This is the classic problem with pan(en)theism – the inability to account for evil and thus encouraging the delusion that there is no evil and the willingness to disbelieve in any goodness either. It is not the first time I have encountered this mindset and it frankly gives me the creeps.
I have never bought the common Xtian rhetoric that making people think he doesn’t exist is one of the devil’s greatest tricks. For it seems to me, thinking there is no devil only means we must be responsible ourselves. BUT to get people to think there is no such thing as good or evil – that is devilish trick indeed!
Good and evil are not mythological. They abound throughout the world making a heaven or hell of the existence for those people who encounter them.
This is not to give support to the Zoroastrian notion of a dualism between the two (let alone a necessary one). While there is a positive role in the world for destructive forces of death and decay, this is not the same thing as evil. It the self-destructive nature of evil which is opposed to the very goodness of life itself, and in context of a community from which ones greatest advantages and well being is derived, destructive of the community is self-destructive as well.
No. Not exactly. I see much of the goodness of God in that He chose love and freedom over power and control. And I see considerable problems with turning to power and control as a solution to all problems. But refusing to welcome power and control can too often be an abdication of responsibility.
Imposing our own order on the universe is the fundamental nature of life itself. And yes this means cultures will tend to measure other cultures by their own standards. Remember it was never just Europeans doing this, for Europeans were frequently judged barbarians by other cultures as well.
Nevertheless, there is some truth in this. And it was often a measure I used in considering which Christian traditions to consider (and ultimately distinguishing Christianity from the cultural packaging.
But we should remember that other traditions can and have been quite evil: practicing cannibalism, human sacrifice, genocide, and torture of innocents (and yes, some of these are in the past of our own culture).
This is Rob’s way of dealing treating the culture of others with superiority rather than humility. I say so because I seen it Rob do this before. It is the easy answer – make no effort to understand and simply declare it to be meaningless. Rather he could say… this is meaningless within the context of his own framework of thought and feels compelled to draw the line there regarding the types of thinking he is willing to consider.