THERE’S no cause for worry or scandal regarding Du30’s thoughts on religion. It’s a common debate of many people who want questions answered about religion, the bible, Adam and Eve, the tower of Babel and what have you.
Sad to say, the higher studies of religion or theology have never been a common reach of students in the past or even people of the present unless one seeks to study this on an academic level. Catechists and religion teachers of old told bible stories but never included the symbolic meanings of such narratives.
Of course, how can a teacher of elementary students talk about the symbolic meanings of Adam, Eve and the apple plus the serpent? Young minds or toddlers would be confused and would not have the ability to easily understand metaphor based on their inadequate experiences in the world. But this religious understanding, no matter how limited had been carried over the years towards adulthood.
Today, how many Catholics and other Christians, practising or not, still adhere to these stories as such without expanding the ideas to world and personal situations? They have not yet accepted the symbolic meanings of these nor do they know the realities behind these. Blame it on how they were taught and what they were taught.
Du30’s rambling on a “stupid god” did not at all refer to the God that most people believe in and worship. Du30 believes in the Universal God, the perfect being or perfect God as he said. And I think that is the God we all or most of us believe in.
Du30 said this is the God who caused the order of the universe, without whom, the universe would fall apart. Is this not right? Historically, this is the belief and the teaching of Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers of all times. St. Thomas Aquinas himself based many of his writings on Aristotelian philosophy, upon which Christian religions and studies are linked.
One of the four evangelists quoted Christ, “If even the stars and elements that He created obey His voice, should not I obey Him as well?” The order of creation is an Aristotelian concept believed by the sages, and part of Christian teachings.
There should not be any conflict in these and in what most Christians believe. However, it is time for our spiritual leaders to explain parts of Scriptures in ways that are understood in the world of present reality and no longer as folk tales. Many previous teachings have been canceled and replaced. One is the teaching about Limbo, a world, condition or state where innocent children who passed on without baptism go. How about purgatory, is this not next in line? Or has this been canceled already?
Back to Du30 and God. It is however regrettable that he mentioned religion based on limited knowledge. Subjects like this should be restricted to private talk among friends and family in light banter or serious curiosity. Church and State should be separate.
Once one gets into the other’s nerves, see what happens? In like manner, religious institutions should stop trying to prove each is the right religion. The world unfolds because change is part of creation. So long as we believe in that One beautiful Universal and perfect God, everything’s right with the world!
I love you Baguio!