copied from my myspace blog
The Greater Good
C. Preston Richards
If there is indeed a greater good then we humans are, for the most part, unable to decipher it. Through the binding of the human brain to dogma and fundamentalist mythology are we blinded to the greater truth. It is only through the application of ethics and self reflection that we are able to strip away the chains of anachronistic superstition and decide, for ourselves, where Good lies. Is this process inborn? If it is then it is blocked by the cruel use of fear and guilt through misuse of religion to inhibit freewill and joyous self discovery. This process must then be taught, old behaviors and beliefs unlearned to get back at that natural ability so it can be utilized.
It is not to say that religion is an obstacle in and of itself to Good and the development of ethical thinking. It is only when the greater underlying ideas and spirit of religion get obfuscated by dogma, and myth is misinterpreted as truth, that it becomes a hindrance. There must also be made a distinction between those who are religious and those who are spiritual. Religious people are lost in dogmatic thinking and concerned with being right, whereas spiritual people taking a more personal stance on religion and the freedom to express and learn. There must also be considered the idea of the teaching of religion and shared myth to create patterns and shared values, and they can be seen as a spiritual set of training wheels, to help people learn how to think about the world around them and the concept of good. However, too many people are afraid to strip themselves of these training wheels, and are thus handicapped forever, neutered by their own fear.
The idea that there is a universal Greater Good, that all of humanity can find, is not new. This good, pure and universal, can only be found when the blinding effects of culture are stripped away, exists. However, it is nearly impossible to tear people away from those things that they are raised with, their preconceptions and biases. This will forever prevent the Greater Good from being known. Thus, even the idea of a Greater Good must be forever rendered mythical.
