Sunday 13 December 2015

Religion Fails The Test: Love Thy Neighbour

Jesus and many religious types tell us to love our neighbours. But I ask:
  • How do we if we drive to our "place of worship"? We pollute and hurt our neighbour. Meanwhile we justify or just don't think about the damage we do. But aren't we to please the Creator in all we do? How go and sing hymns of praise while destroying what the Creator has made?
  • How do we if we support the bombing of Syria or other places? Civilians, and all of creation are burned, maimed, killed. And for whom, what, and why? Lockheed Martin loves the thought of war.
  • How do we if we don't let refugees come to our country? [Over 20 States in the U.S. refuse to allow any in now]. The refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria,... are fleeing a war-torn countries. And who dropped the bombs? Who murdered innocent people? The "West" did - and continues to.
  • How do we if don't make changes in how we live? Many religious folks - or those "beyond religion" are hypocrites.  It's amazing how people go to Climate Change talks, protests, etc. but won't give up their self-indulgent death-stlye. They still drive, fly, live the life. Is there a difference between the self-righteous Quaker and the Fundamentalist? They both proclaim they are right and yet do not love: Meanwhile, almost 2.5 billion either don't have food or are undernourished. Climate change plays a part in this - as does unfair distribution of wealth!
  • How do we if we have a cottage, second home, big house? While most of the world struggles to find shelter, many in Canada have cottages. Driving [polluting, contributing to climate change and to Wars], such people don't share with those who are poor. If they are really "good people" as they reassure them-selves that they are, why don't they ask how they can have/consume so much while others have so little? They separate justice/equality in the world from the real-it-y of their own self-indulgent and greedy life-style. Hmmm.
  • How do we if we invest in corporations that harm the air, water, land, people, animals...Perhaps the question is how do we invest in corporations at all? Doesn't the Bible say you cannot love God and money? Extraction of resources for "growth" is not "green" no matter how you put it. The consequences are more death. Making solar panels, for example, require rare earth elements. They will run out.
  • How do we if we support Big Ag [Agriculture]? Our neighbours, like pigs, cows, chickens, etc. are caged, imprisoned and tortured so we can have cheap food...or a few can have large profits. Feed lots along with mass numbers of maltreated animals use most of the water that is left on the earth. The manure pollutes water ways - as does runoff of pesticides. How many don't even have an idea of this when they buy meat in a grocery chain?
These are just a few areas we need to closely examine to determine if we really are loving. The New Testament says that if we do not love our brother whom we can see, we cannot love God whom we cannot see. Let our lives and our nations' policies show our brothers and sisters [all of nature] our love by our act-i-ons. See for more ideas on how to love/live right.