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Premise: If A and B, then CA: If we can show with reasonable certainty that sin is equivocated with animalistic behavior almost exclusively (i.e. it is of animal nature to mate with several partners and doing so as a human is sinful) and
B: If we can show that certain practices/beliefs of Christianity are primitive/animalistic in nature and therefore "sinful" to a reasonable degree of certainty and agree to modify them, then
C: It may be possible to unite all religions.
The principle way in which I believe Christianity contradicts itself is in the area of thought. It is its own self-defeating means. It teaches not to sin, which in essence is to not behave like animals and to use our human brains that god has given us to overcome primitive desires and urges. "Sin" can be looked at as actions that animals do that as humans we should be able to control, (i.e. the Ten Commandments). Therefore sin can be described as the absence of thought, for only by conscious thought alone can we conquer our animal instincts.
My argument is that in some specific areas of Christianity, (and all religions), adherence to the traditional dogma, or doctrine if you prefer, requires less thought process than we are currently capable of applying. With all of the scientific findings of our physical world in the past 2,000 years, it should be easy to come up with a more realistic explanation of how humans, our planet and the universe came to be than merely saying, "God created life in 7 days". It is reasonable to understand a society thousands of years ago believing such a statement because there was absolutely NO scientific or empirical data to lead them to believe otherwise. The most common explanation for unknown phenomena was magic, miracles and God. It was so far beyond any one mind's ability to conjure up the idea that we are all made of tiny particles called atoms, etc. The Enlightenment in the 17th century was truly a turning point in humans' understanding of the physical world. Descartes' Reductionism and Newton's Laws of Nature laid the foundation for all physicists and scientists after them to explain how our world is put together. From that point on, we should have been trying to tweak our religious systems to include these explanations as part of their doctrine, rather than take a defensive stance and try to counter these findings with metaphors and different interpretations of theological texts.
If thinking is what separates us from the animal and not thinking is synonymous with sin, then might it be sinful to stick with obsolete explanations of LIFE rather than stepping outside of our comfort zones to reshape our minds and put our cognitive ability to the test by truly contemplating our universe via the modern scientific findings. Because to me it truly is humbling and a religious experience to think about the vastness of this universe and how much had to have happened so that I could exist today to think about it.
My hope, in the end, is to develop an argument so clear and cogent that this statement alone is unable to be disagreed with. If that is the case, even the most devout of religious people would see where I am coming from and be willing to listen to what I have to say, maybe even change their point of view. If this were to occur, I predict that any long-time patrons of any religion would be less likely to change any beliefs, so my hope is to impact my generation of parents so that the next generation might be edified indefinitely.
In the end, the goal would be to start an intellectual movement, one that would carry over into the generations to come that would promote world peace and unification of spirituality, culture and the idea that we are all components of an overarching presence in this Universe that collectively is God.
Christianity could break the mold of dogmatic religions and lead the globe by example by means of acquiescing certain beliefs so that its principles become more attractive and less repulsive to other nations around the world. This set of principles and manner of surrendering ancient traditions, (for the betterment of the whole), could apply to any and all religions, therefore rendering all religions compatible with each other. This is done by shaving off the outer layer and focusing on the nucleus, or core, set of principles within each religion, for were not they formed out of a sincere attempt of a group of humans to develop a standard by which to live a fulfilling and prosperous life? Is this not the purest of intentions from the purest source of energy- our soul? The intent of each religion arose from the SAME source and only after thousands of years of separate growth are the principles different enough and powerful enough to create such animosity- even hatred- between the various countries of the land. This stubborn adherence is what I am claiming to be animalistic and therefore "sinful", which is not what the religion should be doing if the idea is to stray away from primitive behavior.
If we were to regress, in a sense, take a look at what is really important and realize what is at stake (the existence of mankind perhaps), we might all be able to find common denominators that are strikingly similar. Imagine, if there were a world religion, how much quality of life might rise globally. Prayer, when associated purely with religion, has a negative connotation to outsiders because they think, "What good is prayer? No one is listening? In fact I've prayed before and nothing has happened!" when in fact prayers is just another way detaching our minds from our physical self and relating to the underlying force, God if you will, that lies in repose at the base of our being. Thus no effort to center the mind and realize we are all but one entity dispersed among billions of organisms is made. Prayer and the ability of the mind is powerful, however, and unless we get a majority of this planet to engage in some sort of unified "prayer" for the same cause, its likely we will either end up annihilating one another or not be able to come together efficiently enough to overcome a global threat, be it alien or viral.
The principle way in which I believe Christianity contradicts itself is in the area of thought. It is its own self-defeating means. It teaches not to sin, which in essence is to not behave like animals and to use our human brains that god has given us to overcome primitive desires and urges. "Sin" can be looked at as actions that animals do that as humans we should be able to control, (i.e. the Ten Commandments). Therefore sin can be described as the absence of thought, for only by conscious thought alone can we conquer our animal instincts.
My argument is that in some specific areas of Christianity, (and all religions), adherence to the traditional dogma, or doctrine if you prefer, requires less thought process than we are currently capable of applying. With all of the scientific findings of our physical world in the past 2,000 years, it should be easy to come up with a more realistic explanation of how humans, our planet and the universe came to be than merely saying, "God created life in 7 days". It is reasonable to understand a society thousands of years ago believing such a statement because there was absolutely NO scientific or empirical data to lead them to believe otherwise. The most common explanation for unknown phenomena was magic, miracles and God. It was so far beyond any one mind's ability to conjure up the idea that we are all made of tiny particles called atoms, etc. The Enlightenment in the 17th century was truly a turning point in humans' understanding of the physical world. Descartes' Reductionism and Newton's Laws of Nature laid the foundation for all physicists and scientists after them to explain how our world is put together. From that point on, we should have been trying to tweak our religious systems to include these explanations as part of their doctrine, rather than take a defensive stance and try to counter these findings with metaphors and different interpretations of theological texts.
If thinking is what separates us from the animal and not thinking is synonymous with sin, then might it be sinful to stick with obsolete explanations of LIFE rather than stepping outside of our comfort zones to reshape our minds and put our cognitive ability to the test by truly contemplating our universe via the modern scientific findings. Because to me it truly is humbling and a religious experience to think about the vastness of this universe and how much had to have happened so that I could exist today to think about it.
My hope, in the end, is to develop an argument so clear and cogent that this statement alone is unable to be disagreed with. If that is the case, even the most devout of religious people would see where I am coming from and be willing to listen to what I have to say, maybe even change their point of view. If this were to occur, I predict that any long-time patrons of any religion would be less likely to change any beliefs, so my hope is to impact my generation of parents so that the next generation might be edified indefinitely.
In the end, the goal would be to start an intellectual movement, one that would carry over into the generations to come that would promote world peace and unification of spirituality, culture and the idea that we are all components of an overarching presence in this Universe that collectively is God.
Christianity could break the mold of dogmatic religions and lead the globe by example by means of acquiescing certain beliefs so that its principles become more attractive and less repulsive to other nations around the world. This set of principles and manner of surrendering ancient traditions, (for the betterment of the whole), could apply to any and all religions, therefore rendering all religions compatible with each other. This is done by shaving off the outer layer and focusing on the nucleus, or core, set of principles within each religion, for were not they formed out of a sincere attempt of a group of humans to develop a standard by which to live a fulfilling and prosperous life? Is this not the purest of intentions from the purest source of energy- our soul? The intent of each religion arose from the SAME source and only after thousands of years of separate growth are the principles different enough and powerful enough to create such animosity- even hatred- between the various countries of the land. This stubborn adherence is what I am claiming to be animalistic and therefore "sinful", which is not what the religion should be doing if the idea is to stray away from primitive behavior.
If we were to regress, in a sense, take a look at what is really important and realize what is at stake (the existence of mankind perhaps), we might all be able to find common denominators that are strikingly similar. Imagine, if there were a world religion, how much quality of life might rise globally. Prayer, when associated purely with religion, has a negative connotation to outsiders because they think, "What good is prayer? No one is listening? In fact I've prayed before and nothing has happened!" when in fact prayers is just another way detaching our minds from our physical self and relating to the underlying force, God if you will, that lies in repose at the base of our being. Thus no effort to center the mind and realize we are all but one entity dispersed among billions of organisms is made. Prayer and the ability of the mind is powerful, however, and unless we get a majority of this planet to engage in some sort of unified "prayer" for the same cause, its likely we will either end up annihilating one another or not be able to come together efficiently enough to overcome a global threat, be it alien or viral.
For thousands of years we have built off of the work and progress of those before us. Mathematicians, physicists, astrologers, philosophers, theologians-you name it- all have relied on the work of those before them as building blocks for formulating new and better theories of the mind. Sometimes it took 2,000 years before what was generally accepted as truth was antiquated due to advancement in technology and the sciences. It follows that religion "evolves" too, and must if the population is to have any practical use for it.
It is my argument than an evolutionary step is needed now. Now is the time, but who is so bold as to suggest that Christians might have to take charge in this matter, which would mean almost inevitably the denouncement of Christ as God Incarnate and acceptance that he was a man, like us, who behaved in such a way that God-like qualities were exuded by his presence, unfounded and far above anything his era was able to conceive. In essence, he let God shine through HIM, far more than anyone of his time was able to. So yes, we was divine in that way, but we all have the possibility of letting God shine through us. We are his machines and must provide a malleable mind for Him to grab hold of and direct us in a divine manner. This is precisely what Jesus was. The fact that our feeble minds at the time could not grasp this fact in any manner led us to form a dogmatic religion, which for sake of the matter was paramount to the continued existence of our society. But, again, our society is much different now and as Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese warrior/philosopher teaches:
"Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow. They have form but are formless. They are skilled in both planning and adapting and need not fear the result of a thousand battles, for they win in advance, defeating those that have already lost."
We must do this with our religion! It has a purpose, an overall course,
but we must adapt its flow. Jesus was able to put a percentage of our race
on the right path.
This is the same for all the prophets of religion. They were all role models to a certain class of homo sapien, ahead of their time, and so influential that religions were formed around them. There is no doubt that if it weren't for this process that civilization would not have progressed and exist as it is today, however, they have grown too far away from each other for too long and must reunite- get back to their roots. With the way technology is today, nothing would be hearsay and events could be recorded accurately. This eliminates speculation and scrutiny of events that occurred in the past. A new religion would not be based on blind faith and would be able to direct us using empirical data, not relying on ancient, untestable and unprovable claims.
I believe it to be true that because Christians vehemently claim that Jesus was God incarnate and that salvation is attained only through HIM, that it puts us in a position where those around the world who see their religious figures as "gifted human beings" see us as, well, jerks. And for us to say that "Everyone has a chance to seek HIM out and it's their fault if they don't," is narcissistic. And to say that those who fail to seek him out will go to hell is only a defense mechanism designed to justify our own thoughts and secure in our minds the idea that WE are saved. We are so afraid of the idea of eternal damnation that we will go to great lengths to dissolve it. We must devise a Utilitarian faith- one that is good and can work for everyone, not a narcissistic faith!
We think our guy was GOD himself and chose to bless OUR people and is better than the rest? Are we really so narcissistic as a nation to continue to claim that only our religion bears truth and salvation? We are breaking one of Dale Carnegie's essential principles in "How to Win Friend and Influence People". This ingenious book gives an individual profound insight on how to get along with others and work towards a solution that is preferable to both parties. NO ONE wants to be condemned and told they are wrong and it is a careless practice if one desires to either change the behavior and/or beliefs of the other person. This fundamental principle alone yells at me and begs to be implemented into our religious practice. "If you want honey, don't kick over the beehive!"
Do we really ever expect to reduce terrorism or animosity between the U.S. and the middle east by sending thousands of troops over to "keep them under control"? What if we were to fight a spiritual battle? For is that not the source of hatred towards Americans for people of the Islamic faith? WE claim our guy to be God- they claim Mohammed to be a prophet, a messenger of God's word. How pretentious of us- and that is one example.
People of the middle east, all over the world for that matter, have been persecuted by other nations and killed in the name of God for thousands of years. Their resentment runs DEEP into the hearts of their ancestors and they turn to what is familiar, the indigenous religion, for consolation.
What if Obama were to declare before all of the world that the U.S. no longer had a national religion and that a time has come for all people of all faiths to unite under an umbrella of spiritual principles? Although our nation was founded by Christians and Christian beliefs, I believe the time is near that we honor those forefathers by making the necessary adjustments so that our nation and all other nations may live to see the future.
What if he were to state that our education systems were to be modified so that children were taught to appreciate the conception of each religion and to view them as different formulas to the same problem: finding a better way to live... Imagine the power each religion has for its patrons. Now imagine the power possible if the central ideas of each religion were extracted from the fluff surrounding it and verified against each other from an objective viewpoint. What set of principles might arise from this process! If the world, especially people of no faith, were given a non-dogmatic, hypocrisy free, objective, technologically and scientifically paralleled set of moral principles to follow, "religion" would be appealing to a much greater percentage of the general population. Of course the cental theme, as I believe is truly the central theme to any true religion, is to love thy neighbor and see the other people of this world as your spirit in different disguises, thus truly learning to love the unlovable as they are as much a part of this universe as you are.
Would this not have profound effects on the economy as well? Wouldn't a nation, or planet, that truly sought to teach their youth, not one, but all religions (moderate faith) as a means to implant the sentiment of global harmony/unity, find easier ways to recover from recessions or prevent them from happening all together? A bold statement, I realize, but to me anything seems possible if our race were to truly unite our souls, brain power and mission to save humanity.
If Obama, or any president were ever to do this, I predict almost inevitable assassination and chaos throughout the county. But as 311 says, "From Chaos comes Clarity..." . Slavery created a big stink, although for just reason. So did Galileo's heliocentric model of the universe. My point is, what is right often, if not always, sends a shock of rage throughout a population of people who are accustomed to a certain comfort zone and unwilling to surrender comfort for a whimsical idea. That doesn't mean it doesn't need to be done.