Posted: 09/02/10 15:06, Edited: 09/02/10 17:44
by Dave Mindeman
You are going to hear a lot about this over the course of the next month or so....so I thought I'd pre-warn you.
The people who made the Left Behind, apocolyptic religious book and film series, are promoting a new DVD called the "12 Biggest Lies". Of course, they are lies because fundamentalists are telling us they are, but I assume they will try to give us "facts" that prove their version of things....and, of course, a lot of it will be centered on the Bible. That's a given.
But this is actually good for discussion and I always find this religious "fact checking" to be a good debate. There is too much to do just one post on this...so look for my own "series".
First, what are the 12 BIGGEST LIES?
1. There is no such thing as Absolute Truth.
2. People are inherently good.
3. No one should be offended.
4. Men and women are equal.
5. A fetus isn’t human.
6. The world is overpopulated.
7. Americans are greedy and self-centered.
8. Islam is a religion of truth.
9. The Jews stole Jerusalem.
10. The earth is billions of years old.
11. There is no God.
12. Jesus was just a good man.
That is a fascinating list in my opinion. So let's delve into it. Feel free to add your own thoughts -- I really would like to hear them.
#1 - There is no such thing as Absolute Truth.
You know, I actually agree that this IS a lie. I can say that because the X-Files concurs....THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE. Ultimately, there HAS to be an absolute truth. I contend that absolutely nobody knows what it is and that we probably never will know, but the essence of the human spirit is to keep striving to find it. Quite frankly, I think religion has abdicated its right to pronounce it because they have made such a wreck of the current world. When you build your truth on discriminatory actions and ultimate hatred of other people and other religions, you are not capable of finding truth. I do think that focused individual spirituality has the best chance of finding truth in humanity. But, then, will it really be the same for everyone? I don't know. That's the 3 words that the ultimate truth seeker needs to humbly admit to.
#2 - People are inherently good.
Since that is apparently a lie, we must assume that people are inherently bad. I imagine this will bring up a discussion of "original sin" which gets into more theology than I care to contend with. But ultimately, people are both - good and bad. We have a constant struggle within ourselves as to which part of our selves wins out. It is very hard for me to believe that when a baby is born, he or she is NOT inherently good. They have needs that must be selfishly met, but that is not bad in and of itself. How we meet our needs is the ultimate test of good and evil. I do believe that people want to do good in their life. Our life circumstances, that we have little control over, are what ultimately shape us. Some people have the ability to continue the good aspects of themselves despite horrible circumstances. That is what I consider the ultimate good person. That kind of person had to be inherently good in the first place to counter what he or she was up against.
#3 - No one should be offended.
If that is the lie, should everybody be offended instead? I guess I am puzzled as to what that means. Since this is coming from a religious group, I guess that the offense they cause in their bigotries is not something they think can be helped or should be changed. If some people are "offended" by religious truth (and I use that term loosely), then religion ultimately says "too bad". I do get offended by one particular thing. That is the so-called Christians who tell everybody that they discriminate against gays because they "love them". There is the ultimate lie.
OK...that's three so far. More "deep" thoughts to come later.....
See part 2 on the Minnesota Political Roundtable....



