Spirituality is the core of our humanness, the essence of who we are and how we express our vitality - our aliveness - whether we are religious or not. In Building Heaven on Earth, Dwight Webb encourages readers to challenge religion's claim to

Building Heaven on Earth

CLAIMING OUR HUMAN SPIRITBy DWIGHT WEBB

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Dwight Webb, PhD.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-1338-5

Contents

FOREWORD: Dr. Paul Treacy...............................................ixPREFACE: ODE TO A NATURAL GOD...........................................xiCHAPTER ONE: MAKING THE SUPERNATURAL NATURAL............................1CHAPTER TWO: LIFE ON EARTH IS ALL WE KNOW...............................9CHAPTER THREE: THE EMPEROR IS NAKED.....................................16CHAPTER FOUR: DOWN THE WRONG PATH.......................................26CHAPTER FIVE: GOD IS NOT A HUMAN FIGURE.................................38CHAPTER SIX: NOT WHO, BUT WHAT IS GOD?..................................45CHAPTER SEVEN: SOUL, THE SOURCE WITHIN..................................52CHAPTER EIGHT: SETBACKS TO OUR SPIRIT...................................64CHAPTER NINE: EVOLUTION: THE CREATIVE FORCE OF LIFE.....................70CHAPTER TEN: MORALITY: NATURE AND NURTURE...............................80CHAPTER ELEVEN: CONSCIOUSNESS IS OUR SPIRITUALITY.......................89CHAPTER TWELVE: TAPPING THE FORCE WITHIN................................93Suggested Readings......................................................106Related Readings........................................................108Acknowledgements........................................................111

Chapter One

Making The Supernatural Natural

Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try No hell below us, above us only sky Imagine all the people, living for today ... —John Lennon

I imagine that John Lennon is right—no hell below us, above us only sky! But according to Christians, this is not the way it is! They insist that heaven is in the skies and that we will meet God there and see Jesus, and so on. But here on Earth, we can see and hear and feel and touch heaven, as we engage in the process of building better lives for all of earth's creatures. In the human realm, most of us know that we want more democracy, less crime, more justice, and fewer wars. We know that we must reverse the massive starvation and malnutrition that affect millions, and that means figuring out how to distribute Earth's abundant resources in an equitable manner. It also means summoning the will to do it. This is a spiritual matter.

Letting Go

Over the last two millennia, millions if not billions of Christians bought into and held onto the idea of a supernatural God as a human figure wearing a robe, and living in the skies above. Today's Christians continue these beliefs, having faith that after they die on earth, they will meet God in Heaven in an afterlife. All that is required is that they believe in Jesus and repent their sins. Christians, who continue to have faith in their stories, will feel threatened by the idea of letting go of these and other supernatural beliefs. But being good Christians, they also know that humans can't let greed or anything else stand as a viable reason for neglecting to help those who are less fortunate. As 'good Samaritans', they too will contribute in helping to build heaven on earth, because it is the right thing to do. But for many of these who are devoutly religious, it will not be easy to let go of their beliefs in supernatural ideas. They may consider that their work for the common good has nothing to do with heaven, except that it might help when their credentials are reviewed for entrance to Heaven.

Letting go of supernatural ideation does not mean that anyone has to give up believing in God as a higher power. It just means accepting the truth that any explanation of any God is a mystery. Believing in a natural God does not explain the why what and how of it all, just as nothing is truly explained by any of religions mythological stories in that regard.

The difficult thing for those who believe in an afterlife is being able to accept the idea that when all the cellular tissues of our physical bodies have perished and gone to gravesites or crematoriums, we are gone, and life is over. Most people just do not want their lives to be over, and some religions have created supernatural stories that give them comfort that all is not gone. Whether one believes in a Natural God or the God of any religion, the common ground is that God is still seen as the abiding Force in the Universe and of life on Earth. The big difference is that a Natural God is seen as within as well as without, and needs no supernatural stories to explain the mystery. Believing in a Natural God means that we accept that the mystery is beyond anything that we can fathom, never mind making up stories to explain it. The interesting paradox of this mystery is that we are a part of it all. The mystery is within us at all times, as well as all around us. It is the spark, the breath and the force within all life.

While it will not be easy to shift ones belief in a supernatural God to believe in a Natural God, it may help one in considering such a shift, to be reminded that everything we need to build heaven on earth can be found in the abundance, beauty, and love that are plentiful in our natural world.

A Natural Force of Creation

If God is a natural Force, and the source for creation of all that we can perceive on earth, we have to conclude that whatever this creative force is, we are part and parcel of it all. This force is not contained in some outside supernatural being in a remote and vague place called heaven. Being one with nature is a much more direct connection to the total texture, movement, and interrelatedness of all life on Earth. To imagine a supernatural God in human form as a biological being, male, or female figure ruling over everything, does not make sense to me, especially one who is being called upon everyday to answer millions of individual prayers.

No religion has the final word on God or everlasting life, and it is arrogant to claim to understand such a mystery by offering supernatural stories. Religions get around and sidetrack this deficiency by simply saying that 'God works in mysterious ways.' That explanation usually lets them off the hook, even though it tells us nothing. These folks continue to imply that other than the way he works, they understand everything about their supernatural God. This strikes me as dishonest.

Religions Rules

Most religions instruct followers to have faith in their claim that God is a supernatural being residing in heaven, even though there is no evidence supporting that idea, they tell all who will listen. They also tell us that during our lifetime we may connect with our 'Heavenly Father' only through prayer, and we all find out soon enough that these prayers may not be answered. He may get back to us, and he may not. I believe that if something good happens and we have been praying, it is because we made it happen by listening to our soul self of God within.

My challenges to religions do not stem from an atheistic point of view. It's not that I don't believe in a Higher Power; it is that I don't believe in religions that portray God as a human figure with supernatural backdrops of angels flying in the sky with their own wings, and with Saint Peter waiting at the heavenly gates to check the credentials of those seeking entrance. Why would there be a God who is so exclusive and judgmental? Could this be religion's way of scaring us into behaving properly? Likewise, I fail to see value in...