I was "bad" this past weekend. I slept in instead of going to the Jewish services on Saturday morning or the Quaker service I had planned to attend on Sunday morning. But both days I did read about religion (Judaism and Baha'i), so I did expand my mind/spirit. And Sunday night I dined with some local Baha'is. I broke kosher for that one evening, because the hosts served chicken, and being sort of the guest of honor, I didn't want to insult them. I tried not to eat too much of it. The Baha'is gave me their best sales pitch, complete with DVD. They seem like nice people, and I see no reason not to join a study circle the hosts are trying to put together. Their prophet, Baha'u'llah, has many wise and thoughtful writings, so they are worth studying, and he does seem to be prophetic in many ways. In any event, it certainly wouldn't hurt to study his writings and learn from his wisdom.
We talked last night about human nature, at my UU Building Your Own Theology course. Our task for next week is to compose a "credo" about what we consider human nature to be like. I will take a stab at it here:
I believe that humans are a highly evolved form of mammals that are set apart from other animals by self-consciousness, spirituality (in most cases), and a superior intellect and ability to reason. We also experience a wider range of emotions than other animals. Humans experience strong passions and drives, along with a socially prescribed philosophy (in most cases) that these passions and drives should be moderated and held in check, for the good of society as a whole. Humans possess the capacity for both great good/altruism and great evil/self-centeredness, though it must be said that "good and evil" are largely socially-defined concepts that can vary from culture to culture. However, I do believe that some things are purely evil or good no matter what culture you come from - for example, the Holocaust is evil no matter how you look at it, and figures like Mother Teresa cannot have their innate goodness questioned by anyone. I think the environment plays a big role in shaping human character, but inborn traits do exist, as well as genetic factors such as mental illness, in some cases, that affect behavior and "character." I think most human beings are well-intentioned, but many cannot rise above self-centeredness and achieve true transcendance of the self to place the good of humanity as a whole above their own needs and desires. I think most people simply try to "muddle through" life the best they can, with many of them mired in confusion about how exactly to go about doing so and what their essential purpose in life might be.
As for what that purpose is, I think it is to expand the mind and strengthen the soul. It is to go beyond oneself and see the larger reality, the interconnectedness of all people and things, the temporary nature of this world and its material things, and the promise of (hopefully!) an infinitely better life to come in the next world, if indeed there is a God/Creator who will one day summon us to the afterlife. Even if there is no afterlife, and this life is all we have, we must look beyond the self and strive to make this world the best place possible to live for as many people as possible. We should shun war and hatred and prejudice, and instead embrace diversity and seek unity; we should endeavor to eliminate gross inequalities in wealth; we should not let differences of class, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religious belief divide us. In short, we should live in the spirit of harmony and peace. The "evil" and selfish side of human nature often prevents this in practice, but it is important to uphold altruistic principles as something to strive for as an ideal...
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