September 15, 2019
Touching the Elephant
Values the World’s Religions Share, and How They Can Transform Us
by Nancy Thompson
Excerpt from “Chapter 1: Rescuing the World”
Some would look at that assault and the expressions of hate and violence in the world and dismiss it as “human nature” or with the pronouncement that “God is dead” and this is the proof. I don’t believe God is dead, although perhaps God is also not “alive,” at least not in any conventional sense. I do believe that we can benefit if we stop arguing about what God is and whether God is and whose idea of God is the “right” idea of God. We can benefit if we stop insisting that people should believe in God. We can benefit if we focus instead on the shared spiritual values that shape human society. We can benefit if we will admit that there are beliefs and actions that can beneficially bind human society together and work to cultivate them.
