Tuesday, November 21, 2006
We could all be a little more Jesus
I like Jesus, as a man, as an example of what a human being is capable of, as role model. Do I believe he was the son of a god, or immaculately conceived, no, but I have always believed that those things are irrelevant. How can something as immense as godliness be irrelevant? Simple, I sincerely believe that Jesus' life serves as a powerful story of spiritual faith, transcendence, and the beauty we are capable of as humans, and is made more powerful by the notion that he may have been an ordinary human, made of the same stuff as the rest of us. The power of Jesus' words are not in the magic, but in their simplicity, purity, and inarguable truth. No decent human being can argue against the principles behind idealistic love, honesty, and altruism. What rational person would make a sincere argument against honor, respect, dignity, integrity, kindness, and compassion? What decent person does not hold these concepts in reverence? How can anyone argue that these concepts should NOT be the cornerstone of decent society?
The best thing about Jesus' life, in my mind, is that many of his teachings, at their core, were ancient, even in his time, and thus, were completely obvious. He may have been something of a revolutionary in his description of a loving, accepting, and forgiving God, but the idea that love, peace, gentility, kindness, and selflessness were the most direct paths to spiritual bliss had been a part of many Eastern philosophies for ages by the time Christ was giving his sermons. These ideals run deep through numerous spiritual traditions and despite humanity's monotonous nature, they seem integral and self-evident. Would it be so terrible if Jesus were "merely" a very faithful, devoted, courageous man?
Would he be any less admirable, were he a man who reached out to the poor, the sick, the downtrodden, and offered them his wholly human assistance? As far as I am concerned, there is no value added to his lessons by the magic attributed to him in Christian mythology. I find it more amazing to think that a man, flesh and blood, like you and me, preached the virtues of goodness, righteousness, and love, then backed those words up with action. Magically creating food, walking on water, and even coming back from the grave are nothing compared to living an authentically good life as a material, simple human being. With all the distractions, temptations, and hypocrisy surrounding us in our daily lives, isn't it magical, in and of itself, to live a decent, honest, and just life? Why is it always necessary to assign superhuman powers to religious figures after their deaths? Why do we always have to spoil the lessons with theatrics and special effects?
The message was, and has been for eons, that we are ALL capable of living righteous lives. We are all worthy of love and we can all be part of something better. In my eyes, the idea that Jesus was something more than a man is a loss to us all, because his message is now that of a superior, not a peer. His actions are now the byproduct of a supernatural heritage, rather than those of an equal. Instead of a seeing a man who overcame the same challenges we all face, we are taught to see a man who is something more than any of us can ever be. Why does our species always do this? The man credited as being the original Buddha, Siddhartha Gotama, is said to have explained himself as being a simple man, with a simple story, that he felt had culminated in something special that he was compelled to share. He walked amongst like-minded peers and shared their stories and ideas. He was accepted as a man with knowledge to bestow on others, but it was not until after his death that he would be assigned the powers of godliness, and subsequently be made into a religious icon.
What is wrong with the idea that every man and woman walking the Earth is born with the capability to make something more of their life than selfishness and gratification? How is the message diminished or cheapened by the thought that a man like Jesus may have been nothing more than a man? In my opinion, his story becomes all the more inspiring! Take away the mysticism, magic, even the resurrection, and the story that remains is still awe-inspiring. What good comes out of making such a story of faith unattainable by the common man? Honestly, I simply do not understand what motivates average human beings to idolize others, denying their own possibilities in the process.
Which is why I am not a Christian, or a Buddhist, or a subscriber to any other fixed form of indoctrination. I believe that we are all capable of living these supposedly special lives. I believe that we all have it within us to infuse goodness into our world through our lives. None of us has been, or ever will be, perfect, but that is no excuse to discard the principles of goodness for some form of poorly rationalized apathy, or pervasive disinterest. The greatest lesson I have learned through my years of dabbling in various religions and philosophies has been that decency is a real, and totally achievable possibility. We are all capable of righteousness and courage. Our spirits beg us to be true and devoted to ideals, because it is this devotion that ultimately frees us to live a life of sincere spirituality, just like the men and women who have come before us, whether they be Jesus, or an anonymous neighbor who has devoted her life to loving her family, her friends, and her existence.
Maybe I am the only one who sees any truth in that. Maybe people feel more comfortable with magic, and myth, as it frees them from accepting that the only thing stopping their ascension is within, and not the result of some inherent flaw or eternal inequality...I think I've gone down this road in one blog post or another, but the questions continue to linger. I don't understand Western religions and probably never will, but I do understand exactly what men like Jesus were talking about, and I believe that is more than enough to keep me pointed in the right direction.
Labels: life, love, religion, spirituality
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I agree with you to a certain extent…we are all capable of living our lives the way he did and we should. There is nothing wrong with “The idea that every man and woman walking the Earth is born with the capability to make something more of their life than selfishness and gratification”, but why can’t we live like this and still have our faith? I believe there is something out there bigger than us, that there’s a reason we’re all here, that we were given life and this earth for a reason, to make the most of it and we will be rewarded in the end. What if you’re wrong, why can’t it be more than just a story? Would it be so “terrible” if he were what Christians believe to be true? As a Christian, these are our lessons, so therefore, to us we are upholding them…not spoiling them.
I don’t see the harm in believing in what you call magic or myth. I would rather believe that when my time on this is earth is over, I will go to a beautiful place where I can be with the people that I have loved and lost over the years rather than believing that death is the end and I will just be a body lying in the ground somewhere.
In the end we all have a right to our own opinions and discussing them with each other is a great learning experience. Who knows who is right, but I sure hope when that day arrives that I am…to me it’s much more appealing. All I know is what I believe and the faith that I have, it gets me through the trials and tribulations of this life…I just don’t see the harm in that.
Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with faith, but I see a nearly infinite number of problems with proclamations of the one and only faith, which is really what organized religion has been about for over 5000 years. In this way, religion works against its adherents in three historically recurring ways. 1) It limits their possibilities to a narrowly defined concept of reality, 2) It plants seeds of division between various peoples that simply cannot be removed and seem impossible to overcome, and 3) It creates an effectively hard-coded pathway for manipulation by leadership. We need only look at what is happening, and has been happening for over 2000 years, in the Middle East, or the failings of the evangelical movement in America. Hell, look at the modern polygamists and their embrace of child molestation through marriage.
I'm not saying that everyone who subscribes to an organized religion are hapless sheep, or mindless followers, because the truth is, particularly in the West, religion as a choose-your-own-adventure, where you can believe in some things, but no others.
There is nothing wrong with faith, but I think the faithful fail the ultimate vision by making deities of ordinary men. It's no different than believing a Pharoah or Emperor to be the offspring or embodiment of god. There's no inherent harm in it, but I feel that putting men on pedestals is always a mistake, as it always puts those not on the pedestal a rung below. In a world where perception is 9/10s of reality, that separation effect becomes accepted as integral within a couple of generations.
In my exposure to the teachings of Jesus, Gotama, etc, that is not what those men were about at all. They were not about a hierarchy, but instead spoke about shared understanding, brotherhood, and limitless possibilities.
You know me well enough to know I wouldn't try to talk you out of your faith...I think the world NEEDS more faithful, no matter the faith (religious fundamentalists do not represent real seekers of spirituality...they are the religious equivalent of Nazi Eugenicists, so I do not count them as faithful or faith seekers).
My point is not that faith is bad, but that more people need to focus on living according to the core principles of that faith, rather than exploiting the forgiveness principle or picking and choosing according to what they believe in. The world would be a better place for the believer, as well as the non-believer, if this were the way of things.
i doubt i really need to voice my agreement with you on this one.
I think it also depends on what type of organized religion one belongs to. For example, Unitarian Universalists and New Age Christians have a more accepting view of world religions/other paths than some of the more traditional institutions.
I've studies many of the worlds' religions and have found them all fascinating, but have not found one that I whole-heartedly find to be the spiritual truth. However, I'm content with that. For many people though, belonging to an organized religion is something they need, a part of them.
Take my mom for instance. She's United Methodist, and has been trying to get me to be a part of the religion my entire life. It's not that she is focused on the religious teachings so much, but rather it's just an integral part of her life. She's in the choir, she has made lifelong friends, and religion has gotten her through the darkest times in her life such as divorce and deaths in the family. A lot of people need that faith, that guidance. Then there are others, like me, who have a more internal spirituality.
But, sometimes things in life are really hard to deal with, almost impossibly so, and even I wonder if I've made the right decision being agnostic. It would be comforting every once in a while to have some sort of answer for things.