Observations From the Spectrum

I was brought up Catholic and to believe in the J man.  I was also taught about the resurrection and the crucifixion and world history.  How in the Middle Ages we fought the Holy Wars to promote faith. What Robin Hood was based on.  And how in WWII Adolf Hitler wanted to create a race in which everyone had the same faith, going one step further, to look the same too.  With the exception of one part, that Jesus was a man, sometimes I think that the rest is BS in one form or another.  

Let’s focus on the positive first.  Jesus was a real man. There is no doubt.  He was one of the shiny lights of humanity that we have noted and learned from throughout history in the same vein as Joan D’Arc, Abraham, Gandhi, Einstein, Mozart, Mohammed, Da Vinci and Shakespeare.  The list longer but certainly short. These people redefined history and gave humanity something positive to utilize in the move towards a fairer and more just existence for all. Jesus is at the helm of that history.  He was an enlightened human being and the best teacher of all time. He taught us that the human condition was about bringing peace, joy and hope to the world. For that, I am grateful.

In the end, death, I believe that the semantic debates we have about Christianity and the church will no longer matter.  Why do we care so much that others believe in the unbelievable part or hocus pocus part. It does not do any good and misses the message he was trying to deliver which is a world in which peace, joy and hope to lead the way.  In my mind, if something is not leading us in that direction, it is false and not worth bothering with. Sure, pass down the stories and teach the word of God but going to war or fighting over it is against the actual structure of what you love.

 What do I mean by this?  First, I don’t think Jesus walked on water unless it was ice and I certainly don’t think fish jumped out of the water to be eaten.  It goes against nature and nature is part of God. All living creatures in any form want to survive.

Which brings me to the church.  A church is supposed to be a communal safe place where people with similar faiths can go and worship.  I used the word similar on purpose. Faith and things connected to love are personal. Having faith is just a way to say I believe in God or something greater than me that connects us to a greater good, ie. peace, joy and hope.  

 When people, who claim Christianity as their faith, are closed and unable to see someone else’s point of view I connect them with the holocaust, the Holy Wars and the crucifixtion of Jesus.  They are perpetuating hate, intolerance, and violence. It is certainly not how I want to live and the type of community it creates, is not one I want to be part of. Remember churches only exist because the people want to pray community not the other way around.

In the end, I know one thing for certain.  I am NOT God. I personally wouldn’t want the responsibility or the amount of complaints.  But I do know that faith in any form is a positive part of life and those who use it to do harm may want to revisit their  base. It is and never has been part of any teacher’s creed to separate the group. It has always been about bringing the class or group together.  To find the connecting threads. To have an open dialogue.

Those who rely on random pieces of scripture to promote their ill will are doing their will.  Simply, they are doing what is in their best interest. Not what is in the best interest of all.   Remember, the bible is a translation of a translation of a translation in a language that no longer exists. Those translations were made by the church to build the doctrine of the church.  The translations had the best interest of the institution at the base and not the best interest of its followers. It is similar to businesses today. Businesses now do what is in the best interest of the business and stockholders in lieu of the consumers.

So, in my spectral and different perception of things, No, I don’t think everyone can get along.  Personally, I don’t want to get along with everyone but tolerating and trying to understand and accept another point of view would go a long way in making things better for the people who are in need of change.  To think otherwise is selfish and this may be the natural order of things but I surely hope not.

• All works at Observations from the Spectrum written by Dylan Netter
• Observationsfromthespectrum.org
• OFTS.blog 
• On? a third point of view – book of Essays
• Marinehippie.com podcast w/ Docstodden.com – dialogue exploring politics and musings of life 
• Horizoncoaching.org – English Tutor and Guide
• BeeHIVeplus1.org