NEIGHBORHOOD v Being Missional your shared existence with all living things. In a basic sense, it is a difference between an objective and subjective system of values. My view of religion is a set of rules by which you govern your life, by following such rules, you are more often in closer communion with that Higher Power. My real issue with most religions is that because they are designed and enforced by Man, they are inherently problematic. Often, it seems that religion is about power and who maintains that power and about the pronouncements of moral judgments, which utilize those age-old tools of fear and guilt to keep people in line. I don’t think most religions empower people to find the impetus within themselves to
on others and instead, tried to communicate his views by inviting others to listen and share at His table, knowing that unless others really make that choice within themselves to believe in something, He can’t force it. For me, any religion that creates a hierarchy of power within its ranks doesn’t acknowledge the equality of men and women, doesn’t open its door and heart to all mankind, and keeps people in a state of fear by employing guilt rather than education and empowerment—such an entity is not in communion with the God I believe in. Q: Which living person do you most admire? A: Well, Muhammad Yunus is up there, as is Nicholas Negroponte and nearly everyone at the
with my strengths and my flaws. Just in the last two years, I have made peace with the fact that I do indeed feel fear. I can still be hurt very deeply, I have bad hair days, and my abs aren’t quite what they used to be if I don’t keep doing crunches. What I’ve learned is to have compassion for these parts of my being, to acknowledge that they are there, and that to not acknowledge them would be to disown some essential part of my humanity. Q: Do you believe the greatest ignorance is believing the world exists in the way it appears to exist…how do you view the world and what exists for you? A: My first response to this question was that
To me,
spirituality is about
reflection and examination, going to that place that
knows right from wrong and connecting to that
truth. live life with a code of ethics and fairness; in other words, I believe it’s better to do a good deed because you want to rather than because you should. It’s symptomatic of how the type of wiring within us affects almost any situation; if inside you know you really would cheat on your wife because you want to, but the only reason you don’t is because your religion tells you not to and you’re afraid of punishment, you effectively ‘cheated’ on your wife anyway. I’m not talking about being tempted, which I think is natural and healthy to acknowledge that we all are at various times, it’s about what you know you would do if no one—human being or deity—is looking. Similarly, it’s why I don’t think diets work, because they’re about what you ‘should’ do for your body, rather than what you want to do even with all the freedom of choice in front of you. Honestly, I was raised as a Roman Catholic, and the reason I don’t consider myself one anymore is because deep down, in my gut, it really seems to me that a lot of the rules and guidelines aren’t actually very Christian. Jesus Christ was revolutionary in his acceptance of everyone, no matter how obscene or dispossessed they were to others in society. He reserved his judgment
MIT Media Lab, Billie Jean King, and Madeline Albright. And, I love a good scamp, so I really miss Norman Mailer, Spalding Gray, and Hunter Thompson. I admire people who have the security of Self to be able to stand alone in the face of scrutiny and adversity, and I especially admire those wonderful people who can be eccentric—those who comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. But, I also have a major soft spot for Sean Connery. Q: What is it that you most dislike? A: I’d have to say that people who aren’t selfaccountable really annoy me. So much damage is done in the world by people who aren’t being honest with themselves about who they are and what choices they make. There is always, I think, a sort of reckoning with the Self at some point. I would rather meet that willingly than have my future kids throw it back at me one day in family therapy. Q: What quality do you lack that you wish you could attain? A: Besides being able to bend my ankles? Jeez, this is hard. Being able to fly would be good— I’ve often had that fantasy. Seriously, I imagine that a lot of people would like to not feel fear or pain or would like to have more confidence or something like that; but honestly, I’m okay
I hold very little personal value in being ‘realistic.’ I have gotten very far in life by choosing to believe that I could do what I could imagine or dream up in my head, and I am a huge proponent of creating your own reality when it comes to what you are personally capable of achieving. But upon reevaluating the question, I will concede that there are certainly politicians and businesspeople who have wreaked havoc in our world because of a willful lying to themselves and others in order to make sense of their actions, to keep believing that they are ‘right’ about the way the world exists or the way they want it to exist. Therefore, I will answer this question from a personal standpoint of what ignorance means to me. I believe ignorance is a deliberate choice to not engage in a dialogue with any subject, whether that is another person or a topic. Simply not knowing about something doesn’t denote ignorance to me, but rather a lack of opportunity to learn. Ignorance is when that opportunity presents itself and we turn away from the conversation, from the invitation to learn about something new to us. Q: When you leave Earth, how will Aimee Mullins be remembered? A: You tell me…. DECEMBER 2008 • LOGOSSEVEN 19