Hierarchy of Sin
Fleshing out the Divine Spark: Part III
Because the divine spark inherently exists in all things organic, and the divine spark renders all of God’s creation equal,* then no hierarchy of sin exists. The lack of a hierarchy renders judgment of specific lifestyles or behaviors such as those practiced by homosexuals moot and irrelevant. For where do you draw the line? Which behaviors represent a significant enough sin to warrant rebuke or exclusion from the body of Christ (e.g., church)?
Googling “hierarchy of sin” brought up a blog written by Don Mitchell arguing that Jesus promoted the concept of hierarchy of sin by teaching the Pharisees the “greatest commandment.” This argument is fallacious; Mitchell does not deal with “sin” per se but the underlying motivation or passion fueling God’s commandments to man. By loving each other, mankind thrives and the subsequent commandments take care of themselves. This topic is extratopical to whether certain sins should warrant more attention than others. Applying his logic, however, love actually should make all sins equal; that is, loving each other means accepting each other, regardless of sin.
All of God’s creation contains a divine spark, ensuring egalitarian relationships between all forms of creation: human, animal, plant, etc. Carlos Castaneda illuminates this concept in his book, Journey to Ixtlan.
Seeking the kingdom of God requires individuals to be “good hunters.” According to don Juan, “To be a hunter means that one knows a great deal. . .It means that one can see the world in different ways. In order to be a hunter one must be in perfect balance with everything else, otherwise hunting would become a meaningless chore” (p. 53). This view is dissonant with dualism[1] that tends to categorize the world into two distinct categories. When seeking the kingdom of God, for example, hunters cannot afford to render God’s creation – the earth’s vegetative and animal inhabitants – separate from themselves and as such subordinate it or render it meaningless. Nor can hunters afford to ignore the disenfranchised or marginalized populations, the poor and the oppressed when seeking the kingdom of God. Castaneda realizes his limitations as a hunter on introspection. When don Juan queries Castaneda regarding their “equality” as human beings, Castaneda understands his shortcoming. “. . . yet I still held in the back of my mind, although I would never voice it, the belief that I, being a university student, a man of the sophisticated Western world, was superior to an Indian” (p. 57). Moreover, hunters cannot afford to have superfluous agendas obfuscate their search. Don Juan reiterates this point with Castaneda. “I used to whine and complain a great deal. I had good reasons to feel shortchanged. I am an Indian and Indians are treated like dogs. There was nothing I could do to remedy that, so all I was left with was my sorrow. But then my good fortune spared me and someone taught me to hunt. And I realized that the way I lived was not worth living . . . so I changed it” (p. 56).
Accessing the divine spark is essential for it allows human beings to begin spiritual transformation; the need to see the world differently, in its absurdity as well as in its beauty. Human beings must begin by shedding the roles of oppressor or oppressed. Both of these roles often are assumed at birth, obfuscating perceptions of meaningfulness. Viewing all of God’s creation using an egalitarian lens becomes necessary. Even so, all views are different as are all divine sparks. If cell makeup is diverse among all organic matter — intra- and inter-organic matter — then why can’t spirituality be diverse? Because we don’t understand the physical or spiritual communication among plants or between plants and other organic matter (e.g., humans, animal, etc.) doesn’t mean that it fails to exist. Animals communicate, just not as humans communicate. As such, oppressing animals and the earth is deplorable, both from a spiritual as well as an ecosystem perspective.
Moral: If hunting the kingdom of God, human beings must perceive reality in its full glory and interrelatedness. This requires a journey beyond mere conversion; that is, a spiritual transformation. Two of my favorite movies hint at the need for spiritual transformation necessary for viewing the world in a different way. Both have strong gnostic themes. American Beauty is the more subtle movie, The dance of the plastic bag — videoed by Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) — captures how Ricky’s spirit drives his perceptions, leading to beautiful realities not appreciated by most. The Matrix pounds this concept over your head by illustrating the demarcation point as the choosing between the red and blue pills. The red pill takes you to “reality,” the blue pill leaves you in a world of delusion. Although it sounds like an easy decision, it really is not. Most human beings — given the choice — would choose the blue pill because reality — much like the journey of spiritual formation in the realms of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. — is difficult, requiring sacrifice and discipline. You can read an interesting discussion of this choice, depicted as the choice between the red and blue pill, here.
[1] Wikipedia, “Dualism,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism (accessed 11 April 2008).
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