Today, we are witnessing a profound re-examination of the principle undergirding our commitment to the integration of all peoples as bona fide exemplars of the human race. Whether one lives in Africa or in the United Kingdom, each of us is committed to loving one another; and if not loving, at least respecting. one another. ( In Christian terms, we are to love one another even as God so loved the entire world that He gave His only begotten Son for mankind's sake.)
Indeed, the Globalization-movement itself is divided--to my mind, split in two over the question of what nation should be designated to lead into the future. 1) There is the view every now and then that a new nation should be chosen; and built to become the leader in trade. 2) And then there's the view that the United States should continue as the leader to promote trading organizations, such as the World Trade Organization, that identifies members to conform to accepted accounting practices to keep the books among the trading partners and to promote free trade among its members.
From the Middle Ages, when trade was expanded internationally, certain states with a naval flotilla was designated by trade and commerce financiers as the dominant nation promoting trade world-wide: The Netherlands, England, now the United States. While promoting commerce, these great powers also have encouraged cultural exchanges and argued for racial and national respect among those following their lead.
Of those who hold to View 1, China has usually been thought to be the next successor in trading dominance. While the United States has been unofficially singled out as the leader in the free world, time and again it has been described as lapsing from its calling to be an advocate for free trade. To be sure, all nations have reservations in endorsing such a concept when they find it necessary to protect some home industry, e.g., France to permit large import duties on foreign wines.
Those of View 1, also see financial advantage in building up a country through increased trade and building excessive military strength to enforce the organization's power over international trading lanes.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Christianity is an inclusive, not an exclusive religion
At Christmas time, the entire Christian community acknowledges that the Three Wise Men of the East came to Bethlehem to rejoice in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. And, it is assumed, they were all welcome, despite their religious commitments to other religions. Nobody seems to object to the story of the Three Wise Men at the cradle of Jesus.
I believe that this account of a star that led the Three to Bethlehem bespeaks the inclusive nature of the very foundations of Christianity: it recognizes, even assumes. that there are many Ways to the Divine Power. Note, too, that during the early days of the Church, born-again Christians did not need to profess faith in Judaism, the religion from which Christianity was spawned.
Also, Jesus was comfortable speaking and teaching sinners, many of whom were not Jews. He conversed with Samarians, who were not necessarily of any religious affiliation. Paul complained to the Romans and Greeks that their religions did not produce the miraculous results for which their followers sought, and attested to the results in changing the lives of Christian believers that faith in Jesus had wrought.
Even today, I am astounded of the results that Yoga can achieve in the lives of its practitioners and followers. The peace and quietude it distills in their daily actions has a marvelous effect on their cultures. The same quality is pervasive through the practice of 5 daily prayers performed by Muslims with their faces turned toward Mecca.
I, too, share what I take was an early tenet of Christianity--there are many Ways to God, each of which must be attested to by God's power to work wonders in them for the sake of God's plan in the world and the hereafter.
I believe that this account of a star that led the Three to Bethlehem bespeaks the inclusive nature of the very foundations of Christianity: it recognizes, even assumes. that there are many Ways to the Divine Power. Note, too, that during the early days of the Church, born-again Christians did not need to profess faith in Judaism, the religion from which Christianity was spawned.
Also, Jesus was comfortable speaking and teaching sinners, many of whom were not Jews. He conversed with Samarians, who were not necessarily of any religious affiliation. Paul complained to the Romans and Greeks that their religions did not produce the miraculous results for which their followers sought, and attested to the results in changing the lives of Christian believers that faith in Jesus had wrought.
Even today, I am astounded of the results that Yoga can achieve in the lives of its practitioners and followers. The peace and quietude it distills in their daily actions has a marvelous effect on their cultures. The same quality is pervasive through the practice of 5 daily prayers performed by Muslims with their faces turned toward Mecca.
I, too, share what I take was an early tenet of Christianity--there are many Ways to God, each of which must be attested to by God's power to work wonders in them for the sake of God's plan in the world and the hereafter.
Friday, November 29, 2019
Form I exemplars
moving to New York City
It was 1947. just the end of WWII, when John O.'s father came to him after he was returning home from school on a Thursday afternoon and declared, "Son, your mother is divorcing me." Age 9, John was confused. He knew his parents were not getting along for whatever reason, but he was just learning that it meant the marriage was over. He talked with his mother at dinnertime about what would happen now. The children and she were to be relegated to the second floor to live, until the house was sold and the proceeds awarded by the court to her.
Making her plans for becoming a legal secretary, perhaps even a lawyer, John's mom decided to pursue a degree in law; she already had a bachelors degree. But she did not want to remain in Buffalo, New York, because she felt she had to start anew someplace else. The times were such getting a divorce was tantamount to becoming a social pariah--it just was not done in those days.
She had recently completed a B.A. at University of Buffalo; and with one of her professor's connections, she was able to be accepted quickly into law school at New York University. The family had visited New York several times and with the promise of starting-over with law-degree training, she decided to jump at the chance forthwith.
"Sheila, would you go with me to find an apartment we could rent there?" she asked her young daughter of 17. Her daughter of 20 was already engaged to a bus driver in Buffalo and would not make the move with Sheila, John and her--that was to comprise the new family--because the date had already been set for the wedding.
The day to journey to New York and look over the prospect for the move had been set. The trip would last up to a week, money holding out. John joined his sister and Mom in prayer through the next days before the two would depart by train to New York. He also was excited about the prospect of going to New York to live, because he already suffered each winter from the frigid cold of Buffalo weather that would incapacitate him in bed for at a month during the long below freezing weather.
The very day Mother and daughter were to board the train, John ran to the makeshift kitchen on the home's second floor they made for themselves (while his father domiciled on the first floor, where his law office at home was also located), and announced boldly, "I woke up with a vision that you'll find a place in Manhattan. Don't worry so much! You'll come across an intersection. One side is the apartment building--it's about four or five stories high, but there's a place for rent on the first floor. Actually, you don't get to it by the front entrance of the building, but there's a side entrance you have to go through. And, Sheila, there's a high school a few blocks away up a hill aways. But there's a really large building on the other side just opposite where the apartment is where people live, though it's different from an apartment building. That's the area I saw in my mind. Nothing more was said about John's imagining before Mother and daughter were on their way to New York.
They came back with news that they leased an apartment. It was more than my Mother wanted to pay but with the court settlement felt we could live there for awhile. It matched John's vision to a 'T'. And the three of them moved to that apartment. Their neighbors soon informed the newly composed family that they were living in a city rent-controlled unit and the rent was reduced by two-thirds of the initial price. John loved the education he received at the private schools he attended through high school; and after that vision dedicated his life to do Christian service.
That "large building people lived in but was not an apartment" turned out to be an old-folks home.
additions: 12/ /19
It was 1947. just the end of WWII, when John O.'s father came to him after he was returning home from school on a Thursday afternoon and declared, "Son, your mother is divorcing me." Age 9, John was confused. He knew his parents were not getting along for whatever reason, but he was just learning that it meant the marriage was over. He talked with his mother at dinnertime about what would happen now. The children and she were to be relegated to the second floor to live, until the house was sold and the proceeds awarded by the court to her.
Making her plans for becoming a legal secretary, perhaps even a lawyer, John's mom decided to pursue a degree in law; she already had a bachelors degree. But she did not want to remain in Buffalo, New York, because she felt she had to start anew someplace else. The times were such getting a divorce was tantamount to becoming a social pariah--it just was not done in those days.
She had recently completed a B.A. at University of Buffalo; and with one of her professor's connections, she was able to be accepted quickly into law school at New York University. The family had visited New York several times and with the promise of starting-over with law-degree training, she decided to jump at the chance forthwith.
"Sheila, would you go with me to find an apartment we could rent there?" she asked her young daughter of 17. Her daughter of 20 was already engaged to a bus driver in Buffalo and would not make the move with Sheila, John and her--that was to comprise the new family--because the date had already been set for the wedding.
The day to journey to New York and look over the prospect for the move had been set. The trip would last up to a week, money holding out. John joined his sister and Mom in prayer through the next days before the two would depart by train to New York. He also was excited about the prospect of going to New York to live, because he already suffered each winter from the frigid cold of Buffalo weather that would incapacitate him in bed for at a month during the long below freezing weather.
The very day Mother and daughter were to board the train, John ran to the makeshift kitchen on the home's second floor they made for themselves (while his father domiciled on the first floor, where his law office at home was also located), and announced boldly, "I woke up with a vision that you'll find a place in Manhattan. Don't worry so much! You'll come across an intersection. One side is the apartment building--it's about four or five stories high, but there's a place for rent on the first floor. Actually, you don't get to it by the front entrance of the building, but there's a side entrance you have to go through. And, Sheila, there's a high school a few blocks away up a hill aways. But there's a really large building on the other side just opposite where the apartment is where people live, though it's different from an apartment building. That's the area I saw in my mind. Nothing more was said about John's imagining before Mother and daughter were on their way to New York.
They came back with news that they leased an apartment. It was more than my Mother wanted to pay but with the court settlement felt we could live there for awhile. It matched John's vision to a 'T'. And the three of them moved to that apartment. Their neighbors soon informed the newly composed family that they were living in a city rent-controlled unit and the rent was reduced by two-thirds of the initial price. John loved the education he received at the private schools he attended through high school; and after that vision dedicated his life to do Christian service.
That "large building people lived in but was not an apartment" turned out to be an old-folks home.
additions: 12/ /19
Forms of Religious Knowledge--# 1
The Forms of Religious Knowledge--wherein God has provided us with the power to change, do the unthinkable good thing, experience His grace, rededicate ourselves, become rejuvenated with His purposes for our lives
I. The Testimonies and Reports written in third person
--what happened: who said what; who did what
--what was God's response to the individual; what did he learn from God; what did he come to realize he should do henceforth
--solicited from church goers and Christian believers
II. Seminars including a Q and A session
--ideas and concepts we find useful to live by as devout Christians
--our ruminations about our experiences as a Christian, what we have learned and the changes it has meant for us
--solicited from ministers of the Gospel irrespective when It became part of God's word to live by for us
III. Hymns of Praise to God
--our joyful response to God's presence in our lives and daily activities
--religious, particularly Christian, poetry
--solicited materials from church music directors
IV. Moments of Revelation, of Religious Imparting
--personal feelings recounted, e.g., "God's in His heaven"
--what we suddenly realized we could do
--discovering with God's help our human potential, e.g., through science we may learn how to see in the dark as bats do; and become even more Godlike in our actions; discovering our potential as humans
--envisioned events to come (prophesies)
--mankind expanded to be even closer to God
additions: 12/02/19
I. The Testimonies and Reports written in third person
--what happened: who said what; who did what
--what was God's response to the individual; what did he learn from God; what did he come to realize he should do henceforth
--solicited from church goers and Christian believers
II. Seminars including a Q and A session
--ideas and concepts we find useful to live by as devout Christians
--our ruminations about our experiences as a Christian, what we have learned and the changes it has meant for us
--solicited from ministers of the Gospel irrespective when It became part of God's word to live by for us
III. Hymns of Praise to God
--our joyful response to God's presence in our lives and daily activities
--religious, particularly Christian, poetry
--solicited materials from church music directors
IV. Moments of Revelation, of Religious Imparting
--personal feelings recounted, e.g., "God's in His heaven"
--what we suddenly realized we could do
--discovering with God's help our human potential, e.g., through science we may learn how to see in the dark as bats do; and become even more Godlike in our actions; discovering our potential as humans
--envisioned events to come (prophesies)
--mankind expanded to be even closer to God
additions: 12/02/19
Monday, November 18, 2019
Book Proposal: Bible of Contemporary Religious Knowledge
Why the need for a bible of contemporary religious knowledge?
1. The clergy find it difficult to sermonize over passages of Scripture written in pre-technological civilizations and cultures.
2. Parishioners are dwindling, I believe of the difficulty for people in our generation to understand explanations and accounts of events occurring thousands of years ago. The rise of science is also part of this causal effect: people just can't understand the events as purported.
3. Nevertheless, there's a Christian message that has endured for these many centuries that the many witnesses will attest to.
Format of the book:
1. Present the means by which religious knowledge is ascertained today. In the church setting, the Eucharist or Mass is commonplace to provide the aura whereby the power of God is experienced by churchgoers. There are innumerable ways that God has communicated with man as reported by the Christian mystics.
1a. Means of getting in touch with "one's still small voice" in the Jewish tradition is also a vehicle to experience God. These personal experiences are detailed in William James' book, Varieties of the Religious Experience written a century ago.
2. Present topically an individual's account where God has provided direction and inspiration to achieve God's will in his or her own life. These will be edited to permit vocal reading of such accounts in church services--edited for literary and poetical purposes to maintain the solemnity during which these are read in Christian churches.
Withal, these passages of personal experience in which God has led mankind will attest to the continual testimony of religious faith in human existence.
3. A cross reference of items and persons will form the third portion of the opus.
additions: 12/ /19
1. The clergy find it difficult to sermonize over passages of Scripture written in pre-technological civilizations and cultures.
2. Parishioners are dwindling, I believe of the difficulty for people in our generation to understand explanations and accounts of events occurring thousands of years ago. The rise of science is also part of this causal effect: people just can't understand the events as purported.
3. Nevertheless, there's a Christian message that has endured for these many centuries that the many witnesses will attest to.
Format of the book:
1. Present the means by which religious knowledge is ascertained today. In the church setting, the Eucharist or Mass is commonplace to provide the aura whereby the power of God is experienced by churchgoers. There are innumerable ways that God has communicated with man as reported by the Christian mystics.
1a. Means of getting in touch with "one's still small voice" in the Jewish tradition is also a vehicle to experience God. These personal experiences are detailed in William James' book, Varieties of the Religious Experience written a century ago.
2. Present topically an individual's account where God has provided direction and inspiration to achieve God's will in his or her own life. These will be edited to permit vocal reading of such accounts in church services--edited for literary and poetical purposes to maintain the solemnity during which these are read in Christian churches.
Withal, these passages of personal experience in which God has led mankind will attest to the continual testimony of religious faith in human existence.
3. A cross reference of items and persons will form the third portion of the opus.
additions: 12/ /19
Saturday, November 2, 2019
There's a crying need for new paradigms in religion!
Each major religion of today--Christianity, Judaism, Muslim--uses the stories of centuries ago as paradigms to show the relevance of living in society today --a really preposterous thing to do! We can't well relate sowing seeds for harvest and enriching our plates today any more than we can think of our wearing a toga to work on Monday morning.
The point is that religion would do well to end the controversies dividing them because one religion thinks it must establish a kingdom here on earth--even if it be in a desert--while another thinks its kingdom can wait until the end of time, as we know it. All these controversies miss what is invaluable to religious insight: how we can relate to forces and Being beyond what we can see around us through its material presence in the physical world.
The point is that religion would do well to end the controversies dividing them because one religion thinks it must establish a kingdom here on earth--even if it be in a desert--while another thinks its kingdom can wait until the end of time, as we know it. All these controversies miss what is invaluable to religious insight: how we can relate to forces and Being beyond what we can see around us through its material presence in the physical world.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Prior to His arrest, Jesus was praying to God, while Peter, tired, was sleeping!
The story of Jesus, just prior to His arrest and trial, is illustrative, how the believer must push the body to perform its normal limits of endurance for the sake of being prepared to accomplish God's plan in our life.
Indeed, Jesus scolded Peter that he should be alert rather than yield to his bodily want for rest.
But for the human being to accomplish great things for the sake of principle and right, we all must maintain a steadfast readiness. It was Abraham Lincoln, who sensing the great need to preserve the Union during the Civil War, he stood for the just cause that won out in the end.
We must push our bodies to perform to the utmost for the sake of justice, freedom and religious rectitude. At this Easter season, let us rededicate ourselves to God's will in our lives.
Indeed, Jesus scolded Peter that he should be alert rather than yield to his bodily want for rest.
But for the human being to accomplish great things for the sake of principle and right, we all must maintain a steadfast readiness. It was Abraham Lincoln, who sensing the great need to preserve the Union during the Civil War, he stood for the just cause that won out in the end.
We must push our bodies to perform to the utmost for the sake of justice, freedom and religious rectitude. At this Easter season, let us rededicate ourselves to God's will in our lives.
Friday, March 22, 2019
And God declared the Seventh Day, a day of Reflection and Evaluation
At the Episcopal Church St. Stephens and the Incarnation, the Priest Martin Smith recently delivered a sermon on the meaning of the Sabbath in the eyes of God. To him, it is a day when God rested, having completed the creation of the universe.
Well, yes, God is reported to have rested on that day, but only after having taken stock of what HE had done! For He claimed at that juncture, "it was good"--the whole had truly been, magnificently and wonderfully, done!
The importance of HIS evaluation is that we, too, need a chance to reflect upon how we're making progress toward the goals in projects we're involved in for HIS sake. We need that time to take stock of things.
Personally, I note my forward progress every Sunday while at the altar to receive the Eucharist. It is during those moments before the Cross that I remember what Jesus hath wraught, and how thankful I am for having a part--howbeit tiny--in doing God's work on earth. At that time, I also implore God to unleash His mighty power through the Holy Spirit so that I continue on to pursue a life filled with the adventure of working my part in God's accomplishing HIS will for the world.
Well, yes, God is reported to have rested on that day, but only after having taken stock of what HE had done! For He claimed at that juncture, "it was good"--the whole had truly been, magnificently and wonderfully, done!
The importance of HIS evaluation is that we, too, need a chance to reflect upon how we're making progress toward the goals in projects we're involved in for HIS sake. We need that time to take stock of things.
Personally, I note my forward progress every Sunday while at the altar to receive the Eucharist. It is during those moments before the Cross that I remember what Jesus hath wraught, and how thankful I am for having a part--howbeit tiny--in doing God's work on earth. At that time, I also implore God to unleash His mighty power through the Holy Spirit so that I continue on to pursue a life filled with the adventure of working my part in God's accomplishing HIS will for the world.
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Cultural Reforms in Religious Theology--Badly Needed Today
Theological treatises must be developed and promulgated according to the culture in which the particular religious faith is professed. Here are some prominent principles that should be incorporated into the articles of their respective religions.
I. Cultural Reform in the Christianity of Today
Those believers of the Western nations are concerned with:
1. Climate Change. Ignoring the issue would make Christianity irrelevant to the Christian's life in our Century. We must get away from fossil fuels, especially.
2. Concern over the sanctity of human life implies the need to prevent unwanted pregnancies and avoidance of responsibility for lives that come into the world. There must be a statement of the woman's right to exercise birth control procedures.
II. Cultural Reform in the Islam of Today.
1. Muslims must learn to respect the professed faith of one another! Specifically, as have the Christians several centuries ago, they must not turn the sword on one another. Those Muslims in need of food and clothing must be attended to peacefully and with religious concern. The Sunnais and the Shia'a must embrace one another as devotees of a common core of beliefs and practices.
III. Cultural Reform in the Hinduism of Today
1. Human life should be more highly valued than any other living biological thing! That means cows and lower forms of animal life ought to be given a lower status in God's creation. The waters of the rivers must be made pure for human consumption, including that of the Ganges.
In sum, the believer ought to make his religion applicable to his cultural values in ways that support human life. God made man in His image!
I. Cultural Reform in the Christianity of Today
Those believers of the Western nations are concerned with:
1. Climate Change. Ignoring the issue would make Christianity irrelevant to the Christian's life in our Century. We must get away from fossil fuels, especially.
2. Concern over the sanctity of human life implies the need to prevent unwanted pregnancies and avoidance of responsibility for lives that come into the world. There must be a statement of the woman's right to exercise birth control procedures.
II. Cultural Reform in the Islam of Today.
1. Muslims must learn to respect the professed faith of one another! Specifically, as have the Christians several centuries ago, they must not turn the sword on one another. Those Muslims in need of food and clothing must be attended to peacefully and with religious concern. The Sunnais and the Shia'a must embrace one another as devotees of a common core of beliefs and practices.
III. Cultural Reform in the Hinduism of Today
1. Human life should be more highly valued than any other living biological thing! That means cows and lower forms of animal life ought to be given a lower status in God's creation. The waters of the rivers must be made pure for human consumption, including that of the Ganges.
In sum, the believer ought to make his religion applicable to his cultural values in ways that support human life. God made man in His image!
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Realm of Religious Theology (RT): Overview
The topic is: Realm of Religious Theology.
In this section, I shall be advancing ideas to be incorporated into modern theologies of specific extant faiths. Older versions of theologies are products of human minds of religious persons expressing their faith in the Supreme to peoples who have gone before us.. They are products of cultures and civilizations that contain knowledge and faith of that particular period of mankind's development. We know now so much more about the Creation of the world and universe. I believe we should periodically "reform" the tenets of each major religion to stand for the faith of our fathers recast in contemporary life. This section represents only my attempt at making our religious faith vital in a particular contemporary age: faith cast and practiced in a modern lifestyle.
In this section, I shall be advancing ideas to be incorporated into modern theologies of specific extant faiths. Older versions of theologies are products of human minds of religious persons expressing their faith in the Supreme to peoples who have gone before us.. They are products of cultures and civilizations that contain knowledge and faith of that particular period of mankind's development. We know now so much more about the Creation of the world and universe. I believe we should periodically "reform" the tenets of each major religion to stand for the faith of our fathers recast in contemporary life. This section represents only my attempt at making our religious faith vital in a particular contemporary age: faith cast and practiced in a modern lifestyle.
Saturday, September 29, 2018
CD: The Fundamental Purpose of the Eucharist (i.e., the Mass)
Catholics and Protestants alike are fascinated with the Eucharist, performed in pulpits by laity and clergy alike. Why is it so popular?
The service is divided into several parts: 1) the call to worship, 2) a statement of its avowal of the Christian message, 3) prayer for all who should heed its proclamations and addresses, 4) identification of the community of believers who are participating in the service; 5) gathering of those who are to participate in the ceremony; 6) the supplication of participants for divine intervention in the affairs of mankind, 7) the receiving of the transformed bread and wine into the mind and body of each participant; and 8) the exhortation to Christianize the world around us, ie., to do God's work among us.
What ties each part to the whole is the underlining belief that we Christians will make a mark in the world only with God's help. Our supplication is to invoke God's handiwork upon us so as to accomplish HIS will.
We cannot act on our own and achieve what God has in store for us to do. The communion service with the symbols of God's divine presence in the bread and wine in which we partake is the recognition of our dependence upon God to rise above our self-centered aims and purposes to achieve a universality to our actions--for which at the close of the service we praise God for His faithfulness to us, so as to protect and guide us to do better than we could if just lowly human beings.
Why these noble aims to do God's work on earth? Because, as we announce in 4), we are the people of God, the creatures of Peace, the progenitors of Justice and Righteousness in the universe.
The service is divided into several parts: 1) the call to worship, 2) a statement of its avowal of the Christian message, 3) prayer for all who should heed its proclamations and addresses, 4) identification of the community of believers who are participating in the service; 5) gathering of those who are to participate in the ceremony; 6) the supplication of participants for divine intervention in the affairs of mankind, 7) the receiving of the transformed bread and wine into the mind and body of each participant; and 8) the exhortation to Christianize the world around us, ie., to do God's work among us.
What ties each part to the whole is the underlining belief that we Christians will make a mark in the world only with God's help. Our supplication is to invoke God's handiwork upon us so as to accomplish HIS will.
We cannot act on our own and achieve what God has in store for us to do. The communion service with the symbols of God's divine presence in the bread and wine in which we partake is the recognition of our dependence upon God to rise above our self-centered aims and purposes to achieve a universality to our actions--for which at the close of the service we praise God for His faithfulness to us, so as to protect and guide us to do better than we could if just lowly human beings.
Why these noble aims to do God's work on earth? Because, as we announce in 4), we are the people of God, the creatures of Peace, the progenitors of Justice and Righteousness in the universe.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
CD with Sara: God's Perspective of an Event
How are we to think about God's perspective of an earthly event? This question was essentially posed in Sara's recent meditation (at Grace Episcopal Church, Wash. DC). Remember the Biblical statement that God's thoughts are not our thoughts neither are His ways our ways?
Then too, the Jews in the Old Testament expressed the thought that God's nature is Justice and Truth: He is a JUST GOD.
Put together what we may draw from these utterances is that HIS PERSPECTIVE is truly universal--looking at an event from any perspective of it, i.e., in which it can be described. I submit that this is the meaning of "a third party" opinion--the point of view that is interest-neutral to sides that could possibly benefit by a judge's ruling that favors one argument in contradistinction to its opposite.
Now in jurisprudence, the only way to achieve that level of what we adjudge is true objectivity is to remove any legitimate claim to bias for any one's claimant position. Justice must be totally impartial, having nothing to gain monetarily or otherwise by a judge's adjudication.
Parenthetically, that's why I have favored in my political career taking no money over and against the accusation of favoring one viewpoint or political philosophy over its counterpart for the sake of personal gain.
Then too, the Jews in the Old Testament expressed the thought that God's nature is Justice and Truth: He is a JUST GOD.
Put together what we may draw from these utterances is that HIS PERSPECTIVE is truly universal--looking at an event from any perspective of it, i.e., in which it can be described. I submit that this is the meaning of "a third party" opinion--the point of view that is interest-neutral to sides that could possibly benefit by a judge's ruling that favors one argument in contradistinction to its opposite.
Now in jurisprudence, the only way to achieve that level of what we adjudge is true objectivity is to remove any legitimate claim to bias for any one's claimant position. Justice must be totally impartial, having nothing to gain monetarily or otherwise by a judge's adjudication.
Parenthetically, that's why I have favored in my political career taking no money over and against the accusation of favoring one viewpoint or political philosophy over its counterpart for the sake of personal gain.
CD with Sara: Jesus' Understanding of the Concept: LOVE
I've been introduced to Sara, who has become our leader of Saturday meditations at Grace Church, Washington, DC. I have found her understanding of the Christian message refreshing and useful as a vehicle for greater depth in what we believe.
So, I'm including discussions at the luncheon she has originated and carried forth, when the points she makes are of value in my spiritual journey.
I start off with the comment she made recently that Jesus' emphasis on the power of love has universal application to our relationships with others and with God Himself--what He referred to a His list of 2 religious commandments. I raised my hand to make the comment that Jesus' understanding as to the universality of love in structuring our daily relationships with one another may indeed signify the Greek philosophical idea of love as an ultimate universal principle of the cosmos. In that vein, what binds physical elements is love as the force of attraction, or as we might infer, as the power of gravity. In this way, truly, LOVE is the bind that unites all peoples and other animate creatures and all inanimate objects throughout the universe.
So, I'm including discussions at the luncheon she has originated and carried forth, when the points she makes are of value in my spiritual journey.
I start off with the comment she made recently that Jesus' emphasis on the power of love has universal application to our relationships with others and with God Himself--what He referred to a His list of 2 religious commandments. I raised my hand to make the comment that Jesus' understanding as to the universality of love in structuring our daily relationships with one another may indeed signify the Greek philosophical idea of love as an ultimate universal principle of the cosmos. In that vein, what binds physical elements is love as the force of attraction, or as we might infer, as the power of gravity. In this way, truly, LOVE is the bind that unites all peoples and other animate creatures and all inanimate objects throughout the universe.
Saturday, June 23, 2018
(GL#2) Globalization must take advantage of advances in efficiency
African farming may now be taking advantage of the great revolution occurring in farming in the US and other advanced countries: the use of the great combines in the fields.
This means that the proposal that Africa cultivate the small farm, owned and managed by a single landowner is virtually dead. Companies like the great International Harvester must take its gigantic machines across the African plains! It means that the American know-how must be part of the education of the African farmer, who will likely work for an American company on his own soil.
This means that the proposal that Africa cultivate the small farm, owned and managed by a single landowner is virtually dead. Companies like the great International Harvester must take its gigantic machines across the African plains! It means that the American know-how must be part of the education of the African farmer, who will likely work for an American company on his own soil.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
(GL#1) Trump's Import Duty Tax may further spark a Creative Surge in Manufacturing!
By encouraging companies to "come back home," Donald Trump may inadvertently have increased intra-rivalry among manufacturing profit-centers of one company. Say, some company has taken its manufacture of steel to Sweden. Under Trump's dicta, the company must pay an import tax of 25% or so to sell its Swedish-produced steel here in the States.
But suppose it decides to build a smaller plant to make and sell steel in the US. It still is making steel in Sweden but for the US market, it makes and sells steel for its US market. Two profit centers for the same profit. And, then suddenly, the US plant comes up with some innovation that meets not only the US market but also some other markets in the world and captures a greater share of the production outlay. Then, the same company is reaping greater profit by selling steel in its variants!
In short, competition--even in divisions of the same company--can be a spur to ingenuity and innovation!
But suppose it decides to build a smaller plant to make and sell steel in the US. It still is making steel in Sweden but for the US market, it makes and sells steel for its US market. Two profit centers for the same profit. And, then suddenly, the US plant comes up with some innovation that meets not only the US market but also some other markets in the world and captures a greater share of the production outlay. Then, the same company is reaping greater profit by selling steel in its variants!
In short, competition--even in divisions of the same company--can be a spur to ingenuity and innovation!
Monday, January 22, 2018
CD at St. Stephen's Episcopal: The Cleric as a Religious Confidante
More like an adviser in a major subject at a college or a mentor on the job at a business. The Reverend Martin Smith last Sunday at St. Clement's Church and the Incarnation, Washington, DC in the Columbia Heights area of town spoke on his theology of reconciliation. He thought the one-on-one relationship between a cleric, given confidentiality status in a confessional setting, has advantages that permit the confessor to open up freely without recrimination. After the service ended, the Rev. Susan Walker and I began to muse over the possibilities of promoting a more intimate setting, where parisionher and cleric could discuss issues confronting the former in his religious quest not just for forgiveness, but for spiritual growth and development. We seemed to share the same opinion: we need to promote the mentorship idea in the churches.
I recall growing up from the age of 10 without a father in my life. My mother reached out to her friends to find some minister who could provide me with religious insight and teachings pertinent to my maturity level. She latched on to a cleric she had been introduced to in Buffalo, prior to her divorce from my father and our move to New York City, where my mother received additional training in law at NYU. It was from the time of the move till the time I graduated from graduate school myself at NYU, the spiritual mentorship of the cleric my mother kept in touch with ended, that I benefited from that relationship--including his advice related to my Christian commitment.
Rev. Martin Smith pointed out in his sermon that the fact that a relationship that kept confidential what was said (or, admitted to a minister in the confidence of the 'confessional setting') permitted a frank and open evaluation of how to improve upon and highlight one's religious values is something that is not always available in a group situation.
In any case, I found that Rev. Martin Smith's discussion of the confessional confidentiality of a relationship between the parishioner and a spiritual mentor to be an appropriate description of something I had experienced during the days of my youth with my mother's ministerial friend as my "advisor-spiritual mentor."
I recall growing up from the age of 10 without a father in my life. My mother reached out to her friends to find some minister who could provide me with religious insight and teachings pertinent to my maturity level. She latched on to a cleric she had been introduced to in Buffalo, prior to her divorce from my father and our move to New York City, where my mother received additional training in law at NYU. It was from the time of the move till the time I graduated from graduate school myself at NYU, the spiritual mentorship of the cleric my mother kept in touch with ended, that I benefited from that relationship--including his advice related to my Christian commitment.
Rev. Martin Smith pointed out in his sermon that the fact that a relationship that kept confidential what was said (or, admitted to a minister in the confidence of the 'confessional setting') permitted a frank and open evaluation of how to improve upon and highlight one's religious values is something that is not always available in a group situation.
In any case, I found that Rev. Martin Smith's discussion of the confessional confidentiality of a relationship between the parishioner and a spiritual mentor to be an appropriate description of something I had experienced during the days of my youth with my mother's ministerial friend as my "advisor-spiritual mentor."
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Jesus lived through earthly hell for our Salvation!
In the Thursday Bible Class at St. Clement's Church here in El Paso, we've been reading one of the Books in the Old Testament. One of the pet peeves I have is to approach the Old Testament Scriptures as if we Christians were Jews--I mean devout Jews. We know that the Jewish priests of Jesus' time did the most to persecute him. They objected to His attempts to instruct the priests at the temple in His interpretation of the Jewish scriptures at His age of 12. They scolded Him for failing to observe the rules and regulations that guided the believers of His day; and they regarded His contention that there are only 2 rules basic to religion: love God and love your neighbor as yourself! Outrageous!
And, to be sure, these clerics must have rejoiced that they rid Him on the cross at Calvary.
It is with this backdrop of their treatment of our Lord that I refrain from regarding the origins of our Lord's ministry stemming from Judaism as something sacred to Christianity. Indeed, Paul had to disassociate himself from the Church of Jerusalem's tendencies to insist that Christians become "good" Jews first!
My own approach to the Old Testament writings is to see them in anticipation to the divine revelation of the New Testament, i.e., the New Covenant, where Jesus declares He leaves us with God's Comforter, the Holy Spirit. For God as the Holy Spirit attests to God's forgiveness of our shortcomings and through His Absolution imbues us with the power of God the Father, the Creator, to go forth in newness of life and determination to do what He has planned for us to do.
Let us never forget nor gloss over the fact of the hell Jesus endured lo those year of His Ministry at the hands of His religious priestly tormentors that wanted Him dead! Nevertheless, Jesus forgave them.
And, to be sure, these clerics must have rejoiced that they rid Him on the cross at Calvary.
It is with this backdrop of their treatment of our Lord that I refrain from regarding the origins of our Lord's ministry stemming from Judaism as something sacred to Christianity. Indeed, Paul had to disassociate himself from the Church of Jerusalem's tendencies to insist that Christians become "good" Jews first!
My own approach to the Old Testament writings is to see them in anticipation to the divine revelation of the New Testament, i.e., the New Covenant, where Jesus declares He leaves us with God's Comforter, the Holy Spirit. For God as the Holy Spirit attests to God's forgiveness of our shortcomings and through His Absolution imbues us with the power of God the Father, the Creator, to go forth in newness of life and determination to do what He has planned for us to do.
Let us never forget nor gloss over the fact of the hell Jesus endured lo those year of His Ministry at the hands of His religious priestly tormentors that wanted Him dead! Nevertheless, Jesus forgave them.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
CD: Christianity's Religious Progress over Judaism and Islam
Sometimes, religious clerics balk at thinking that in religion, there's progress in religious belief and practice. Yet, no one today believes in the advocacy of throwing human beings as sacrifices off mountain-tops; and few parishioners today practice the burning of women at the stake. Then too, the concept of religious progress can account for the popularity among Christian believers in the efficacy of the mass or Eucharistic service as the mode to worship God.
It is in the spirit that the concept of religious progress can account for how current practices and beliefs in Christianity differ from those in either Judaism or Islam, which are, admittedly, related religions.
World Religions based on nationalism, i.e., believers belonging to a political entity they espouse
I place Judaism and Islam closer together in belief structure because both take a believer's belonging to a nation or a political entity seriously. In Judaism initially, Yahweh God was the invisible "king" of the Israelites. Through its founding leader of Yahweh worship, Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt into God's promised land--a land flowing of milk and honey. Then prophets after Moses' leadership, became conduits of a dialogue with His people, the Jews. With the coming of the prophet Samuel, kings were crowned as the kingdom became divided into two, Israel and Judea. Nevertheless, the original covenant between Yahweh and the Jewish people (embodied in the Ten Commandments given to Moses) was maintained to proclaim the Jews as the people of Yahweh-God. That tradition continues to this very day through the variants of Judaism, e.g., Orthodox; Conservative and Reformed.
It is interesting to note that although Muhammad, knew of Jesus and the Christian faith, he leaned toward the structure of Judaism for understanding the ways of God, whom he called Allah. He himself became a warlord, conquering the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. God revealed Himself in revelations and direct encounters; and Muhammad became a conduit by which the Koran, the Holy Scriptures, was to be written down, even memorized.
As in Judaism, in Islam, God's kingdom is identified with temporal nation(s) of a time and a place; and religious believers are known as those who cherish a divine Scriptures--in Islam, the Koran and in Judaism, the Old Testament that incorporates the Pentateuch supposedly stemming from the time of Moses. Traditionally, the political entity in Islam was the Caliphate and its head was a Caliph. But in modern times, the several Muslim nations simply announce their allegiance to Islam and retain an independent political structure from the Islamic.
The "Advance in religion" made by Christianity: personal relation to God, The Creator
The Old Testament Book of Genesis recounts how God, The Creator, made and sustains the universe.
It takes the entire New Testament to explain how God, through the works of His Son Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit upon which we Christians rely to accomplish God's plan for our lives. For he wants us to lead a happy life in His care henceforth.
It is the essence of Christianity that we can call upon the Creator of the Universe to provide us the power sufficiently adequate to sustain us through the Holy Spirit's ever-constant infusion into our being. Central to this understanding, we must all call upon the name of the Lord. The service said daily is the Mass or Eucharist in which we declare our shortcomings and inadequacies as descendants of Adam and Eve to a life of sin, pursuing worldly goods and material "things," forsaking our spiritual, fundamental nature. Nevertheless, Paul, in his epistles, urges us to prefer to do and say those things that seek the good for our fellow human beings as well as ourselves--to give up our tendencies toward selfishness and a debased yielding for self-gratification at the expense of doing things that benefit the community of believers to which we have become enjoined into the Kingdom of God.
The latter notion--the kingdom of God--is not an earthly political reality but a spiritual communion shared among those who have come to know and believe in Jesus as our personal guide to bring about a happy state in ourselves (as prayerful members in the mystical realm of religious practitioners) and a dedication to seeking peace in our world of brothers and sisters.
Rather than abiding by a host of rules and regulations, Christians ask God to provide us the strength to live up to our capacities to become a unique ideal of God's handiwork in the world. We seek His guidance to come know ourselves as creatures molded by God Himself to live for a time and place for His and our neighbors' and our own self-delight. For it is with His image and His nature He has sent us into the world insitu.
It is in the spirit that the concept of religious progress can account for how current practices and beliefs in Christianity differ from those in either Judaism or Islam, which are, admittedly, related religions.
World Religions based on nationalism, i.e., believers belonging to a political entity they espouse
I place Judaism and Islam closer together in belief structure because both take a believer's belonging to a nation or a political entity seriously. In Judaism initially, Yahweh God was the invisible "king" of the Israelites. Through its founding leader of Yahweh worship, Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt into God's promised land--a land flowing of milk and honey. Then prophets after Moses' leadership, became conduits of a dialogue with His people, the Jews. With the coming of the prophet Samuel, kings were crowned as the kingdom became divided into two, Israel and Judea. Nevertheless, the original covenant between Yahweh and the Jewish people (embodied in the Ten Commandments given to Moses) was maintained to proclaim the Jews as the people of Yahweh-God. That tradition continues to this very day through the variants of Judaism, e.g., Orthodox; Conservative and Reformed.
It is interesting to note that although Muhammad, knew of Jesus and the Christian faith, he leaned toward the structure of Judaism for understanding the ways of God, whom he called Allah. He himself became a warlord, conquering the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. God revealed Himself in revelations and direct encounters; and Muhammad became a conduit by which the Koran, the Holy Scriptures, was to be written down, even memorized.
As in Judaism, in Islam, God's kingdom is identified with temporal nation(s) of a time and a place; and religious believers are known as those who cherish a divine Scriptures--in Islam, the Koran and in Judaism, the Old Testament that incorporates the Pentateuch supposedly stemming from the time of Moses. Traditionally, the political entity in Islam was the Caliphate and its head was a Caliph. But in modern times, the several Muslim nations simply announce their allegiance to Islam and retain an independent political structure from the Islamic.
The "Advance in religion" made by Christianity: personal relation to God, The Creator
The Old Testament Book of Genesis recounts how God, The Creator, made and sustains the universe.
It takes the entire New Testament to explain how God, through the works of His Son Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit upon which we Christians rely to accomplish God's plan for our lives. For he wants us to lead a happy life in His care henceforth.
It is the essence of Christianity that we can call upon the Creator of the Universe to provide us the power sufficiently adequate to sustain us through the Holy Spirit's ever-constant infusion into our being. Central to this understanding, we must all call upon the name of the Lord. The service said daily is the Mass or Eucharist in which we declare our shortcomings and inadequacies as descendants of Adam and Eve to a life of sin, pursuing worldly goods and material "things," forsaking our spiritual, fundamental nature. Nevertheless, Paul, in his epistles, urges us to prefer to do and say those things that seek the good for our fellow human beings as well as ourselves--to give up our tendencies toward selfishness and a debased yielding for self-gratification at the expense of doing things that benefit the community of believers to which we have become enjoined into the Kingdom of God.
The latter notion--the kingdom of God--is not an earthly political reality but a spiritual communion shared among those who have come to know and believe in Jesus as our personal guide to bring about a happy state in ourselves (as prayerful members in the mystical realm of religious practitioners) and a dedication to seeking peace in our world of brothers and sisters.
Rather than abiding by a host of rules and regulations, Christians ask God to provide us the strength to live up to our capacities to become a unique ideal of God's handiwork in the world. We seek His guidance to come know ourselves as creatures molded by God Himself to live for a time and place for His and our neighbors' and our own self-delight. For it is with His image and His nature He has sent us into the world insitu.
Monday, July 11, 2016
ID: Walker's Study of the Koran-1
It has been emphasized in the two classes I've attended of the study of Koran with John Walker, our discussion leader, that we are to use Muhammed's life as our exemplar, according to Islam doctrine.
I raised the point that we cannot do so, since we live in the Twenty-Second Century A.D. and Muhammed lived centuries ago. The fiction that one can essentially carry out the habits and routines of a person living in another age is preposterous, not worthy of intellectual discussion.
In Christianity, we are given the exhortation from Jesus to take up our cross and follow Him. But this edict is not to be taken literally; and no Christian thinks so, it would seem.
I raised the point that we cannot do so, since we live in the Twenty-Second Century A.D. and Muhammed lived centuries ago. The fiction that one can essentially carry out the habits and routines of a person living in another age is preposterous, not worthy of intellectual discussion.
In Christianity, we are given the exhortation from Jesus to take up our cross and follow Him. But this edict is not to be taken literally; and no Christian thinks so, it would seem.
CD at St. Clement's: Fear to be bold and courageous for God
Father Rick on the staff delivered the sermon 7/10/16. He claimed that Christians must be bold and fearless to act according to God's Will for them, even as the Good Samaritan did the unusual thing of stopping to help someone in distress.
The notion that this act of the Good Samaritan, helping one in urgent need, requires reaching out to another person one doesn't know--an act of love and kindness. It implies abandoning one's ordinary routines in life to make this act realized. What courage! (as Paul Tillich, American Theologian, would contend.)
The notion that this act of the Good Samaritan, helping one in urgent need, requires reaching out to another person one doesn't know--an act of love and kindness. It implies abandoning one's ordinary routines in life to make this act realized. What courage! (as Paul Tillich, American Theologian, would contend.)
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