Change is challenging for most people. And in the area of their religious beliefs, change is opposed at every turn. But should it be? Ah, let that be the question.
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Over the next half year of Sundays, from June until Christmas, I am going to be posting here excerpts from the book What God Wants, and commenting upon them. I invite you to comment upon them as well, in the space provided below. Then, I will comment on your comments. And you can comment on mine. It is time, I think, that we had a wide-ranging and in-depth discussion of this important topic. It is time for all of humanity to have this discussion. Because humanity’s beliefs about God, and about what God wants, are driving the engine of the human experience.
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Change can be a dangerous thing to suggest, not only around people of power (to whom change is the ultimate threat), but also around ordinary people (for whom change is threatening simply because it leads to the unknown).
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore had it exactly right in a September, 2004 interview in The New Yorker. This is the second time in two weeks that I have referred you to that really terrific magazine. It contains some of the most in-depth and astute writing, on a wide range of cultural and political topics, that can be found anywhere. In the article above, Al Gore said:

“In a world of disconcerting change, when large and complex forces threaten familiar and comfortable guideposts, the natural impulse is to grab hold of the tree trunk that seems to have the deepest roots and hold on for dear life and never question the possibility that it’s not going to be the source of your salvation.”

The final part of that sentence (italics mine) tells the tale of humanity’s belief about God and life in 15 words. Mr. Gore confirms this with his next statement. “And the deepest roots,” he says, “are in philosophical and religious traditions that go way back.”
Al Gore’s insight leaves us all facing a thunderous question: Is the way forward to be found by going way back?
The answer is, no.
And while, as the former Vice President notes, we never question the possibility that our philosophical and religious traditions are not going to be the source of our salvation—presumably because we feel threatened by such questioning—could there be times when not to question those traditions presents an even larger threat?
The answer is, yes. And this is one of those times.
The biggest danger in the world today is not the asking of questions, but the assumption that we have all the answers; not the invitation to change, but the tendency to run from change; not dramatically new ideas about God and about Life, but the same old ideas.
If some of those old ideas continue to be embraced, life as the human race now knows it may not survive the first half of the Twenty-First Century. The way things are going, it may not even survive the first quarter.
I know, I know, that sounds like an exaggeration.
It’s not.
Pick up the morning paper. Turn on CNN.
In the years immediately ahead the human race could make a dramatic upward jump in its evolutionary process, or it could fall back, staggering and stumbling and ultimately crumbling under the weight of its own past misunderstandings.
It’s happened before.
It is what can occur when the technological advancement of a species races ahead of its moral, ethical, and spiritual development. Then what the universe has to deal with is children playing with matches.
These days, that’s us.
The human race is in the childhood of its evolution. There’s nothing wrong with that. Childhood can be a wonderful time. But it’s also a time when great care must be taken.
If we watch what we are doing during our childhood—if, as author Robert Fulghum suggests, we look both ways before crossing, if we learn to share, if we hold hands and keep track of each other, if we walk and don’t run, if we quit pushing and say we’re sorry when we do, if we clean up our messes, and if we stop fighting with our brothers and sisters—we’ll get to grow up, and our future can be spectacular.
I believe that’s what will happen. I believe the future we’re about to create is going to be so spectacular! But I also know it could turn out another way. And I know that if we don’t start behaving, it very well might. Failure to acknowledge this is foolhardy. It’s more than foolhardy. It’s irresponsible. It’s what a child would do.
Most people want to believe that humanity is indestructible, that our species cannot be eradicated or eliminated or negatively impacted in any truly widespread or non-reversible way by anyone or anything.
In view of recent world events, this seems to suggest that most people are willing to believe the unbelievable. And that brings up an interesting question. If people are willing to believe the unbelievable, why not believe what’s in this blog?
You’re going to find the next several Sundays interesting. Come back here each week. Don’t miss an installment. And add your comments below. want to know what you think about What God Wants…