RETURN TO recent.htm ESSAY-HYPER-LINKS Course Keys **** What is likely to be our tragic-fate if we accept any conceptions of "evil" or "sin", as "realities" which can come-from-outside-of-us and settle-within-us and can "reside" within-us in some significant sense; thereby making us be: "guilty" "shame-full" "rejectable" "worthy-of-exclusion/isolation" "being-beaten" "being-defeated" "being-excommunicate" by virtue of the "resident" "being-inside-of-us" "polluting-us" apart from any choice we ever made. If we accept any "judgement" of the above sort - - - Is any sort of justice then possible for us? If we accept any such conception as dealing with any true-reality - - - - in any appropriate way; what then are the alternatives open to us, for dealing helpfully with the situation which we then face? 1. Admit our guilt? 2. Admit our Shame? 3. Accept our rejection as just? 4. Accept our excommunication as just? 5. Accept our isolation? 6. Accept our being beaten? 7. Accept our losing the battle? 8. Accept our being defeated? 9. Accept our punishment, or 10. Choose some other response - - - to the kinds of Domineering-Bullies who invented and promulgated the perverse conceptions of "sin" and "evil" as external realities which came and "resides" within us as individuals! Will IT help us, if new "Domineering-Bullies" come and tell us that some great external-new-power has come and Unilaterally-Administered-a-Magical-Salvation or Magical-Redemption from the arbitrarily imposed "sin", "evil", "shame" and/or "guilt" - - - - provided that we prove by our behaviors that we are worthy of the "favor" offered by the new Domineering-Bullies who are administering the Magical-Salvation! Might there be a better way for us to Mitigate-Our-Own Alienative-Conflicts by Being- Graciously-Together in the Many-Healing-Ways-of-Shalom? If we accept the above conceptions of "sin" and "evil"; as delivered to us by Domineering-Bullies; we thereby place ourselves at their mercy; and there can never be any "health in us". For there to be any health in us, we must reject their conceptions and their self-serving-unilateral-offers on-the-terms of their unilateral- salvation-for-us on-their-terms. There can be no health in us as individuals - - - on the terms offered to us by Domineering-Bullies. We must be Graciously-Together within the Communal-Sanctuaries of Shalom-Within-Us- Working-Together to Build-Communal-Sanctuaries for All-Members-of-the-Crew of Space- Ship-Earth. Shalom for All! To the extent that "sin" and "evil" are real - - - to that extent, "sin" and "evil" are defective-aspects of our-communal-and-personal RELATIONSHIPS with-each-other- and-with-all-of-our: ideals, values, principles, ideals, virtues, vices, standards, prescriptions, proscriptions, rejections, excommunications, alienations, hierarchies, prisons, punishments, etc., etc., etc. NOTICE THAT "sin" and "evil" are NOT attributes of ISOLATED-INDIVIDUAL-PERSONS The above offers an opportunity to discuss-openly-and-honestly with-diverse-others what has been written. Beware of Domineering-Bullies who seek to control people's interpretations-of-and-discussions-of what has been written, and of all further writings which may flow from any open-and-honest discussions that may yet take place among us. Each person that contributes anything to the discussion is, of course, free to think that they will have a great influence upon what develops - - - and may even be in control of what develops. What will count most, will of course, be how own and honest our dialogues are dealing with the undeniable realities which confront us - - - and how well in Shalom's Many Gracious Ways - - - we cooperate in responding in new creative ways to stay on Shalom's Gracious Paths of Personal and Communal-Integration-Processes and Present-Integrities. Shalom!