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.