If you are the only one of your kind, yet others treat you as if you don't exist? Why? |
If only a few hundred animals of a kind exist, then they go on the endangered species list. If certain groups of humans are systematically wiped out as not valuable, we call that genocide. If certain types of natural resources are being squandered, burned and blatantly destroyed, we pass conservation laws. Yet, one form of human life is being treated every day as though unimportant, worthless, nonexistent! There is only one human in this kind, this group, this quality of life! Today, humans demand equality in love, in choice, in respect. Yet, this human in the most extreme of minorities daily experiences the most extreme form of discrimination. Many humans scream, "Don't tell me who I can love!" Yet, some of these same humans refuse the love of this most extreme of minorities. Many humans demand the right to choose, but many of these same humans do not allow this most extreme of minorities to choose them. Many humans demand the right to do whatever they want to do, to say whatever they want to say, to be whatever they want to be in whatever form they want that to be. Yet, this most extreme of minorities has written a book with his own thoughts, while many brazenly refuse to give him the credit for writing his own book. This human being has declared that he is the ultimate in human existence lightyears beyond what "evolution" could ever imagine. However, skeptics disbelieve his very existence. This human, no doubt, has more melanin than the ones against whom people of color have decried their poor treatment for centuries. But no one considers it foul play to discriminate against him. "Who is this most extreme of minorities?" you ask. "What does he claim?" you wonder. "Is there any proof that he is one-of-a-kind?" you demand. "Why hasn't he filed a complaint long before now?" All good questions! He claims to be human. You'll buy that? Great! He claims to be God, too. Say, "What?" Now, I'm losing you. I understand. "No one can be a human and a god at the same time!" you assert. Can you prove that you that you have always been a human and have never had an ape in your ancestry? If you can't prove this, then you may have ape in your cellular memory. That would make you human and ape at the same time. Any human can be proved to be alive by a few simple tests. Are you breathing? Does your heart beat? Can your body process food? Do your cells grow? Myriad other touch-points can prove your life in time on Planet Earth. However, what are the facts regarding your birth and ancestry? Others must fill in these details. Is this not right? Do you remember when you were born? Do you remember the details of that day? Do you know the time and place of your birth? For all of us memory is not a good touch-point of the details regarding our existence on Planet Earth. Others have written down these details. Many others have believed these details because they have been written down. Are the details of our existence any more real because they have been written in a book for posterity? Are the details of our existence any more real because other human beings have chosen to believe these written records? Ultimately, the deciding factor in the believability of any fact on Earth, in the Cosmos, in the totality of Existence is the decision to believe the fact without regard to the multiplicity of the corroboration of that fact. Humans will believe the greatest desire of their hearts simply because they have a visceral need to believe that desire is really true, even when a surplus of evidence refutes the thing they believe. Other humans will disbelieve an idea, a concept, a point of view that has been proved time and again to be true, simply because the subject in question does not fit into their belief system. Scientists in recent centuries have alleged truth that the material cosmos is eternal. "There is nothing outside of our Cosmos!" they brazenly declare. How can they prove it? How can the Scientific Method be used to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that matter is eternal and that God is not eternal, nor does He exist? The Scientific Method is based upon the assumption that if something is true, then it is observable and duplicatable. The eternality of matter is spuriously observable. The beginnings of our existence as a human race is neither observable nor duplicatable. The natural processes of Earthly conditions has been fairly consistent for centuries and millennia. Humans assert probable conditions for life at the beginnings of human existence based upon the consistency of modern processes. However, there is a BIG ASSUMPTION here. It is ASSUMED that modern processes are either eternal or consistent within logical parameters throughout the eternality of the material Cosmos. What if the processes we can observe throughout recorded history are not the only possible processes throughout the entirety of material existence? Would that not make it reasonably plausible that our understanding of Existence is flawed to some degree? The evidence available to Humanity has be used to prove that Earth's existence is in a range from a few thousand years of age to billions of years, based merely upon one's point of view. Is that not true? If our understanding of the material Cosmos is potentially flawed, even to some degree, then isn't it equally plausible that our understanding of what constitutes life could be reasonably flawed, too? With all of that as background, it is now time to consider the claims of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This Man claims to be 100% Man. Few would dare to deny that He lived a very human life for 33 1/3 years in the country of Israel. This human claims to be 100% God at the same time. Who can prove that? Who can disprove that? No one has ever found His bones. THAT is significant! Proof is not the issue at the moment. Consideration is. What if Jesus of Nazareth is actually who He claims to be? What would that mean to Humanity, regarding our relationship to Him? Think of it! 100% Human. 100% God. Is there any other individual with these credentials? If this is true, then that would make Jesus of Nazareth the most unique Individual throughout the entirety of Existence. These facts would make Jesus of Nazareth the most extreme of minorities. To deny His existence would be politically-incorrect. To remove Him from the dialogue of Humanity would be socially-unacceptable. To erase His contributions to the Earth, to the Solar System, to the Milky Way, to the Cosmos, to Existence itself would be unconscionable. In other words if we wouldn't discriminate against any other bona fide minority, then we really don't have any rationale for discriminating against Jesus of Nazareth, either. I can't prove His claims, but I can't disprove His claims, either. No human can. by Jay O'Toole on March 21st, 2017 |