August 27, 2007
Tonight, we all have to come to terms with reality. We need to understand that all humans are biased. This is no stereotypical statement, neither is it a casual generalization. I'm speaking about fact - scientific fact.
Let's face it tonight. We are all stereotypical, judgmental, and bias creatures ever lived on planet earth. Humans size one another up, judge one another's actions and outward appearances, as well as criticize any particular object or subject they find salient or disagreeable. I have to thank you people for standing up for your beliefs and core values you hold deep within yourselves. Thank you for sharing your inner most principles and perceptions of the world around you. However, you see, we all live in a world full of variety, and we all come from different socio-historical backgrounds. Our social locations are determined by the social institutions we came from and vice versa. Therefore, our social perception of what seem to be true is different. We cannot make judgements based on religious truth alone because TRUTH itself is subjective. I'll tell you why.
There are many realities as there are social perspectives on the world, and that any theory of knowledge that posits the existence of a reality somewhere 'out there' in the 'real' world is untenable. If in this case, there is no truth to which objectivity can be faithful and, accordingly, what is actually going on can never be stated definitively (Rosenau cited in Richards 2005:19). From this, we can conclude that there are many different versions of truth as there are many different people with different interpretation of facts, realities, and theories (including theologies). All these interpretations are formed according to various individual's social locations.
Truth is not subjected to opinions? I doubt so. For every ideology, philosophy, beliefs, customs, culture, theology, facts, and more, are subjected to criticisms and rebuttals. If the religious can affirm the public that their religion is the ultimate truth, then there would be no discussions or friendly arguments over the subject of religion any longer - since it denies its subjectivity to other disagreements, counter-arguments, rebuttals, and disacknowledgments. And if skeptical science and flawed philosophies can be gracious enough to be opened to criticisms and disagreements, why not religion? Religion, after all, is theology or a belief system (Christianity, Islam, Judaism). Some are rituals, but many others, are philosophies as well (Buddhism, Taoism etc).
This doesn't not mean that their versions of truth can ONLY be acknowledged by the masses of mankind. Yes! Jesus is the Truth. Yes! Allah is the God of most high. Yes! My God is true and my scripture is the truth. Yes! Come to us, for we believe in the Saviour of the world and He is the way the truth and the life! Yes! God is greater than any other gods and thou shalt not have any other gods before me. Yes! Yes! Yes! I am right. My scripture is right! You are wrong! Your thinking is wrong! Your religion, philosophies and belief systems, as well as priorities are wrong! Mine is the TRUTH! Mine is the ultimate destination for every mankind!
After such a long paragraph of futile comparisons, do you spot any common error? The error is that these religious people have one thing in common. They have the "I" problem. Everything is "mine", "I", "my" and "Ours". The only thing that has a "you" in it is probably affirming one's unbelief, differing beliefs or perceptions as wicked, devilish, and deviant. I abhor this! This is a disgusting evangelical, deviant, and pseudo-spiritual attitude in this postmodern society!
The last thing you ever want to hear is someone telling you to be "wise" or to "wisen up". Well, again, wisdom is also dependent upon how one views it. Jesus is wise, so is Confucius. And if Confucius can be wise, so is Buddha. You see, we all have different perceptions of who is wise, who is the salient one, and who is the most outstanding performer, based upon how we feel, think, and what we believe in (the values we hold). So if Christians were to urge every believers not to judge one another without first examining ourselves (Matthew 7:1-5), this is also another commandment, which many fail to reach its standard. Once again, if you, a believer in Christ, were to approach an individual with a sole motive to convert him, then you are being a hypocrite. Why? Because in the process of such evangelism, there will be a tendency of you reaching out to that person as though he is a "lost sheep", a "gentile", an "unbeliever", a "deviant soul", a "wretched" or any other weird, not-so-nice names that many old and contemporary Christians can creatively come up with. Let's be creative in a positive manner, and not be so... conservative, stiff, and closed-minded. The only way that one could touch a person's heart, or to reach out to a person, is to show the various signs of love and acceptance (depending upon given situations).
Theologies and philosophies are subjected to attacks, disagreements, and long-term criticisms. This is because one is based on non-thinking and the other is based on empirical observations and persistent thinking and seeking. The only substance in life that cannot be criticized, hated, and measured, is LOVE. The Bible mentions that above all three things in this social environment that we live in - Faith, Hope, and Love - the greatest of these three, is Love. And this is a confirmation that love exists and is the most powerful form of action one can execute, but yet the most difficult to master. This verb, however, consists of various meanings but it cannot be hated. Just like a universal currency, it will be accepted universally, globally and internationally. You cannot resist the persistence of unconditional love.
Therefore, the one who has an opened mind, is flexible, thinkable, creative, sociable, relevant and healthy. Besides holding on to our absolute truths within the inside of us, we need to consider other possibilities that others possess in them as well. We are here in this world to learn from various individuals, so we have to keep an opened mind for what the Bible says is not enough. We need to learn from experiences.
I'm writing this in reply to those who disagree with my interpretation of the Relative Truth.
