Eternal life: A new vision

Book: Eternal Life: A New Vision
Author: John Shelby Spong

In his latest book, Eternal Life: A New Vision, Spong takes you on a deep personal journey through his experiences with friends and family, and his intellectual journey on the subject of death. When reading about his life you get the sense of a man who has been through a lot. Having lost a wife, a father at a young age and many close friends, Spong is a man who definitely qualifies as someone who has had extensive experiences with death all his life.

Before reading this book I had previously only read one other book by Spong titled, "Jesus for the non religious" which I found fascinating, insightful and liberating. For those who don’t know much about Spong, here is a short video clip to get a brief idea on some of his views:






When I picked up this book I had very high hopes and expectations. While not exactly what I expected, I’m happy to say he didn’t disappoint me. I am a huge fan of John Shelby Spong and admire the man immensely. I relate a lot to his personal struggles with religious convictions and have learned a lot from the conclusions that he has drawn from a long experienced life.

He begins the book by telling his audience of his personal life journey of where his faith has lead him over the years, and his reasons for writing the book. Right from chapter one he gives us his position on the question of life after death, which he confesses is a very affirmative yes! But if you want to find out why he believes there is life after death, you will have to read to the very end of the book.

What I found most valuable from this book was not necessarily his ideas or conclusions about life after death, but his journey through religion and his life experiences with dying loved ones. I think he has a lot to share through his life story and has great insights into what he would call “the human experience”. I also really liked his critic of organised religion:

“That is the great sin of organized religion. Organized religion seeks to turn us inward upon ourselves. It binds us into a world marked by enormous limitations. Organized religion always divides the world into warring camps. It separates the followers of “true religion” from the followers of that which is judged to be false religion. It separates true believers from heretics, the clean from the unclean, the saved from the unsaved, the baptized from the unbaptised, and the circumcised from the uncircumcised”

I must admit I was a little disappointed in the way he explained (or lack of) his reasoning behind his belief in a life after death. I personally found it a little unclear and unjustified, which was a bit frustrating since he was so convincing in the beginning of the book. I also felt the book didn’t really have enough to do with exploring life after death. Much of the books content has to do with his personal journey through religion and his discoveries of what we already know about natural history.

But all in all i thought it was a great book and definitely worth a look at for those interested in the topic of life after death and who are after a fresh new perspective in the 21st century. Gotta love the Spong!

Politics

My current view of Politics,

I will admit at this point my understanding of politics is very limited and I’m hoping through this blog I will learn a great deal more from people who do know a lot about it. I think our current political system has many flaws in it, but it’s the only system we’ve got. So until something new comes along we just have to do the best we can with what we were born with. While there isn’t truth to be found in politics in the same sense there is truth to be found in science, I do believe there is truth in the sense of what we can agree works best for our society and what works best for the good of one and for all. That is something I’m definitely interested in exploring and discussing.

I, like most people in this world, have a desire for democracy. Unfortunately when I look at our currently political system I just can’t see it. We may have a vote in which party we would like in power. But after that our vote and voice rarely seem to count for much. Policies and new changes are tossed around behind curtains and closed doors and then presented to us whether we like them or not. Entire Countries can go to war by the decision of a few men even if the majority of the nation and world are screaming no! The men and women that make their way into our governments aren’t exactly rocket scientist either. Many of them have no real experience in matters of environmental issues or own science degrees, there is no intelligence test to be taken before you can become a politician, yet these are the people we place in charge of making the most important decisions for our world!

Politics I feel sometimes becomes a stage in which politicians play out dramas that rival that of soap operas, constantly arguing, backstabbing and bickering over each other. Just recently our prime minister was overturned by his second in command. This wasn’t something the public knew anything about until it just happened. Then all of a sudden our nation has a new leader that no one voted for or had any say in. Given when we elect a political party into power we are voting for the policies, not the person in charge. But this is still in my opinion, a violation of democracy. I look forward to the day when our governments unite and focus all of their energy and political power on trying to solve the great social issues of our time, rather than waste most of it on trivial things like campaigns and pointless agendas in the race to power and control.

But it’s all too easy to bitch about politics, its one thing to stand from the sidelines and shout criticism and another to be in the decision making position. So rather make this a domain in which we can have a cry about all the reasons politics is bullshit (which is what this will most undoubtedly end up becoming). I would rather this chance to discuss practically how we can help fix the problems we have in our society. Unless we can come up with a better solution or alternative, there is not much point bitching about the flaws of politics. Any established system will have flaws, there is no such thing as a perfect society. Whether we like it or not, politics is an important and essential aspect to the organisation and running of our society. We might not be able to change everything we want right away, but we can discuss strategies and ideas of how to better and improve the system we have and keep chipping away at problems in our society to try create a better future for everyone.

Religion

My current view of Religion,

I am currently 22 years old, and by no means an expert in anything! But if there is one area where I have done the most searching for truth, it is within the confines of what we call ‘religion’. My life journey thus far has led me to experience religion and religious faith through the eyes of a believer and through the eyes of a non believer. I understand the meaning, security and purpose a religious faith gives one’s self, I also understand the irrational and somewhat bizarre beliefs that often accompany a religious faith. My experience with religion has strictly been a Christian one, the religion that is most dominant in my culture and my part of the world. My knowledge of other religions only comes through reading books and study. So the vast majority of my thoughts and ideas about religion revolve directly around my personal experience with Christianity. I do however, have a strong desire to try and understand, as best I can, other world views and religions.

When it comes to my view on God, I would currently consider myself an agnostic. I don’t like labels and would prefer to just be a person with ideas, but for the purpose of identification, the closest label my ideas fit is agnosticism. The great questions to me, so far in my life anyway, are unanswerable. It took me a while, but I have finally become content in my life with the fact that I really don’t know if there is or isn’t a “God”. It might not be a good answer, but it is the most honest one I can give. At first this position is daunting, because for whatever reason, we place so much value on the idea that we must stand firm in the belief of one position over another. I have come to a point in my life were this certainty isn’t necessary. Some may call this “fence sitting”, but I assure you it’s possible to admit uncertainty and remain committed to finding truth. If people wish to use the analogy of a “fence”, then I would simply reply the person who is sitting on the fence has a far better view than someone standing on either side. It is much easier for the “fence sitter” to take their time, look around, and weigh up the options before they decide which side to “jump off”. Or perhaps, they prefer the fence! I have formed opinions on many things. But at the end of the day when it comes to questions on the scale of ultimate meaning, truth and God, I think our answers need to be given with a big dose of humility!

Humanity as a whole does not like the unknown. We would much rather have some sort of answer than none. As a result for this longing for answers we look to holy books, we look to leaders and prophets, we pray to all types of gods and we absorb ourselves in rituals and philosophies. But I think the idea that any one person or one special book can have all the answers to life is ridiculous. None of us a born with answers and the evidence out there is the same for everyone. This fact alone forces me to be very sceptical of people that have managed to convince themselves that they are 100% certain they know the truth. Those people both frustrate and scare me, especially within the context of religion.

Perhaps one day we will all know the answers, perhaps not. But until then it is up to the individual to learn and search truth for themselves, which is what I am currently in the process of doing in my own life. So for the most part I no longer hold to a religious belief. I believe there are both positive and negative aspects to religion. I know this because I have personally experienced both. But in my own life the negative aspects to religion outweighed the positive and I was forced to abandon my religious convictions. I am however still deeply interested and remain open minded to explore and discuss some of the ideas and concepts that religion has to offer, God, spirituality, life after death etc.

Like all of us, my views on religion have come through my own personal subjective experiences. I do not think anyone with a different opinion to me is wrong. I’m simply expressing and sharing as best I can, what I have discovered about religion through my own experiences and personal search. I sincerely don’t mean to offend anyone with what I write about religion, but religion is one of those personal things that it’s almost impossible not to. We become so emotionally attached to our beliefs that the idea of someone challenging them both anger and scare us. However the whole point of this blog is to expand our minds and to learn from each other. I completely open my ideas and beliefs for anyone to challenge and if evidence and good reason is presented will happily change my mind on any issue :) That is the whole entire purpose of this blog! I only ask and that anyone wishing to enter the discussion does so with this same state of mind.

Why is truth important?

Truth is important because we base our lives around what we perceive to be true. Our perception of reality is an integral part of how we live our everyday lives and how we treat our fellow human beings. This is most evident in the lives of those who have strict religious or political beliefs. Someone’s belief about which political policies are best for everyone, their belief about which holy book to follow, or their view on who makes it to the afterlife, is going to have a direct effect on what they do with their time here on earth and how they interact with other people. No one wants to wake up one morning and discover everything they believe to be true about the world is actually false. So in this lies our struggle, with so many competing ideas and beliefs about truth, how can one find truth?

One tool we have to help us discover truth is each other. When you put your ideas and core beliefs up to the challenge and critic of others, you are able to achieve a far greater sense of the reality of your beliefs. No consensus doesn't mean truth, but it is a start. It is one thing to believe in your own preconceived ideas and stick with people that share in those beliefs, it is another to open yourself up to others who share completely opposite views and who challenge your current way of thinking. Often our ego gets in the way of our vision for truth. We have managed to build in our heads the idea that to be proven wrong is embarrassing and shameful. WHY! Doesn’t it make much more sense to look forward to the times when someone enlightens us with new knowledge? My hope for this blog is to enter into dialogue with those who have different ideas to me, my hope is to be proven wrong and enlightened on any number of issues, and my hope is for all of us to try and move closer to the thing we call truth.

Welcome,

This blog has been created for open discussion and to explore different ideas of truth in a multitude of different areas including religion, politics, science, philosophy and life in general. I am currently on a personal journey in the search for truth in my own life and would love to share my thoughts, ideas and discoveries along the way. So please feel free to add your own opinions and comments. This is an open domain in which anyone from any type of belief system or discourse is welcome and encouraged to share and join in the discussion. I only ask that we always remember to keep it civil and respect each other’s right to a different opinion.

Have fun!