Bob McCluskey's virtual conversation with God (reprise)

Bob said...

Are there ideas about the nature of God that are true and others that are untrue?

If I believe something about the nature of God that is untrue, can I get close to God?

Is truth the same for everyone?

Why is truth above every religion?

September 14, 2010 at 6:25 PM

God said...

Hi there, Bob! Nice of you to drop by and leave a comment. My feisty pal Lily has asked me to help her respond to your questions. Hard to say no to someone so delightful... well, here goes...

Ideas about the nature of God... some true, some untrue? Well, ideas is all most of us have about the nature of God - and the word "God" itself is pretty loaded with all sorts of false notions (that God is male, has an only begotten son, disapproves of human sexuality, hates alcohol, spurns the flesh of pigs, the list goes on...). Let's say that some ideas about God resonate on many levels - from the cellular to the cosmic - while others are just plain ridiculous. It's really a question of maturity. When a 2-year-old says something silly, a sensible adult response would be to laugh with the kid, not at the kid. However, when it comes to institutionalized religion, we often find rabid septuagenarians ranting and raving in an utterly stupid manner - and because they have Ayatollah/Cardinal powers and can order your head chopped off or worse, people tend to keep quiet and avoid arguing with them.

The good news is: even if you believe the most preposterous things about God, it doesn't disqualify you from being as lovable as anyone else in the eyes of God. How so? Simply because God isn't caught up in semantics and exists not just as a bunch of ideas - but, indeed, as the nuclear intelligence within every atom and also as the totality of all existence itself. Whatever anyone thinks of God... God is most certainly never petty.

Is the truth the same for everyone? Definitely not! Our human apprehension of "truth" constantly evolves as we acquire experience and expand our vocabulary. A 9-year-old girl would look upon truth quite differently than a 90-year-old great-grandpa. And we're still talking about the realm of human experience and understanding - what about non-human consciousness? It's unhealthy to get addicted to anthropocentrism when dealing with the nature of God. 

The Original and Ultimate Essence of Being caters to amoebae as well as nebulae - elemental, mineral, vegetable, animal, human, angelic, archangelic, deific and so on - it's All-Inclusive and All-Embracing.

Truth is just another way of valuing one's Integrity. Only those with a wholesome attitude can know the Whole and be mindful of being an integral aspect of the All-in-One and the One-in-All. As you achieve Integrity or become an Integer (instead of a Cipher) you will experience Existence as a holographic construct, and your Core Self as a perfect fractal of God. Celebrate that!

September 16, 2010 at 2:02 AM

Bob McCluskey said...

Thanks for your thorough response! Perhaps I could continue the thread of one point, because I didn't make my question clear. When I asked whether the truth is the same for everyone, I didn't mean to ask whether everyone has the same perspective on truth, but whether what is "true" for one person is true for all other people, as well.

Leaving aside the issue of natural law for now, I'll limit my question specifically to moral truth. Let's assume, for example, that it is wrong for me to dishonor my parents, whatever that means. May I assume, then, that it is wrong for everyone to dishonor his/her parents? Thanks!

September 16, 2010 at 6:57 PM

God's Secretary said...

You're a fine gentleman, Bob McCluskey. And you're doing a great job of blending faith with reason. You asked whether what is "true" for one person is true for all other people, as well...

Using the example you gave: first, it may not be true that you are "wrong" to "dishonor" your parents. In what way "dishonor"? Being unappreciative of and withholding love from them? Giving up on them and severing ties? Being rude and mean to them? 

Such behavior is certainly most unpleasant and actually unnecessary. Whether or not it's "wrong" depends on what the parents have done to trigger such a reaction in their child. A violent, emotionally unstable father or a nagging, domineering mother can drive a child to despair and deep resentment.

In effect, if you can't be sure whether what you believe to be true, is true - how can it hold true for everybody else?

Let's not miss the forest for the trees!

September 18, 2010 at 3:39 AM

[Source: http://www.seniorsaloud.com/2010/09/what-is-best-religion.html]

[First posted 26 November 2014, reposted 8 April 2019 & 7 April 2022]

I N T E G R I T Y : what is it? (reprise)

Thinking beyond conventional or consensus reality…

1. At the age of eleven I became disenchanted with emblems of External Authority when my name was included in a list of "bad hats" or "undesirable elements"... and I was hauled up along with a dozen other kids, finger-wagged and then caned by the headmaster, who then proceeded to rub salt into our injured souls by forcing us to present a letter to our parents advising them to supervise their errant children more carefully! I knew then that little justice was to be found on this earth, for I knew full well that my only "sin" was being too talkative and cheeky in class - and that's only natural for any intelligent, high-spirited child.

2. Truth is, INTEGRITY is so rare on this planet it may be harder to find than a unicorn. We have traditionally depended on our culture heroes and our monarchs to be exemplars of and to establish standards of courage, nobility, and justice. However, our values are static concepts while actual life circumstances require dynamic responses – therefore the gap between ethical values and practical solutions tends to increase.

3. Look at the word INTEGER: a whole number; a number that is not a fraction; a thing complete in itself.

4. Consider the many layers of a personality: people wear masks, that often become ingrained as ego characteristics. Different faces for different situations, suspension of belief systems necessary for criminal behavior.

5. Case in point: Dr M as fire chief and arsonist, starting fires and putting them out because he’s obsessed with getting medals. Because their public and private selves are totally at odds, most public figures - especially politicians - suffer from an incurable form of Multiple Personality Disorder.

6. Duality, Unity, and Integrity vis-à-vis Buckminster Fuller’s dictum: “Unity is plural at minimum two.” Two sides of a coin, two ends of a stick. The loop that links beginning to end, ignorance to knowledge, folly to wisdom. The departure point from Singularity produced Duality or Polarity - Yin and Yang, Female and Male and bi-polarity is in itself perfectly neutral - neither "Good" nor "Bad" - until value judgments are superimposed over dynamic processes by those who would rule and regulate human behavior, setting themselves up as Archons (Judges) or Hierophants (Corrupt Priesthoods).

7. The Carrot-and-Stick management approach has its roots in Reward-Punishment behavior modification techniques and social engineering. If you behave well and obey the rules, you will be rewarded with eternal life in Heaven; otherwise you will suffer eternal perdition in Hell. "Good Behavior" as defined, of course, by a specially appointed committee - and Rules decreed by a Ruler or his/her representatives which cannot be questioned since all Rulers are of divine origins.

8. What if Punishment is abolished - or transmuted to Admonishment? Will HONESTY become the norm?

9. When we accept and begin to love all the aspects of our Ultimate Universal Self, it’s called Reintegration: regaining our Integrity.

10. How does “GOD” fit into a discussion of INTEGRITY? “GOD” as the Original Integer. Achieving integrity is akin to finding what we call God within us. The Lord or Tuhan then becomes our Core Self and that’s how we master our own destiny as individuals living consciously within a community of kindred souls.

[First published 14 October 2011, reposted 12 March 2012, 16 January 2017 & 25 March 2022]

I N T E G R I T Y : what is it? (repost)

Thinking beyond conventional or consensus reality… some philosophical notes…

1. At the age of eleven I became disenchanted with emblems of External Authority when my name was included in a list of "bad hats" or "undesirable elements"... and I was hauled up along with a dozen other kids, finger-wagged and then caned by the headmaster, who then proceeded to rub salt into our injured souls by forcing us to present a letter to our parents advising them to supervise their errant children more carefully! I knew then that little justice was to be found on this earth, for I knew full well that my only "sin" was being too talkative and cheeky in class - and that's only natural for any intelligent, high-spirited child.

2. Truth is, INTEGRITY is so rare on this planet it may be harder to find than a unicorn. We have traditionally depended on our culture heroes and our monarchs to be exemplars of and to establish standards of courage, nobility, and justice. However, our values are static concepts while actual life circumstances require dynamic responses – therefore the gap between ethical values and practical solutions tends to increase.

3. Look at the word INTEGER: a whole number; a number that is not a fraction; a thing complete in itself.

4. Consider the many layers of a personality: people wear masks, that often become ingrained as ego characteristics. Different faces for different situations, suspension of belief systems necessary for criminal behavior.

5. Case in point: Dr M as fire chief and arsonist, starting fires and putting them out because he’s obsessed with getting medals. Because their public and private selves are totally at odds, most public figures - especially politicians - suffer from an incurable form of Multiple Personality Disorder.

6. Duality, Unity, and Integrity vis-à-vis Buckminster Fuller’s dictum: “Unity is plural at minimum two.” Two sides of a coin, two ends of a stick. The loop that links beginning to end, ignorance to knowledge, folly to wisdom. The departure point from Singularity produced Duality or Polarity - Yin and Yang, Female and Male and bi-polarity is in itself perfectly neutral - neither "Good" nor "Bad" - until value judgments are superimposed over dynamic processes by those who would rule and regulate human behavior, setting themselves up as Archons (Judges) or Hierophants (Corrupt Priesthoods).

7. The Carrot-and-Stick management approach has its roots in Reward-Punishment behavior modification techniques and social engineering. If you behave well and obey the rules, you will be rewarded with eternal life in Heaven; otherwise you will suffer eternal perdition in Hell. "Good Behavior" as defined, of course, by a specially appointed committee - and Rules decreed by a Ruler or his/her representatives which cannot be questioned since all Rulers are of divine origins.

8. What if Punishment is abolished - or transmuted to Admonishment? Will HONESTY become the norm?

9. When we accept and begin to love all the aspects of our Ultimate Universal Self, it’s called Reintegration: regaining our Integrity.

10. How does “GOD” fit into a discussion of INTEGRITY? “GOD” as the Original Integer. Achieving integrity is akin to finding what we call God within us. The Lord or Tuhan then becomes our Core Self and that’s how we master our own destiny as individuals living consciously within a community of kindred souls.

[First posted 14 October 2011, reposted 3 April 2014]