MODERNITY AND MATURITY

Punishment for blasphemy is such a moving target. One person's pardon is another person's beheading. The severity involved seems to come from believing that God is offended by disobedience, disrespect, disbelief or distain of sacred teachings, sacred rules, sacred things and sacred persons. Then of course, if God is offended then so should any faithful follower. And this brings them right up against modernity, as have so many other fortressed institutions, ethnocentric cultures, corporate practices, and manipulated justices.

It's hard to maintain a futurist faith when the world with some of the most amazing advances could be done in by primitive religion, sectarian politics, classism, racism and gross disparity. Apparently, cockroaches and some other specialized creatures are the only ones that can survive the destruction of the earth. I can only hope that they then evolve in a more civilized way. 

But first, let us take a moment to appreciate all that some would readily throw away. Even with the tragic natural events, the Earth is a special creation that I am daily in awe of and grateful for. The other thing is the anticipation of how far science can go in discovery and development. I'm pretty happy with what has been accomplished thus far, but in so many ways, we're only at the beginning.

Humans do well in the physical realm, not so great in the mental and emotional realms, and quite poorly in the spiritual realm. (tasks, elements, aspects or something similar could be used just as well) One might theorize that the mental, emotional and spiritual realms need to catch up to the physical in order to best utilize future advances. Such might be problematic to say the least but one area that would help in a big way is maturity. Which usually means doing what is best for all, making the difficult choice, defending the weak and innocent, knowing what needs to be done, keeping on task, changing when needed, admitting that you made a mistake, and accepting that if you get nothing beyond having your basic needs meant that it will be okay with you.

Modernity comes with it's own particular set of problems. But these will be better resolved if we 'really' believe that all humans are created equal. You can't make yourself more equal but many still try. You can make yourself less equal, which many have done but usually deny it. Also, the more we apply the Golden Rule, the more we will appreciate being equal to others. The problem of superiority is active in every area of life. Some might say that's just the way things are. Or, it's a practical way to order society. Funny how intellect, wealth and position along with race and culture are the usual considerations to determine superiority. ...But why? It's rather obvious that those with a pure and clean heart should have been given more attention. But just not automatically assuming that others are inferior by some subjective or learned standard would be a good start. Not killing or assaulting them would be even better.