I had a very interesting talk with a
guy who came into the coffee shop where I work the other day. I
honestly don't remember how the conversation got started, but the
topic of religion came up. Now, this is a topic I try to avoid at
work, but coffee shops seem to bring out the philosophical side of
people. The gist of the conversation went something to the tune of
how different religions hate each other, when that's not at all what
religion is about. For example, extremist Christians bombing
abortion clinics or extremist Muslims flying planes into the
Pentagon. I commented that I thought that the more we compared world
religions or ideologies the more we would find we have in common.
The main theme of every major religion is the same: Don't be an
asshole. That's what Jesus meant when he told us to love our
neighbor. Before we
say or do anything, we should stop and ask ourselves, “Is this an
asshole thing to do/say?”, and if the answer is yes, do what Jesus
would do: Jesus wouldn't be an asshole.
Interestingly
enough, the young man disagreed with me. He said he believes you
need to be true to yourself. If you worry more about making yourself
happy and less about making some deity happy, the world will be a
better place. I countered that I thought he should extend that idea
beyond himself and worry about treating others well. His
counterargument: If we truly make ourselves happy we will make
others happy as well. Woah! I couldn't believe I was hearing this.
To clarify, I do genuinely believe that if we love our neighbors we
will obtain true happiness, but I don't think the opposite is true.
I think that what he was trying to say is that if we're making
ourselves happy at another's expense we're not achieving true
happiness. But that's not exactly what he said. What he said was we
have to make ourselves happy.
Here's
where I start to sound like a crotchety old man. This is what's
wrong with the youth of America today. Granted, I'm only a few years
older than this young man, but I often feel I don't quite fit in with
those of my generation. Perhaps it's because I was born right on the
cusp between Generation X and the Millennial Generation. The young
people today look only inward. They are completely self-focused and
display a shocking sense of entitlement. I think this extends well
past the teenagers and twenty-somethings into many adults. Look at
the last economic crash due largely to the fact that people were
taking out loans for more money than they could possibly pay for
homes, cars, etc. far larger than they needed given out by greedy
banks who set these people up for failure. The blame isn't on one
person, but on a whole slew of self-serving people. Now, I'm no
hippie communist, but what would have happened if a loan officer at a
bank had decided to love his neighbor? He probably wouldn't have
approved a loan that let someone with a family take out money for a
big flashy car they couldn't afford using their home as collateral.
He would have made a responsible choice to approve them for a
smaller, more manageable loan. Likewise, if the person who wanted to
buy the big flashy car had loved his neighbors and family, he might
have saved his money for a more reasonable car so he had money to
provide for his family.
I
don't want to get off to much on the crappy economy. I'm admittedly
no economist. I do, however, see a direct link between misery in the
world and the amount of love we show forth. Jesus gave us a summary
of the law that anyone can follow. We have two tasks in life. 1.
Love God. 2. Love each other. I don't have the Bible memorized,
but I'm fairly certain that nowhere in the Bible does Jesus tell his
followers to just worry about themselves. We are to love one
another.
Look
at how isolated the world has become. The more we have “networking”
technology that improve “communicating” the less we communicate.
People send texts rather than actually talking to each other. We
walk around with stupid ear buds in our ears all the time rather than
actually listening to one another. (Side note: Has anyone read Ray
Bradbury's Farenheit 451?
The wife is constantly with “the family” meaning her TV and
headphones rather than with her husband. Eerily predicted, Mr.
Bradbury.) I think this explains the great retreat from religion
into self-focused practices. I constantly hear people saying things
like, “I don't trust organized religion” and “I'm more
spiritual than religious.” Sure religion has been the excuse for a
lot of shitty things in the world like the crusades, genocide, and
terrorism, but in every single case those people have strayed from
the simple message to love one another.
Now,
I'm a Christian, so I take the words of Christ very seriously. I
have many friends, however, who are not Christians. Even though I
have Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and atheist friends, they all
subscribe to the philosophy that we have to live here together in
community. It is our connection to other human beings and the way we
live with our fellow man that makes us moral or not. When we love
God and love our neighbor we find happiness together.
I
was visiting a good friend of mine in the hospital a few days ago,
and she said something that really stuck with me. This friend is a
lady in her eighties who is an expert on the Bible and in Biblical
Jewish history. She pointed out that if you look at the history of
the world you will notice an era where the great Greek philosophers
were writing. The foundations of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity
were being formed (all three, by the way, stem back to Abraham, so
we're all brothers). Taoism and Buddhism were beginning. My friend
believes that this is when God decided to send himself out into the
world, reaching as many people as he could in as many ways as he
could so our limited minds could try to grasp his immeasurable
greatness. I'm sure many would discount this as pluralism or say it
cheapens whatever brand of religion they subscribe to. As my friend
put it, “I say a lot of things that people might consider heresy,
but I don't care. I'm old and can say what I want.”
As
for me, I
believe in one God,
- the Father, the Almighty
- maker of heaven and earth,
- of all that is, seen and unseen.
- I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
- the only Son of God,
- eternally begotten of the Father,
- God from God, Light from Light,
- true God from true God,
- begotten, not made,
- of one Being with the Father.
- Through him all things were made.
- For us and for our salvation
- he came down from heaven:
- by the power of the Holy Spirit
- he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
- For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
- he suffered death and was buried.
- On the third day he rose again
- in accordance with the Scriptures;
- he ascended into heaven
- and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
- He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
- and his kingdom will have no end.
- I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life,
- who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
- With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
- He has spoken through the Prophets.
- I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
- I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
- I look for the resurrection of the dead,
- and the life of the world to come. Amen.
- And I believe that I am to love everyone. Even when they're assholes.
- Dear Heavenly Father, Help me to put up with the people who are going to piss me off today. Amen.
