Namaste ~ Greg J

Host: “Welcome to ‘Meet a Theologian’, where we dialogue with people who are experts on God.”

GJ: “Excuse me, but I’m not a theologian.”

Host: “Um, what? But you said—”

GJ: “I said, ‘I am the logician.’ And that's just in my family! I can solve problems, like, where you need to ask directions at a crossroads from identical twins, one who is a truth-teller and the other who is a liar.”

Host: “Okaaay. But did you not blog about God and holy things?”

GJ: “Yes, but—”

Host: “Then you’ll do fine! In that blog did you not say that humans are the only holy things? There are survivors of death camps who might argue.”

GJ: “Whoa.  I didn’t say that.  I’m aware of perversion and wickedness.  I’ve taught in middle schools!”

Host: “So in what sense are humans holy?”

GJ: “The deal with ‘holy’ is that God is holy. God defines ‘holy’ better than water defines ‘wet’.  No God, no holy.  Closer to God, more holy.  Point two: Respect the holy. Actual theologians have argued which aspects of humanity if any show God’s image. Intellect? Creativity? Moral sense?  I don’t know.  But God has demonstrated respect for the human package He made in His image. He loved us even while we were sinners. Monsters like Himmler, Pol Pot, and Kony have that historical heritage just like anyone else. All creation deserves respect. Out of all creation, people were made in God’s image.”

Host: “So we should worship all creation, especially people?”

GJ: “No! Respect isn't worship. Only God deserves worship. Did you see ‘Avatar’?”

Host: “Yes. I liked those blue people way better than the Smurfs.”

GJ: “Okaaay... The blue people sometimes earnestly said, ‘I see you.’  We have a similar tradition on parts of this planet.  You hold your hands together like this and say, ‘Namaste’. It means, 'I bow to you.'”

Host: “Doesn’t it also mean, ‘the god in me sees the god in you?’”

GJ: “I don’t know. A spiritual dimension seems what the Avatar movie had in mind, along with 'we are all connected' woo-woo. Regarding 'namaste', however, I doubt that billions of people for thousands of years intended much more than 'hello'.  Maybe a little more. ‘Namaste’ with the little bow has always struck me as more polite than ‘wazzup’.”

Host: “Heh.  So you think we should treat all people with respect, but not worship people?”

GJ: “Yes! And respect doesn't deny that there's evil in people, Can pro-God and anti-God dispositions co-exist in a person?  I find for 'yes' in examining myself.  Moreover, the presence of junk does not diminish my responsibility to the good part.  People, even evil-doers, deserve more respect and more attention than things. God said so. It’s taken me a long time to realize that.”

Host: “Why?”

GJ: “I wanted to believe that people whose actions disgusted me were intrinsically evil. Excluding myself, of course.”

Host: “You’d agree, ‘hate the sin but love the sinner’?”

GJ: “True. Including myself, of course.  My view of humans is mixed: sufficiently depraved to fry, sufficiently holy to love, needing to trust God. Imago Dei—God’s image—encourages me in that long process of loving.”

Host: “Are you sure you’re not a theologian?”

GJ: “I can only aspire.”

Host: “That’s it for ‘Meet a Theologian’.  Next week our guest will be Francis Bentromo, who found Jesus in a tortilla.”