Meditation 62
The Sky IS the Limit!
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"The sky's the limit!" is a phrase used to suggest that there is no limit on what can be achieved. It indicates endless potential. But driving[1] through Cedar City, Utah, I read the following on a sign in front of the First Baptist Church: "The sky is not the limit. God is!"
What a reversal in meaning. From boundless capabilities, we are restrained to what God permits, or more correctly, restrained to the limits identified by those individuals who take it upon themselves to interpret the word of whichever questionable god(s) they follow.
These restrictions (or "thou shalt not"s) are very real, not just with respect to morality but in just about every aspect of human endeavour. It is difficult to find any social or technological advance which was not opposed by at least one of the many forms of organized religion.
The name of God has been used to defend the various forms of feudal and caste systems, both past and present. God has been used to justify slavery, and continues to be used in support of discrimination by race and sex.
God has been used to argue against steam engines, automobiles, and airplanes. They are unnatural, as are life-saving medical procedures, birth control, and the various forms of assisted conception.
If those who speak for the gods had been allowed to have their way, we would still be living in caves, eking out a brief and brutal existence.
Throw off the shackles of the words of gods! Allow humankind to pursue a future without divine restraints. If there are limits we wish to impose on ourselves (such as banning development of bigger and better nuclear weapons) let those limits come out of logical analysis, not the purported wishes of an imaginary bogeyman in the sky.
Footnote
- If only this web site generated an income, I could make my travel tax-deductible. My trips always seem to generate a Meditation or two.