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Last Worker & Christianity
Posted April 9, 2007, by peter
5/17/07 Note: Given that we changed the name of the site to "Holonation" last week, this Testimony has become moot, and of academic interest only.
If you've read the page on the meaning of "Last Worker" in the About section, then you may already know that this name derives from the the Christian New Testament, Matthew 20:1.
Now, I've heard two sorts of strong reactions to this. I'll characterize the first as sort of "Christian-aversive"; the latter as more or less "heretic-aversive". That is, the first reaction wonders: Is this a site for "Christian wackos"? The latter inquires: Is this a site for "apostate evil-doers"?
My answer is: all of the above, some of the above, and/or none of the above. In other words, this site will be whatever all of us Workers make it to be.
Personally, I'm neither pro-Christian nor anti-Christian; and neither pro-heretic, nor anti-heretic. I tend to find useful stuff in most everything I turn my attention to; and at the same, I tend to find less useful stuff in there too.
One of the most useful things (to me, at least) that I've found in the Christian New Testament is the recurrent theme of Love and Wisdom. I see Love and Wisdom serving as the key that unlocks most every parable of Jesus I have come across. The riddle of the Last Worker is just one such parable.
Now saying that I've found Love and Wisdom lying at the heart of the Christian New Testament doesn't mean that I haven't found Love and Wisdom in many other places too. I have! in fact, I think I've found Love and Wisdom not merely in most every enduring religion I have looked at, but also in certain branches of science (especially brain science), "New Age" doctrine, and more.
Point is, I could have well entitled this site "A Quiet Amygdala", and the meaning and intent would have been exactly the same. I'll explain this last point in a later Testimony.
Clear as mud?
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Very nice explanation peter.
BTW, I just added quotes around "Christian wackos" and "apostate evil-doers" to make clear that these aren't my views. Instead, they are views present in the media and public discourse in America. For example, I attended a "scientific" lecture last month. At the end of the presentation, after the question period was almost over, the presenter mentioned that he was a Creationist and saw no value in theories of Evolution. At that moment, the room which had been polite and quiet for 2 hours, suddenly erupted in shouts of protest and ridicule. I suspect mirror-image scenes are being played out in certain Christian gatherings around the country (i.e. non-Believers are denounced). I'm just saying: enough with all of that! Let's all just throw our beliefs out there and let them be heard.
Re "Christian wackos", there seem to be some people who feel that a person who seeks to guide their life by words in a 2000-year-old book is delusional at best. On the flip side, there seem to be fundamentalist Christian sorts who feel that a person who finds little use in said 2000-year-old book has a one-way ticket to Hell. At least in America circa the past 20-some years, there seems to be a lot of this sort of dichotmomy going on. I say: everybody welcome!
Just my opinion, but if this site is for "all of the above", I'm not sure if your strategy of calling people "Christian wackos" is very inviting. What is a wacko? Someone who commits violence in the name of Christianity? or to a lesser degree, someone who is very strict in his/her beliefs and not open to other forms of spirituality/religion? I guess it depends on how you define wacko. Also, what the heck is an "apostate evil-doer"?
I definitely get your meaning. However, "a quiet amygdala" is concerned primarily with brain function. I believe that Love and Wisdom, while they definitely pertain to brain function, are much, much more than just "a quiet amygdala". For me, what goes on in the amygdala is only part of Love and Wisdom. Love and Wisdom for me, is the whole kit and kaboodle. Another way of saying that, would be that science is part of spirituality. Whereas spirituality is the whole ball of wax IMO.