If God--supposing He, She, It, Howsoever you wish to designate the figure--is the supreme creator of the universe in which we reside, the language that God speaks should be of a universal nature.  One which can be understood by all, anywhere at all times, from the brightest center of the earth to the darkest corner of the cosmos.

Human languages are hardly universal.  The barriers that exist between nations can almost be defined in scope by the difficulty with which different folks have in understanding each other.  In this country, especially, "American identity" is practically synonymous with speaking the English language (ironically, most of the loudest proponents of this theory seem to be the type who are ignorant to the fact that ENGlish comes from ENGland, and that the language is itself derived from Germanic roots--but I digress).

So then if not through the artifice of word and speech which we have created, then through what does God speak?  The answer comes in a subtler but ultimately grander form.  We can look up to the celestial heavens themselves for clues.  Perhaps it is the "language" which glues all of the mechanics of the known world together--all of the planets and nebulous gases, bound together by gravity; perhaps it is in that primordial form from which all life has descended, the stars--lending some significant credence to the ancient practice of revering the Sun itself as a kind of deity; or maybe we can even look at it on a less, um, quantum mechanical scale, and think of things such as music, which touches us all, or the barely perceptible molecular vibration that exists between all human interactions.  If the devil is in the details, then God is there too, but more hidden--and without conceit to try and fit the details together.  There is something more universal about being less specific.  And in just knowing or choosing to believe that God exists because God is in all of us.

Of course across the expanse of history that has given mankind a sort of dangerous hubris.  Without further beating around the bush, I put forth that the most tangible evidence of that frightening arrogance is the Bible.  Even after the age of Enlightenment, and in a society where more people have accepted that natural rationality is a stronger guiding light than superstition, there are a staggering amount of folks who look to the Bible as the literal work of that higher power, sent down from the heavens bound in gold to guide us towards that which He wants.

Following through from this, and even more hauntingly, is a long list of actions that are justified because of interpretations made from the Bible.  To kill in God's name is a human tradition.  But it is not in God's name that we are doing it.  It is in overzealous adherence to words as haughty and fallible as the men who first put them down into form.  And this sociocultural phenomenon exists across all major religions and across all periods of time, reaching as far back to the Early Roman Empire, where God was first conceptualized as the alpha and omega--to figuratively signify the beginning and the end, by literally signifying the beginning and end of the alphabet.

Word is dangerous because we think of it as a gift from our deity.  But it is not a gift.  Life is the gift.  Word and language is a human construct designed to try and better understand that gift of life, and to be able to communicate it to our neighbors.  Not a horrible idea, but somewhere along the line, communication took a backseat to the enslavement of races, to the abolishment of the wicked, to the judgment of all under the auspices of an imagined core rulebook.

Most painful is that at the dawn of a technological revolution we are still drawn to this archaic flight of fancy.  The Crusades haven't ended, just gotten a little bit more organized.  Notably today there is a crusade against homosexuality.  There's something ironic about that particular issue.  Homosexuality is a "sin" because it is a "crime" against nature.  The nature in this instance, though, is a biological one; from an evolutionary standpoint we as humans are meant to breed in order to propagate the species, something which physiologically homosexuals cannot do.  If this is a crime against anyone, it is against Darwin and his championed idea of natural selection.  But, for some reason, I could have sworn the Bible-thumpers were against Darwin too.....

There also seems to be a Crusade FOR an unnerving kind of social ignorance.  Anyone who hasn't seen the recent Insane Clown Posse music video Miracles should check it out for a prime example of this.  Look past the embarrassingly amateurish lyrical scheme or Windows 95-esque "GRAFIX", or past the fact that whatever edge this group used to have is sorely down the toilet, and you will instead find that, rather than something to be innocently laughed at, there is a very dangerous message here.  To "appreciate without explanation" or to condemn the indisputable facts of scientists over some confusing lie that they've apparently been getting Shaggy 2 Dope pissed about.  ICP is sending a message to its (alarmingly impressionable) fans that to ignore knowledge is to accept a place by God's side.  The blind religious fervor in this video is not explicitly stated but its undertones are evident enough--after all, 'subtle' is the last adjective one could use to describe this masterpiece of trash America.  What this insipid clown posse is failing to realize is that God is IN the science that makes magnets work; God exists through the beautiful mechanism that creates a "fucking rainbow".  I can grant that it is a miracle that we are here and we get to witness these wonderful things.  But it is more miraculous that we have the ability to understand, perceive and appreciate BECAUSE OF explanation.  That is the gift that God gave us.  Ignorance in the face of enlightenment is a rape of that gift.

Also, ghosts?  Might not even exist.  And what is so special about crows?  Crows!?  Really?  Did one of them try to eat your cell phone as well?

If you answered no, don’t feel bad.  You’re just one of the many victims of our paranoid, xenophobic society.

Okay, you can feel bad now.

There is, of course, an element of common sense to consider when interacting out in the public sector.  If the candy in question were being offered from a plastic bag, the behavior would probably qualify as suspicious enough to warrant avoidance.  But at what point in our history did we come to assume that all behavior not being enacted by somebody we know is instantaneously suspicious?  Aren’t we taught that one is innocent until proven guilty?  Yes, but of greater significance, apparently, we are also taught not to “talk to strangers”.  The irony is that we are all strangers.   Strangers stuck living together, shifting aimlessly through space, desperately clinging within the confines of our own imaginary sphere, avoiding the contact of any other, not talking.  And thus, remaining strangers eternally.

We exist as individuals but, in a cosmic sense, we are all a part of the body politic that is the human race.  A body with a self-inflicted cancer it cannot be rid of.

Not just rambling here.  For the sake of curiosity, I had decided to offer some of my fellow human beings some free candy, without any strings attached.  They were unopened candy bars that I had purchased myself.  I will concede to the idea that this may raise some questions.  Unfortunately, our modern men and women are taught to flee as quickly as possible from questions rather than trying to find out the answers.  I stood outside of a convenience store and made an offer to all exiting customers.  I even respected certain boundaries and refrained to speak to anybody’s underage children (even though they would surely derive the most joy from a free piece of candy!).  I was treated to a rousing chorus of “No, thank you” and a few laughs.  Nobody stopped to inquire.  Nobody even really looked at the candy that I had.  Nobody even considered that just because something was out of place does not necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing.

Desperate, I even tried to just extend my hand with the candy bar out as far as I could, not saying a word.  This produced the most comical result.  Folks would recoil, stare dumbfoundedly, and wander off, also not saying a word.

I was not able to give one piece of candy away.  I exclaimed that it was free.  I suggested that it could be given, in turn, to a friend or loved one.  I even resorted to assuring that I had not “done anything” to the candy.  Nothing.

Alright, now consider this: if you happened upon a wrapped candy bar just lying out in the open, would you take it?  Because when I was finally fed up, I decided to leave three candy bars in visible places where they would not be stepped on, and entered the store.  When I came back outside a half an hour later, two of the three were gone.

People are more comfortable taking a candy off of the ground than they are from the hands of a vile stranger.  Oh well.  At least I got to eat the 100 Grand.

Something about all of this is as incredibly sad as it is funny.  The universe is an unpredictable place.  The Earth is a tiny, fragile part of that, and we do not have a lease on it.  The healthiest of us only have about a hundred years before we die.  Wouldn’t we want to make all of that uncertainty and feelings of insignificance as pleasant as possible?  Wouldn’t we want to coexist?  Or is it just safer and easier to stay within your own sphere and never really let anybody into it?

Because God forbid if we were to challenge our boundaries.

“If you woke up in the middle of the night

And in your bare feet you walked outside

And realizing that you were awake that you could fly

Out over the world, out over the world

To places that you’ve only heard of

See faces that you were sold as murderers

But just like you they’re only lonely boys and girls

Like all over the world, all over the world

What if you were back in bed

With one of them floating over your head?

What do you say to your enemies

When you don’t know what it is

That could have been between you?

That could have been between you all”