LOOKING FOR A VISION...

When you were little, some boring relative probably asked you the question,
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Well, here you are grown up and
STILL don't know who or what you want to be. Maybe you don't even know where
you are heading in life. Join the club.  One thing is sure however, Man is
trying to survive, individually, and as a species in all realms -- physically
and spiritually. When we imagine a "heaven" we usually think of it in human
terms, such as places populated with people, angels, cherubs, and saints, etc.
We never think of heaven as a place that is controlled by alien intelligences
that have 7 eyeballs, and who are governed by a being that came from the
Andromedia galaxy! So even mankinds "thought-projections" into a "here-after"
are based on human-based constructs of reality and not something entirely
"different." The same goes in the justifications of our actions. "Because God
says so" is a great excuse, and so it serves to calm ourselves from being
unsure of our actions. If there is ever to be a a shared vision, it will be
based on our vision of God and our place in "Gods plan" - (even if there is no
God or God's plan.) A evil person sees the world as a evil place, a clown sees
the world as a circus, and a person in bliss sees the world as a place of
beauty. It's no wonder that Mohammed said that God wanted him to kill the
unbelievers. Thats because Mohammed himself wanted to kill the unbelievers who
would thereby interfere with his "reform."

So it can be argued that in general man sees the world in a way that he expects
his God(s) to see the world. All too often men have killed due to their "God's
will." So the fact that the "Kamikazee's" of WWII were blessed as they were
arc-welded into their death-trap airplanes -- they "knew" that God was "on
their side." The same is true of the middle-east terrorist. He "knows" that God
agrees with his views and actions, and so will therefore go to a heaven when he
dies. All of these kinds of actions call for a reform in mankinds vision of
himself and his spiritual/physical reality. This view also explains the "New
Age" movement and all of the diverse sub-cultures springing up in the USA
because of this. Cults, Fringe Science, etc, are all a search for a better
vision or reality-contruct.

REALITY TUNNELS:

Why do we do such things? Why does God resemble a human? Why does everything
man imagines have to be a relative of the "here-now" reality? What would happen
if a new religion came along and told everyone that heaven was populated with
"nano-machines" that do everything in subservience to the will of the
"master-intelligence," ala TRON, instead of angels obeying God? Instead of
using the now "old" heaven-contruct, lets design a new construct so we can move
forward as a species without war and hate or discrimination. Lets make it
impossible for somebody to justify their actions because of a God(s). Lets make
the old-testament view of a wrathfull Jehovah God an invalid and useless model
for behavior. If such a new model for behavior were made, what would such a
model require? Since death and mayhem have been a "operating procedure" for the
last 10,000 years in mans history, what is required is a shift in our
fundamental view of the universe, God, and mankind. No easy task! One way to do
this is to eliminate God and the spirit from the picture completely. Another
tactic is to introduce new "archetypes" that can raise our expectations and
desires as a species. Another tactic is to completely dehumanize everything and
look at the universe as a "trap" -- ala Buddhism, Krishna, or Scientology. None
of those work. What else is there? Well, you have the subject of technology to
deal with. What about a vision of the universe as a Hologram, or Computer
Program. Would such a view serve to enhance the unity of mind and man or
destroy it? Science Fiction deals with such other realities and technologies by
anticipating their end-result on humanity. As our society becomes more
technological, does that mean our theology and beliefs will become more
technologically oriented also? Probably. God is dead, or hasn't anybody told
you? Thats seems to be the answer to such questions at present. If God is dead,
something else has to arrive to take his place. Does that mean we adopt "alien
invaders" and UFO's to take the place of Gods or the Devils minions? I dont
know the answer, but it seems that we may be headed in that direction. For
example, the ancient prophets used to commune with the Gods on Olympus, and now
of course, the secular-human prophets are "cummuning" with extra-terrestrial
intellegences! What comes after that? Probably something like "communing" with
a silcon chip of an A.I. computer!

The fact is our reality-constructs are changing, but there seems to be no
control over WHAT constructs we adopt for our new viewpoints. How long will it
be before aliens intelligences are being attributed for giving Moses the 10
Commandments? Or Ezekiel and the Chariots of Fire? Such things are so flexible
in truth and interpretation that anybody can come along and assign a new
"significance" or "truth" to such events with equal validity since there is no
"standard" or  capital "T" truth to judge them by.  You are the new
techno-shaman of the world. You are the Cyber-men/women of the future. You are
shaping reality every day by your actions. By your writings, actions,
conversations, arguments and opinions you are giving shape to a new
world-model. Remember this and keep close to your heart that todays vision's
become tommorrows reality. Lets explore the boundaries of our perceptions and
beliefs to come up with something workable before another all-too-real
cult-leader dictates what is real and what is not! Remember the famous
quotation: "Think for yourself, smuck!" Any vision(s) of the future should be
based on increasing human intelligence, ability, and life. There are NO other
goals to reach for. These three goals will be worthy of pursuit for
generations, because they coincide with our drives as a species. Lets try to
have control over what new models are used in shaping our views of the
universe. Lets get rid of the "justification trap" that has led all too many
"true believers" to their early graves. Lets get rid of the Jim Jones's, Ron
Hubbards, Reverend Moon's and Charles Manson's of the reality-contruct business
and develop a construct that makes nobody rich, hated or discriminated against.
Remember, if we dont take the initiative to direct and develop new contructs,
somebody else will develop them, and they may not be for the best future.