John Arvey, from Sunnyvale, CA asks:
You have discussed the influence of astronomy on our God view. What do you think will happen when life on other planets is discovered? Will this expand or contract your image of God?
Dear John:
In a word, I believe nothing will happen. I assume it's inevitable already. Our image of God is always too small. Our problem is that we cannot think in God categories. God is the same. Our image of God expands every time we discover something more about life, the universe or our own humanity.
– John Shelby Spong
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According to Bishop Spong, we humans gain greater insight into the nature of God through the process of learning - exploring all areas of human knowledge and then changing our beliefs when an ever expanding understanding of reality demands that we do so. That process, however, with its inherent challenge to our cherished beliefs, is anathema to both conservative Christian and conservative political philosophy as embodied in the Tea Party Movement and championed by the braying of Rush Limbaugh and FOX News.
Christian Conservatism of this type offers its followers a very small God. In fact and in practice, it holds that knowledge of God is completely and perfectly revealed in a rigid, sect-specific interpretation of the Bible, and learning is sinful whenever it calls into question any aspect of that interpretation.
Political Conservatism of this type also offers its followers a very small God - the status quo. It holds that American values are completely and perfectly revealed in the rigid, ideology-specific interpretation the Constitution known as strict constructionism, and learning which calls this interpretation into question is unpatriotic.
Thus, both groups strive to maintain the status quo in which special privilege is granted to those with great wealth. Both the Bible and the Constitution are wielded as brooms to sweep reports of the escalating economic inequality in America under a carpet of willful ignorance.
Instead of delighting in and celebrating the prospect of a deepening relationship to and understanding of the divine, these conservatives live in a world filled with fear. They fear change. They fear knowledge which clearly shows that observed reality is quite different from what their rigid beliefs declare it to be.
Deep down, they know that any philosophy which offers a guarantee of unassailable rectitude is a sham, and they are afraid that a just God will hold them accountable for the intolerance, selfishness, bigotry, homophobia, greed, self-righteousness, and ignorance their beliefs foster.
Is it any wonder that they resort to fear-mongering and intimidation when they engage in the political process?
It would appear that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was decades ahead of his time when he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Instead of delighting in and celebrating the prospect of a deepening relationship to and understanding of the divine, these conservatives live in a world filled with fear. They fear change. They fear knowledge which clearly shows that observed reality is quite different from what their rigid beliefs declare it to be.
Deep down, they know that any philosophy which offers a guarantee of unassailable rectitude is a sham, and they are afraid that a just God will hold them accountable for the intolerance, selfishness, bigotry, homophobia, greed, self-righteousness, and ignorance their beliefs foster.
Is it any wonder that they resort to fear-mongering and intimidation when they engage in the political process?
It would appear that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was decades ahead of his time when he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
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