McCarthyism for the Klan of theists.
The post at right is from Face book with names and the faces removed.
I have seen similar threads from ANTZ posts, but this is Christmas, and this is a recent post.
A very good illustration of the diversity of belief systems. The Muslim sects that take jihad to an extreme are unfortunately how many view Islam. Would not this portrayal of Christianity or the Jewish faith, paganism, rastafarianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism (just threw that in because I love the sound), The Deity based South American Shamanistic beliefs send the same message to others that all members were radical zealots?
The concept of God is plentiful in H(h)is or H(h)er interpretation and expression. The core to almost every religion humankind has adopted is an attempt to explain the unexplainable and give a meaning to death and life.
Merry Christmas- whether Christian or not- is a time of joy and family.
In the New York Times an article declared "God Is Dead" appeared and is dated March 24, 1968. One could say that is true again, in metaphor. God is increasingly moving from the spiritual concept of the Creator, Director, Embracer, Forgiver, and final place of rest after death (those who believe in reincarnation or other endpoints of course are included in the concept) to a textual man written directive. The spiritual belief, written to convey a concept, is becoming a reason to be right and to make non-followers somehow evil and threatening.
I had a very learned friend with a non-religion based Doctorate, who was a devout Southern Baptist say to me, "It says in God We Trust- there is no godhead or Allah or Earth Mother crap- it says God."
Marshall McLuhan is known for coining the expression "the medium is the message". This is a concept that is often misinterpreted as saying the facts are seen as presented and may be biased by language and frame of reference. Albeit this is correct, it is not the intent of the cultural viewpoint of McLuhan, who was a Canadian who wrote profusely in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. He is saying that the actual factual material presented is a sign of the way society, which he foresaw as becoming a "global village", interprets the world. Thus the cultural setting of what is portrayed is really a mixture of what is occurring and the time frame in which it occurs. One can be concrete in thinking and define God as the biblical entity- hence my friend's interpretation, or one can take the stance that God is a metaphor for all forms of interpretation of a common good, a common spiritual ideal that is inherently just and comes from the accumulation of ideas of the global village. In this stance an atheist would look at "In God We Trust" as acceptable in its meaning as the metaphor of God could include scientific studies, the Big Bang and Darwin.
The recent 99% vs 1% of the Occupy [insert locale] movement illustrates the unfortunate splitting of societal and individual views of the world. If 1% of a religious sect is fanatical and poses perverse means of dealing with non-believers, the medium elects them as their model for the global village's interpretation of that sect.
Yet look at the parallels- Lent a traditional Christian time of fasting, Ramadan is a month of fasting, Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur is 10 days of fasting ending in a day of atonement, Imbolc in Wikkan is awaiting the coming of light (as you interpret this)... These are all times of spiritual reflection, fasting, reflection on belief and attempts to reconcile behaviours with beliefs. All end in some celebration of "faith" or hope. Even atheists have been defined scholarly as not without religion. Their (and I have been a full fledged atheist in periods of my life), let me say my beliefs at that time were that religion was man made and exploitative (inquisition, jihad, holocaust) of differences to obtain power. As I would ask my Muslim brother to understand my celebration now, so should I understand his and accept his. And if agnostic- understand that they are just people. As said in Deteriorata- whether your God is a Cosmic Muffin or Hairy Thunderer- I am not to judge, I can evangelize- but as is in the core of most religious systems- take your beliefs and share them, conversion is the will of the one with whom you speak.
Not all Christians, Muslims, Jews, Pagans, Atheists and so on are fanatics. Unfortunately the ones that get the press usually are extremes. There are have been true spiritual beings that cross all religions that teach through their actions- Gandhi, Pope John Paul II, Jesus, Abraham (Jewish, Islam and Christian traditions share his teachings in their basic texts), Mother Teresa, St. Augustine, St. Francis, the Shaman I spent a day with in Ecuador, Muhammad, Buddha, Lao Tse, Jimmy Carter (amazing man that I have gone to Plains, Ga several times to hear his Sunday School teachings- and that was in my Unitarian/atheistic/science is God time)... and many others.
And of course there are social values that one religious viewpoint may accept and another frown upon. Stem cell research, social dress, eating of certain foods and many others. We do not condemn the stance, it is their stance and one they may follow. The problem arises when interpretations are turned into sanctifications from a religious group and passed into the lives of others as law. My God says this so you, who do not follow my belief system, must do this.
Welcome war and political beverage parties.
Not all Muslims are bin Ladens, all Christians Cardinal Richelieus, all Jews Judas (albeit he may be the most misunderstood person in history and one rendition of his betrayal is that of martyrdom at the request of Jesus).
Hilliary Clinton spoke of the global village- which she stole from McLuhan. Al Gore of the Web, which was developed at CERN but first postulated 30 years earlier by McLuhan. Andy Warhol's famous line that we all will have our 15 minutes of fame is a McLuhan paraphrase.
The place, the idea, the action, the groundwork of the belief and the historical precedents to that belief are all part of the message's reception.
So Merry Christmas- if it upsets you, I apologize but I respect your opinion. I will gladly dance with you at Summer Solstice, aid a pilgrim on his way to Mecca or follow the Jaguar with my Shaman spiritual advisor. But with Christmas be merry with my joy and the meaning behind the celebration. I am not asking all to share a belief, only to share that it is important to me.
As for politically being correct- in a true global village that word would be historically incorrect, but then we have yet to evolve to that point as a world community.
To put it in simple terms- we are at a beginning, always at a beginning. We are also at an ending and at a middle point, it depends on how we see each other and more importantly ourselves.
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