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The_Heaven_Insider
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Name: Dr. Levi
Birthday: 11/28/1970
Gender: Male
Interests: Blue jeans, anthropology, journalism, mythology, critical discussion, political satire
Expertise: social psychology
Occupation: Research and development
Industry: Nonprofit
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/5/2005
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| WHAT IS EXTREMISM?
Extremism is not this group over here, or that idea over there.
Extremism is a label of perspective, not of people or ideas. It is the
name given to describe the scope of the non-traversable chasm that sits
between two minds, a chasm that culture perpetuates so that we can no
longer so much as live with ourselves.
If we wish to live with
ourselves, something must give. The two minds must agree to meet on
common ground, a little plot of land called Earth. It is ultimately a
simple problem, if not terrifyingly difficult to practically consider,
of choosing to share the right of existence, with someone who happens
to have different thoughts in his head. It is not the problem of one
mind, it is the problem of two, or more. In-group morality and
out-group hostility were viable when there was plenty so that men
needn't share anything. Then someone discovered that, should you travel
in one direction, you will soon enough arrive again at your point of
embarkment. Perhaps it is a point too subtle for some persons raised
with swords or scriptures in their hands, but their two feet have
always shared the same finite plot of land with their "enemy" even
before he was given that title of distinction. They have more in common
than they will ever have in difference; mortal enemies can put down
their swords and scriptures, but they cannot shake the Earth's grasp
upon themselves. If we are to live with ourselves on Earth, we cannot
do so with our heads in the unreachable heavens, listening to the
advice of gods who do not share our inconveniences, our concerns, our
pain.
If there is any reason Jesus has not yet returned to Earth it is
because we still must learn to get along; heaven is no place for those
who do not know perfect love, and Earth has no throne for those who
know perfect love. But heaven has enough room for everyone, and those
who look closely at the experiment of America recognize that the Earth
has enough room as well. Some people look up at the sky and see hope in
heaven, and look back to the Earth only to see despair. But anyone who
has been into orbit knows that the Earth is in heaven—the
Earth is a blue jewel in an elaborate necklace of diamonds, in the
finest treasure trove a god would create. What, then, is the distance
between Man and God? It is the distance between Fear and Love. It is
the distance between looking at a gay man with confusion, disgust, or
suspicion, and hugging him like a close friend, with whom there is no
confusion, disgust, or suspicion. It is the distance between passively
avoiding Muslims in your community, and feeling the urge to take the
hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) through them. It is the distance between
reading the Bible in a year, and sharing that time with the Vedas,
Koran, and Buddhist writings.
If perfect love casts out all fear, then it has clearly not yet spread
on the Earth. Every man is out to make the world in his own image—the
Jehovah's Witnesses who come to your door, the televangelists who
flicker on screens day and night, the presidential candidate who comes
to your town, the Muslim clerics who incite anti-Western protests
around the globe, the radical Islamists who bring planes to your
towers. But these are all, secretly, pleas for your love. Opportunities
in disguise, not so that you can convert them, or line their pockets
with cash, or mold the nation to your wishes, or reprint the Muhammad
drawings, or invade other countries to mold them in our image. These
are opportunities to accept them as they are, yet not only, but to have
them accept you as you are.
The common use
of labels such as extremist and barbarian
reflect the perpetuated spirit of condescension Western culture harbors for
those who simply share the same capacity to believe what they've been
taught, and who share the same problems that are the result. Must we
passively accept that we are the collateral of gods who refuse to fight
their own wars? Or must we find ourselves in the eyes of one who
someone else has called the enemy? | | |
| Could it be, that religion is not publicly criticized because that in
itself is not productive, given the emotional connections that override
the abilities of religious persons to think in the detatched fashion
required for sensible discourse? And hence the old addage, in
conversation do not talk about politics or religion, still holds for
the same practical reasons?
Perhaps Muslim extremism is a
blessing in disguise, bringing to our attention a common need to be able to open a dialogue on good and bad
faith. If it is part of my religion to kill you as soon as I can get my
hands on you, should you be tolerant of and respectful toward my
beliefs? No, because my beliefs would not be tolerant or
respectful in and of themselves, making them fundamentally unfit for a civil
context. Many forms of Christianity and Islam have been adapted over
the years to the civil context of the internal affairs of individual
nations, but the challenge is for them to progress further into the
universal context. The evangelicals of America need to reach the point
where they can buy the bumper stickers that say "God bless the world"
instead of "God bless America." But to start a dialogue they will take,
you must speak in their language. If you find someone with the
patriotic bumper sticker with the message "The Power of Pride," slap a bumper sticker
right next to it that quotes the Biblical proverb "Pride goeth before a
fall." This will produce an introspective frame of mind, instead of
activating a defensive state of mind, which directly attacking the
essential characteristics of another's religion will most certainly do. | | |
| From the GOSPEL of LEVI
chapter 21
Dr. Lancet entered the lecture hall, and, after he was done
teaching, a few learned Christians came to him. "By what evidence do
you authoritatively claim these 'facts' of the natural world?" they
asked. "Do you even know the precise genetic and morphological steps of
a given creature from his unicellular origins to his current
multicellular form?"
Dr. Lancet replied, "I will also ask you one question. If you answer
me, I will give you my reasons. Intelligent design—what methods has the
postulated designer used? How do you know to attribute the appearance
of design to a designer?"
They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we tell him 'it was
all done by divine fiat,' he will ask, 'Then why do you come to a
scientist?' But if we say, 'that's not important'—we are afraid of the
people, for they all hold that scrutiny is important in science."
So they answered Dr. Lancet, "We don't know."
Then he said, "Neither will I tell you on what evidential grounds I am teaching these things." | | |
| From the GOSPEL of LEVI
by Dr. Levi A. Lancet, a man taken up into the seventh heaven
Chapter 4
LOVE HAS NO ROOM FOR HATE
You have heard it was said, love the sinner and hate the sin; but I
tell you, if your heart is full of love then there is no room for hate.
Do you think that the poor man will not notice if you despise his life?
Unless you reach down into his filth for his hand, he will not see a
genuine friend that day.
Do not be like the religious, who scoff and sneer at skeptics and
atheists. Truly I say to you, no man will desire the passions of faith
if this is what must become of him! If you have compassion, let it be
for what has befallen him; and any deity who refuses election to an
honest man is not moved by love.
Or what is the righteousness of a man, if he tells the poor he feels
pity but does nothing with it? Who is in need of his opinion? Let him
give of himself instead, and then respect will follow his opinion.
BELIEVING WISDOM
You have heard it was said, confess and believe and you will be saved;
but I tell you, know yourself better than the creeds men give you. Do
not become as a child who believes any whim he is told, for some of
them fill their bodies with poisons in order to feel secure, and others
join the scams of faith for eternal closure, never knowing either the
dangers or the benefits until it is too late. What investor takes risks
without any calculation? Truly I tell you, that reckless man will never
teach any child but his own—if he can manage one long enough!
But do not even the worst of religions have many followers? If you know
yourself better than men's creeds, you will know those who deal poison
from those who deal truth, their creeds following suit.
PATIENCE ANSWERS ANGER
You have heard it was said, we are sinners in the hands of an angry
God; but I tell you fear is like a blade hidden underneath the cloak
with which a man pierces himself in his haste. Do not be anxious for
anything, like little children startled at an empty closet or a
harmless wind. If God is angry, what can a man do to change his mind?
Will food or drink or praise or sacrifice or obedience dissipate even
the smallest cloud? As it is, the rain falls on the rich and the debtor
alike. So if someone says to you, "Look, God is angry with us!" be
patient and see if this 'anger' is even directed at you.
THE COMFORTS OF THIS LIFE
Do not be like the religious, who follow the cult of suburbia but call
themselves the followers of a poor man. If the poorest man in the
richest nation still owns a home, he has not given up everything for
the gospel. Who is the poor man and who is the rich man? The poor man
is the one who receives because he has been blessed with what he has
not; the rich man is he who considers himself blessed because he has
been able to give, yet does not. The poor man prays so that he might
have food for his table; the rich man prays for the food he already has
on his table. The poor man befriends his loss, such a constant
companion is he; the rich man fears that God or the poor man might take
away, and goes far to protect his attachments. So if any man says to
you, "I have found the Way," but drives you somewhere in his own car,
with his same family, to a magnificent structure with tall pinnacles,
padded chairs or sparkling chandeliers—know that you have found the Way
of the rich man. Stay far from them. Become a poor man, and you will
find the poor.
BE OPEN TO CORRECTION
You have heard it was said, all scripture is good for teaching; but I
tell you, a truth is only as good as a man's judgment and the
scriptures as good as his interpretation. Do not be like the religious,
who proclaim loudly their self-assurance from street corners and
televisions, pulpits and tents, inciting crowds for their own
pleasure—these never hear anyone but themselves. If they cannot be
taught, then what can they have to teach? Even if a man knew all
things, he would not know it to be the case until he sought out just
one more thing. If a man offers a strange interpretation, he will say
it came from God so that you will feel guilty in questioning it, and
will speak loudly so that he will have an air of authority about him.
Do not trust such a man; if God should lay bare a secret, it will be
made known to many. God does not place his reputation in the hands of
men, speaking different things to different ears as if to confuse us.
Seek the teaching of those whom you can question, and instruction from
those who speak softly; if a man's words have authority, they will
speak for him. They will be found true by whoever puts them to the
test, even as God agrees.
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| Laugh of the Day:
Me: "Some people compare you to Santa Claus as
part of a ploy to make you look like an absurd character, since no one
really believes in an omniscient old man who brings presents to
children."
God: "Ho ho ho, right you are. But mark my words
boy, there is no confusion to be had." *strokes long white beard*
"Santa Claus is like me, not vice versa."
After He said that we
both burst out laughing. Actually I had to let him start laughing
first, because even after so long, it still surprises me that the Big
Man upstairs has such a sense of humor.
I also wonder if I'm the only person on earth who actually appreciates it. | | |
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