Quote search – Religion August 27, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Religion.Tags: Judaism
3 comments
I’m asking for your help — the help of anyone reading this. I would like for you to share some of your favorite quotes. Let me explain.
I’m trying to do something that may seem a bit over the top. I’m trying to outline what I believe about this and that, about everything from Spirituality to War, from Angels to Psychology. You get the picture.
I’m 52 years old, and I can see more clearly that there is an end to all of this material world living. For some ridiculous reason, I would like my children to be able to find out what Dad thought about some of the big issues of life and some of the not-so-big ones, as well.
Here’s how I’m doing it: If you have read this blog before, you know I like to quote people. I figure if someone else said something really well, why do I need to try to say it really average. So I have decided to start organizing quotes with which I agree — emphasis on “agree.” For example: here’s entries to this point under Religion:
“Religion points us to the last things, framing the final direction that informs our decisions about life, both personal and public. The chief service of religion, then, is to teach us that the first things are the last things.” (Editors, “Putting First Things First,” First Things, Mach 2000, p. 12)
“[G]reat religions in their crusading youth spread through the nations the peace of Heaven and the sword of the Lord.” (Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World, 1925, p. 1)
“Judaism and Christianity—unlike Buddhism, Islam, and other traditions—understand creation and redemption in historical continuity; the accent of hope is not on salvation from the world but on the salvation of the world.” (Richard John Neuhaus, “The Public Square: A Pope of the First Millennium at the Threshold of the Third,” First Things, January 1995, No. 49, p. 84)
You get the idea. (By the way, I’m a Christian, but I think truth is revealed in other faiths, as well.) Now, I would like to expand on each of those thoughts, but right now I’m just collecting and organizing.
So here’s how I would like your help: Share with me your favorite quotes about Religion. It may be really profound or really funny or really sad; most importantly, it should be something you think is true about religion in general.
Food for thought: Morality March 28, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Democracy, Religion.1 comment so far
“Human passions unbridled by morality and religion … would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.” — John Adams (as quoted by William J. Bennett in Our Sacred Honor, p. 16)
I hear very few people saying this kind of thing today, and most of those who do are part of the religious right with a one-sided view of both morality and religion. I wish more progressive/liberal folks would speak up about the importance of morality and religion, and I think maybe they are. But morality and unselfish religion are not easy. With both, an “anything goes” or “do your own thing” mentality is just not consistent with letting standards beyond oneself serve as a guide for living. And both the left and the right have such tendencies at the extremes.
I’m a Republican right now who has voted Democratic as much as GOP through the years and am definitely leaning to the left right now. I have trouble finding that either party has a monopoly on wisdom. I’m not trying to be far or against either party here. I think all Americans, left and right, need to understand the importance of morality and religion if our nation is to remain strong.
Our current president talks very religious, but his administration has been a moral failure in many way, primarily by prosecuting an offensive war against a perceived threat — emphasis on “perceived.”
But I get too far afield. Back to the main point.
“As the poet Robert Frost observed, the ‘vision’ of the Founders was ‘to occupy the land with character … with people in self control.’” (from Our Sacred Honor, p. 16)
That’s not easy, but it is possible.
Looking at a Jesus-centered future March 15, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Christianity, Church, Jesus, Religion, Truth.2 comments
If we think about a future-church possibility, what might it look like? If we can learn anything from the temple-to-church transition then we can surmise that the church-to-future church transition will involve a carrying over of the truths of the church into a broader understanding of God’s means of shining His light into reality.
Jesus said He didn’t come to do away with the law; He simply gave us a new way of understanding what God was doing through the law. If a new transition were to take place, God might say to us that He is not doing away with the Old and New Testaments; rather, He is giving us a new of understanding what He was doing through those revelations.
And if He does that, what will he say about other religions. I suspect He might say that He’s been revealing truth to mankind in many different ways through the centuries and that some of that truth is expressed in other religions. He might also help us to see that other faiths are linked to specific cultures. Just as some parts of Gentile, pagan culture was absorbed into Yahweh workship, what if some parts of Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic culture were absorbed into Yahweh worship today?
Brian McLaren comes at this differently, but makes a good point.
“… [I]t should be possible to be a Christian and yet be culturally Buddhist, Muslim, or Navajo,” says McLaren’s Neo character in A New Kind of Christian. “We have to realize that Buddhism is more than a religion, more than a culte. It is also a culture. So I can’t see why Jesus couldn’t invade Buddhist culture, just as he invaded Jewish and Greco-Roman culture in the first millennium and European cultures in the second. … That to me is the missionary challenge of the third millennium: not eradicating Buddhist or Islamic or tribal cultures but blessing them with Christ–letting Christ enter them and drive the evil from them. … And my guess is that each will bring something that will enrich our Christian heritage, too.” (p. 75)
Of course, Jesus is driving some of the evil from Christianity, as well.
However the future shapes up, with Jesus at the center it will be good.
Something’s not right March 12, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Christianity, Church, Faith, Jesus, Religion, Spirituality, Truth.4 comments
My friend at the a-muse-ing blog has again gotten me to thinking. She responded with the following to some of us writing on a previous post:
“Thanks to all of you. I needed to hear this today. I grow and learn from my online community, but how I wish I had people like you to spend time with in person. I have become so weary of people adding so much of their crap to this beautiful message of love that Christ has given us, that I have no desire to go to church anymore. I love Jesus, but have become hurt too often from christians.”
I wonder if God is as fed up with the church as is my friend.
N.T. Wright says the following about Jesus and the kingdom of God:
Jesus “was announcing the kingdom of God for which Israel had longed, but it was an announcment that warned of immient judgment rather than imminent rescue.” (The Challenge of Jesus, p. 67)
The people of God in Jesus’ time were waiting for the Messiah to deliver and exalt them, but they rejected Him because they didn’t recognize Him and thus sealed their own doom. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans about 30 years after Christ’s death.
Christians today are waiting for the return of Christ and His deliverance from this perverse age. I wonder if Christians, who see themselves as the “people of God” today, are failing to recognize God at work in their midst and are thus doomed to have their “church” destroyed.
Make no mistakes, the real church, the people of God, will survive and thrive; but the outward edifices of inner faith seem prone to at first help the people, then distract the people, and then stand in need of distruction by the God of the people.
If God decides to destroy the outward “church” — not buildings necessarily but the organized facade — then He will do it, I think, in order to release His real people, His real followers to something new and better, just as Jesus did 2,000 years ago.
Jesus “believed that the time had come for God’s kingdom to dawn and that with it a new agenda had emerged diametrically opposed to the agenda that had taken over the symbols of national identity and was hiding all manner of injustices behind them. Jesus … declared solemnly in deed and word that the divine judgment was now inevitable.” (Wright, The Challenge of Jesus, p. 67)
If God shifted gears at least once in history (from temple to church) might He be desiring to shift gears again (from church to what)?
Taking an agnostic’s challenge March 9, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Christianity, Evolution, Homosexuality, Jesus, Prayer, Religion.17 comments
I have an agnostic friend who doesn’t understand why more Christians do not stand up to intolerant, judgmental Christians. She has a point
“When I hear intolerant Christians having a public fit about people who believe in evolution or are gay or who don’t agree with prayer in school, saying that such people are doomed to hell and ought to be silenced, it makes a difference when I’m thinking about heading to church on Sunday,” Holly writes.
She has a point. I accept my own responsibility for failing to speak up against such voices. I think those of us who are more tolerant are hesitant to publicly criticize a fellow believer; but maybe that’s just an excuse.
Let me go on record regarding the things Holly mentioned:
– I do not think faith in Christ rules out acceptance of the theory of evolution. In fact, I suspect that’s how God did it; but I don’t know. I don’t trust those who rule out evolution, nor do I trust those who have more faith in a theory than in God. History has shown science to be just as fallible as Christians.
– I think Christians who have a fixation on the gay issue have deeper issues at work. The Bible says homosexual behavior is wrong, so that’s what I think. The Bible also says pride and gluttony are wrong, but I am occasionally guilty of both. Jesus came to die for gay people just like He came to die for me.
– I think prescribed prayer in public schools is a bad thing because the state has no business telling people how to pray. If Muslims ever out-populate Christians, I would hate for the Christian kids to have to pray in a Muslim fashion. Of course, any child can pray any time in public school; but they simply need to have God as the only hearer. That’s who it is for anyway.
– As for condemning people to hell, I’m going to leave that to God. I believe in a God of justice and grace. I kind of go with the old line that if someone goes to hell it’s because they chose it, not because God sent them there. Do you have to trust your life to Jesus or you go to hell? That’s what the Bible seems to say, but I trust God to do what is right by His children — that’s all of us.
Holly then mentioned the recent story about James Dobson and others seeking to get Richard Cizik, a vice president with the National Association of Evangelicals, fired for leading the organization to speak out about man-made global warming. I was disgusted by Dobson and compatriots. Three cheers for Cizik and for his boss, Leith Anderson, refusing to fire him.
Thank you, Holly, for reminding us Christians to stand up publicly to oppose the un-Christlike behavior of our fellow believers. Of course, my behavior is not always Christlike either, so I am depending on grace, the grace that came to Earth through Jesus of Nazareth.
Of course, I remain anonymous because I fear the retribution of intolerant Christian fundamentalists. I wish it were not so.
Amazed by grace February 28, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Movies, Politics, Religion, Slavery.Tags: Amazing Grace
add a comment
William Wilberforce. It’s a name most Americans have never heard. It’s a name that maybe millions now will come to know.
The new movie, “Amazing Grace”, is in theaters now and tells the story of Wilberforce’s long but eventually successful effort to end the British slave trade. It’s an inspiring story, one that reveals clearly Wilberforce’s great desire to serve God by serving mankind.
The movie’s title comes from the song that so many of us know and love. Wilberforce was influenced in his work by John Newton, the former slave trader who wrote the classic film.
This is a movie about story. It’s not about special effects and wild action.
More personally, it made me cry. I asked myself who are the vulnerable people of my time who need my involvement on their behalf.
Religion as reconnecting February 24, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Christianity, Jesus, Religion, Truth.Tags: Reconciliation
3 comments
Religion, today, is almost a dirty word. Even the religious do not want to be called religious.
Most people would say I’m a religious man, but I have told the Sunday school class I teach that I do not care about religion; I care about relationship. When I do that I am carping the mindset of my times.
It is all rather clear why this has become the case. Religion has developed a bad name. Too many bad things have been done in the name of religion, and we have condemned the word as if nothing good has ever been done in the name of religion.
Well maybe it’s time to resurrect the word, this time with a different understanding.
Brian McLaren’s fictional character, Neo, says the word “religion” is derived from an old Latin root meaning to reconnect. In other words, religion is really about reconnecting a disconnected and fragmented people with God, with others and with self. (A New Kind of Christian, p. 72)
Well it’s not quite that simple. Wikipedia says the etymology of the word “religion” has been debated for centuries. “The English word clearly derives from the Latin religio, “reverence (for the gods)” or “conscientiousness”. The origins of religio, however, are obscure. Proposed etymological interpretations include:
From Relego
- Re-reading–from Latin re (again) + lego (in the sense of “read”), referring to the repetition of scripture.
- Treating carefully–from Latin re (again) + lego (in the sense of “choose”–this was the interpretation of Cicero) “go over again” or “consider carefully”.
From Religare
- Re-connection to the divine–from Latin re (again) + ligare (to connect, as in English ligament). This interpretation is favoured by modern scholars such as Tom Harpur, but was made prominent by St. Augustine, following the interpretation of Lactantius.
- To bind or return to bondage–an alternate interpretation of the “reconnection” etymology emphasizing a sense of servitude to God, this may have originated with Augustine. However, the interpretation, while popular with critics of religion, is often considered imprecise and possibly offensive to followers.
From Res + legere
- Concerning a gathering — from Latin res (ablative re, with regard to) + legere (to gather), since organized religion revolves around a gathering of people.”
So the religare derivation is the one McLaren refers to. Despite the uncertainty as to origins, I like what religare represents. If what we mean by “religion” is reconnecting with God, others and self, then it’s something I want.
McLaren: “I think what Jesus was about … was a global, public movement or revolution to bring holistic reconciliation, a reconnection with God, with others, with ourselves, with our environment. True religion, revolutionary religion. That’s what got them in such trouble.” (p. 73, his italics)
Driving in the fog February 22, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Christianity, Emerging church, Faith, Postmodern, Religion.Tags: Planning, Strategic planning
5 comments
Driving in the fog is dangerous. Living in a fog can be dangerous, too. But is it all that bad?
Yesterday, the fog was pretty heavy when I started for work. It was not terrible fog, but it was not drive-as-fast-as-normal fog either.
I took my time. I focused. No radio. No distractions. Concentrating in the moment. There’s something a bit intense about driving in the fog. You don’t get sleepy. You’re alert.
So what about living in a fog? I’m not talking about a mental fog; I’m talking about moving forward without being able to see clearly what is ahead of you. It’s a pretty good way to live. You take your time. You focus. You live in the moment.
We seem to be a culture caught up in planning, and the ultimate expression of planning the “road” ahead is this corporate nonsense about developing mission and vision statements and all such consultant-contrived devices. I say corporate nonsense because that’s where it had its genesis, but it has taken over churches and religious institutions and even individual lives.
In churches and institutions, my experience has shown that more energy is put into “strategic” statements than in actually getting anything done. We’ve swallowed the planning Kool-aid; and when you swallow the Kool-aid, you end up buying the farm. (Check Jonestown reference to Kool-aid somewhere.)
Astrophysicist Alar Toomre may have a helpful word for us. He tries to make headway in his research by focusing on the little issues, not the big ones.
Denise Shekerjian, in her book Uncommon Genius, paraphrases Toomre’s approach this way: “What is important is to focus your interests on one or two discrete, localized, particularized questions pulled out from a universe of one’s interests. Work on the small matters utterly, he explains, and the large necessities can be left to take care of themselves and of those who trusted accordingly.” (p. 10)
That sounds like good old fashion work. Maybe we need a little more work and a little less strategic planning in our individual lives, our church lives and our institutional lives. Because, it sure seems to me, that we’re not getting much done.
Let’s drive in the fog a little and live in the moment.
Back from Terabithia February 20, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Bible, Books, Christianity, Movies, Religion, Salvation, Scripture, Spirituality, Truth.add a comment
The fam and I just arrived home from seeing the movie, “The Bridge to Terabithia”. Very good. My 12-year-old daughter said she liked it but that it was different from the book.
I am not as literate as my daughter at this level of reading, so the movie was my first exposure to the story. I loved one conversation between the primary boy and girl (Jess and Leslie) and and his younger sister (May Belle). The youngest girl said something like you have to believe the Bible or you’ll be damned to hell. The older girl didn’t believe it, and I agree with her. You don’t have to believe in the Bible, you have to believe in Jesus.
Now I know that last sentence is a rather elementery description, but sometimes I just like to keep it really, really simple. Some of you want to expand that last clause into a full-length book, while others of you are a little uncomfortable with such things being said about the Bible, and still others of you are really hung up on that last “have to”.
I leave you in that discomfort and end with a quote from book during that same conversation. (My wife found it for me.)
Leslie, the one who had never been to church, says: “It’s crazy, isn’t it? … You [Jess and May Belle] have to believe it, but you hate it. I don’t have to believe it, and I think it’s beautiful.”
Bitter food for thought February 20, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Christianity, Democracy, Politics, Religion, Truth.Tags: President Bush, Southern Baptists
1 comment so far
Read a transcript of Ann Goodman’s interview of Chris Hedges. It’s a little long but worth the time.
Hedges’ book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America, puts much of “conservative” or “evangelical” Christianity in stark contrast to Jesus-center faith.
If Hedges is right then this should scare any American and sadden any Christian.
My call on the matter: We might quibble with some of the detail, but I think Hedges is right in his basic direction.
Of course, I haven’t read the book; so here’s another for the reading list.
