July 14, 2005 - Which God Do You Believe In?

“The Problem with sports and war is that God is on everyone’s side.”
~Duane Alan Hahn

Which God Do YOU Believe In?

By: Ian Lawton

When Quentin Crisp told the people of Northern Ireland that he was an
atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, “Yes, but is it the
God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't
believe?”

Religious rivalry in places like Ireland seem to revolve around different
portraits of God. People see God through their own lenses. The tendency to
cling to an absolute vision of God and the inability to acknowledge other
valid portraits leads to all manner of destruction in the name of
religion.

Unfortunately the divine rivalry in Ireland is not the only one raging in
the world at present. Last week’s bombing in London is the latest episode
in the current war of the Gods.

Radical Muslims still feel that their God and His ways are not respected by
the west. They resent the god of western materialism that imposes its form
of democracy on the world. Regretfully the initiation of war in Iraq with
crusade language has only exacerbated the situation and now London is
burning again.

Religious rivalry is not new. As long as religions and cultures fail to
understand that their language and beliefs can be divisive, rivalry will
ferment. Is it time to do away with religious difference in the interests
of peace? Maybe but not necessarily. It may simply be time for those of us
with deeply felt humanity to more carefully evaluate why we believe what we
believe and define some of our language.

Words such as God, religion and spirituality have become cliches. They are
often used as tribal curses to beat other people up. Should we abandon
using them? Maybe but not necessarily. We should simply make it clear what
we mean when we use them.

There are as many meanings behind the word God as there are people who
speak the word. Jean Gebser was a Prussian who theorized human
consciousness. He suggested that human beings tend to move through 5 major
stages of development. Each of these levels may correspond with a belief in
“God”. The stages he distinguished were archaic, magic, mythic, mental and
integral. The archaic God was an undefined intuition. The magic God was
the ability of humans to change the world with spells and rituals. The
mythic God was outside of the world in a heavenly paradise that people
would get to if they obeyed the rules set out in that God’s book. The
mental God was a rational, demythologized God that was the ground of all
being. The integral God would be all of the above plus untold other
possibilities.

At present religions seem a little stuck on the mythic God of rules and
dogma and nationalism. If we could just see that our beliefs fall into an
evolving pattern then some of the intolerance would ease. There is no one
absolute God. There are only experiences or portraits of God.

In the last 20 years religion has become a dirty word and spirituality has
become a badge of honor. Religious rivalry has been part of the reason for
this trend. Religion has been arguably the world’s greatest cause of
suffering and violence throughout history.

Again, we need to more carefully define the range of uses of the word
religion.

Religion is often used to describe the sociological phenomenon where people
gather around an ideology or a cultural practice. A chosen religion in some
sense expresses for people an ultimate concern. According to this
definition Marxism, materialism, capitalism and even terrorism may be
included as religions.

Religion as opposed to spirituality usually suggests that one person’s
ideas have become organized for a group or series of groups. When people
speak of having a religious experience they are often describing a
mystical or surprising occurrence.

Religion can be experienced as positive or negative, but is not in its
essence a positive or a negative thing. We just need to be clear what it
is we are referring to when we say religion. In our clarity we will lose
the edge of exclusiveness that so easily creeps in.

Spirituality is often used to describe an altered or ecstatic state of
oneness with nature or other people. People will often be described as
spiritual if they appear to exhibit traits of compassion or bliss. Some
people use the word spiritual to describe a realm or experience that
appears not to be physical. The expression ‘spiritual practice’ often
describes a contemplative mode.

Many uses of God, religion and spirituality are valid. Many definitions of
religion and spirituality are plausible. Many portraits of God are
meaningful. As long as we realize that we are describing our portrait
rather than an absolute picture then there will be less rivalry. As long
as we observe the dynamic and contextual patterns of belief then there
will be less attachment to dogma and less need to be right at all costs.

Religion can still offer something beneficial to the world as it opens up
possibilities for common vision rather than closing ranks around any one
portrait. It can be an agent for peace and justice. Spirituality can
enhance our lives as it connects us to the wonder of healed humanity.

Throughout it all, God will continue to move with the times, and will be on
everyone’s side and on no one's side at the same time.

If we persist with language that tends to the exclusive then we should
expect more bombings and violence. If we clarify our use of language we
just might take some of the heat out of the discord. As we express our own
experience of God without devaluing another person's experience of God then
we go a long way towards universal healing.

Peace and Love to the people of London, to the people of the Middle East
and to all sentient beings.

British Muslim Leaders Concerned about Mosque Attacks

There have been at least four attacks on Mosques in Britain, following
Thursday's wave of bombings in London. Police said the attacks were minor
and caused little damage, but Muslim leaders say their community feels
vulnerable to a backlash despite their condemnation of the London
bombings.

Listen to this story on NPR's Morning Edition.

click here for NPR

UK Muslims 'Feel More Vulnerable'

Police chiefs say community relations in the UK are "reassuringly calm" in
the wake of the London bombings, although several forces have reported
attacks on mosques.

"Whenever something like this happens, I know we're going to get targeted.
Last time [Madrid train bombings] I got pointed at in the street."
~British-born Muslim woman

Read more on this story from the BBC

click here for BBC story

Six New Zealand Mosques Attacked in Relation to London Bombings

The anti-Muslim backlash feared worldwide following the London bombings
surfaced in Auckland on Sunday morning as six mosques were desecrated.

Mr de Bres said the attacks were unwarranted and asked New Zealanders to
support the New Zealand Islamic community.

"Leaders of the Muslim community in New Zealand have utterly condemned the
London bombings and made it clear that such actions cannot be justified in
terms of their religion," he said.

"Despite this, New Zealand Muslims have now themselves become innocent
victims.

To read more on this story check out The New Zealand Herald

click here for the New Zealand Herald

Why Do Religions Teach Love and Yet Cause So Much War?

Philosopher and psychologist Ken Wilber is devoted to the study of what he
calls "integral" understanding—exploring the common threads of the world's
cultures. He writes a column for Beliefnet.com check out this issue where
Ken explores why religions cause more pain and war that any other manmade
cause.

"Throughout history, religion has been the single greatest source of
human-caused wars, suffering, and misery. In the name of God, more
suffering has been inflicted than by any other manmade cause. Does that
strike you as odd? And if that statement is true, does it not follow that
'peace on earth, good will toward men' demands the death of God?"

click here to continue reading Wilber at Beliefnet.com

Prayer: We Are One

I pray we, all children of the earth, no matter our path to enlightenment,
come to realize that we are one.

We may walk our own paths, but we are not alone, for we walk at the same
time, toward the same end/beginning.

From our individual perspectives, be we Pagan, Christian, Muslim, Jew,
Buddhist, Taoist, or Hindu, are the same.

I pray that we all feel the love of our Creator(s) and by example learn to
see each other as brothers and sisters, allowing the boundary lines of
religion to fade away.

May the Lord and Lady bless your path. May you always have enough, and may
you give enough in return.

Blessed Be.

click here for more prayers from Beliefnet

Check Out the Bulletin for Sunday July 17th NOW!

Also check out our Bulletin Archive for more Progressive Christian
Liturgies.

(You will need Adobe Reader to view the bulletin a link to the free
download is found on our bulletin archive page.)

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You Won't Want to Miss This Sunday July 17th at C3/CCC!

INTEGRAL LEADERSHIP PART 1

We are all leaders in our families, work places, and church. Fresh back
from an "Integral Leadership" conference at the Integral Institute in
Colorado, Ian Lawton will explore leadership that is comprehensive and
incorporates our most balanced spiritual selves. This will be the first
of a two-part series.

Following along with that theme we will be fortunate to have some very
talented dancers with us on Sunday performing the dance "Pathways."

"PATHWAYS", first premiered at Muskegon Community College in 2004. It tells
the story of the many pathways presented to us throughout our life journey
and the struggle choosing between the path socially acceptable and the
path which reflects your true self.

Dancers include Chelsea Robinson, Shelby Stalf, Krystal Rauwerda and Erin
Treptow, alumni dancers from MCC and are joined by CCC alumni sacred
dancer/soloist Miranda Veenhuysen.
Choreographer: Cathy Weideman

Check out the Most Recent Sermons from C3!

Have you been on vacation, at the beach, on your boat, or just too tired to
get up on a Sunday morning? We like to accomodate summer fun, check out
the incredible sermons from Bob and Lorie that you may have missed over
the last few weeks.

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