Unity Without God
by Kazarian
As much as the majority of people would like to ignore it, the fact
remains that the world is engaged in a holy war. Immediately you might
react to this statement by thinking of Israel or Iraq as the staging
grounds for some apocalyptic Armageddon, but the holy war I'm talking
about is much closer to home. It is not isolated to a few factions of
dogmatic religious fanatics. Nor is it a battle of chemical warfare or
weapons of mass destruction. It is a battle of concepts, and we are all
on the front lines.
In this or any battle,
success comes to those who unite. By combining efforts, a group of
souls can achieve goals exponentially greater than their individual
labors. This concept is accepted in all walks of life in all societies.
It is an absolute truth. “United we stand, divided we fall.”
Margaret Mead is famed for saying, “Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the
only thing that ever has.” However, what about the large groups of
not-so-thoughtful citizens? (Who probably should be committed.) Are
they not changing the world, and not necessarily for the better? Take
for example big corporations and multi-media conglomerates. They
understand the power of unity. Major corporate mergers are proof that
uniting companies can make more money to fulfill greedy goals. When
will selfless servants and more liberal organizations learn from their
spoiled big brothers and unite to put the greedy monopolies in their
proper place?
Another prime example of the power of unity is beautifully illustrated
in the bipartisan political games that are played out in our
“democratic” society. It is no secret that the reason the Republican
Party has been able to dominate all three branches of our nation's
government is that they stand together. Because of their political
inconsistencies, the Democratic Party quivers under the looming
strength of the united G.O.P. Such is the trend of most liberal and
progressive organizations.
TRUE UNITY
By their nature, these organizations are very tolerant and accepting. This is virtuous, but creates a false sense of solidarity. Even if separate organizations support each other and sympathize with each other's causes, they remain separate organizations. This is not unity. True unity deals with submission, not acceptance. Only when different organizations realize the interdependence of their struggles and submit to a larger unified movement will the people within those organizations see great strides of change and growth. Small goals will bring about small progress, but big goals can create global change.
CHANGING THE
CITIZENSHIP CONCEPT
I deplore the bumper-sticker that reads: “Think globally, act
locally.”
It is limiting. It places people in a box and shuts them off from the
greater acts that they can accomplish. The sticker is popular in our
culture because it is easier to “do your part” without really taking
the risks that need to be taken to change the world. I propose that we
replace all of those obsolete bumper stickers with the more difficult
and challenging, “Think universally, act globally.”
It is difficult to make that leap; to go from a good citizen to a
global citizen. It is a revolutionary concept. Not many people choose
to live their lives in the universal spirit of brother/sisterhood. The
few who do make that choice are often ostracized and shunned by the
status quo. Gabriel of Urantia has said, “Once you begin to express new
thoughts to the commonplace minds, you challenge their belief systems,
their way of life. To advance up the ladder of higher consciousness,
you must decide that you are going to lose loved ones, friends and
hopeful friends. You must be willing to be misunderstood and
misrepresented. The higher you are willing to climb the spiritual
steps, the lonelier the search becomes.”
Because of this, the familiar phrase rings true, “Truth divides before
it unites.” It divides because of peoples' narrow-minded viewpoint of
whom and what they think God is. The religions of the world have
forgotten, or never truly understood, the God reality that unites us
universally. In attempts both sincere and deceitful, religions have
used the name of God to provide a guise of unity, but they fail to
support and uphold the highest ideals of universal unity.
SPIRITUAL COMMITMENT
Unity is coming. The catalyst that is bringing it is not a religion about God. It is a religion of spirit; a moment-to-moment walk with our Creator. It is the individual commitment of souls to unite first with God, then as a result, with each other. It is the shift from the 'religions of authority' to the 'religion of spirit' spoken of in The URANTIA Book:
In closing let me suggest another change in one of our beloved popular phrases. Instead of arrogantly touting our nation's motto of self-proclaimed unity, “E Pluribus Unum,” out of many, one; let us create a global motto that acknowledges our First Source and Center and celebrates our global diversity, “E Unibus Plura,” out of One, many.The religions of authority can only divide men and set them in conscientious array against each other; the religion of the spirit will progressively draw men together and cause them to become understandingly sympathetic with one another. The religions of authority require of men uniformity in belief, but this is impossible of realization in the present state of the world. The religion of the spirit requires only unity of experience—uniformity of destiny—making full allowance for diversity of belief. The religion of the spirit requires only uniformity of insight, not uniformity of viewpoint and outlook. The religion of the spirit does not demand uniformity of intellectual views, only unity of spirit feeling. The religions of authority crystallize into lifeless creeds; the religion of the spirit grows into the increasing joy and liberty of ennobling deeds of loving service and merciful ministration.