I had said:
>> Yes. One Sacred Being, but many portraits -- each incomplete and less than
>> wholly accurate -- each portrait having been crafted by creatures with
>> limited knowledge and a particular cultural history. I think the
>> children's book, Old Turtle, by Douglas Wood, conveys the idea well.
George replied:
> One problem with this imagery is that it pictures God, or "The Sacred," as
> an essentially passive object of human investigation and reflection.
Point well taken. However, I would describe God not as passive, but rather
as inclined to be equally experienced by all peoples, irrespective of the
tribe to which they happen to belong. On what just basis would one tribe be
favored over all others?
> But if
> it is God whose actions are primarily responsible for human knowledge of God
> then it is at least possible that such knowledge, while ultimately intended
> for the benefit of all people, would be communicated first of all to one
> part of the human race.
Possible? Yes, I suppose so, depending on the character of God. But are
there any a priori reasons to expect such unequal treatment by God of the
various members of the one human race?
> Such an idea of election is of course offensive to
> some people but that has little to do with its plausibility.
Yes, I do find claims that "our tribe" has been specially chosen (elected)
by God to represent God to the rest of humanity to be highly suspicious at
best, perhaps the height of hubris on the part of those who present
themselves as "the elect." Religious exclusivism or triumphalism, whether
practiced by Christian Fundamentalists, Liberals, Protestants, Catholics,
Orthodox, or Jews, or Muslims, is, I submit, rightly offensive to other
religious communities. Has this not been one of the principal causes of
major human wars? History is full of examples of what kind of behavior is
encouraged by tribes (past and present) who feel free to declare themselves
special in the eyes of God -- perhaps even commissioned by God to destroy
the non-elect.
Howard
Received on Thu Oct 14 20:32:48 2004
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