What Do You Think?

I find the reluctance to engage in open-ended conversations about God to be both frustrating and disturbing. That my father and I had such discussions during his recent visit reminded me of how rare such occurrences are, and it makes me wonder. In one of the most free, democratic societies in history, how did we get to the point that theological discussions of the ultimate are either limited to rarified academic circles or to biblical/ecclesiastical catechism? Who convinced us that we are not able to theologize amongst ourselves? And if we consider the topic simply not worth our time, how did we ever arrive at such a notion? What is more important than delving into where we have come from and where we are going? I can understand how cynical atheism has taken the place in some minds of unexamined religion, but how in the course of human evolution did we let the most intimate of subjects succumb to institutionalization in the first place? I’m not going to give up. I can’t give up. I am compelled to provoke and incite theological discussion among the common people because the evidence of our failure to authentically do so is damning. A better world, a better life, is not the exclusive purview of preachers, priests and rabbis. The Truth grows as from a mustard seed when it inclusively draws all humankind into the discussion.