Comments on: Groundhog Day religions http://www.radha-krishnaism.org/2010/01/groundhog-day-religions/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed A Spirituality of Liberty, Truth, and Love Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:41:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Paul Steel http://www.radha-krishnaism.org/2010/01/groundhog-day-religions/comment-page-1/#comment-4751 Paul Steel Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:21:19 +0000 http://www.radha-krishnaism.org/?p=936#comment-4751 Ultimately at the center is divine love no matter how the externals present themselves. The externals are always associated with time, place, circumstance, culture, ethnicity. All very transitory concepts. As the Beatles so eloquently sang "All you need is love!" Much of the world is so hung up on these externals that if you don't look like them and submit to their institutions they think you are not on their path, and when I look where their path is heading that gives me re-assurance! Ultimately at the center is divine love no matter how the externals present themselves. The externals are always associated with time, place, circumstance, culture, ethnicity. All very transitory concepts.

As the Beatles so eloquently sang “All you need is love!”

Much of the world is so hung up on these externals that if you don’t look like them and submit to their institutions they think you are not on their path, and when I look where their path is heading that gives me re-assurance!

]]> By: Steve Bohlert http://www.radha-krishnaism.org/2010/01/groundhog-day-religions/comment-page-1/#comment-1248 Steve Bohlert Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:01:26 +0000 http://www.radha-krishnaism.org/?p=936#comment-1248 Excellent analogy. That's why process theology is such an important part of Universalist Radha-Krishnaism. In his _Jesus Through the Centuries His Place in the History of Culture_, Jaroslav Pelikan reveals how the image of Jesus created by each successive epoch—from rabbi in the first century to liberator in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—is a key to understanding the temper and values of that age. Or looking at it another way, how each age shapped the image of Jesus. We see Jesus much differently today than a first century Jew would have. While there are many Christian conservatives who strongly resist change, there are also many strong voices calling for change. I come from a reformed tradition that believes in on-going reform, although some would disagree. There are many Christian groups I could work with quite harmoniously. However, I find no Chaitanya Vaishnav groups that I would feel comfortable with. They are closed minded and living in the past. I probably have more in common with the Unitarians I'll address Sunday than I do with most Krishna devotees. As we used to say, a progressive Protestant has more in common with a progressive Catholic than with a conservative Protestant. A Universalist Radha-Krishnaism practitioner will probably have more in common with progressive Christians, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Pagans, or Taoists than with most Chaitanya Vaishnavas. We walk a new way for a new day and do not care to repeat the past. Excellent analogy. That’s why process theology is such an important part of Universalist Radha-Krishnaism. In his _Jesus Through the Centuries His Place in the History of Culture_, Jaroslav Pelikan reveals how the image of Jesus created by each successive epoch—from rabbi in the first century to liberator in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—is a key to understanding the temper and values of that age. Or looking at it another way, how each age shapped the image of Jesus. We see Jesus much differently today than a first century Jew would have.

While there are many Christian conservatives who strongly resist change, there are also many strong voices calling for change. I come from a reformed tradition that believes in on-going reform, although some would disagree.

There are many Christian groups I could work with quite harmoniously. However, I find no Chaitanya Vaishnav groups that I would feel comfortable with. They are closed minded and living in the past. I probably have more in common with the Unitarians I’ll address Sunday than I do with most Krishna devotees.

As we used to say, a progressive Protestant has more in common with a progressive Catholic than with a conservative Protestant. A Universalist Radha-Krishnaism practitioner will probably have more in common with progressive Christians, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Pagans, or Taoists than with most Chaitanya Vaishnavas. We walk a new way for a new day and do not care to repeat the past.

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