Dear Mom,
I guess, if I had to start somewhere I would start with evolution. Now, I understand that you do not believe that we came from monkeys and I will admit that there is no proof that we did. There are skeletons that lead us to believe that this is possible, but there is no actual proof. What is evident, however, is that organisms (that is living things that eat, poop, and procreate) will adapt to their environment. Those that adapt will survive to pass on their genes to the next generation. This is called survival of the fittest.
Those organisms survive to pass on genes to other organisms that are forced to adapt and the cycle is continued. For instance, all the skin tones and muscle/bone structures can be accounted for by the different climates and land that we all come from. Understanding this would lead us to believe that it is imperative in our nature to examine our environment (physical, social, spiritual, and political) and attempt to change that flaws we see in it. When Martin Luther and the Reformers saw that there were many problems with the Catholic Church, they attempted to change things and so doing gave birth to the Protestant Church. Many of them were even arrested and tried for heresy.
This cycle of change still exists and it burns within each new generation. We are born into a world that we did not create. We are not responsible for it's mistakes, but are obligated to attempt to change what needs to be changed and not to repeat the mistakes of the past. If we were to merely follow the orders of those who came before us then how would we grow? We would be doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again. The old regime will always oppose the new regime; this is evident very clearly in the social climate right after slavery was abolished in this country. The old blacks opposed the white man and the old whites opposed the black man. Their children didn't understand the prejudice of their elders and rebelled against it.
There are too many problems in this world to count. It is our duty and our right as a generation to try and make things better. It is out right to try new things, to actually see what works and what doesn't. Without this right, our world will never improve no matter what we do.
Now, you and I were lead to believe (by men, not The Bible) that those 66 texts were the only inspired texts and were the Whole Truth: The Word of God. The truth is that a group of priests from from what was known as the Orthodox Church decided what texts to keep and what to be declared as heresy. There were over 100 texts that came out of the Hebrew tradition and relating to Jesus. After Jesus' death, dozens of churches arose with different opinions about what Jesus said (and they had sacred texts to back it up). Most of these sects could be grouped into two categories: Orthodox and Gnostic. The Orthodox believed that Jesus was the Son of the Hebrew God, and the Gnostics believed that he was the Son of the Autogenes, who is at the same time the eternal God and another holy dimension without decay or death. The Gnostics believed that the god of this earth, who the Hebrews called Jehova, was a low god: cruel, jealous, and arrogant; that Jesus was sent to tell us that we could be free of his tiresome games.
Needless to say, there was conflict. It erupted into violence on both sides. The Orthodox burned the Gnostics alive and the Gnostics slit the Orthodoxed throats in the street. All of this over a disagreement about what Jesus said and what he didn't (and what it all meant). In the end, the Orthodox outnumbered the Gnostics and defeated them. They burned all of the Gnostic sacred texts and declared them Heretical for all time and they burned the rest of those Christians who held the Gnostic beliefs. Eventually, a council was called and the Orthodox priests gathered there decided what the Truth was.
Should our world views be defined by what men think? Where has it gotten us? The Bible promotes genocide (for God commands His people to slaughter all the people of Canaan because it is The Promised Land). The Bible promotes patriarchy (a woman is subjugated, below a man). Are these good things? Should we continue these ideas and should we propagate them? Is genocide and sexism okay because God says it is in the Bible?
Your Son
in the gospels such as with matthew 8:22 there is that statement jesus made " let the dead bury the dead". when i look at my parents, sometimes i wonder if its wrong how, since i doubt their capability to expand their minds beyond what they have now accepted to be truth, when i am with them i do not question their beliefs and ideas anymore. i let them live their sheep lives in their sort of content. should we disturb the old sheep? or just the stumbling lambs who have a chance to shed their skin and see the role change that comes from any real analyzing their environment. i debate with myself often if i should let the dead lie, the mentally dead, or if we are supposed to push everyone-the weak and old and decrepit-or just the ones who might let the dissonance take a hold...but who am i to Preselect candidates for evolution? i'd like to think there is no predilection for such external thinking, that every selfabsorbed consumer potentially can step out of their box and see the damage at any time, thus living the rest of their lives trying to change the world for the better. it's difficult to be welcoming and compassionate in such an apathetic world whose overall message is apathy, though, so i sympathize with the anxiety of change in this way, but community is what we need. an awakening of thought.
ReplyDeleteI actually sent this to my mom. She hasn't gotten back to me yet.
ReplyDelete“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.”
ReplyDelete― Rumi
amen. I love Rumi more than I can say.
ReplyDelete