consciousness of the Universe in the creation of new forms. The new forms will include increased tolerance, growth in human consciousness and our ability to manifest compassion through growth in self-awareness, and improvement in our stewardship of the earth and our environment.
Religion in the future will undoubtedly manifest a Co-creative spirituality that no longer waits for God to show up and fix everything. They will know that God is already here, but "She" does not tinker with reality. Free will is free will. As Co-creators with God, religion in the future will hold us fully responsible for the forms we choose to create; individually and collectively.
We can assume that since complexity is never managed with black and white thinking, our mainline churches will evolve theologically and spirituality into middlepath religious institutions that are open to new information and willing to dialogue and employ critical thinking. They will embrace intellectual integrity and live with veracity in the present moment. They will no longer need to psychologically manipulate their membership using shame and guilt, fear, threats of hell, or the rewards of heaven.
If we survive as a species to experience religion in the future, we can be certain that the immature primitive ego thinking of childhood will have transformed itself into a more matured and enlightened adult consciousness; that dualism will have given way to middlepath thinking; and that the violence created by dualistic, black-and-white thinking will have been replaced by tolerance and compassion. Because humans are unable to see beyond the horizon, we can only guess what religion might look like in the future.
I think it is fair to say however that religions of the future will not be based on rigid, child-like, black-and-white, primitive ego generated faith beliefs that are touted as absolute, eternal, unchanging truths. Such religions are far too rigid and brittle to survive or withstand the powerful forces of change encountered in a rapidly emerging global culture.
A Few Final Comments
I wrote this series of newsletter articles on the Future of Mainline Religion in The 21st Century to bring an increased awareness and consciousness to the dangerous lack of intellectual integrity and critical thinking that exists in our mainline line religions. What I have tried to point out is the unacceptable danger of allowing our primitive ego's to assume that unverifiable faith beliefs represent "absolute truth" just because we "think" they are true. We have the right to believe whatever faith beliefs we want to believe as long as we understand that they represent only our own subjective understandings of truth; not "absolute truth" itself.
The greatest evolutionary gift we possess is our reflexive consciousness; the ability to think about what we think about. If we give up the ability to think critically about our beliefs, especially our faith beliefs, we are literally giving up the very thing that makes us human.
Most of our religious faith beliefs were created to manage the anxiety that comes from our fear of the unknown, and our fear of death. It is important to the future of our species to remind ourselves that, as humans, we know "for certain" absolutely nothing of what exists beyond the veil of death. Our ignorance includes the myths known as heaven, whether we even have a soul, the reality or existence of angels, the usefulness of prayer, the factual existence of God, or what the future holds for us; other than death.
To assume that we "know for certain" the answer to any of these unknowns, or to assume that we in any way possess "absolute truth" about any of these subjects only reflects the narcissistic pathology of our primitive ego, or a form of mental illness called psychosis.
When we grow in self-awareness and develop the ability to intentionally pay self-attention, we can not prove them, but our more adult and matured observing ego intuitively knows the following realities to be true; absolute truth is an illusion, only relative truths are real, and rigid absolute truths and compassion are not compatible.
I am convinced that unless we learn to mature our human consciousness, give up primitive ego black-and-white thinking, and learn to live with veracity and find the courage to embrace the realities that face us in the world we actually live in, the future survival of our species will be problematic at best.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Because authentic spiritual growth is identical with growth in self-awareness then authentic spiritual growth can be achieved by simply asking ourselves "Why am I a religious person?" "What is my motivation for claiming to be religious or believe in God?" "Do I make compassion and concrete acts of kindness my primary focus in life?" "Why not?" "Why do I call myself an atheist, agnostic, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist?" "What specific faith beliefs motivate me in my religion?" "Why are the important to me?"
For most of us, the answers are often uncomfortable. Security? The anxiety that comes when we think about death and dying? The promise of eternity in heaven? To feel good? To be part of a community? To belong?
Sitting with these questions, until some insight and answers emerge, will lead to growth in self-awareness. It is important not to be self-critical. Simply be willing to sit with the answers you get. As I've said in the past, the insight of what we might need to do or change in our life will eventually emerge effortlessly if we have the courage to sit with the answers that surface.
QUOTES " Values such as freedom, love, justice, and the pursuit of peace, were once dominant in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Our mainline churches are losing relevance, but these important concepts now continue as part of our human DNA in the secular world; they no longer need the support of divine authority. Those people who love their fellows because they are convinced of the intrinsic value of love and compassion are more morally mature than those who love only because they are commanded by a higher authority.......the human race must now learn how to practice love, justice, and peaceful co-existence because it recognizes their inherent value and not out of fear of hell or the reward of heaven. Lloyd Geering (Is Christianity Going Anywhere?, The Fourth R, Sept-Oct 2004)
"It is just because we cannot know whether humanity is going to survive or not, we have to act today as if the future of the whole of humanity depended on us" Jurgen Moltmann
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