Last week, CBS's Sixty Minutes did a profile on American mega pastor Joel Osteen and his prosperity theology. His sermons focus on how worship of G-d brings material blessing. That is a positive message, and I salute him. But it can easily spill over into unG-dy superstition, and it explains the great conundrum of modern religion which is that our faith is not necessarily making us into better people. How could it, seeing that religion is no longer about righteousness but success, no longer about G-d but about us, no longer about selflessness but our own material needs. To inversely paraphrase John F. Kennedy, what so many religious leaders today are essentially saying is, "Ask not what you can do for G-d; ask what G-d can do for you."
I contrast this with the message of Oprah, the foremost mainstreamer of spirituality in the world, which is the very reverse. We need to materially downsize, find happiness with less. Spirituality can fill us up much more than materialism ever could.
It seems odd that religious leaders are now teaching us to use G-d to achieve our material wants, while a TV host is teaching us that happiness is not found through the power of the dollar.
I, too, want to be successful. I, too, wish to prosper. But in turning G-d into a furry rabbit's foot to ward off evil spirits and help us win the lottery, what chance is there that we will ever find transcendence in life or anything uniquely spiritual? More so, what chance is there that we will ever be liberated from the incarceration of the ego? If the one thing that can free us from the cage of the self -- a spiritual life -- is changed into yet another shackle, then we are damned to self-absorption forever.
Last week's assassination of Benazir Bhutto had many Westerners pointing to the failure of modern Islam to curb hate-filled terrorists. Fair enough. Islam must begin to battle its extremists lest they become the face of an otherwise great world religion. But we Jews and Christians would do well to look at ourselves as well, even if our own shortcomings do not involve murder and mayhem.
Two disturbing trends are emerging in Western religion. The first is religion as superstition. The second is the inability of faith to ennoble the character of its practitioners as religion becomes more divisive and judgmental. The two are intimately intertwined. Superstition is not about G-d but self-preservation and can scarcely be called upon to inspire altruism.
A few weeks ago I attended a wedding where a famous Kabalistic Rabbi attended from Israel. Although only in his mid-30s, he was swarmed by guests who kissed his hands and begged for his blessing. He did not discourage them. Some guests told me they had brought the holy man to their businesses to bless their goods -- dresses in a warehouse, cars in a dealership.
Now, Judaism has always believed in holy men who can pray on the communal behalf. But this is due not to any personal power they might possess but to a proximity with G-d achieved through having led a righteous life. But any Rabbi who encourages people to believe in his personal powers based on knowledge of mystical texts is guilty of a gross manipulation of both G-d and man.
Some in my own community of Chabad have likewise gone overboard in their veneration of the Rebbe. The Rebbe was the great Jewish colossus of the 20th century and the inspiration of my life. But he was a man. A great man, a once-in-a-millennium scholar. But a man nonetheless. And that's what made him great. There is no need to sprinkle upon him sparkles of divinity after his death. If it was a god-man that I craved, I would have become a Christian. But divine humans have never inspired me, unencumbered as they are with the struggles I face every day. When I hear some Lubavitchers speak of the Rebbe as Messiah, I tell them they are diminishing rather than aggrandizing him. They are declaring that if he was not the Messiah, he was nothing. Abraham was not the Messiah, nor Moses. But their impact on the world was definitive. So was the Rebbe's.
The rise of the venerated tzadik is troubling. There is an increasing tendency of businessmen to flock to Kabalistic masters who visit mostly from Israel. Upon entering the room, you are subject to magical displays of their considerable powers. They tell your back is hurting or that you had an uncle named Merv who died in a car crash. But that, in essence, is exactly what TV psychics like John Edward do, and they do it through a process called 'cold reading.' It is you who, without even knowing it, provide most of the information. And besides, even if they did possess this power, who cares? A righteous man is great by virtue of his outstanding virtue, not his clairvoyant powers. I could care less for a man who can predict the future. Indeed, the Torah explicitly warns me against seeking out those who can.
Ours ought never be a religion of superstition catering to human frailty and weakness. Religion dare never take advantage of people's vulnerabilities and fears. Rather, our purpose is to inspire people to righteous action.
There is much that we Jews can learn from our Christian brethren, just as there is much which they can learn from us. Yishayahu Leibovitz one said that the quintessential symbol of Christianity is G-d dying on a cross for the sake of man, thereby making humans the center of the faith. But the essential symbol of Judaism is Abraham being prepared to sacrifice his son for G-d, thereby establishing G-d at the epicenter of human endeavor to which all action must be directed. Man must be prepared to give up his life for G-d, not the reverse.
Religion will only regain its capacity to refine the character of its practitioners when it is no longer about our own prosperity and but about responsiveness to G-d's righteous calling.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's newest book, 'The Broken American Male and How to Fix Him,' will be published in January by St. Martin's Press. He has just launched 'This World: The Jewish Values Network.' www.shmuley.com.
Follow Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RabbiShmuley
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First, "...we Jews and Christians would do well to look at ourselves as well, even if our own shortcomings do not involve murder and mayhem." I cannot help but believe that our shortcomings have, since Cain killed Abel, ALWAYS involved murder and mayhem. That crime stains the children of the monotheistic god to this day; at its root, jealousy that one sacrifice was better than another (perhaps a metaphor in our present day that one religion, or form of observance, is better than another).
Second, "Man must be prepared to give up his life for G-d, not the reverse." Isn't this what the Muslim extremist believe they are doing? Again, the echoing call to make a greater, better sacrifice?
I think, sometimes, it is harder and more important to "live" for G-d.
The Vaishnava tradition recognizes five primary kinds of favorable relationships with God, one of which has God as the child of the devotee. The devotee can become God's mother or father, with the mood of providing for Him. Of course, God is the ultimate provider for everyone, but the devotee providing for God is a highly exhalted loving relationship. If the father gives some money to his son, and the son uses it to buy something for the father, it is very pleasing.
The idea of God giving material wealth to those He favors is completely wrong. In Srimad Bhagavatam, verse 10.88.8, He is quoted as follows:
"The Personality of Godhead said: If I especially favor someone, I gradually deprive him of his wealth. Then the relatives and friends of such a poverty-stricken man abandon him. In this way he suffers one distress after another."
The purport is that material wealth is an obstacle to self-realization and is sometimes difficult to overcome. The Lord knows very well that our real interest is not in matter but in His devotional service. Thus by taking the wealth away from His aspiring devotee, He is personally clearing the path to the aspiring devotee's ultimate happiness in devotional service.
Spiritual truths are often somewhat opposite to material conceptions.
have a lot more faith in the Invisible Man
when I see lil' Baby Jesus do a mid-air hockey
stop and conjure up a dead rabbit back to life
off the highway, and I'm absolutely sure that
I'm not under the influence or overtired or
something that might otherwise account for the
hallucination. And, as far as religion and
stuff goes, hippie-on-a-stick just isn't the
way to go, there, with the symbolism and stuff.
Further, delving into the abrahamic racket,
here, yes, racket, word chosen intentionally,
I'll say that I have about ZERO faith in the
true faith and piety of a lot of the more
prominent flock-herders out there, pick the
denomination you consider to be most floggable,
but I say SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!! and we'll get
to the bottom of all of this. The Vatican doesn't run on the Holy Spirit, it runs on
donations, and so do the rest of these outfits
irrespective of denomination. Someone's bankrolling the show, find out who and probably stop a lot of the garbage going on today.
Cause and effect, etc.
Oprah got pimped by the "Secret" suckers twice...
theives in the temple 2nite...
time to turn over the tables...
xx
So much of the Bible, Old Testatment and New, addresses how we are to live life in a moral way that puts God, then others, before ourselves. Some of mankind's greatest humanitarian advances, as well as countless minor and less obvious acts of charity, have come from religious people living in a self-sacrificing manner in service to their God, even to the point of death.
I would quibble, however, with the Rabbi's characterization of Jesus "dying on a cross for the sake of man, thereby making humans the center of the faith". His sacrifice was necessary precisely because humans are too fallible to save themselves and thus need to rely on God alone for their salvation rather than their own acts. Because of this, biblical Christianity is uniquely and solely God-centered.
As far as seeing the future or prediction-I can see a priest or rabbi being suspicious-but if a person has such a gift...what's wrong with using it to better humanity?
Just becasue that rabbi can't prove/equate in thier own minds the presence of prophecy-does not mean it does not exist.Many athiest say God doesn't exist either and demand proof-yet religion has survived many years based on "faith/belief" alone.
The Bible cites many example of prophecy-Moses, Mary,Elizabeth,St Theresa, Joan of Arc.
Moses even used devining to find water and minerals "by smiting the rock with a stick".
theres no memes like the old memes.......
d
"Man must be prepared to give up his life for G-d, not the reverse." Indeed, why would God ask you to 'give up your life' when "He" is the reason you are alive? Why would God need to have anyone do anything for "Him?"
Unless we are God's hands. Unless we are God.
But that's blasphemy, not superstition.
Psychics, priests, ministers, etc are all cut from the same cloth; they're all looking out for their own prosperity and egos, by convincing their sheep that they have some special knowledge or abilities that we need them for.
Osteen is the latest in a long line of Elmer Gantry schlocks enriching himself on the despair of others.
However, "sonofloud" is correct. Religion is not reasonable in any sense. It is superstition by its' very nature.