Friday, September 5, 2008

Something for the mob with everything...




“After a careful study of Indian religion, one contemporary Christian theologian found twelve basic characteristics in the avatar doctrines: 1) in Hindu belief the avatar is real, a visible and fleshly descent of the divine to the terrestrial plane; 2) the human avatars are born in various ways but always through human parents; 3) their lives mingle divine and human qualities; 4) the avatars finally die; 5) there may be a historical basis for some of the Hindu avatars Rama, Krishna, Chaitanya, Ramakrishna, for example; 6) avatars are repeated: one appears whenever there is a catastrophic decline in righteousness; 7) one avatar differs from another in character, temperament and worth; 8) each comes with work to do: the restoration of harmony in human society and universe; 9) avatars are not world-renouncing, and constantly advocate the importance of action rather than contemplation alone; 10) avatars for Hindus provide "special revelation" as the self- manifestation of Godhead; 11) they reveal a personal rather than impersonal God; 12) avatars prove the existence of a God of grace, in Hindu eyes; as Ramanuja insisted, a man cannot maintain his existence without God and God cannot maintain Himself without man."

Given that the human race has evolved from annihalating each other on a case by case basis to spending most of the 20th century pointing a nuclear bomb at itself and repeatedly threatening to set it off, what else could a thoughtful God give such a persistently suicidal mob?

(Unwraps gift) Why, it's a suicide counselor avatar!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If one letter is added, then mob becomes "Moab."
"There's nothing that the road can not heal," Conor Oberst
I'll read and reflect when I return North.
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