one that just doesn't make a lot of sense for third-worlders.
I believe in the superiority of the human race; that each individual is an eternal being of thought and personality moving through time and space from birth to death and to birth again in human form, learning and developing personality traits in each lifespan – good traits, evil traits, and those in-between. As a result, every individual is participating in more advanced societies of humans in each life phase. I believe the human race is upwardly mobile, and I am convinced that as the decades go on the standard of living for more and more members of the human race will improve. There will always be the setbacks of wars and corruption. There will always be horrible acts of injustice. The good will be better than ever, though, and it will affect more souls as time moves forward.
I don’t believe in a God that watches over us. Or in one who is going to “save” us. That kind of God is a “Developed Nations God.” He doesn’t do much for people in the third world who live and die in misery. And it would be no gift to be saved from a life of misery only and never have a chance to experience life.
The mainstream God of DNG countries is a god of rewards. Parents in DNG countries teach their well fed children “do good deeds and God will bless you with happiness and toys.” Bishops, preachers, and ministers in DNG countries teach their well heeled congregations “do good deeds and God will bless you with happiness, promotions, lots of money, nice cars, big houses, flat screens,, and other cool stuff.” A preacher in a DNG country can’t deliver the same sermon this Sunday to a congregation of starving third-worlders that he delivered from the pulpit last Sunday to a congregation of designer clothes clad worshipers in Beverly Hills. And for that reason, I just can’t believe in a God that is purported to watch over all. But I believe in the beauty of the concept. I believe in an all powerful being who has reached attainment by helping others do the same along the way. I believe there is an entire race of these beings, and that their numbers are growing each day as the human intelligence progresses to this final accomplishment.
The most God-like act we can perform, then, is to lift up every soul we can reach with the resources we harvest in our lifetime. For to move another soul forward to that final goal is what ultimately saves the human race, one by one.