Valerie Elverton Dixon
Founder of JustPeaceTheory.com

Valerie Elverton Dixon

Founder JustPeaceTheory.com; former teacher of Christian Ethics at Andover Newton (Mass.) Theological School and United Theological Seminary in Ohio.

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Taste and See

In a Pew Forum survey released Tuesday, atheists and agnostic surpass all other groups in their knowledge of religion. How do you explain this? Educational level? That they have given more consideration to the religions they have rejected?

Is knowledge of religion important? Why?

There is a story in the African-American preaching tradition: One day, a scholar of religion gave a very erudite lecture to a group of clergy and lay people. It was well studied and well presented. It included facts from the history, theology and ethics of various religions. It spoke about the various philosophical and religious ideas of God and the meaning of God. During the question and answer period an old preacher with not very much formal education stood to ask a question. He reached into his brown paper bag, retrieved an apple and took and big crunchy, juicy bite. As he chewed the apple he asked the scholar "is this apple sweet?" The scholar replied that he had no way of knowing. The old preacher said "O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him." With that the old preacher took his seat.

It would be a good thing if the general public were more knowledgeable about the facts of religion. It would be good if people of faith were more knowledgeable about other faith traditions as well as more knowledgeable about their own. However it would all be for naught if it does not cause people to enter into righteous relationship with the transcendent, with humanity, with nature and creation. The religious knowledge that is important is the experiential knowledge that allows us to live lives of radical love, joy and peace.

We learn our religion from the people around us. Their lives become a witness. Our lives become a witness. Our lives become living breathing primary source material for the meaning of religion. I have sat in any number of African-American worship services, bible study groups and prayer meetings were the saints reminded me that my life will be the only Bible that some people will ever read. Thus our living and our witness becomes a moral obligation to ourselves, to God and to the tradition. What are the religious facts that our lives teach?

Some of us are born into faith communities; we sometimes leave and return; we sometimes leave and never return; we sometimes leave and join other traditions. Some of us study other religions and practice various spiritual disciplines that come from different religious traditions, creating our own unique blend of spirituality and religious commitment. Some of us were not born into faith communities, but we find our way to a community and to a tradition that speaks to our souls. President Obama gave his testimony recently in a backyard conversation. The meaning of religion is not the ability to regurgitate facts, the meaning of religion is the ability to enter into an I-Thou relationship with the Divine and with the world around us.

The religious knowledge that faith communities ought to teach is the knowledge that will help us to see ourselves as connected, in relationship with others. Sadly, all too often, this is not the case. Our religious leaders do not teach the tradition as a means to an end, rather they teach the tradition as an end in itself. The communities all too often become insular and tribalistic. When we fail to learn a knowledge of religion and of our religious traditions that take us deeper down into the wellsprings of faith, our prayers and rituals are misguided. They become magical incantations with the hope of manipulating God. We pray prayers begging God for this or that blessing to satisfy this or that desire, all the while forgetting to ask: "What can I do for you God?" We forget to ask what is our moral obligation to the Creator, to our sister and brother humans, animals, earth, wind, fire, and water.

Religion itself is sin when it fails to teach us to see ourselves in relationship with the Other. Sin is not this or that act, rather sin is singularity. It is a state of being that maintains the illusion that we are an individual particle of dust floating in a ray light whose life has no connection to anything else. The harmful acts we commit against ourselves and others happen because we lack the religious knowledge to see ourselves in the Other and to see the Other in ourselves. When our prayers become only about ourselves, our own prosperity and peace, we are practicing blind ignorant religion.

When we turn the Other into an object for our use, even if that other is our religious understandings, or our concept of God, we enter into an I-It relationship that is harmful rather than an I-Thou relationship that recognizes a soul connection, a spiritual bond with the Other. The religious knowledge that the world needs is experiential. It is a taste of the radical love that comes from Divine Love, that helps us to see God in the Other and that gives us the power to share that love. This religious knowledge is a duty and a pleasure.

By Valerie Elverton Dixon  |  September 30, 2010; 12:08 PM ET Save & Share:  Send E-mail   Facebook   Twitter   Digg   Yahoo Buzz   Del.icio.us   StumbleUpon   Technorati  
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The I-Thou relationship is fine for a believer's personal faith, but this is not what motivates bias against other religions and sects. People justify their cultural and class based hatred by citing distorted and erroneous religious facts. Also contributing to this is their ignorance of the true message of their prophets and scripture and the tenets of their religion, e.g., how can any Christian justify material greed by referring to Christ's teachings found in the gospels as is being done by many mega church ministers? An example of incorrect facts leading to unwarranted persecution is the notion among Muslims that the Koran, received by the Arab prophet, prescribes such modest items of dress as the full face veil and burqa; however neither is or Arab origin, rather they come from Christian, Turkish and Indo-Iranian (Persians and Afghans) and only became common among Arabs after the time of the Prophet. Upon examination is becomes apparent that so-called religious wars and interventions are truly motivated by such things as economic greed and cultural differences, not the I-Thou relationship, and the religious justification is based on distorted facts.

Posted by: csintala79 | October 4, 2010 10:09 AM
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JJ,

Goodbye for now! Hope to see you back soon!

Farnaz

Posted by: FarnazMansouri2 | October 3, 2010 1:24 PM
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[THIS] is Me real last Post. Bye!

Posted by: woodstock-41 | October 2, 2010 6:54 AM
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correction:

and ..."Goodbye BAAL" & Goodbye MUHAMMAD"... et al.

Note: liFE = LOVE NO, NOT SEX [Even though That's 'how' WE[i] got's here; planned//voluntary or forced]. HUMAN's art like COW's, but NOt Mops. So,

in all REALITY {our TRANSF{NITY}

Sex is pleasure (via holyi Hormones) Sex is NOt Love. So "Radical Love" (what ever that means) is NOt LOVE {LiFE is]. So Intimacy or Companionship or loyalty or caring for someone or some group is NOt Love. Note: SEX in Healthy. Even Masterbation! Yet both are NOT LOVE; LiFE IS!

Being 'Gay', a word once reserved for 'Straight's, or even being straight, is NOt LOVE either. SEX, is Like Religion, it's an Delusion/illusion eventhough one can't have actual sex with a Chumosh, Quran, Bible Geeta, Kangyur, cross etc. So

a Fantasy is NOt Reality {TRANSF{NITY}; even though 'Desire' when fulfilled may give one a sense of satisfaction, which can be healthy for ones mind and THAT; even though turning a fantasy into a reality, can sometimes be healthy but, can also become an obsession for those gone wild, hence 'Addiction' especially the SEXual ones, let alone Religion, Drugs-enhancers etc.. And the Memories of those special moments can be either a LiFE long GOOD 'experience' or BAD, never in between. i.e., The VATICAN PEDOPHILE-Gate that was going on [via their] for gods knows how long. The R.C.C, mother//father of Har{ots, Destroyed the meaning of "LOVE" but [NOt "LiFE"] So

This World needs a new name to express/explain, such phenomena/on, as caring, NOt 'CooochyPoochi', by each the other as Homo-Sapiens, but in the HUMAN case they are simply and justly (because of Morality/Reasoning..) advanced 'relationships', voluntary//willing//prenuptial//platonic. WOE unto the crazed Sexual predictors (who also know that Sex is Not Love) only fantacy//Brain/Chemical (balance or imbalanced) driven//desired..

Example: Another good one is 'the Surrogate' Mothering, or proxy Baby-making, or even POLY-Husbandry//wives and also "Frozen Sperm//Egg" transplants. There is NO love with neither Humans. NO-LOVE-THERE.period. Pleazza, don't kid ye selves.

Call it (Such Behavior) 'Radical' if yo will.

___

Eventhough ME/MY//i started a New-Project (a Private thing); that 'i' is going on a "SABBATICAL", so to spake'th so WE[i] can proofread, correct & complete the writings of the "ULTRA-PARA-TESTAMENT" aka the "O.U.R." BOT, aka the "Religion of Everything before the Science of Everything" for Distribution via the U.N., as promised Ye/Yo Human's by US HUUMATE(s) from S.ace-S.hip Earth's;

A FREE but a 'New Philosophy', A New song (born from old) never imagined by the Public at large. Future Proof. Good until real 'End of Time's. So

The END of Pre-Apocalyptic Religions (from the PISCES-AGE/Epochs/Era..) is NEAR! Soon soon verry soooon!

Huggs n Kiss's. Happy Every-Day, like a birth-day.

Praise "IT" ['G_D', if ye will].

Posted by: woodstock-41 | October 2, 2010 6:50 AM
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Oooppps. Ooopsssa. Last time, really!

Interestingly; on me New Job [Project] and there at/in: Mew Friend Usually, Bakes [via nicowave: at 6/7 minutes] a "Cortland-Apple" or a 'Golden Delicious-Apple" , to sort of keep the Yummy-Tummy happy (let alone the DOC.). Soo:
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..................................... (\;U/S\A;/)
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......... oooooooo .. . . . . . . oooo . . . . . . . . oooooooo
...... ooooooo . . . . . . . . . . oooo . . . . .. . . . . . ooooooo
..... oooooo . . . . . .. . . . . . oooo . . . . . . . . . . . . oooooo
.... oooooo . . . . . . . . . . . . oooo . . . . . .. . . . . . . oooooo
.... ooooo . . . . . . . . . . . . . oooo . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ooooo
.... oooooo . . . . . . . . . . . oooooo. . . . . . . . . . . . oooooo
..... oooooo . . . . . . . . . . oooooooo . . . . . . . . . . oooooo
...... ooooo . . . . . . . . . ooooooooooo . . . . . . . . . ooooo
....... oooooo . . . . .. oooo .oooo .. oooo . . . . . oooooo
......... ooooooooo . . .. . . . oooo . . . . . . . . oooooooo
............ oooooooo . . . . . . oooo . . ... . . . oooooooo
............... oooooooo . . . .. oooo . . . . .. oooooooo
.................. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
........................ oooooooooooooooooooooo
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..
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REMEBER The EKLAHt-i-ON's 4-Tetra-Needs:

1)Food, 2) Shelter, 3)Companionship, 4) Clothes & as a supplement; if ye/yo can, Keep Busy.

WHEREFORE: G-D (if any) Bless;

U.S.A., RUSSIA, INDIA & FREUNDS!
.
Credits to . “JJ” @ . http://coneyislandobservatory.com

___

Sisstar Valery I. Dixon et al:: Ye/Yo must turn ye capital "I" into an minor 'i' Else All will be Lost. All In Vain! Yo understain?

Posted by: woodstock-41 | October 1, 2010 10:52 PM
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"When we turn the Other into an object for our use, even if that other is our religious understandings, or our concept of God, we enter into an I-It relationship that is harmful rather than an I-Thou relationship that recognizes a soul connection, a spiritual bond with the Other."
___________________________
Quite right, Valerie. Not only Martin Buber (Jew), but also Levinas (Jew) would agree, since theirs is the seminal work that you refer to.

And this Brown, Jew is your Other Valerie. I am your Other.

Posted by: FarnazMansouri2 | October 1, 2010 3:03 PM
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This will be me last post for a very long time via TiME, If Ye will. (All of onfaith). It was nice bloging here.
__

SECRET:(opposite REVEALations); WE[i] EKLAHt-iON's art "NATURALLY-Chosen//SELECTED"!

i[WE], WE[i] aka Apocalyptic-ON's, Contrary to Any and All Pre-ApocalypticOffs thinking, art NOt, NO as if via Jealously be some jealous based "GOD(s)[Chemosh..] CHOSEN PEOPLE". NEVER! AND

WE[i] EKLAH-t-iON's art derived from the Peace-Blessed Apocalyptarion "JyOKTAN-ians" stock, Not ariseth/born'th from the godly worshiping jealous War-Cursed EKLAHt-i-OFF' of the PELEG-ian stock/flock! That's the Difference THEM or US! N furthermore, our

Goal (one of the 4 Major ones) is To Defend against the Jealous-gods lovin 'ENFORCER'S of their (PELEGians) , NOt our (JyOKTAians) "DRUNKIN NOAH RACIST" story's, and

the "JACOB ULTIMATE LEBON SWINDLE" Story, the "SARA PROSTiTUTION & ABRAHAM PIiMP STORY", the "ESAU SELLiNG BiRTH-RiGHTS SWiNDLE" story, the "HAGAR/ISHMAEL REJECTION" story etc..,
__

"... And WE[i] art NO, NOt from them "THE KRiSHNA/ARJUNA WAR BLESSINGS" storys" And "The ARJUNA MASS MURDERS" story and the "JEALOUS RAMA" story and The "KRISHNA IS YOUR ONLY GODS" story and the "FLURTING SiTA TEASING STORY" etc...

Note: As YE/YO can see; that the The Vedics "Psychic Driving" story's are just as Pre-Apocalyptic as the ABEic story's!!

Note again: i'm not gonna get into the >b>Quran nor the Kanguys! I'll let Ye Students of the Global Universities figure the rest out. It is time for them to do some real studying & Research; instead of capitalizing off our Necks here; like Jealous Cathaholic GEORGE TOWN UNIVERSITY folk & Co! So sing a New Song, "O' LORD [IT, being iTSELF in and out of US All]".

Yes; "ETERNITY AVOiDING LONLiNESS' in US; so i[WE] Say n Sing to "IT" Loudly [Pray] and ever so softly/quietly [Meditately].

WHEREFORE: Speak & Listen to Ye/YO Holyi

Eeeeeeee Claaaaaaaaat-i! A Holy Holy Holy Encounter of the N'th kind.

hence what i[We] ApocalyptiON's mean by com'th for ye/yo "CORRECTION OF SINS" "HEURiSTICa/o" (immortal Photonic Holyi "Soul": with a, ETERNAL, but a'fixed Gender':i.e.; If Your a Fe-Male Here then Ye/Yo was a Fe-Male from past TRANSF{NITY//REALITY & will again be sp on the "DUE TO BE" one, unless "NATURE", Eklahts Helper mix's it Up; i.e., a Male BOD in a Fe-Male BOD, via vis) )!
___

Goodbye SETH! Goodbye CHEMOSH! Goodbye AMEN-ra! Goodbye AMON-re! Goodbye ZEUS! Goodbye OSiRIS! Goodbye MOSES! Goodbye JESUS! Goodbye SMITH! Goodbe VYASA! Goodbye GAUTAMA! Gootbye TAO! Comfucius... & All PRE-Apocalyptic SYSTEMS created by HUMANity from the WAR-Blessed/Cursed "Pisces-Age/Epochs."

HELLO APOCALYPTARIONiTY! HELLO Peace-Bless'd "AQUARiUS-AGE"

Note: The PROMISE via the Eklaht-i-ON prophecy is Good for the Next 27,000+ Years!

HAILA-U-YA!

Posted by: woodstock-41 | October 1, 2010 2:37 PM
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2 of 3:

When WE[i] say'th, "AQUARiUS-AGE" that i[WE] do-NOt, NO mean as if be any HorrorScopes a/k/a Horoscopes via ASTROLOGY based on any of ye/yo Human's Pre-Apocalyptic Calenders! Never NO!

"IT" is purely "A S R O N O M Y" via Fixations//Corrections//Aligning the REALity of the "PRECESSIONs" aka EQUiNOX's [Fall & Spring] until Real END OF time(clocks, Sundials..) via "IT"s Holyi TiME(TEMPerature: that places US between Absolute HOT & Absolute COLD, Miraculously)!

Note:The "EKLAHt-iON CALANDATE" is based on or starts with The Age of our O.U.R. and "IT" "MAGMA-NEBULATION" moment via Holyi TiME(temperature) and then US via "IT"s "MAGMAPERCOLATION" time (clock). And Adds todays Date/time.

Example: Universal Year Circa or U.Y.C. + Solar System Age + Todays date/time. So writtenly /4.78904321B/Oct.01.2010/11:52a. B= Billion. so

This how WE[i] APocalyptari-ON's Record HISTORY(aka our JURY//Judge & Witness'th)!
__
IMportanto: our, The 'Book of "O.U.R." [One Universal Religion]" aka the "ULTRAPARATESTAMENT" also includes/Appended, at the Back and or Front The Entire Bless'th "U.S. CONSTiTUTION" as Well!

Let "IT" be said! Let "IT" be Written! Let "IT" be Done!

Praise The Holyi NO MON/WOM! O' "IT" {LORD, Genuine-1/ek/unno.. if YeYo No mind?!} "Happy Everyday (like a Birth-day) YO!

Hugs n a Kiss's To ALL da Bredrins/Brothers/Brights.. and ALL da Sisstars/Sisters/Sistens..

THANK "IT"! OUR MIRACLE in HOLYi (bless'th: Zero Sin/Curs'th) MOTION; Yet for another "DUE-TO-BE" Miracle, via Holyi "TiME"(TEMPerature)!

Remember: Ye/Yo "BiOFINITE-DEATH" is NOt our, Yo/Ye, "TRANFS{NiTE-DEATH(s)".
__
BEWARE The "NICOLAITAN"(s)!! Beware the JEALOUS-ites!! Beware the APATHY-ites!!!.

Woe unto ALL "ABRAHAMIC-ites" & their wannabe-ites!! WOe unto ALL "VEDIC-ites" & their Wannabe-ites!! O' Copy-Cats!

O' Jealous-ites trying to Apocalypticize (AqauriUSize) their, not our, Pre-Apocalyptic (Piscesise) godly Jealous Religions//beliefs//faiths!
__
Mote: Now, THINK GLOBALLY 1st & then ACT LOCALLY 2nd (Never the other-waY AROUND) AND

Only Through The miraculous "U.nited N.ations" Can they Create, Build, Endorse and then Distribute Globally our "O.ne U.niversal R.eligion" Book! a/k/a the "Realigion of everything, Before The Science of Everything" [Similar]!

iMagine: Genuine PEACE, PAZ, FRIEDAN, SALAAM, SHALOM, SHANTi, ZHINGYU, MIR...... on NEBULA-Built S.pace-S.hip Earth; aka S.S. BLUE-DOT, S.S. GEOiD, S.S. GAiA, S.S. TELLUSng something and more Untill "Real END of time//TiME"? WE[i], i[WE] Can, Ya Ya!
__
So "Let the Battle between the APOCALYPTiC-OFFs(MAYGOGs) vs. The APOCALYPTiC-ON(GOGs) begin. WE art Come & NO waiting any longer, for YE/YO!

Behold The REFRESHING The DISPENSATION! & More Good Tidings for Human(s) sake, by US HUUMATE(s),

MADE-IN-U.S.A!

Posted by: woodstock-41 | October 1, 2010 1:56 PM
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SisSTAR V.E.D.: Brilliant As Usual.

Pleazzzaaa know THAT: When i//me sayth, "After The Great EKLAHti-PANTHEON [EP] is built for our Holyi "IT".. That the Eklaht-i-On Pantheon is not a Pantheon that todays Humans can "iNTROVISION".

"IT" will NOt be a Pantheon-of-Deities, nor a Pantheon Of Actors/Actress's nor Any of the Known "Wonders Of The World" (Man-Made, not Natural Made) Structures that based on any SuperStupidStitious Religion(s) or their God(s), NO!

Note: i[WE] cont reveal the PLAN, in entirety, for the Great Holyi EP; because ye/yo know that Literary Parasites or Thieves of other peoples ideas here, onfaith (the Greatest Blog on Earth) gets pilfered or Stolen by smeaky folks like HINDUTVA//RSS agents like king of the copy-cat's ,aka Plagiarizer who enriched himself via i[WE] Essays/ideas as if his/their ideas via phony's like sir Deepak Chopra (includes his Kids), Bhargava, Patel and even Shuklah et al. AND

When me say'th, ".. All of The Worlds Pre-Apocalyptic Religion [Systems Today], as Ye/Yo knew them, will be Jealous at first, but will also go through the 'D.A.B.D.A. Jitters' [see Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross {pbuh}]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_K%C3%BCbler-Ross BUT

but THEN they (Pre-Apocalyptic thinking, like Civilizations) will simply vanish from their minds and Transmit within in the Next (3 or 4) Generations MEMEically, and that their Posterity will inevitably transmute and transform themselves by the "IT" [lives within US Huumates], into APOCALYPTARiAN's, aka HUUMATES or righteous & "Naturally-Selected (NOt gods chosen Humans) as EKLAHti-ON's, no longer OFF's; as prophesied or Promised their Ancestors{pbu Them} (past & Current) with or w/out their "Infixus-Books" [Chumash/Bible's, Quran/Korans, Geeta/Tripitaka's, Kangyurs/Tangyur's..].

BEHOLD! our O.U.R. [O.ne U.niversal R.e;igion] Testament! a/k/a the "ULTRA-PARA-TESTAMENT" (of the NEW SONG, born'th from Old: which exceeds the 'SUPREME-PARA-TESTAMENT' of the 'B.O.T.' or B.ook O.f T.ransf{nity)!

Note: Thee APOCALYPTARiAN FAiTH, a/k/a the EKLAH-TARiAN Belief a/k/a HOlyi COsmic FEeler's FAith Religion or simply thee "Religion of Everything Before the Science of Everything" IS A PROPHECY WHO'S time ViA TiME, is Now Appearing!

Hark The DISPENSATION! Behold the "REFRESHiNG!" as Foretold in ALL//EVERY & ANY Yo/Yo 'Infixus Books' born'th from the WAR-BLESSings PiSCES-Age/Epoch/Era! Unfit for the NEW "AQUARiUS-AGE/Epoch/ERA.

WHEREFORE: WE[i] EKLAHt-i's, by "BiOMENTALITY", Whom "MAGMAPERCOLATED" Here, long long ago & Destined US for YE/yo's, art Justly com'th, onlyfor a short time via Holyi TiME, in order to or for the inevitable "CORRECTION OF SIN(s)" moment, to fix(ALiGN) All yo/ye Thinkings and CORRECT all yo/ye Scriptures & Minds of times past, aka 'INFIXUS BOOKS"!

Imagine: Genuine WORLD-PEACE, HEALING OF NATIONS & more GOOD TiDING!

Posted by: woodstock-41 | October 1, 2010 1:47 PM
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