Bringing Ecology Into the Heart of Theology

The reference to energy-efficient light bulbs as a suggestion to make to church-goers reminded me of a post that I had written two years ago.

The following post is a summary and critique of a sermon that I attended in 2007.  By chance, it also contains a reference to light bulbs as a suggestion to congregationists. What initially prompted me to write it (in addition to ecological concerns) was my (then) 17-year old son's religious fundamentalism and passive acceptance of climate change as a sign of the "end of times" and "God's will," which I attributed to the teachings of his grandparents, his school (Open Bible Christian School), and his church, Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia.
 

Having gone back just now to review it, I realize that I was being too harsh in my condemnation of this church.  I debated on whether I should even share it since much of it is irrelevent or irreverent and lacks the sensitivity of an integral approach. 

Put yourself in my shoes: if you had a teenage son who was being brainwashed by religious fundamentalism, you'd probably react in a harsh or critical tone as well.

Since posting this message, my son has matured somewhat and has since left this church to attend a church composed primarily of "young people" and college students. It is presumably  more "progressive."  I have not attended any of its services so am not really sure.
 

barbi

11 March 2009

 

 

 

I dedicate the Mediocrates song to Northside Baptist Church in addition to the hypermediocrity song, "Emerge" by Fischerspooner that was here and must return. It is to express my disappointment upon learning that there will not be a new pastor with a new message to lead the Contemporary Sermon but, as I understand it, will be taught by Pastor Stevens, who already does the Traditional one. I do not see this as an actual solution of any kind. No offense, Dr. Stevens, but there seems to be a conflict of interest in effectively pastoring both the contemporary in addition to the traditional without comprimising on one or the other's theme of message, unless I am mistaken and a younger and more progressive pastor with ecology to bring to this theology will be added. That is, someone who can convey a new message which we contend that we (that is, me, myself, and I) were able to singlehandedly acheive in this here blog entry which resulted in the decision of Northside Baptist Church to add a Contemporary Theme of Sermons to its previous Traditional led by Pastor Stevens and Old Age Sermon, led by Jared's dad, who is the preacher of the old age sermon which for obvious reasons I have not attended because I do not consider myself to be Old Age and because I am only interested in hearing my son's sermons that he attends.. However, because I am committed to truth, I have no choice to express my doubts and reservations what with no new pastor with no new message to deliver to my teenage son, who is being brainwashed here; hence my harsh tone.

Coming to break you off.

Coming to break you off

Comin 2 break u off, yeah, yeah (COMIN' 2 BRAKE U OFF)

"Hurt But It's Alright," Mediocrates, The Felonius Monk

 

I am willing to stick around for a while to see what kind of 'reform'or spiritual awakening can actually take place for the youth of this church if this Contemporary Sermon is going to to be led by the same pastor who preaches the Traditional. No offense, Pastor Stevens, but I would think that they would need someone who is less than 40 years old or at least in touch with modernity to be the pastor.

 

1011PM 15July 2007

 

This is simply an update to announce that since the time of writing this blog entry, Northside Baptist Church officials have gotten together in a meeting with God and consulted with him on the matter. As I understand it now, God was in agreement with me and so the word was with God: Northside Baptist Church announced today that they will be offering in addition to their Traditional and Old Age Sermons, A Sermon with a more contemporary theme to offer to their youths of today. We see this change as a very positive change and a very necessary change and we congratulate them, as well.

 

I would gladly respond to the the remainder of the sermon provided but cannot do so based on my notes. In all, I heard a more positive message, one of healing rather than of judgment or power. Perhaps next week I will be there in time to get the sermon notes.

 

_________________________________________

The noise is coming out, but if it's not out now
I know it's just about to drown tomorrow out

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 2: Above, Sermon Notes,

translation of bad handwriting:

Top Left,


picture of a present that is gift wrapped and labled "God's Contents"

(Story in connection with this picture could not be heard while she was attempting to illustrate this drawing, a good judgment call considering that I cannot draw and I also didn't get to hear what was said that was in connection with this picture);

Top Right,

everybody knows, which way you go, "straight to over" (to the "far right"). ("Tomorrow, Tomorrow," Elliott Smith).


 

Baptist pastor says, God is ABOVE SPACE ABOVE TIME

Second line,

 

 

P.S.  After reading about the fundamentalist connection between Southern Baptists in South Georgia and the Shin Buddhists of Kyoto in Ken Wilber's Integral Spirituality (see the Conveyor Belt, Chapter 10), I asked my mom what she thought about Shin Buddhism, as I was not familiar with this form of Buddhism.  Her response was that "They [Shin] are low-class religion.  You cannot teach them philosophy."  Of course, this is not to suggest that Southern Baptists are "low-class" (as that would be insulting to my son and thus an insult to me); yet found her remark amusing so thought I would pass it along.

Power - Elohim; Baptist pastor

Side Panel Left,

Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:26
Isaiah (?) 5:45
Ephesians T-3 (?)
I:14
II Corinthians 13 (?)

 

Sermon notes

 

I. The first scriptural name is Elohim: It appears 2500 times.
A) The name speaks of power.
B) The name is used to identify the Creator.
C) The name is plural, which implies a Trinity
D) The name introduces God's ___________aspects.

 Our response:

"The many faces of God," most certainly conforms with the Gebserian model in that previous realizations of divinity are based on a multiplicity of deities. In addition, it is also in agreement with an integral approach which holds that God exists in first, second, and third person and beyond. However, to differ with Pastor Steven's position, we see no logical nor sound reason to confine nor to limit the numeric quantity of multiplicity to a Trinity as the answer provided for us in sermon.

I am not altogether clear what was said in connection with these words and "In the Beginning" insofar as the overall message.. Possibly, the Baptist "take" on "how things began." Considering the vagueness and the ambiguity of the language that is used in the creation story with regard to "In the beginning," we feel that this story was perhaps intended to serve an entirely different function or purpose than the one that is proposed by Dr. Stevens.

Thus, rather than seeing the creation story as a series of "events" to explain "how things began," it is more likely that these revelations to prophets of old were intended to serve a far simpler purpose than the purpose we seek today, which is a rational explanation of things and events. By contrast, the Genesis story would have been sensitive to the demands or the needs of the peoples of the times who were contemporary to those times who did not require a rational explanation.

We are speaking of Biblical times, of course, which in relative terms of times takes us back in time to roughly a few millenia after the rise of agriculture.. The story would be expected to be thus in keeping with the needs of these mythical peoples, who were perhaps more concerned to have a sense of belongingness within the vast cosmos upon which they were totally dependent for their sustenance and survival, in addition to helping people understand where they "came from" (inasmuch as it is reasonable to expect these ancient peoples to understand from a more contemporary or rational standpoint, as there was no such thing as science nor rationality at the time of the Old Testament).

The creation story may therefore be seen as a way for God to show to these peoples that they are indeed the children of God as a means of assurrance to those that needed it, who lived in much harsher conditions than in conditions of today and were concerned perhaps more with brute survival, yet were comparatively child-like and naive in comparison to moderns in terms of their sophistication in knowledge and technology.

The rise of agricultural societies coincides with a time when these ancients began to settle into permanent societies and to develop higher skills that would eventually pave the way for civilizations and higher culture. Of particular significance to these ancients must have been that of mapping out the canvas sky above and of undertaking the study of stars above for Heavenly signs for good weather to produce good harvests and future crops (at least, during the time of polytheism); yet they were completely at the mercy of the Heavens above to produce them. They prayed for good fortune and looked to the sky. . And so they appeared in polytheism... And so He appeared with monotheism... message was how utterly dependent these children must be in the eyes of a Creator and to the Heavens above (who are-- in contrast to children--Parental Therefore: Wise).. Thus, naturally establishing the cosmological order of balance on a more humanly scale that would be in keeping with the needs of their times, to give to these ancients a sense of belongingness.

Gebser writes that these prophets of old, wherever they prophesized, operated with a 'different kind of knowing' that had been more accessible in previous times in the form of visionary myth, which was prior to that which would ultimately become codified in spoken myth or dogma.  "Visionary Myth" formed the efficient stage of the mythical structure of consciousness. This mythical phase of development differs from the rationality of modernity and postmodernity, and is said to be psychic and irrational. The stories themselves are revealed to these prophets in the form of dreams, symbols, visions, and imagery. Revelations to them would be appropriate to their level of sophistication that would be comprehensible to them and their geographical location, and period in history. As such, it is far better to interpret these stories from the context of symbols and metaphor rather than from the standpoint of concrete actual events.


Ken Wilber wrote that conceptions for the deity depended largely on modes of food production. To paraphrase, "When Goddess dug the earth with her hoe, God was woman. Later, when men plowed the field using an ox cart and plow, God was a man." Incidentally, all of the religions of the world of today arose a short time after the dawn of the agricultural revolution, so are all patriarchal. We perceive that we are no longer patriarchal societies and are beyond the agricultural evolution. We perceive that divinity needs an "update" to their current "look".

Will return to discuss the other points discussed above.

II. The name Elohim, calls us to .
A) The first Commandment comes to light.
B) God's name is precious. don't misuse it.
C) God invites people into relationship from the very beginning.

---------------------------------------------------

II. The name Elohim, calls us to response.

A) The first Commandment comes to light.

Our response:


 

We presume that Pastor Stevens is referring to the first commandment that God gave to humans, but we will back up one verse to include animal life as well so that we can be certain that we have read the "first" commandment:

Genesis 1:24

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to their kind"; and it was so.

Genesis 1:25

And so God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cttle acording to its kind and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:28

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Genesis 1:29

And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

Genesis 1:30

Also, to every beast of the earth to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food:; and it was so.

Genesis 1:31

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Source:

Nelson's NKJV Study Bible, formerly titled The Nelso Study Buible New King James Version, Copyright © 1997 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

"....This is the reason God values people so much: We are made to reflect his His majesty on earth have dominion: Rule as God's regent. that is, people are to rule as God would--wisely and prudently--over all that god has made (fish, birds, cattle, and so on)."

Source:

Nelson's NKJV Study Bible, footnotes, p. 5.

Sounds to the likes of we that God's first commandment was for humans to be the stewards of the earth. Thus, the first commandment of God to humans is to take care of the earth. Sounds to us like ecology should be brought into the heart of your theology.

My son said that the commandment that the Baptist Pastor was referring to was first commandment of the Mosaic Law of the Ten Commandments.

To make myself clear, once again: I am not a Christian and am not endorsing any religious viewpoint over any other but am merely trying to integrate two seemingly very opposing worldviews, that of my Christian son's rather conservative and literal Baptists beliefs on the one hand with that of others, such as that of Buddhist mother, on the other, who is a member of Soka Gakkai.

Thus, while not endorsing any particular religious tradition but trying to be respectful of them all, I am perhaps in a better position as a non-Christian to read these passages anew than those who are endoctrinated in the dogma.

In a conversation with my brother, a born-again Christian, he borrowed an analogy that he took directly from a meeting of religious leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention. The analogy used was a pack of baby whales confined to tiny little nurseries to describe the "dismal state" of affairs within the actual spirituality that seems to pervade the Baptist religion resulting ultimately in constricting or flattening effect of too small containers. Baptists of today in general, he said, "are being raised in nursery casks or nursery containers that are far too small for their full spiritual growth to ever develop into their full potential as spiritual beings."

As as a consequence, Jimmy B. Bimmy said, many Southern Baptists tend to grow up comparatively tiny and meager spiritually compared to other denominations of Christianity, as fate would have it, or at any time that religious dogma or myth is extended far beyond its natural function which serves a horizontal function as a social glue and to provide a moral foundation to a society.

That is essentially the function of religion. Spirituality, then, is something that is essentially a different aspiration that is practiced in contrast by a very few and far between; but I digess. Getting back to my brother's point, the baby whale analogy was used to describe the Baptist faith as it is practice today in that these practitioners may never grow any larger the size of the original container, in comparison with the normal whales that were not in captivity and grew up to normal size as a result of their freedom from confinement in these tiny containers and not constricted in growth.


 

B) God's name is precious. don't misuse it.

B) Precious is a name given as a pet name by a possessed character by the name of Gullom in The Hobbit to his Ring of Power, which had permitted him to live well beyond his normal lifespan in years of mortal years and so he was possessed by it, as a consequence.

C) God invites people into relationship from the very beginning.

C) Surely the Pastor is not suggesting that God invited people "In the Beginning"....?

There is a reference in scriptural notes in my Study Bible that speak of a possible multiplicity of deities prior to "In the Beginning."... but no reference to people, unless Jesus is thought of as a person or unless angels could be thought of as persons.

There is also a curious footnote that I will have to repost here that is in reference to a "Time of Eternity" that is thought to be prior to the beginning of time. It describes a scene of a face-to-face encounter between two deities, of possibly Jesus and God, and that "The Word" was "with God" (no clue what that means), which is thought to occur prior to In the Beginning.

Some parts appeared to be ommitted in this sermon message...

Such as the entire rise and fall of Satan as an event that transpired completely prior to the "In the Beginning....?

"....John 1:1 speaks of a time that predates Gen. 1:1, but no information is given here on what happened before this time. It is possible that from a mythical standpoint, the rise, rebellion, and judgment of Satan transpired before these events. In ch 3, Satan has already fallen (he tempts Eve in the guise of a serpent). Gen. 6: 1-4 speaks of angels who are already fallen. Furthermore, God's angels have already been created (see 3:24). We are speaking in the mythical sense, of course (not to suggest that the mythical isn't true as it does have its truth or merit on some level).

In ch1. the focus is on the creation of the material world--"the heavens and the earth."

The pastor contends that the heavens and the earth were all created on the same day. If so, there is very little room to integrate the pastor's views with modern scientific evolutionary theories of the origins and the evolution of the universe. We suggest that the pastor may have taken "In the Beginning" too literally here. We see no reason based on the scant information provided in the Study Bible to object to integration between scientific theoriy stories on the one hand with the creation story the Bible.

As far as you or for that matter, any other humans can possibly tell, "In the Beginning...." could be understood as "In the beginning of humans" and you are none the wiser to know one way nor the other because the Bible is unclear as to any detail for you to go one way or the other so you do not know, because there is nothing for you to know in that respect. Yet in spite of not knowing, you continue to be conclusive which makes you appear foolish and ridiculous to any outside observer and even to fellow Christians..

There are an infinite possible ways to interpret meaning and here is yet another one for your to reconsider: As far as the creation story is concerned, it was not until day three of Creation before the object called the earth-sun came into existence. Prior to the formation of the earth-sun, there is no reason to suppose that a 24-hour earth day existed as a constancy in time-reckoning.

As far as you know or as far as any human knows, Day One is currently inaccessible and represents an unknown duration of time. Days One and Two could thus be the equivalent of 48 hours or the first 13.7 billion years of evolution of the universe.  You are really none the wiser unless you have both science and religion; not just religion. And you needn't have one at the exclusion of the other. The truth of the matter is that there is no conflict between scientific truths and truths of Holy Scriptures that is meaningful to ponder or debate over a moment longer. We see this conflict as successfully resolved, and we are growing bored. You are now free to accept both as valid truths. Everything that has ever transpired from standpoint of modern science from the Big Bang to the formation of stars and galaxies to ultimately the formation of earth and the evolution of life and sentience has been successfully resolved for complete integration between scientific theories of origins of the evolution of the physical universe with the Baptist religion, because there is nothing in the Holy Bible nor in scientific studies that appears to be in conflict. Baptists, it appears that you are left with no logical reasons any more to reject other domains of knowledge. Science and everything else will continue on without you, because you are frozen in time. Being frozen in time, you are demonically possessed by insentient mindless objects in space that have little to do with Spirit. We are growing bored with confrontations with oppositional Three-Dimensionals who appear to exist only as an opposition for the sake of opposition.. But I will not let you take my Tommy Taro with you to be brought down to your level and I will bring you down before that happens.

To reiterate, the first two days could be understood in terms of occurring in the first two days--or 10 to 20 billiion years. Time, after all, is relative. Time is movement. Time is Spirit. Time is Rhythm. Time is Music. Time is a lot of things. One form of time which is falsified time is the kind that appears to be frozen in movement since the dawn of the agricultural revolution and continues to be patriarchal. By all appearances you appear to be frozen in time.



 

III. Jesus portrays the Powerful God in Mark 4:35-41.
A) Jesus showed us a God who can calm the storm.
B) Jesus showed us how we underestimate God.
C) Jesus calls us to trust the creator.

Our response: I have consulted my heart, and the God that I know says trust in the Creator, but do not use trust as an excuse to be complacent on those issues for which humans alone are to blame, such as climate change and global warming. We suspect that such a scripture could be taken out of context to support the notion of a non-human explanation for Global Warming. Again in opposition to the scientific consensus that humans alone are responsible for the current predicament, not Jesus or God.

My response: The God that I know wants ecology brought into the heart of theology. The God that I know would like for religious leaders to embrace a more global consciousness that embraces not only religious dogma or myth and not merely local or national political concerns, but global concerns. The God that I know would like the religious leaders to be current with the issues of our day and try to integrate science with religion. The God that I know would like for religioius leaders to focus on matters that are critical to all humans of the earth and not just on matters pertaining to people who share the same nationality or myth.

In the Deep South, particularly, religious leaders could be highly influential in helping to elevate the consciousnesses of their congregationists by instilling in them a sense of personal responsibility as fellow regents of God's creation. This can only be accomplished by bringing ecology into the heart of their theology. It need not be anything earth-shattering nor controversial to simply get "the ball rolling," so to speak, to help elevate individual consciousness and moral responsibility. For example: They can start by passing on this interesting tidbit of information that I came across:

Want a bright idea for tomorrow's sermon?

I find that a picture is far better in such kinds of presentations but we will have to settle for a product description, for now:

Here is something to share with your flock:

Sunbeam Mighty Bulb

"Get 60 watts of light from a 15 watt bulb!"

LASTS LONGER

Bulb life equals 9 standard incandescent bulbs.

SAVES ENERGY

Conserves over 75% of our energy resources.

9 Year life.

877.383.6399

This is good practical advice, considering that in our area people are money-conscious and would appreciate being told such advice for their own sakes, but are possibly not much concerned beyond themselves. Yet, everyone wins in the process because such change goes beyond the benefit of a single person to benefit many more people, as a very large percentage of our electricity sources for indoor electricity in the South requires energy sources from fossil fuel and coal.






By passing on useful and energy-saving information such as the above, religious leaders can go a long way toward becoming active participates as regents of the earth by instilling a sense of environmentalism within their local communities on a grassroots level to carry out God's first commandment. All that is required to motivate a great many followers is good information by a source that can be trusted by the people. Thus there is tremendous power in the role of a pastor to simply to give a nod of approval to the concept of saving energy, simply to let them know that it O.K. to be an environmentalist as well as a Christian. In fact, it is a moral imperative from the Christian standpoint insofar as following the first commandment of God, which is not the 10 Commandments but is, instead, the commandment of God to be his regents and to care for the earth.

Once simple steps such as these are given by religious leaders, a spiritual ecological movement may begin to take root on a more grassroots level in the Deep South. Typical church-goers are largely uninformed and cannot be expected to take on such initiatives individually, yet will respond positively to instructions or advice that is given to them by trusted people such as their pastors or other community leaders.

Yet this will not occur unless ecology can be brought into the heart of your theology, so may involve some self-education or possibly formal education into fields of study that appear to be for the most part rejected by those who proclaim to be Born-Again Christians. If it cannot be brought into the heart of your theology, then an explanation is in order to explain to your flock why you willfully disobey the first commandment of God. Readers of this blog are also awaiting your response as they are now curious to know if tomorrow's sermon will include in its message a brief reference to ecology, which need not be controversial nor elaborate but a simple recognition that amounts to something so simple as the light bulb advice above.

People would respond positively to their religious leaders and would appreciate such kinds of advice and so everyone wins in the process.

Regency requires active participation.  By necessity, it involves more than simply passive prayer or the will of God to get the "job done." What kind of God, after all, would appreciate having only Passive Regents who simply sit around and "pray" in petitionary prayer that they "love Him" and "Jesus," too, while hating people, and destroying the earth? This does not appear to be logical. So it is up to the religious leaders to provide moral guidance to their congregation and their communities on such matters. Political figures cannot be trusted for the most part so what is left are community religious leaders. It is no small task, to say the least. Especially considering that this new role to embrace among religious leaders involves new and even deeper and greater responsibilities that must go beyond older traditional roles which may have previously been confined to civic duties such as officiating in rites of passages of individuals such as marriage or funerals, in addition to the normal duties of preaching or pastoring. Ultimately, it may boil down to a fundamental difference between two classes or types of religious leaders:

A) Religious leaders of the conventional kind who simply teach a lesser teaching, religion, for the masses, who simply want a "feel good story," after all, so that they can feel rejuvenated so that they can go back on their merry way to continue to live in consumption, decadence, material excess, irresponsibility, and all that with a cherry on top, with Jesus's blessings on top of all that. Of course, only in their "pipe-dreams" do they get to hope that such a wish-fulfillment as that could be granted, and or ignorance is bliss.

B) Spiritual leaders (those who promote global consciousness and awareness in ecology in addition to continuing to serve in conventional capacities or roles, thus encompassing the role of A so may be thought of as "A+B").

B) is a relatively new one, needless to say, for religious leaders to embrace the role of spiritual leaders in addition to continuing to serve as religious leaders. Yet if spirituality is truly their "calling," they would naturally want to embrace B), that is, "A+B," it would seem.

Is your god too small? Do you know his purpose for your life?

 

The God in my heart wants you to know that you are worshipping something that is no longer a true reflection or message of God of today who is always in the here and how and as always, ever-present but also, forever evolving in message to keep up with the consciousness of the believer, not frozen in time..

Who ever or what ever it is....that you obey.... We can only speculate.

For your own sakes, we hope that it is not SATAN posing as God in an effort to dupe the masses into some form of demonic possession to physical objects that they hold as precious and dear such that they cannot depart with them, and to thereby turn them away from Spirit and effectively turning people into Gollums.


 

Do you trust him in the Storm Today?

 

To be perfectly frank, I am not sure at this point whether the God that I know is the same as the God that you worship as Baptists. I am willing to have an open mind, so will give you the benefit of the doubt.

Bottom right: "Two weeks ago, prayed for rain."

The pastor remarked that two weeks ago, he led his congregation in prayer for rain and then God answered their prayers with rain.

 

WE PRAYED FOR RAIN, TOO.

To conclude:

"God's name is Precious, don't misuse it," from sermon notes and is also the pet name given by a character named Gullom from The Hobbit, for his Ring of Power. A link has been provided to show how the user has complied with God's request or command on sermon notes has been successfully accomplished, to her knowledge. There is no mention of the word, CRAP or Shit, as being precious, whether from sermon of lesser teaching or whether on the sermon note. We perceive that in the day of Shakespeare, the word shit did not have a negative connotation and was a common part of the English Lexicon until the Victorian Age in nineteenth-century Britain and during the puritanical hysteria that swept the United States that occurred; then again, there has always been a Puritanical streak in the United States or at least in South Georgia; so the user reserves to reserve the right to continue to use non-God words such as "shit" for affect or for stylistic reasons, and is no longer interested in requests to do otherwise. In addition, should there be any other occurrences or instances found when God's Precious name was misused, the user is no longer interested to correct this error, including First_Born sons who had expressed objection to the use of shit, because she does not think that the Baptist Pastor was talking about shitshit, or any other word that is merely a foul word that is not referring to God, that she is no longer requesting assistance to find her older posts in a more efficient manner.