A news item on Process and Faith pointed me to the article below. It's by a Rabbi and talks about his discovery of, and Jewish perspective on, process theology. It explains his take on process fairly clearly without too much academic philosophy-speak (but with some Hebrew). Given how process usually comes up in a Christian context around here, I thought that the Jewish perspective given here might be interesting for others to read.
As Republicans campaign to be the one to oppose Obama in the next election, all of the front-runners have publicly emphasized an important foreign policy view. It is that God wants the United States to dominate the world and to rule over it for the next century. It is, they say, God's role and destiny for the United States. (It is already, obviously, the position of Obama, too.)
I wonder if any of our clergy could provide me with biblical references that support this claim.
I have come, after much thought, to the realization that there is (for me at least) a fundamental flaw in the atheist-theist debates that rage on Wondercafe and elsewhere. The problem, as I see it, is that both positions, especially in the extreme forms that tend to start and get involved in these debates, are based on an old-fashioned notion that one's faith is binary: one either believes in God or doesn't. In computer interface terms, it's a checkbox labelled "God" that you click or you don't.
We have people visit the cafe, after receiving a sudden shock having lost someone or something.
Whether it be a life taken unexpectedly or someone facing a serious illness....a job lost or a relationship broken,....we often walk together in this stages.
Yet, we aren't always here, nor do people always wish to communicate.
What's the purpose of this guy? More than 5 years ago, I have begun to reject the concepts behind hell, Satan, demons, fallen angels and whatnot. While I'm Christian, I just don't see why he has to exist.
In fact, I think it's scape-goating that brought him into Christianity. People didn't understand concepts like the unconscious, dreaming, psychology in general and blamed the devil and demons for their thoughts and the "voices" they heard.
Reading threads this morning and looking at scriptures for Sunday, it has come to mind that we are "possessive" people. Why do we think that God is ours?That we own God. That no one else has the right to know God. It is not a pleasant trait, imo.
