"CUT THE EVOLVING CAVEMAN CRAP"
PERSONAL REVELATION AND ADAM AND EVE
IS IT A CHOICE? WHAT IS BEST?
I received this message from a reader of the site, challenging concepts that mankind operates from and bringing up questions worth visiting and answering (and reflecting on):
Subject: "Cave man crap "
Message: "You do have a lot of beliefs that ring true but cut the evolving caveman crap. We do not understand the process of the origin of human life and species but we can know through scripture and personal revelation that Adam and Eve are the parents of the existing human family. They were intelligent enlightened human beings. This I know through latter day revelation and confirmation through the Holy Ghost. We will all understand this truth one day."
C.C
October 5, 2014
Thank you for your message, C.C. I hope you will accept my attempt at communicating on this very worthwhile subject and that it might add some light or at least fodder for useful thinking. I appreciate a passion for what is great and beneficial to mankind, individually and in total. I appreciate your openness and acceptance as indicated by your willingness to read from the site. I love to see people embrace that which is good and helps them and others to live better lives! And I hope that I can contribute to that, if possible.
I do not seek to offend anyone, only to explore and try to formulate what is best for mankind. I hope I have not offended you in any way. If I have, I ask for your acceptance and forgiveness.
And hopefully I will "understand this truth one day", as I grow and learn in life...
THINKING ABOUT WHAT IS GOOD FOR A HUMAN - AND CHOOSING
Your message helps give me pause for thinking, again, about what is good for mankind, what is helpful, what contributes to humans, what will create the most value for a human. I am "for" anything that increases a human being's being better off and happier and for what promotes peace and cooperation among mankind (even if I don't believe it myself).
Certainly I do not, and cannot possibly, know all the answers, but I do seek dialogues and information that will help make me be better able to live my life productively (valuably) - and hopefully to help others to have information and insight into thinking that might help them think through and choose what will be good for them. (I do believe that humans have free will, in the sense that they have sufficient mental capabilities to be able to choose for themselves.)
Indeed, I do completely respect each person's choice, as each man is seeking to do that which is best for him. My path has been to learn what I can, from many sources. I appreciate science and proof and the corrections it has made to such concepts in the ancient writings as the earth being flat. I appreciate the good of religion overall and I believe it is a pulling together of much of what mankind has learned, so that it can be used to guide others toward the happiness (or whatever human benefit we hold as being the highest) we all seek.
EXPLORING AND LEARNING
I do believe that it is good to explore and learn what I can, even when my impression might be that some concept makes no sense. If many people believe it, then it seems to me that there is a good possibility or probability that there is something of value in it.
It is indeed a blessing for people who have parents and/or a culture that teaches well the good principles of life. For those who are fortunate enough to be born to the right families and to be provided with good belief systems, I am happy. I support the belief systems that have a man doing what is right and good for him/herself and for mankind. It appears that many people have been born into situations and beliefs that do not do them good or even lead them to a good life and/or afterlife - and that is unfortunate. If some people are by accident of birth excluded from the benefits of the "right religion", then I would be saddened by that.
HATING THE SIN, LOVING THE SINNER
I do hold the belief that is similar to the idea of "there but for God, go I". If a person is stuck with a belief system and a life that makes them unhappy and leads to what is not good, I recognize that they are not "at fault", but simply that they have limited awareness or what I write about extensively "a lack of sufficient knowing" to know what is better to do. I am convinced that a human, sometimes with great effort, can "upgrade" their beliefs and be taught what is right such that they behave at a high level in life.
I love to ask the question "What would Jesus do?" as a guide to what I might choose. I notice that he ate and dined with sinners and, as one person writes, Romans 5:8 says "so you see God hates sin but he loves the sinners and desires for all people to be saved. If we are to be imitators of Christ then we should love the sinner and hate the sin..." Romans 12:9: "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good."
And Jesus said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
So, from this, I might deduce that I might best not hold another person "at fault" for believing (and or doing) what is not right or not best, for he can only do that which he knows to do - and that one might best look at it as a person "simply not knowing yet" what to do or believe in - and that it is the lack of correct knowledge that is the problem, not the human. (Consider reading "No Fault - Just 'Not Knowing, Yet...' and the related pieces.)
This might suggest that we could accept other people's beliefs with love for the human and see our role as one of helping to bring useful knowledge to them that would benefit them. Basically, our role might not be to judge but to teach. But to do such teaching, we must learn what to teach, think it out, create ways of understanding, and then perhaps we will be prepared to benefit others to the extent we can, imperfectly but with our best efforts.
I would think that Jesus would engage in respectful dialogue in a loving way, as best he could given the behavior and attitude of the other person. I believe he would seek to understand and listen to the other person, and then to teach the other person based on the other person's understanding of the topic. For a man who believes in the Jewish religion or the Muslim religion, I would hope the examples of a great, compassionate, enlightened leader would be used as the standard of what to do. (Anyone who is enlightened, it would seem to me, would be compassionate, understanding mankind and, as the Buddha, would seek to relieve their suffering and to thus benefit all mankind.)
CAN IT BE RECONCILED? ADDITIVE? USEFUL?
Could what I put forth be accepted and considered as metaphor or possibly something that would lead to thinking and choice and be accepted as an honest attempt to come to good conclusions even if they don't agree with your conclusions? Is it good to engage in dialogues and studies that even question one's beliefs? Is it possible that one can have some beliefs that can be improved or is he given "the truth" all at once (and will he understand it correctly at his present level of awareness)?
THE AGE OLD QUESTION: RELIGION OR SCIENCE OR ?
Several religions have adjusted for what early mankind wrote and integrated it with science.
Surely mankind seeks to explain things, to reconcile the meaning and elements of life, to settle out how to live life without the uncertainty of not having decided what is best in his view. Throughout history, this has been the case. Michael Shermer, who can be respected for his viewpoint even if one does not agree with his conclusions, goes through the science and the thinking behind such efforts by mankind in his book, the key ideas of which are discussed in The Believing Brain article on this site. Surely we cannot make man wrong for diligently searching for answers and going through alot of work to come up with what he might believe is true and beneficial. If he is wrong, he is simply wrong, simply "created" as a human being who must learn and try to do his best in life, as we all do.
Is "faith" what is true or is "evidence" and scientific reasoning also true? Aren't we to look for answers as best we can, so that we can make better choices in life? Would it make sense to integrate them and come up with the best of both, reconciled by our choice of how to think about it?
SHOULD WE BE TOLERANT, YET STAND FOR WHAT IS RIGHT?
Surely if we believe that a person can only know what he has learned so far from what he has been exposed to, we cannot condemn him. But we can prevent his doing any harm if it infringes on others.
The terrorists might be used as examples to examine. Is ISIS right? Should religion be dogmatically and violently imposed on others for the good of mankind (or whatever good they think they are doing)? Is it good to blow oneself up in faith that it is the right thing to do?
Of course not. We must do all that we can to prevent evil and harm, but not necessarily do any unnecessary harm to those who believe wrongly - just stop them from doing it. (Consider reading The Law Of Retribution - Total Bullbleep!)
Is it right to impose our beliefs on others, to insist on the dogma being right and to insist that others follow it? Or is it better to accept that others only know what they know and to have no hostility or resistance to them as they are, but to seek to have them "enlightened" in some way?
PERHAPS THE CAVEMAN EXPLANATION CAN BE USEFUL?
A friend of mine is a devout believer in his religion and he also accepts the evidence provided by science as being indisputable (which is what science aims for, but can't always achieve). Perhaps, he says, it was all part of the route for mankind to develop and grow.
LET'S ENGAGE IN RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE FOR THE GOOD
It is my hope that we all can engage in a respectful, kind way, with openness to others, and graciousness. That we can explore and disagree without malice or "being righteous", but in the hope of all benefiting. Jonathan Haidt's book discusses this, as covered in The Righteous, Unthinking Mind Versus The Thinking Mind piece on this site.
I would welcome and post on the site, or link to, what you might suggest or write as being something that could lead others to what is good and just and will benefit them and mankind. I appreciate any respectful arguments and assertions, as they are part of the dialogue that I believe is beneficial to mankind in his exploration for what is right and good.
May you live a long and good life, doing as much good in the world as you can - and truly feel good about who you have chosen to be and how you've chosen to live! Much goodwill to you!
