30,000 Years ago, mankind appealed to the gods in dance and chants to try to live a better life on earth. Disease and hunger still took its toll upon them.
But then another way was found to deal with Creation and the world in which we live. Act as a god, yourself! Take command of the world, to the extent possible.
The Existentialists of the previous century cautioned that in the end, the forces of nature will destroy mankind. Everyone must die. You can prolong life by diet and medicine, but in the end, all must be placed in the ground.
Nevertheless, religion holds hope for mankind. What I call Religious Pragmatics is the attempt to make religious ideals in morality and education practical to improve our living. It starts with centering prayer: emptying your mind of all its contents to concentrate on the presence of self in this world, in one's particular physical and mental surroundings. Its an attempt to become a child once again, eager to know what he can do and what he can learn--since he can't enter the womb again! Religion teaches us the basics in the world of ideals. For instance, love your neighbor as yourself. In practice, we aim to realize this ideal, but we know we just cannot. It's not practical. We must make compromises and acting as a god, know what we can do to realize some particular ideal in our particular circumstance. That is, we come to know and recognize sin as part of our human condition. We confess our sins, knowing that as humans, we aim at performing the ideal to the extent possible for us.
Similarly, we may aim at monogamy, but we recognize our shortcomings. We may have sex in and out of wedlock, for example.
In our quiet time of prayer, we come to know ourselves and our capabilities; and we recognize our shortcomings as mere elements of our sinful nature.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
On Islamic Pragmatics (IP):
Religious Pragmatics, whether Christian or in the present case, Islamic, is the study of how a religion (particularly, through its religious experiences of encoiunter) enables us to cope with our world by calling upon God as Divine Creator to direct, protect and comfort us.
Tomorrow is the beginning of Ramadan. It is fitting that this series take up Islamic Pragmatics during this holy season of the Muslim faith.
The thesis of this study is that the Islamic religion in practice, i.e., its pragmatics, contains principles pertaining to our experiencing God. By means of this religious experience we are enabled to lead a better, more productive and fruitful life. This is because the experience, since it becomes the focal point of our lives, encompasses the presence of God in revelation as guide and nurturer of our physical and spiritual being on a continuing basis. In short, for our own salvation, we come to ever seek God; and the experience is the conduit that brings God to us and us in God.
.
Below I present comments, each numbered, pertaining to various topics in Islamic Pragmatics. But I don't actually get into the theology and textual exegesis of Islamic scriptures, simply because I'm not a Muslim jurist. Herein, I attempt to point out elements in Islamic practice that are useful in our quest to lead a satisfying and prosperous life by means of God's direction. That is to say, I keep to those features of the Islamic faith in which God's presence is essential for our self-development and preservation.
1. Centering Prayer.
5 times a day the Muslim believer is called to prayer. I say this prayer is 'centered,' in that the Muslim, as he faces toward Mecca, prays. It is also centered in that his prayer may be the recitation of his basic faith: there is one true God and Muhammad is His prophet.
Prayer is said in a prostrate position to express humility, submission and adoration before God. It is an act of confessing the Muslim's own condition of weakness and need, for which divine guidance is the proper remedy. That Muslims are implored to say a prayer so frequently during the day suggests the need to draw nigh to God frequently; constantly, to learn of His will and acknowledge that as a Muslim, he is prepared to follow it.
In short, the mendicant will be facing toward Mecca. It may contain the Muslim mantra that there is one God, Allah, and Muhammad is His prophet. In this fashion, the individual is focused inward, seeking the presence of the Almighty Creator in his ken.
Would that Christianity made prayer so central an activity in a believer's life, since it is fundamental for communion with the divine!
When praying, Muslims are focused physically (turning to the East) and spiritually (reciting some mantra).
2. Fitting into the nature of things.
We are told God (the Creator) has established a harmony to created matter, such that there's an order and a rhythm to natural things. With respect to humans, this order is in the heart beat and emotional equilibrium; and it becomes erratic whenever we become upset or sick. Humans must maintain an equilibrium that God has commanded, e.g., 120/80 blood pressure. Moreover, it is a human duty to preserve the balance in the world by using earth resources wisely, so that these be sustained in time and place. Don't waste them, God warns, nor be extravagant in their use. Don't destroy the balance in nature that God has planned and instituted.
While this may be common sense, it is also non-scientific. The sciences change nature in accord to achieve human desires and wants. We know the world will come to an end sooner, if man cannot find a way to preserve the planet in its orbit longer than is predicted today.
Specifically, while global warming is a reality today, perhaps science will obviate its effects, if not rid the phenomenon entirely over time.
So too, there may be a cornucopia of drugs yet to be discovered, that can maintain our physical being, and stabilize our emotional equilibrium.
Muslims are frequently proud of their allegiance with science ever since the founding of the religion, but that allegiance seems tied to science as it once was--not as dramatic a control of the earth that is currently envisioned in science today.
3. Predestination and Free Will
From mankind's vantage point, man can freely choose good from evil. There is a sort of calculus in Islam that God uses to weigh the worth of an individual--how much good he does in the world--to help his fellows, nature; and preserve his own body and mind e.g., by laying off liquor and by refraining from leading a life of a profligate. Interestingly, his community--friends, neighbors, and moral leaders--have a pretty good idea how he is doing in this life. Of course, paramount, an individual must declare Allah the Almighty One and submit to God's plan for his life: and do more good than evil in his lifetime. If he's an outstanding individual in his community, he is probably doing a lot of good. In the famous Day of Judgment his deeds will be totally evaluated by God Himself, Muslims believe.
Now, as to God's omniscience, He has preprogrammed the events of the world, including what man chooses to do. Note that God knows not only the deed that each person will do beforehand, but knows the agent's intent, too. So, God allows the agent to act as he will act; and will have through His calculus a way to determine whether each individual is worthy to enter Paradise.
We are exhorted to study the life of Muhammad to know how to live from day to day. At a certain point in his life, he gave up leading a prosperous existence in favor of the simpler things. Yet withal, he wanted not and had the means more than he needed. He was respected, and at one time served as arbitrator among disputant tribes. As one who emphasized bodily cleanliness and mental piety, he teaches Muslims that there are disciplined pleasures to be enjoyed in this life, even while enduring the sorrows of human existence. This truly is a man worthy of imitating his spiritual life. Moreover, his community was profoundly influenced by his many deeds, not the least of which was founding the Islamic faith. "Well done, thy good and faithful servant of Allah!"
Nevertheless, we should recognize that the Islamic religion is fatalistic--"The it is written in the Koran" is for the believer a harkening from Allah that He is in control and man must obey!
4. The Sexes
While Islam claims man and woman are equal, there are distinct differences in the commands God expects them to obey. Man is to protect woman. Man goes out to make money. Woman presides over the household. In courtroom trials, man's testimony is counted twice that of a woman's. There may be differences in how an estate is to be divided up between members of the family on the basis of one's sex. But the really pronounced difference is in the clothing. A woman's appearance is to be modest, not capable of inciting a man sexually. She ought not to be given to stylist trends in fashion. If she works, I cannot conceive that she gets the same pay as her male counterpart, assuming they both can hold the same job.
This is a conservative lifestyle bordering on prudishness.. Islamic exhortation: fit in with your community and don't be a sexual object, except for your spouse, certainly not for any other man!.
5. The Caliphate established by Jihad
Contemporary Islamic extremists want a return to the caliphate government, where rulers by virtue of their lineage. However, the current proclaimed caliphate of northern Syria--western Iraq would have grave difficulty in proving rightful inheritance to the caliphate these traditionalists wish to establish.
The so-called army of this caliphate is wreaking havoc in the Middle East, taking advantage of the political chaos caused by the break-up of the dictatorships in the Muslim world (that left a void in legitimate governance in country after country). After a thousand years, governments have come and gone in the Middle East; and there is no place in the the Middle-East for a return to a former Islamic style of governance. Today, Islam is being reduced to a religion only, divested of its long-ago governmental dominance. Today's countries in the region will not tolerate their being uprooted by those who claim a traditional role of Islam in politics. Already, you can see the governments in the region are forming coalitions to root out these traditionalists and destroy their military power.
In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church attempted to be a governmental major power, but it could not capture the Near East nations for long. Islam must see its place reduced to a religious vehicle as an approach God and must give up its political aspirations by conquest in the region.
Tomorrow is the beginning of Ramadan. It is fitting that this series take up Islamic Pragmatics during this holy season of the Muslim faith.
The thesis of this study is that the Islamic religion in practice, i.e., its pragmatics, contains principles pertaining to our experiencing God. By means of this religious experience we are enabled to lead a better, more productive and fruitful life. This is because the experience, since it becomes the focal point of our lives, encompasses the presence of God in revelation as guide and nurturer of our physical and spiritual being on a continuing basis. In short, for our own salvation, we come to ever seek God; and the experience is the conduit that brings God to us and us in God.
.
Below I present comments, each numbered, pertaining to various topics in Islamic Pragmatics. But I don't actually get into the theology and textual exegesis of Islamic scriptures, simply because I'm not a Muslim jurist. Herein, I attempt to point out elements in Islamic practice that are useful in our quest to lead a satisfying and prosperous life by means of God's direction. That is to say, I keep to those features of the Islamic faith in which God's presence is essential for our self-development and preservation.
1. Centering Prayer.
5 times a day the Muslim believer is called to prayer. I say this prayer is 'centered,' in that the Muslim, as he faces toward Mecca, prays. It is also centered in that his prayer may be the recitation of his basic faith: there is one true God and Muhammad is His prophet.
Prayer is said in a prostrate position to express humility, submission and adoration before God. It is an act of confessing the Muslim's own condition of weakness and need, for which divine guidance is the proper remedy. That Muslims are implored to say a prayer so frequently during the day suggests the need to draw nigh to God frequently; constantly, to learn of His will and acknowledge that as a Muslim, he is prepared to follow it.
In short, the mendicant will be facing toward Mecca. It may contain the Muslim mantra that there is one God, Allah, and Muhammad is His prophet. In this fashion, the individual is focused inward, seeking the presence of the Almighty Creator in his ken.
Would that Christianity made prayer so central an activity in a believer's life, since it is fundamental for communion with the divine!
When praying, Muslims are focused physically (turning to the East) and spiritually (reciting some mantra).
2. Fitting into the nature of things.
We are told God (the Creator) has established a harmony to created matter, such that there's an order and a rhythm to natural things. With respect to humans, this order is in the heart beat and emotional equilibrium; and it becomes erratic whenever we become upset or sick. Humans must maintain an equilibrium that God has commanded, e.g., 120/80 blood pressure. Moreover, it is a human duty to preserve the balance in the world by using earth resources wisely, so that these be sustained in time and place. Don't waste them, God warns, nor be extravagant in their use. Don't destroy the balance in nature that God has planned and instituted.
While this may be common sense, it is also non-scientific. The sciences change nature in accord to achieve human desires and wants. We know the world will come to an end sooner, if man cannot find a way to preserve the planet in its orbit longer than is predicted today.
Specifically, while global warming is a reality today, perhaps science will obviate its effects, if not rid the phenomenon entirely over time.
So too, there may be a cornucopia of drugs yet to be discovered, that can maintain our physical being, and stabilize our emotional equilibrium.
Muslims are frequently proud of their allegiance with science ever since the founding of the religion, but that allegiance seems tied to science as it once was--not as dramatic a control of the earth that is currently envisioned in science today.
3. Predestination and Free Will
From mankind's vantage point, man can freely choose good from evil. There is a sort of calculus in Islam that God uses to weigh the worth of an individual--how much good he does in the world--to help his fellows, nature; and preserve his own body and mind e.g., by laying off liquor and by refraining from leading a life of a profligate. Interestingly, his community--friends, neighbors, and moral leaders--have a pretty good idea how he is doing in this life. Of course, paramount, an individual must declare Allah the Almighty One and submit to God's plan for his life: and do more good than evil in his lifetime. If he's an outstanding individual in his community, he is probably doing a lot of good. In the famous Day of Judgment his deeds will be totally evaluated by God Himself, Muslims believe.
Now, as to God's omniscience, He has preprogrammed the events of the world, including what man chooses to do. Note that God knows not only the deed that each person will do beforehand, but knows the agent's intent, too. So, God allows the agent to act as he will act; and will have through His calculus a way to determine whether each individual is worthy to enter Paradise.
We are exhorted to study the life of Muhammad to know how to live from day to day. At a certain point in his life, he gave up leading a prosperous existence in favor of the simpler things. Yet withal, he wanted not and had the means more than he needed. He was respected, and at one time served as arbitrator among disputant tribes. As one who emphasized bodily cleanliness and mental piety, he teaches Muslims that there are disciplined pleasures to be enjoyed in this life, even while enduring the sorrows of human existence. This truly is a man worthy of imitating his spiritual life. Moreover, his community was profoundly influenced by his many deeds, not the least of which was founding the Islamic faith. "Well done, thy good and faithful servant of Allah!"
Nevertheless, we should recognize that the Islamic religion is fatalistic--"The it is written in the Koran" is for the believer a harkening from Allah that He is in control and man must obey!
4. The Sexes
While Islam claims man and woman are equal, there are distinct differences in the commands God expects them to obey. Man is to protect woman. Man goes out to make money. Woman presides over the household. In courtroom trials, man's testimony is counted twice that of a woman's. There may be differences in how an estate is to be divided up between members of the family on the basis of one's sex. But the really pronounced difference is in the clothing. A woman's appearance is to be modest, not capable of inciting a man sexually. She ought not to be given to stylist trends in fashion. If she works, I cannot conceive that she gets the same pay as her male counterpart, assuming they both can hold the same job.
This is a conservative lifestyle bordering on prudishness.. Islamic exhortation: fit in with your community and don't be a sexual object, except for your spouse, certainly not for any other man!.
5. The Caliphate established by Jihad
Contemporary Islamic extremists want a return to the caliphate government, where rulers by virtue of their lineage. However, the current proclaimed caliphate of northern Syria--western Iraq would have grave difficulty in proving rightful inheritance to the caliphate these traditionalists wish to establish.
The so-called army of this caliphate is wreaking havoc in the Middle East, taking advantage of the political chaos caused by the break-up of the dictatorships in the Muslim world (that left a void in legitimate governance in country after country). After a thousand years, governments have come and gone in the Middle East; and there is no place in the the Middle-East for a return to a former Islamic style of governance. Today, Islam is being reduced to a religion only, divested of its long-ago governmental dominance. Today's countries in the region will not tolerate their being uprooted by those who claim a traditional role of Islam in politics. Already, you can see the governments in the region are forming coalitions to root out these traditionalists and destroy their military power.
In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church attempted to be a governmental major power, but it could not capture the Near East nations for long. Islam must see its place reduced to a religious vehicle as an approach God and must give up its political aspirations by conquest in the region.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
In favor of Confederations of Independent States
After having a part in the formulation of the Russian Confederation of Independent States' constitution put into effect in the 1990's, and observing its historical development through some 20 years of service, I can say I wholeheartedly endorse the confederation of independent states' structure.
It is that which I am hopeful is taking root in Europe today--in the UK, with the attempt by Scotland to break away from English dominance; and in Spain, where there has been provincial unrest for some years now. China and India are prime candidates for break-up, too. Witness the current struggle in Hong Kong for independent status, such that Beijing will not have control of the candidate's list for the province's head. Not to mention countries in Africa, where provincial strife could be cast into check by permitting independence of warring parties and states. Then too, in Iraq several legislators have argued for an independent status of Islamic groups over regions--the Sunnis, the Kurds (which will probably soon assert their own independence) and the Shiites. That is to say, anywhere in the world where there is clear coalesce of groups into an independent state should be permitted to break away from centralized dominance of a ruling class or political system.
The Ukrainian War
Russia took the Crimea and will use it as a key port in the area. I understand China is to develop its maritime significance.
However, Putin has tried to use the rest of the Ukraine as a jumping off point to re-establish the Soviet Empire. In that he has met with much resistance. The Russians in the Southeastern Ukraine might want an independent status for the region, but it is unclear they want Russia to dominate them. Some may, but I think, they are united in trying to establish their own regional governance.
More to the issue at hand, the Russians in the other satellites and in the independent countries of the Baltic geographical area are reluctant to accept the Russian Empire concept. At most, they might argue for independent governmental control in their regions from a central government they believe is adverse to Russian culture. Note that Georgia (nor its part dominated by Russians) is not yearning to re-unite with Russia; nor are Russians in Moldova. In short, the Russian Empire is a dead notion, because nobody but Russians in Russia are for it!
Not only are Russians outside of Russia itself acquiescing to the status quo of independence, but many of these satellite countries have secretly approved of a NATO role in their regions, countries not under NATO, i.e., not NATO members. These lands clearly want to maintain their independent status from Mother Russia! What we are witnessing, ladies and gentlemen, is the emergence of a dominant and pervasive NATO presence in all of Europe, including countries once under control of the Russian government in Moscow.
How Long Will It Take to Establish the Federation of Independent States Worldwide?
What I advocate is to establish the Federation of Independent States' concept worldwide.
This will take centuries--long after I'm dead. But people are feeling their roots and their history, more profoundly than ever before. It is no accident that the movement started in the Russian culture, but it will greatly spread, as people become aware of its advantages over any other system, where decisions are made for regions by a centralized bureaucracy.
Did I see this notion emerging as an alternative form of cohesive interaction? You betcha! Carry on Hong Kong democrats!
It is that which I am hopeful is taking root in Europe today--in the UK, with the attempt by Scotland to break away from English dominance; and in Spain, where there has been provincial unrest for some years now. China and India are prime candidates for break-up, too. Witness the current struggle in Hong Kong for independent status, such that Beijing will not have control of the candidate's list for the province's head. Not to mention countries in Africa, where provincial strife could be cast into check by permitting independence of warring parties and states. Then too, in Iraq several legislators have argued for an independent status of Islamic groups over regions--the Sunnis, the Kurds (which will probably soon assert their own independence) and the Shiites. That is to say, anywhere in the world where there is clear coalesce of groups into an independent state should be permitted to break away from centralized dominance of a ruling class or political system.
The Ukrainian War
Russia took the Crimea and will use it as a key port in the area. I understand China is to develop its maritime significance.
However, Putin has tried to use the rest of the Ukraine as a jumping off point to re-establish the Soviet Empire. In that he has met with much resistance. The Russians in the Southeastern Ukraine might want an independent status for the region, but it is unclear they want Russia to dominate them. Some may, but I think, they are united in trying to establish their own regional governance.
More to the issue at hand, the Russians in the other satellites and in the independent countries of the Baltic geographical area are reluctant to accept the Russian Empire concept. At most, they might argue for independent governmental control in their regions from a central government they believe is adverse to Russian culture. Note that Georgia (nor its part dominated by Russians) is not yearning to re-unite with Russia; nor are Russians in Moldova. In short, the Russian Empire is a dead notion, because nobody but Russians in Russia are for it!
Not only are Russians outside of Russia itself acquiescing to the status quo of independence, but many of these satellite countries have secretly approved of a NATO role in their regions, countries not under NATO, i.e., not NATO members. These lands clearly want to maintain their independent status from Mother Russia! What we are witnessing, ladies and gentlemen, is the emergence of a dominant and pervasive NATO presence in all of Europe, including countries once under control of the Russian government in Moscow.
How Long Will It Take to Establish the Federation of Independent States Worldwide?
What I advocate is to establish the Federation of Independent States' concept worldwide.
This will take centuries--long after I'm dead. But people are feeling their roots and their history, more profoundly than ever before. It is no accident that the movement started in the Russian culture, but it will greatly spread, as people become aware of its advantages over any other system, where decisions are made for regions by a centralized bureaucracy.
Did I see this notion emerging as an alternative form of cohesive interaction? You betcha! Carry on Hong Kong democrats!
Thursday, September 11, 2014
CP #15: Intricacies: Christianity's Doctrine of the Mean
Aristotle was of course famous of his statement of this doctrine, but it appears in Christianity, too. For my recognizing the Christian version, I am indebted to Father Bob McNull of Christ Episcopal Church, Las Vegas.
In Mathew 17, there's an account of Jesus with some of His disciples going up on a mountain and there appears Moses and Elijah talking with (a transfigured) Jesus. After the event, Jesus told those disciples in attendance to tell no one about what they had seen. True, the event was something marvelous and something to rejoice about and spread abroad. But Jesus told them to shut up about it!
Why? Well, just as Jesus criticized the Jewish Pharisees and others who would parade about, praying before men ostentatiously and commending themselves pompously to the Jewish community in general, so He would not want to share memorable moments when He had something to get excited over. The idea is to maintain a level head--don't get worked up or ecstatic (compare to the Christian mystics of the Middle Ages); remain calm and tranquil.
For we are told by St. Paul that we must maintain a posture of ever-vigilance: beware of emotions that can take us over--hate, lust, even grief. And, above all, "Watch out for false prophets....By their fruit you will recognize them." (Mathew 7:18)
In yet another passage in Mathew, Jesus chides the Christians: "Why do you worry about...?" Don't worry, for God will provide your needs, He claims. "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Mathew 6:27) Don't get angry with another person, don't be critical of another; and don't make money your goal in life after which to strive. (Mathew 6:24)
Such a low-keyed individual lives at harmony with his neighbors and can rest assured he is appreciated by his community. I believe it's that person about whom Jesus claims special blessing: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Mathew 5:8) Now, in the Epistles, St. Paul also extols the value of the peacemakers in the Christian community since they resolve disputes among its members. I call these peacemakers=mediators, even as the Lord Jesus Christ is our mediator before the Father's Throne. Note that Jesus is God the Son, even as the peacemakers are sons of God.
I don't want to give away the show just yet! I want to tantalize with the notion of a mediator--that all we Christians can be mediators (or, intercessors) one on behalf of another.
Jesus' work on the Cross was just at the beginning of Christianity. He paid it all: His work on the Cross is for all time and final: "It is finished!" Jesus tells us, Thereupon He went to prepare a place for us believers.
Meanwhile, the Church has been sent on its way, to become an everlasting Kingdom of God. God-the Father has given the Holy Spirit to us Christians in order to guide and strengthen us. We, as members of the Kingdom, are never alone, for God-the Holy Spirit is an ever-present power available for counsel, guidance and sustenance. We need but call upon that pervasive Power--as through the Eucharist; and we are delivered for a time from this world's transitory predicament.
In order to know about the position of the mediator in the Christian church, I turn to the social sciences. For it has only been since the rise of Sociology among the respected sciences that the study of group dynamics has been taken up. In the next part of this treatise, I intend to discuss the Christian message's import within the unfolding "New World Order."
In Mathew 17, there's an account of Jesus with some of His disciples going up on a mountain and there appears Moses and Elijah talking with (a transfigured) Jesus. After the event, Jesus told those disciples in attendance to tell no one about what they had seen. True, the event was something marvelous and something to rejoice about and spread abroad. But Jesus told them to shut up about it!
Why? Well, just as Jesus criticized the Jewish Pharisees and others who would parade about, praying before men ostentatiously and commending themselves pompously to the Jewish community in general, so He would not want to share memorable moments when He had something to get excited over. The idea is to maintain a level head--don't get worked up or ecstatic (compare to the Christian mystics of the Middle Ages); remain calm and tranquil.
For we are told by St. Paul that we must maintain a posture of ever-vigilance: beware of emotions that can take us over--hate, lust, even grief. And, above all, "Watch out for false prophets....By their fruit you will recognize them." (Mathew 7:18)
In yet another passage in Mathew, Jesus chides the Christians: "Why do you worry about...?" Don't worry, for God will provide your needs, He claims. "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Mathew 6:27) Don't get angry with another person, don't be critical of another; and don't make money your goal in life after which to strive. (Mathew 6:24)
Such a low-keyed individual lives at harmony with his neighbors and can rest assured he is appreciated by his community. I believe it's that person about whom Jesus claims special blessing: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Mathew 5:8) Now, in the Epistles, St. Paul also extols the value of the peacemakers in the Christian community since they resolve disputes among its members. I call these peacemakers=mediators, even as the Lord Jesus Christ is our mediator before the Father's Throne. Note that Jesus is God the Son, even as the peacemakers are sons of God.
I don't want to give away the show just yet! I want to tantalize with the notion of a mediator--that all we Christians can be mediators (or, intercessors) one on behalf of another.
Jesus' work on the Cross was just at the beginning of Christianity. He paid it all: His work on the Cross is for all time and final: "It is finished!" Jesus tells us, Thereupon He went to prepare a place for us believers.
Meanwhile, the Church has been sent on its way, to become an everlasting Kingdom of God. God-the Father has given the Holy Spirit to us Christians in order to guide and strengthen us. We, as members of the Kingdom, are never alone, for God-the Holy Spirit is an ever-present power available for counsel, guidance and sustenance. We need but call upon that pervasive Power--as through the Eucharist; and we are delivered for a time from this world's transitory predicament.
In order to know about the position of the mediator in the Christian church, I turn to the social sciences. For it has only been since the rise of Sociology among the respected sciences that the study of group dynamics has been taken up. In the next part of this treatise, I intend to discuss the Christian message's import within the unfolding "New World Order."
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
CP #14: Intricacies: Aspects of the Religious Experience
Central to Christian Pragmatics is the religious experience. One can have the experience simply by realizing the wonder of the world, of the universe--as when, looking over a scenic wonder, one proclaims "How magnificent creation is!" Or, in watching the birth of a newborn; and seeing it as the handiwork of a mighty God. In such moments a person instantaneously recognizes Being itself: "How Great Thou Art!" Our churches reflect our feeling of the majestic God's presence among us humans.
Another sort of experience engenders the presence of wonder and mystery--when cries out for divine succor. We are lowly in the scheme of things, yet we have many needs. Praying to God in our quiet moments, we cast our cares upon the maker of all things and sustainer of all things in the world. During these intimate moments in which we seek out the ruler of all things, we act as supplicants.
Ultimately, the value of the religious experience is the power of God swept upon us singularly through the Holy Spirit. Through the power received, we are able to endure this life's exigencies and recognize the transitory nature of life itself.
It is the way we come to be at one with the universe, so as to the better (and perhaps, to the longer) live by its principles..
In William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience, justification is provided by alluding to the beneficial effects the experience can have. James cites instances where the experiencers have performed yeomen feats to help members of humanity in times of trouble and distress.
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Another sort of experience engenders the presence of wonder and mystery--when cries out for divine succor. We are lowly in the scheme of things, yet we have many needs. Praying to God in our quiet moments, we cast our cares upon the maker of all things and sustainer of all things in the world. During these intimate moments in which we seek out the ruler of all things, we act as supplicants.
Ultimately, the value of the religious experience is the power of God swept upon us singularly through the Holy Spirit. Through the power received, we are able to endure this life's exigencies and recognize the transitory nature of life itself.
It is the way we come to be at one with the universe, so as to the better (and perhaps, to the longer) live by its principles..
In William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience, justification is provided by alluding to the beneficial effects the experience can have. James cites instances where the experiencers have performed yeomen feats to help members of humanity in times of trouble and distress.
.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
CP #13 Intricacies: Dreams and Visions
Here, we are trying to see the role that dreams and visions play in Christian pragmatics whereby individual believers conduct their normal and everyday activities. Because dreams and visions are so ingrained in religion, I will include some ideas in Judaism to do justice to the role that these play in religion over thousands of years.
Personal Story
When I was ten years old, living in Buffalo, NY, my mother and father divorced. In those days, there was a social stigma associated with getting a divorce, so my mother took her money from the settlement and took my sister, 6 years old than I, and me to New York City, where she completed a degree program at New York University, and set out to look for work as a legal secretary. My sister needed to complete high school and I was still in elementary school.
Anyway, while preparing to move to New York City, we kids--there was another sister who was just about to marry and stay behind--would gather around my mother and try to picture life 500 miles away in the Big Apple. One day in this interim period, I recall having a vision. I pictured an apartment building near a park to the right about a block away, a high school, which if you looked out one of the windows in the front of the apartment, you could barely see the top of it on a side street immediately to the left of the block the building was on. I recall duly reporting the vision to my mother and the sister who was going with us. I think I was trying to reassure them that this move would really be great, since we'd have a nice place to live (from what I could tell in the vision).
Mom decided to take my sister Sheila with her to New York to find a place to live. They knew my vision; and so in the back of their minds, they carried the thought with them. After the trip to reconnoiter the city and locate an apartment, they returned full of news. My sister blurted out, "We found your place and leased an apartment just where you said it would be!" (I had mentioned it would be on the first floor and something about the entrance, I said, was strange. As it turned out, the apartment had a private entrance off the main entrance to the complex.)
When I saw the place upon moving, I confirmed that it was indeed very much like what I had envisioned it to be.
How do you explain this vision (as I remember it) that happened some 60 years ago?
I think it explicable as an anticipatory experience that could take place as it did to my mother and sister in their inaugural trip to New York, which, in having it, they forthwith laid claim to, i.e., took possession of. That is to say, once they saw what I said they would see through my vision, Mom immediately signed the lease! Afterward, they--Mom and Sheila--learned from our neighbors in the area that we were paying too much for the apartment, since it was under municipal rental control; and the rent was thereupon drastically reduced (praise God!). But Mom knew nothing about rental ceilings when she signed the lease, because she never had lived in an apartment in her life!
The Metaphysical Status of Dreams and Visions in Christianity
My vision was an experience I had; and I reported it to my mother and my sister. They, not only accepted it at face value, i.e., as something I had, but its contents were parallel what they saw at the location at which there was an apartment for rent, and as part of the vision, became reasons for laying claim to the apartment, i.e., leasing it.
And in general, the elements of visions and dreams become a portrayal of events and objects in the world to whom a community, not just an individual who has had the vision or dream, can lay claim to as their own property. This is the meaning dreams and visions have, once their contents are shared and adopted by some group.
Note that the book of Revelation is filled with visions, but no one but perhaps the early Church used them as motivating. Now the Zionist-Jews, on the other hand, have on more than one occasion laid claim to the Holy Land, that land flowing with milk and honey, as their own land, given by YAHWEH God in perpetuity to them.
Can't you just imagine how thrilling it was for the Mormons who found their way to the lush plains of Utah to claim the land as God's promise to them! This is what we're talking about here--how the power of God directs human beings through the occurrence of dreams and visions--totally physical, ordinary events that perhaps even dogs and lower forms of life experience regularly--to do miraculous things in their lives! And reap their congratulatory reward, signified in their singing praise to God from whom all blessings come!
I have pointed out to the Jews that think the land in the Near East their sacred property that they could have moved from Europe to South Africa or anywhere other on the planet just by simply refusing to claim the vision as their promised land!
Personal Story
When I was ten years old, living in Buffalo, NY, my mother and father divorced. In those days, there was a social stigma associated with getting a divorce, so my mother took her money from the settlement and took my sister, 6 years old than I, and me to New York City, where she completed a degree program at New York University, and set out to look for work as a legal secretary. My sister needed to complete high school and I was still in elementary school.
Anyway, while preparing to move to New York City, we kids--there was another sister who was just about to marry and stay behind--would gather around my mother and try to picture life 500 miles away in the Big Apple. One day in this interim period, I recall having a vision. I pictured an apartment building near a park to the right about a block away, a high school, which if you looked out one of the windows in the front of the apartment, you could barely see the top of it on a side street immediately to the left of the block the building was on. I recall duly reporting the vision to my mother and the sister who was going with us. I think I was trying to reassure them that this move would really be great, since we'd have a nice place to live (from what I could tell in the vision).
Mom decided to take my sister Sheila with her to New York to find a place to live. They knew my vision; and so in the back of their minds, they carried the thought with them. After the trip to reconnoiter the city and locate an apartment, they returned full of news. My sister blurted out, "We found your place and leased an apartment just where you said it would be!" (I had mentioned it would be on the first floor and something about the entrance, I said, was strange. As it turned out, the apartment had a private entrance off the main entrance to the complex.)
When I saw the place upon moving, I confirmed that it was indeed very much like what I had envisioned it to be.
How do you explain this vision (as I remember it) that happened some 60 years ago?
I think it explicable as an anticipatory experience that could take place as it did to my mother and sister in their inaugural trip to New York, which, in having it, they forthwith laid claim to, i.e., took possession of. That is to say, once they saw what I said they would see through my vision, Mom immediately signed the lease! Afterward, they--Mom and Sheila--learned from our neighbors in the area that we were paying too much for the apartment, since it was under municipal rental control; and the rent was thereupon drastically reduced (praise God!). But Mom knew nothing about rental ceilings when she signed the lease, because she never had lived in an apartment in her life!
The Metaphysical Status of Dreams and Visions in Christianity
My vision was an experience I had; and I reported it to my mother and my sister. They, not only accepted it at face value, i.e., as something I had, but its contents were parallel what they saw at the location at which there was an apartment for rent, and as part of the vision, became reasons for laying claim to the apartment, i.e., leasing it.
And in general, the elements of visions and dreams become a portrayal of events and objects in the world to whom a community, not just an individual who has had the vision or dream, can lay claim to as their own property. This is the meaning dreams and visions have, once their contents are shared and adopted by some group.
Note that the book of Revelation is filled with visions, but no one but perhaps the early Church used them as motivating. Now the Zionist-Jews, on the other hand, have on more than one occasion laid claim to the Holy Land, that land flowing with milk and honey, as their own land, given by YAHWEH God in perpetuity to them.
Can't you just imagine how thrilling it was for the Mormons who found their way to the lush plains of Utah to claim the land as God's promise to them! This is what we're talking about here--how the power of God directs human beings through the occurrence of dreams and visions--totally physical, ordinary events that perhaps even dogs and lower forms of life experience regularly--to do miraculous things in their lives! And reap their congratulatory reward, signified in their singing praise to God from whom all blessings come!
I have pointed out to the Jews that think the land in the Near East their sacred property that they could have moved from Europe to South Africa or anywhere other on the planet just by simply refusing to claim the vision as their promised land!
CP #12: Intricacies: Religious Knowledge in depth
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