Mendacious "Great Men"
A simplistic understanding of evolution theory might indeed have it that the strong devour the weak, but with the appearance of the human species (and perhaps others) on the scene, it has become apparent that the word "strong" needs a better definition. Evolution has somehow produced in man a creature with the ability to Reason, and by Reason to see that the old definition would no longer work. The word "strength" must now be broadened to include "strength of mind," and not just strength in the physically overpowering sense. A species, perhaps for the first time in the history of the universe, has developed the ability to see beyond the immediate effects of its actions, actually to imagine how things might be better if it would direct its actions toward an imagined and distant goal rather than toward the satisfaction of immediate hungers.
Evidence of this newness can be found in some animals, those who store up against the coming winter, but nowhere in all of animaldom has the ability to Reason been more evident than in the human species. Still, the species has not yet fully come to terms with its power to think beyond the moment. Theories of "original sin," coupled with all-too-frequent hold-overs from the limbic age of tooth-and-claw, have inhibited humankind's attempt to take full advantage of this new-found ability. Convinced of its inherent "sinfulness" and bolstered by primitive religions to believe that this life is only an incubator for a greater life in the hereafter, the species has doddered along, still in the grip of the old definition.
But, evidence the fact that at least a few among the very small number whose paths cross on this and similar blogs are aware of the new meaning of "strength," (see the first comment to yesterday's blog) it seems that the atrocities of the "great men" who cling to the force of arms are gradually being seen for what they are. The idea is emerging that the world of humankind is beginning to see itself as the avatar of the idea that would have occupied the mind of a good God if there were such. We are, as an enlightened one of us once said, "the light of the world." Maybe the time is nearby when we can begin to act like bearers of light rather than as minions of the old darkness.
Evidence of this newness can be found in some animals, those who store up against the coming winter, but nowhere in all of animaldom has the ability to Reason been more evident than in the human species. Still, the species has not yet fully come to terms with its power to think beyond the moment. Theories of "original sin," coupled with all-too-frequent hold-overs from the limbic age of tooth-and-claw, have inhibited humankind's attempt to take full advantage of this new-found ability. Convinced of its inherent "sinfulness" and bolstered by primitive religions to believe that this life is only an incubator for a greater life in the hereafter, the species has doddered along, still in the grip of the old definition.
But, evidence the fact that at least a few among the very small number whose paths cross on this and similar blogs are aware of the new meaning of "strength," (see the first comment to yesterday's blog) it seems that the atrocities of the "great men" who cling to the force of arms are gradually being seen for what they are. The idea is emerging that the world of humankind is beginning to see itself as the avatar of the idea that would have occupied the mind of a good God if there were such. We are, as an enlightened one of us once said, "the light of the world." Maybe the time is nearby when we can begin to act like bearers of light rather than as minions of the old darkness.
posted by Benedict S. at 9:30 AM
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I went to the UU Fellowship of Yuma last Sunday. The Fellowship meets in the orginal meeting room of the First Presbyterian Church which has a beautiful facility in an old residential section of Yuma. Ronald Knapp, the UU minister of the day is a retired minister from Omaha, Nebraska. The sermon he gave was The Double Helix: Implications for Religion, an update of a sermon he delivered in Omaha 12 years ago on the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule. His predecessor in the Omaha pulpit, the Rev. Newton Mann, was the first minister in America to give a sermon endorsing Darwin's theory of evolution and built his theology, as Rev. Knapp did, around Darwinian thought. Rev. Knapp mixed Walt Whitman's poetry and a story from the Upanishads with scientific discoveries about the nature of life. This has always made sense to me. I was in awe every time Carl Sagan spoke. The mystery to me has been why it is taking so long for the majority of people to shift to this approach. Rev. Knapp offered two insights about this. The first is that ethcal values can't be found in DNA. This presents mankind with the responsibility of defining and continually refining them. The second prpblem is that of freewill and determinism. It is the imperative task facing modern religion to answer this in a transcendent way. This task terrifies fundamentalists who base their faith on premices that science has undermined. Ultimately we must find transcendent answers or perhaps rediscover old ones. The story from the Upanishads is this:
A father summons his son and asks him to fetch a fruit from the banyan tree. He asks the boy to break it open. Inside the boy describes infinitesimal seeds. The boy is instructed to break open a seed and describe what is inside. To this the boy replies that he sees nothing inside. The father says "That subtle essence which you do not perceive is the essence of the banyan tree. That which is the subtle essence it is the self and you too are of that essence.
It was a memorable sermon for a 61st birthday (mine).
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