Truth evolves
Dear editor:
“Truth is a pathless land.” Truth is evolving and changes through time. No religion has a claim on Truth.
Mr. J. Wilson tries to make a case for it being OK to be close- minded against evil and injustice. But then I would have to suppose the radical militant Islamists were right in their attack on the twin towers, for they felt they were following the Truth of their convictions against the evil and injustice that America represents to them. And I suppose the fundamentalist Christians who let their children die because they don’t believe in modern medicine are also not bad since they too are following a higher Truth that they believe in.
I stand against fundamentalism and ignorance and with the open- minded likes of Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. I, and many in the world, have found unbelievable parts and inaccuracies in the Bible.
I would have no problem with the schools allowing the Bible as a book of poetry. But I would assume that the stories from the Vedas and the Upanishads along with the teachings of Buddhism and the books of the Quran and Torah also be included.
The three sister religions from the Levant ( Christianity, Judaism and Islam) were all derived from the Old Testament writings. As such, they are all based on the same God creator. And yet they fight one another. The Eastern religions of Hinduism and Buddhism do not separate God from nature. The thought of not being separate from God gets rid of the covenant idea that the Lavantine Western religions demand. For in the West, only the chosen believers and followers can see the Truth and will go to heaven. In the East, everyone and everything is a product of the mystery of God. So which system is more right? I think most people would choose the more inclusive ones if they had to make a choice.
In today’s world, we are aware of a much larger cosmos and form of existence then was available 2,000 years ago. And what we know today changes our understanding of the mystery of it all. Accordingly, I cannot believe in a personal God. The Sun will rise tomorrow. The cycles that the Earth follows will occur, even if all the people of any faith were to pray to God to make it not do so. There is a cosmological order and power to which we and the Earth must acquiesce. And thus we find, people today can no longer believe the floods and natural disasters are punishments from God. There is a system of relationships which are out of the realm of the old concept of God being at the helm making things happen. The seasons and climate are a function of our special form of planetary existence in the cosmos. As we are beginning to understand our evolutionary process in this mystery, we are beginning to understand how special the Earth is in a vastness beyond comprehension. Mythologies are forced to adapt. Or is it that maybe we need a new one? Bill Wiedmann
Hot Springs