We are approaching the three-year anniversary of AFeatherAdrift. I’ve ignored previous ones, and frankly don’t see much reason to acknowledge this one either.
But. There always is a but.
Events across the globe being what they are, with people everywhere examining their political lives and making their feelings known to their governments, I realized that I had never set down the things this blog stands for.
Many of you, long time friends, no doubt are quite aware of my opinions, but it seemed a good thing to place them all in one place. I’ll post here, and then create a “What We Believe” page where there will be easier access to new visitors.
What We Believe
-
We Believe in God. That means we believe that the universe was not naturally generated but was the creation of a loving First Cause Being. We believe that God created the natural laws which govern and caused the actual development of the universe. We believe that God wishes to interact and experience us as we reach forth to understand ourselves and our beginnings. We believe that God reaches out through any reasonable, non-harming mechanism that relates to the creature human. We choose Christianity and the Christ consciousness as the mechanism that works for us.
-
We Believe in basic human rights that are the right of any individual as a result of being born. These are the right to sufficient nourishing food, clothing, and shelter. People have a right to good education for their children. They have a right to health care of equal quality as of any that can be paid for. We believe in meaningful employment at decent wages and under safe working conditions. People have a right to reasonable time to recreate and rest.
-
We Believe in government by, for, and of the people. We assert no particular form as long as the people, freely choose it by majority vote, and with due safeguards to protect minorities. We believe that the right of the people to change the form of their government must always be protected. We believe in free assemble and freedom to worship.
-
We Believe in a free and independent judiciary whose duty is to flesh out the meaning of laws, and determine that they are in keeping with the basic tenets of the local governing documents. The Judiciary stands as the protector of minorities against the momentary whims of a majority.
-
We Believe in free market economies generally, but we recognize that business can reshape itself into entities that become so powerful that no individual government can meaningfully control them. Therefore, appropriate regulation is required to ensure that the people are not victimized by unfair competition, pricing, and labor practices. Unions should be supported to ensure that workers are treated with fairness. Governments should work together to ensure that global corporations do not exploit workers in poorer countries.
-
We Believe in the equality of all humans globally. Women, gays, immigrants, racial minorities, and all marginally threatened groups must enter the market and political arena on an equal footing. We support equal pay for women, marriage equality, a fair means to citizenship, as well as ease of travel and immigration into the United States. We believe in the protection of children from abuse of whatever kind worldwide.
-
We Believe that this government must work tirelessly to bring about equality to all people globally, and to oppose with all means short of violence, practices that create small elite classes at the expense of the average person.
-
We Believe that we can know our universe through the methodologies of scientific inquiry. We believe in evolution as the basic mechanism of development of life on this planet. We believe that science shows us that even though climate fluctuations are normal on this planet, human activity has greatly affected global warming. We believe that all governments must act to remedy this imbalance. We believe in the encouragement of all scientific inquiry and those that pursue this as career.
-
We Believe that as the highest sentient form on this planet, it is our responsibility to care for our home. This means protecting habitats throughout the world that support life forms in whatever their form. While nature suggests that vegetarianism is not the norm, we must be humane in our raising and caring for those animals, birds, and fish that we consume as food. We recognize that much in our planet is interconnected and thus harm to any portion can have vast repercussions globally.
-
We Believe that the creative spirit of humanity serves as a means to raise us all to our highest selves. Reasonable efforts must be ongoing to protect, preserve, and encourage our artists, writers, dancers, and so forth. They are what help us to remain human.
-
Ultimately We Believe that any rational set of governmental norms must resolve themselves into a world-wide government, where natural resources wherever located are used for the benefit of all, and are specifically regulated for renewal, where all have equal access to the best that life has to offer, in a fully representative form of governance. In the end we will claim ourselves as humanity before all other appelations of race, creed, origin, sex, or orientation.
Wowzerz….. I doan know iffen I could find 11 things I belive in! Well…. After beeranyways…. Good write, kiddo!
Oh shucks Jimmy, I think you believe in way more than you let on, or maybe realize. This country sucks, nearly as most others. But we hold on, somehow.
Just one reservation, not everyone believes in god or sum incarnation thereof. One to eleven are fine with many except the fascist party that now controls the house.
We believe, so what? That is clearly not even close to enough.
I surely know that many don’t believe in any God. Some of my favorite readers here don’t, and that’s just fine. As to the GOP? well, they may self-distruct, or they may destroy this country. One of the two is bound to happen. I’m working that it be the first alternative. Thanks for your comment.
Great, Sherry! Historic Sherry. But…………Aren’t we Sutherners equal to Iowans and Michiganders on a good day? Bad day for Sure!
Indeed Southerners are every bit as good as any northerner or southwesterner. Thanks for your support Tony.
I now know why, more than ever, I like you, Sherry. You expressed yours and my beliefs quite well. Thank you.
oh thanks so very much SDS. How very kind of you.
I find your list of beliefs extremely refreshing. Rarely do you see religious declarations in the same breath as that of regulations and support of unions. Even though the two are much more aligned than the current conservative movement would have anyone believe.
A look at most mainline churches and the RCC indicates they support unions for the obvious reasons. The current crazies on the right are only serving the best interests of corporate America, period.
This is beautiful. Thanks for expressing what so many of us feel in a poetic and succinct way.
How kind of you! thanks!
Thanks so much !End
But Sherry, you avoided saying Sutherners are equal, or superior to Iowinians or Michiganders! LOLOLOLOLOL 🙂
I’m not gonna take sides!
Mostly agree, Sherry! Just one small niggle…
“…we believe that the universe was not naturally generated but was the creation of a loving First Cause Being.”
Aren’t Nature and God the same thing?
I don’t think so. That would be pantheism I believe. And while I have no quarrel with that theology, I don’t subscripe to it myself. I’m more panentheism, which is more like all is God, but all is not all of God. And pantheism tends to be a “hands off” kinda thing wherein God created and that is all. I believe that God acts within creation through creation. In other words, when we generously say yes to God within, he guides us to the actions that are supportive of growth and love in the world.
We look forward to hearing more from you!
Hi Pepsoid. Welcome. How did Nature create the laws of higher Mathematics, or Gravity, or electric charges? Was no accident of nature yet. Might have been The Greatest Genius in the Universe, often called God. Sherry, Worldwide stats show less than 10% are atheists: there is No God. Many are Agnostics: don’t know. PS: I’ve taken elements of Calculus, had to get a tutor to get a C, working the Problems on Final.
“all is God, but all is not all of God” – don’t quite get that! Would you mind explaining further?
My beliefs, spiritual/religious and otherwise, are, I must confess, in constant flux. What tends to remain, however, is a mutual belief in Nature/Science *and* God. God created the Universe, with all its physical and mathematical laws, and the Universe created itself. This might sound like a paradox, but I believe this kind of paradox underlies everything – are we *meant* to understand God? The deeper Science digs, the more questions we find. That doesn’t mean we should stop digging or that the answers we have so far found are not true. We are human and our thirst for knowledge is part of us – God created it in us!
I want to just comment on this…
“10. We Believe that the creative spirit of humanity serves as a means to raise us all to our highest selves. Reasonable efforts must be ongoing to protect, preserve, and encourage our artists, writers, dancers, and so forth. They are what help us to remain human.”
This may be (at least for today!) my favourite belief! Our “creative spirit” is so undervalued! Our creative spirit *is* our humanity. Beyond satisfying our basic physical needs, what purpose is there to live but to create? Art (in all its forms) is our distinctly human expression of beauty, love, meaning… what greater purpose is there than to pursue such and to enable others to do so?
My understanding of pantheism is that it simply says, that God consists of all of creation. Everything is God, but that it simply proceeds naturally after that. Panentheism says that all that is created is “of” God but in no way diminishes the infinite totality of God. And that God still injects himself into creation, through his sentient creatures who invite him to. When we open ourselves to God’s grace, he can operate through us, thus effecting the world for good. Some of that is my interpretation a bit. I believe that God is in all things, experiencing existence (live or otherwise) as that “thing”. So God experiences being a rock and being a dog. Only through his sentient beings who seek Him is he able to actively “act” if we consent. This last is mostly my thinking I guess. lol…And my theology is ever open to new ideas and constant tweeking. I think that’s the way it should be.
You’re Right On, Pepsoid! You hit a Lot of Big Ones!. Nature is always recreating itself: a Major ‘force’ almost impossinly ideal. The more one looks at things or studies, the more we start to wonder more. No one ever understood God, The incredible impossible Creator of all the Univerrse. He is Love, for Each of us. “He”, The Impossible “Force/Spirit” is not a Human. But everything Good we have is thanks to “Him”: The Force. Bad things, Cancer, Evil are the Opposite, the lack of all the Good “He” Created. We create the Problems, in our Attitudes. Few have said so Much Big ones, so Well, as you have, Pepsoid!. Creativity and ‘doing good’ are the beauties of life, and doing ‘God’s Will’ This Blog is Great because Sherry, and We, have so many Thoughts, ideas to Share.
My theology (and other beliefs) is also “ever open to new ideas and constant tweeking”! And yes, I also believe that is the way it should be. I tend to be wary of people who are too sure of their beliefs…
Tony & Sherry: yes, this *is* a great blog, which I am enjoying so far… although I must confess that the American political stuff goes over my head!
As to the political stuff? You have to be partially insane to understand American politics. We’ve become a country with a psychotic on every corner it seems. lol
Teabaggers/New GOP Radical control of Congress. Money Buys Anything in the USA, Now False Propaganda on Media. Reagan and GWBush Slashed taxes on the Richestv Immediatelly, destroying Pres Carter and Pres Clintons Balanced Budgets. Clinton left a $28 Billion Federal Surplus in 2001, which was the First thing GW Bush Destroyed,.
Only the Mega-Rich ‘understand’ USA National Politucs: They Bought it with secret Biggestr Hidden Money. Includes new radical Governors, new House members.