One Family, on One Earth, under One God
The belief in something beyond the material is common to every indigenous society, culture and tradition in human history. These beliefs have appeared through our long history in various forms such as ghosts, nature spirits, mythical creatures, deceased-ancestors and all manner of gods and demigods.
Then, 4000 years ago in Palestine, a theological leap of seismic proportions was made that forever transformed the landscape of human religion. A man called Abram had an encounter that lead him to champion the idea of the absolute oneness of God, a Supreme Creator of the heavens and the Earth. This began the Jewish worship of Yahweh, and monotheism, the belief in one universal God, entered history.
Abram came to be known as Abraham, and his powerful vision of a single, personal, universal God is the source of many of the world’s great religions including: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, the Baha’i faith, the Rastafarian Movement and many others. Today, monotheism is the foundation of faith for more than half the world’s population.
In India and the East, the focus of religion was more inward than upward as mystics explored their personal connection to the universe, endeavoured to overcome base human desires and to journey ever deeper into truth – the Dharma.
Dharmic religions became as diverse as their western monotheistic cousins. Theravada Buddhism, largely considered non-theistic, places supreme value on the universal Law (Dhamma), while others, such as Mahayana Buddhism embrace a variety of personal Deity concepts.
Hinduism itself reveres the Supreme Brahman, an understanding of absolute reality with both personal and non-personal aspects. In spite of its many “gods” some religious thinkers see the Hindu understanding of Brahman as monotheistic.
Since that distant ancestor first yearned for some unseen help with the hunt, the human race has been on an big journey in its understanding of God. The diversity of god-concepts are certainly rich in variety, – there are as many ways of understanding God as there are those who think about God– and yet, regardless of the approach, be it personal, non-personal; monotheistic, pantheistic or non-theistic, the search for connection to a higher truth is common to most people, all tribes and every culture, be it ancient or modern.
These days many people say they are not religious even though they believe in God. Social researchers call this fast-growing group “unattached believers”.
Others don’t like the word “God” – perhaps because of some unfortunate images put forth by institutional religion; (no one more badly needs a PR firm than God!) – many say they believe in “something” … but don’t know exactly “what”, “who” or how to name it. Some call it “the Universe” others “the Source”,.. As a grouping we are going to call these guys the Something-ists.
Some folks don’t give much thought to bigger questions of meaning & truth… but could be inspired by new ways of thinking and up-to-date ideas about God, – ideas more in harmony with advancing scientific knowledge & concepts of God that make sense. Many have grown up in a bubble of secular materialism with no concept of God at all, either for or against. Among this large modern group, these “children of the enlightenment”, are the inquisitive and open minded types that we call the God-curious.
In adding these groups together with people of professed faith, we have an overwhelming number of folks on this planet who could potentially be drawn into the conversation about the idea of one, universal God transcending all culture, race, philosophy and even religion. We believe that celebrating this profound connection to a common origin has great spiritual potential to unite as we celebrate the diversity of ways in which our beautiful, colourful human family understands and connects to God.
Some are convinced that their particular view of God is “THE Truth” and all those who do not conform to their vision are either doomed or “the enemy”. As we know all too well, sometimes religious fanatics resort to violence or intimidation to make their point. There is no fun in any fundamentalism, be it Christian, Muslim, Hindu or any other kind – it clouds the hearts and minds of those under its sway and it poses a real threat to peace in today’s world.
At the other end of the scale is the peculiarly modern idea that truth is entirely relative and exists only in the experience of the individual and that somehow everyone’s “truth” must be equally valid. Like printing your own money, this devalues the currency of truth until it becomes worthless. This is relativism. Wanting everything to be equally true is actually meaningless.
We want to focus on what unites us and makes all of humanity one family – truly brothers and sisters.
This is what 1GOD.com is all about:
It is a platform where people can meet the challenges of fundamentalism, relativism and the dominance of secular materialism by promoting unity between many various groups of believers in God while including those individuals who are open to God.
1GOD.com will:
- explore issues related to personal spirituality
- encourage interfaith dialogue and cultural exchange
- provide examples of faith in action
- offer inspiring artistic and musical expressions
- be a platform for forward thinking about God
- examine matters of science and religion, and
- discuss the ethical and philosophical implications of sharing a universal spiritual heritage
Why not help make it possible?
No matter how you participate, we welcome you with open arms.
We believe in:
One God… Many Prophets
One Truth… Many Philosophies
One Family… Many Tribes
Let’s work together to unite the tribes; One Family, on One Earth, under One God.
