So in that vein is the discussion of Social Justice. It is a concept that, if you pay attention, you hear an awful lot lurking in the shadows. Its something that is effected and is influenced by religion, politics, and how we deal with everyone else around us.

But what is it? What is Social Justice? Well in basic language it is creating equality, it is doing things to promote equality in our society and in all of our social interactions. Monetary, economic status, equalizing the sexes or people of different orientations or almost any other aspect of our life. (Link)

In a nut shell that s it.

Sounds pretty good right? Shouldn’t we all be striving to create a more equal society, by any means necessary, where there is no or very little differences between us? Where no one is treated unfairly or has anything that could lead to conflict? Hmmmm

Well it depends.

But something caught my eye as I have been studying religion and trying to come up with new and unique ways of expressing information. A bit of the statement of the principles of Reform Judaism. (Link)

In it talks about how it is their belief that they should mandate the highest traditions of Judaism and the prophetic relationship with God by repairing the world. This includes the need for social justice:

We are obligated to pursue (tzedek), justice and righteousness, and to narrow the gap between the affluent and the poor,…

And while we should be concerned about the gap between the wealthy and the poor, the wealthy having all the power and the control while the poor have no options and no recourse, I do think that many people who complain about such things are missing the point. Especially those who would make it apart of their official statements that is the core of their very existence as an organization.

You see it is easier to destroy then to create. (Blog Link)

It is easier to take to take someone else’s money while trying to work to improve those below you. It usually doesn’t work out that way but that is the general intent. To take from the more affluent in some way to provide either that money or a service to the poor to try to be of benefit to them. Usually by Governmental action when you are talking about this kind of income distribution.

This almost never works as intended but it is easier.

But shouldn’t we be working to encourage everyone to improve their situations? Their lot in life? To work towards a goal and to better themselves? And not just in terms of money or the size of ones house either.

Because isn’t the pursuit of money solely for the pursuit of money something that is usually considered bad? Doesn’t it raise red flags? If the situations were reversed and we were talking about some unscrupulous businessman who was making money without a concern with the well being or dispensation of his employees, would you not react negatively? In fact these people are often vilified in pop culture and history books, and sometimes for very good reasons. See Scrooge, the robber barons, JP Morgan, and Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life.

How are you rising above the system and ignoring the greed and temptation and problems and evils of money if you are having someone steal it for you on your behalf?

Should we not be practicing the essence of charity? (Blog Link), (Link).

If you want true Social Justice and to forge a more just, more equal, and more righteous world it starts with you. Not the Government. We may never achieve these goals but we can move in that general direction.

You can make the world a better place by working to better yourself then working to better others through your deeds and your actions. Through your materialistic possessions.

This really is it. Religion and religious obligations begin with you and your family. With individuals striving to fix things. Not with Governments or large institutions.

You pursue the definition of Charity and a just world that you want to see, and I shall do the same.

Now there is a tradition with this time of year that happens every year. The New Years resolution. Pacts that we make to ourselves in order to better ourselves, lose weight, get a job, learn how to do this or that and generally do something or achieve something you never have before. This is something that we are expected to do and most do it. So in the spirit of the occasion I have been wondering what to do about it, should I post my New Years resolutions? Should I completely ignore it? Should I just give some general thought on the New Year? Well I think that some form of New Years resolution is needed. But it would be…rather pointless…for me to go on about my wish and dreams. If I am to do anything with these blogs it is to provide principles and general life lessons for as many people as I can. In this case, a New Years resolution for our entire society. I think we should follow Glenn Becks example and restore love (link). So by the time 2013 dawns, lets restore love, or at least make our good one hundred and ten percent effort to do so.

Now why do we need to restore love? Don’t we love? Don’t we have spouses and children whom we love deeply?

Now I am sure that most of the people reading this now….especially the people who seem to read this blog often… does not need to restore love. I am sure you love people and especially those closest to you just fine. So I am quite literally preaching to the choir in this case.

But yet it is important to love, it is important to ask ourselves if we are loving people. Because Love is the opposite side of hate, they are the same coin, they are both powerful emotions, but love is still the opposite. One leads to darkness and the other one leads to light.

But more importantly love is an emotion of creation, of protection and preservation. As I said in a previous blog. You are not out to get anyone, you are not out to destroy someone or out to ruin them, they are not your enemy. You are just trying to preserve and defend what you hold dear. You are standing for something, you are standing up for something beyond yourself or you care about. Not because you are attacking people but defending someone or something. Not because you hate, but you want to prosper. You are not their enemies, you are not out to get them, but they are out to get you and destroy what you care for.

We need to restore love because too often people miss the fundamental difference. They do not know what love means, and they do not know what it means in regards to hate.

And we need to restore love because there is far too much hate. Oh the Jews are controlling the world and need to put down, oh the Muslims is a religion of war and hate and will behead you as much as look at you! Or that you have a dangerous idea that needs to be removed from the world. This is hate, this is hate of the group, and it needs to stop.

And not just love of ourselves and our children, but love of everyone. Or at least a caring because I think if you love everyone and spread yourself too thin is like loving no one as well, and just as dangerous. But no care for people, show them compassion.

Yes even our enemies.

After all do you not destroy your enemy by turning them into a friend?

You destroy your enemies by finding and sharing values, by learning to at least respect each other, and to teach them and hopefully have them teach you about life. By understanding.

You do not destroy them by killing them which only turns them into martyrs. You sometimes have to, sometimes you have to neutralize the threat and sometimes standing up for your values means you have to take a life. But that is not a way to destroy enemies, forever, you can only do that through an example of love and compassion, by providing the potential for a different way.

Believe me I know this is hard, maybe even impossible. That its sometimes hard to even love our spouses…or children or parents.

But hey we have to try because if we don’t give it an attempt we truly are dead as a people.

You see a lot of people think that Government should take care of them. Provide them with their food, clothing, internet, healthcare, jobs, houses. That everything should be provided for you even if you have to ‘balance the scales’ by taking it from someone else.

To make sure that the scales are balanced and if someone has more than you or just more than someone else in general, and their ‘needs aren’t met’ then that is bad of them and something should be done about it.

This is all wrapped up in class envy, or class scorn, or class warfare. This is all a symptom of the same cause.

But since naturally God is perfect they assume God to be the same way as they are. To automatically have the same world view.

That how can a perfect, loving, God allow suffering in the world? Why must some people have more and some have less? Why can’t everything be heaven and all of our needs are provided for? Or even why do we have needs?

Why do some people have to die and some people live?

I do not have a good answer.

All I do know is that our free will and our own actions play some part in this. What exactly and how exactly the formula of life works I have no idea. I do not even really want to know either.

I just know that He does indeed exist.

But people look at the world and see evil and suffering and assume that God does not. That this is all truly a random crap shoot and nothing has any long-term meaning behind it at all.

I know its hard. And this is actually one area where I do sympathize with Atheist thought. That sometimes the evils in our lives do seem to contradict with a perfect and loving God. That it is hard to watch the universe suffer and think that there is some caring and loving hand behind it all. Or any kind of force at all really. Let alone the loving ones.

But in my opinion He did, and He does exist. That He did set up this universe.

We just have no idea on the why or the how.

But in the end I am glad God does not provide for our every whim. Because that is the only way that we can understand the darkness and the light and learn to appreciate things about our very existence.

Which is why I do not expect a God to be a Government.

It is a concept that despite being so central and so core to our very being is one that does not seem itself to be easily defined. There is a lot of debate, and always will be on who should help, who shouldn’t, how you should give, where you should give, how much you should give, even if you should give at all. Whether or not it is your individual responsibility or if an organization or Government should force you to give…to it…so then they can put that money to use on…whatever they want. Trying in their minds, I’m sure, to help.

But lets stick with generalities here. What does Charity usually mean in the modern context? Well giving money to soup kitchens. Your favorite non-profit cause. Helping a granny cross the street or giving five dollars to someone on the side of the road so they can build a sandwich.

Helping each other, assisting one another, being there to offer a bed, or clothing, or food, or money or even sage counsel.

Charity, today, is about investing your resources, usually time and money, to do an altruistic and selfless thing, with little to no personal gain, in order to provide for someone else. Usually out of religious obligation or a sense to be kind.

But that is not all Charity is, it is not all Charity can be.

It is the ability to not only give help, a place to sleep, or a warm meal. But it is the ability to get someone going, to get them out of their current situation and try to make them a better person to where they do not need your charity.

According to the Jewish thought that I have read there are eight levels of Charity. (source). All the way from ‘giving begrudgingly,’ to allowing a person to become self-reliant, to make it on their own.

It’s not a matter between good or evil, or good or bad types of charity. All of these charities are good, just that the highest level of charity is to provide so that the other person can move off your assistance and become a benefit to others.

To teach a man to fish, in other words.

To teach a man to work and to be educated while you are providing for their basic needs. Or doing that without providing for their basic needs.

So in a sense scholarships are the purest form of charity.

But also, dare I say it, jobs. The rich providing work and working conditions for employees and giving them a pay check so they can make money and be self-reliant and hopefully improve their lot in life.

That is what Charity is. It’s not just to give to give and to give without end hoping that the band aid can magically sprout wings and they can take off. But it is charity, with a purpose.

That is the highest level of charity. To move forward and teach, and allow them to get to a point where they can make their own charities, and then from there the cycle continues.

This is what charity has to be, otherwise it’s not worth it.

I think we need to talk about the spirit and get back to it.

Christmas is not just about the tree or the copies of Call of Duty Modern warfare 3 or copies of Star Wars the Old Republic and Ace Combat. Nor is it about the food.

But it is about celebrating the birth of one of the greatest humans to have ever lived. (blog link).

Hanukkah is not about the presents or the coins, or heck it’s not even about the Menorah. But celebrating a miracle and giving thanks to God.

We have lost our way. We have turned these celebrations about our heritage and our values into a giant rush. A rush to go out and get the newest fad or the greatest prize. To go out and do a million things in preparation for dozens of parties. To rush through it all and lose the meaning in the hustle and bustle.

It is something that I think we all struggle with. At least many of the people I talk to on a daily basis. Feeling sick and worn out but also feeling obligated to do this or get that. Or to get lost in the wanting of a thing so badly that we forget the meaning. I know I do, I know it is a struggle for me.

So instead of doing this, instead of just going mad in one mad dash at the end to go to this party or schedule this present opening, maybe we should spread things out? Instead of opening it on one day (or eight) give it some time and get into a ‘Christmas season’ where we are exchanging things here and there all along. And then on Christmas we can exchange simpler gifts and getting back to worshiping the baby Jesus? (Or at least celebrating his birth)

But I got no rush. I know this change may be slow. Heck it may even be impossible or unnecessary. I am still trying to toy with this idea in my own life and it has been…pretty mixed. But I don’t know if we try simplifying things and enjoying them, maybe this can work out? Without all the hustle. Just a thought.

But in the meantime I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

How does free will exist if God knows what you are going to do before you do it?!

Well this focus on the nature of God, which I have dealt with in a previous blog (link), but this is more of a question of the nature of man. This is a question for man to answer, about man. And the point is that freedom of will, of choice, of expression, is really all we got in the long run, makes this whole ball of wax meaningful.

‘Pray like everything depends on God, act like everything depends on you.’ That is what Pat Gray says.

Because God may know what you know, know what you are going to do, how you were born, how you will die, and everything in between. But you don’t.

We still have to act, we still have to make decisions. We still have to go on and lead our lives to the best of our ability. Because we simply have no other choice.

Because we have to assume that we have free will. We are not all-encompassing. We do not know. All we can do is try to make rational decisions based on our intuition and our love. We only exist in the here and now.

So we have the Free Will to try to lead the lives in the manner that makes the most moral sense to us. So that we can try to explore the universe, creation, God, the supernatural, each in our own way.

And I personally do not think God would have it any other way.

But yet its one that a lot of religions do not seem to have a definitive answer. I mean all religions have their answers and their interpretations but in each of the religions that I have studied…basically the Abrahamic ones…you can get an answer that says no…and yes. There are people who says yes yes, the bible preaches Social Justice and Collective Salvation and there are others that go…whaaattt you’re crazy man.

I do not really know what it teaches. I cannot speak with authority on that is up for you to decide. I can just say what I have learned and what I have observed and what I believe.

In short I do not believe in Collective Salvation. I lean, heavily, to the individual responsibility.

I lean so heavily in fact that I do not think it is up for anyone else in years past to be responsible for my sin, my corruption, or my salvation. I do not want or expect anyone to die for my sins, or to die so that I can be saved. I do not think that one man’s actions can be held against the entire human race for now since the end of time, that we inherited a fallen nature.

I just do not believe in these things.

Because I believe that this flies in the face of everything I believe, about the universe, religion, how God set it up, why He set it up. I mean maybe this part is arrogant and over reaching.

But I believe in free will, I believe in the divine spark, I believe that God has given us the ability to make free choices.

Does this not fly in the face of that? Of everything?

That our damnation or salvation is because a few select individuals did things throughout human history.

I think as long as we have our, God-given, free will, or our God given divine spark that it is up to us to use them. And then to be judged on how we have used such gifts from now to eternity.

Because this is about taking responsibility for our actions, for our inaction, for what we have done in this life.

This is not arrogance or chutzpah. This is mere curiosity on how I have lived my life and just what I have done. This is the wanting to do good. And to take responsibility.

And to get from the Father the knowledge that, hey kid, not bad.

I do not want to save myself. Note it says individual responsibility. Not individual salvation. I do not think I can save myself. I am not sure I need to be saved but that is a theological issue for another time and one I am still working on.

It is our collective individual responsibility. Lets be as strong as we can so that we can be the best servants of God, all I ask.

Well I believe it is that little bit of us that separates us from the animals. That little bit of God, and the nature of God. Just like we have a little bit of the ‘lower life form’ in us we also have that little bit of the nature of the Divine.

Simply put the Divine Spark is knowledge, and wisdom. It is the ‘knowledge of good and evil’. It is the ability of us to go out into the universe and check things.

It is our own private morality checker, that voice that says, hey wait a minute, this could be wrong. And then to go out and test it.

No matter where it is from, whether it is a shop owner, or the Government, or the scripture, or school, we have the ability to say, hey wait a minute that does not make a lot of sense. Which is why, I believe, a lot of people try to suppress this divine reasoning skill.

Obviously it is imperfect, and based on our own experiences, or how often we exercise it. We can and do make wrong judgements and improper conclusions. We are small and weak, and can never see the full picture around us. We do not have all the data to properly make a judgement call.

But since we do have the Divine Spark, and since there is a God to model it on, we can try to come up with these solutions.

In it he talked about the promise of America, the transition that we had to make, and a curious line about the morality of Capitalism.

In his speech he made the claim that Teddy Roosevelt

… also knew that the free market has never been a free license to take whatever you want from whoever you can.

I think that is called stealing. Something the bible, the ten commandments, and most modern religions consider to be a sin…something we should not do…maybe even illegal.

Stealing is immoral. It is wrong. It is currently illegal in this country and many others. If you take ‘whatever you want from wherever you want’ you will get thrown in jail for it. So if someone is stealing, in Washington, or Wall Street, or anywhere else, charge them with a crime and have them be judged in a court of law by a jury of their peers.

Stealing is not a reflection of the Capitalist system which requires the rule of law to even work.

But more than that it requires the rule of morality. If we want to be a capitalist country and continue to enjoy our freedoms to trade, buy, or sell, with whoever we wish (within reason and other laws) then we have to be a moral people. Otherwise it will be taken away from us.

You see much of Obama’s speech might have been ignorant and even a little dangerous in its tenor and implications he was right about one small thing. I am not sure he even realizes it himself.

We let the people in Washington, and our businesses, get away with a lot in our current day and age.

From borderline theft, yes the same problem that we are talking about here, to coveting, cheating, lying, or using their positions of power to have an advantage over the rest of us. How many more things do I need to list?

If we are going to restore ourselves we need to get back to basic principles.

Be they the Torah, the law of God.

Or the bible.

Or just a clear sense of knowing right from wrong.

And then a clear sense of doing right and striving to do right and correct our mistakes even when we should fall and make mistakes or be corrupted.

After all Mahatma Gandhi said that there would be 7 things that would destroy us:

Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience.
Knowledge without Character.
Business without Ethics.
Science without Humanity.
Religion without Sacrifice.
Politics without Principle.

Isn’t this what is happening? To us? Right now as a people we seem to be falling into this trap, from where I sit.

Wealth without work. Too many people today are feeling like they can just get money now now rather than constantly work for it and continue to improve themselves. Or that they have worked most of their lives and have been educated but expect a free hand out as some kind of award for all their troubles.

And is it not the people who have just been ‘given’ wealth to them by virtue of their birth something that continues to plague and worry society? Is that not part of some of the one percent, the income gap?

Pleasure without Conscience. OK. Pleasing yourself without really being couscous or thinking about it…got that one covered I think without saying.

Business without ethics. Simple. Not engaging in business without a sense of right and wrong and doing anything you can to make a profit. Again…stealing?

Religion without sacrifice. Having a belief in God or the universe but not willing to do anything when the pedal meets the metal.

Politics without Principle. I think we can all understand these dangers of politicians without any moral character or any principles to keep them in check and to keep themselves honest.

Faith without good works is dead. But so is good works without faith. And a connection to morality and a strong moral code.

Otherwise we risk falling into greed or corruption.

That is what has happened to our society. All of it, every single bit are major problems and not some isolated incident here or there.

But the answer does not lie with Washington, it lies with you and me. We can be the change we wish to see in the world if we actually start and begin the process.

Now on the one hand you have the idea that God is a puppeteer, he pulls the strings of the universe and everything is His Will. On the other you have the idea that God is some kind of ‘clock maker’ who just ‘created the universe’ X number of years ago but that is the only concern he has with creation. He just lets things run its course.

Now the flaws in both these ideas should be apparent. And they both lead to the same question. What would be the point? If you had a God who pulled your strings and who you fell in love with, whether or not you joined the army, or whether or not you were going to sit down in a chair…or write a blog…all that would be His Will. But on the other if you had a God that…well was just bored one day and decided to create a universe just for the heck of it…what would be the point in our lives if he just left it like that, went on to other things…maybe take a nap?

I do not think either of these ideologies bears having much economy with the truth.

God, I contend, is a parent.

This should be quite obvious to anyone who is religious. You hear it all the time.

The Father the son and the holy ghost? Our Father who art in heaven? Heavenly father?

But yet people, at least in my experience, do not make the connection. Or at the very least do not delve deeper and fully explore what God being a parent means. Being a perfect parent even.

He lets us go out and do things in our lives. We stumble, we fall, we get hurt. He comes and guides us, and helps us, and offers us advice.

But since he is a Perfect Parent he does not do everything for us.

He does not go and do all of our homework for us, or shield us from the world, or constantly be there to catch us fall. He lets us experience things. And learn. And grow. And be more appreciative of the world around us.

He makes decisions that any other human parent would balk at, but often wonder how they can help when we are suffering, or cold and alone in the dark.

That is what God is. Something this is personal when He needs to be, and aloof when He must.