Let's Talk Religion

by Laura Ellen Shulman - Dec. '85   "Why do bad things happen to good people?" is a common question asked by Westerners. This situation is cause for much religious doubt in traditions based on a concept of an all good and just God. "If God is good why is there evil in the world which God created?" It is not justice when good people suffer. Job asks the same question and discovers that "his is not to reason why, his is but to do or die" without questioning what he cannot comprehend. The question is asked by all people in all times and places. Our solutions to the problem are diverse. When the philosophers of ancient India asked the question they came up with a much more psychologically satisfying answer. The Indian answer to the question is the basis of all later Indian religious development (including Jain and Buddhist as well as Hindu) while the Western "answer" continues to make religion very hard for many people to hold on to.   Indian Wor

I had my first truly mystical experience when I was a junior in college. I recognized it as God's revelation of himself to me, making his presence known in my life. I was deeply depressed. I roomed alone (by desire). My few friends rarely visited me. I did not party or play loud music. And there I was on a Saturday night in the dorm with a "mixer" (dance) going on downstairs and a loud party going on in a room down the hall and I was locked behind my door feeling sorry for myself and angry that others were having fun while I was feeling left out, even though that type of fun was not the something I enjoyed. "What's the point?" I asked to no one in particular. "Why do I even continue to live?" My deep depression was leading me to suicidal thoughts. In an instant, I had my answer. A thought occurred to me: "I'm OK just the way I am. I do not have to be like everyone else." A great sense of inner peace and joy came over me and washed my

  Exploring the the Relationship Between Mysticism and Religion A Story by Laura Ellen Shulman     A young man has his own very special relationship with God - an internal mystical connection with his Source and the Source of all. This is a relationship through which wisdom, knowledge and insight is gained regarding the nature of God, human nature, life in this world and how human beings are related to and ought relate to God and each other. This young man puts this understanding into practice in his own life. He loves others as he loves himself because he knows everyone is united as one in God. He has a unique and refreshing view on life. He is happy and at peace and this shows in his very being.     People are attracted to him by the love he shows for them and the insightful things he has to say. They listen and try to understand but very few of them have the benefit of the same relationship he has with God. It is this relationship that makes the difference between hearing what he ha

Consider the possibility: The first chapter in Genesis is a brief outline or synopsis of the unfolding history of  humanity through six 1000 year stages ("days"). Support: Biblical dating traces the "Beginning" back about 6000 years. Jewish reckoning of Biblical time holds that is has been 5760 years since creation (current year on the Jewish calendar). In religious circles it is sometimes noted that "1000 years is as one day for God." Even if we look to history, archaeology and sociology, we can see that civilization and recorded history of humanity does not go back much more than 5500 years or so (to 3500 BCE). First stage of human history: Humanity (i.e., civilization,  not  the species Homo Sapiens) is "born" - represented by the creation of Adam ("mankind"). This "Adamic" stage lasts about 1000 years (Adam lived 930 years: Gen 5:5). Adam would be the "prophet" of this first stage of humanity. Adam also represent

An Interpretation by Laura Shulman From the Chuang Tzu (Taoist Tradition): "The ruler of the South Sea was called Light; the ruler of the North Sea, Darkness; and the ruler of the middle kingdom, Primal Chaos. From time to time, Light and Darkness met one another in the kingdom of Primal Chaos, who made them welcome. Light and Darkness wanted to repay his kindness and said, "All men have seven openings with which they see, hear, eat and breathe, but Primal Chaos has none. Let us try to give him some." So every day they bored one hole, and on the seventh day, Primal Chaos died."     This is the creation of the universe, the elimination of chaos. Creating something in your image of perfection may very well destroy something else. Chaos is a mixing of all things into one (the Chinese word is "Won-ton" as in Won-ton soup). This unity of all is non-differentiation. As soon as the chaos is sorted out and ordered it is differentiated, it becomes many. Differentia

    Myth, metaphor, parable and analogies are tools that we use in our attempt to describe something that lies just beyond our intellectual capacity to comprehend. Our intuition understands, we  feel  the understanding, but our communication of this understanding uses the intellect to put into words what remains but a hazy comprehension, like the brass ring of a carousel, just barely within reach. Even Jesus could only use analogy and parable to describe the "Kingdom of God" and even that phrase, "Kingdom of God," is, itself, yet a higher level of metaphor.     The role of myth in all human culture is as an  aid  to our understanding of more abstract truths. The only thing that is lacking in the way most people approach myth is that they do not understand those myths as  symbolic  of something that  is  real. Most contemporary people throw out the old myths as outright lie rather than try to understand what the myths are trying to tell us.     Myths carry the "

  The human pursuit of religion serves a function in our lives. There is a purpose or goal to being religious. Be it the goal of salvation or enlightenment, comfort and guidance for living a moral life, or any of a number of other “higher” purposes in life, religions clearly encourage us to move beyond a life motivated by self-centeredness and pure animal instincts for mere survival. This observation about the ultimate goals, purpose or function of religion can be related to Abraham Maslow’s classic theory of a hierarchy of human needs: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Religion tends to fulfill the higher needs. Starting with a need for the comfort and camaraderie of community, religion also addresses our need to respect and be respected by others (the “Golden Rule”) and, ultimately, to be all that we can be as “God” created us to be or, in the case of many Eastern religions, to become “enlightened” – thus “self-actualized”. Most people seem to live a life in pursuit of th

  What is a "Natural Religion"? One issue associated with the sociological study of religion is the distinction between ethnic and universal religions. Ethnic religions may also be called "natural" religions while universal religions may be called "voluntary". Generally, a natural religion means one is a member by virtue of being born into it. Membership need not be limited to believing something. In contrast, a voluntary religion demands a certain intellectual assent of the basic doctrine of the faith before one can really be considered a "member". A natural religion is one that is closely tied to culture and ethnic heritage - it is what one is not merely what one believes. A natural religion is a part of one's personal identity. Another way of referring to natural religions is to call them "ethnic religions". Most of us are raised and taught a certain religion and may or may not accept it. It is easy to reject a voluntary religion

    Some people believe that the Bible is 100% literally true, 100% the "word of God". But is this belief true? All one has to do is examine the Bible directly to see that not every word in it is the word of God. The Bible is as much (if not more so) the words of men as it is the word of God, expressing what ancient people believed, how they felt about God and how they responded to God: A question of content and intent: Evidence: 1 Corinthians 7:25 - Paul writes: "…I have no command of the Lord,…" (i.e., God did not say anything about this issue) "but I give an opinion" (a human being [the writer Paul] gives a human opinion). Evidence: In the Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament"), when God spoke it was through prophets who made it clear that it was God’s words they spoke: "And the Lord God said…," "Then the Lord said to Moses…" (Deut. 31:14), "Then the Lord said to me…" (Ish. 8.1), with Gods’ words following in quotes (depe

by Laura Ellen Shulman How to strike the balance between community and individuality? Think in terms of how people live... Some folks live very self sufficiently off the land, living in the middle of nowhere. Others live in large metropolitan areas where services abound, given them by others and they too provide a service for others in their community. Some people live in closed but close knit communities (like the Amish) where conformity is all important so as to maintain that sense of community. Individuality is frowned upon. Some people live in planned communities or "subdivisions" where there are community boards that make rules and regulations regarding the appearance and upkeep of common areas (even down to the color of your front door or the type of fence you can install). I think these are too restrictive on individual freedoms but the sense of community these divisions provide is valuable.     The problem with communities, whether it be where we live or our various f

by Laura Ellen Shulman Rule #1: We acknowledge the fact that each of us has different views and that each of these views is valid  because  it is meaningful to the person who holds it. Interfaith relations may be considered a challenge to one's faith but one should not run away from such a challenge. Through this challenge we may find that our faith can grow. Many years ago I forced this challenge upon myself. I have made what I consider to be a very rational observation - one which turned me around from believing that my religion was the only right religion to being able to acknowledge that there is truth in all religions: if these other religions have survived for thousands of years and are followed by hundreds of millions, even a billion, people there must be some truth to them or they would not have spread and lasted. We owe it to ourselves to search everywhere for this Universal Truth. This Truth is a message about God in the world that goes beyond the specific language of any