Gene Wall Cole - You may be right but Consider This

Consider This...
Reflections of an American
Fasting from Ignorance
By Gene Wall Cole

“Beyond the place of right thinking and wrong thinking there is a field---I'll meet you there”
Rainer Maria Rilke

Human truths, like everything else in nature, evolve and have their birth, growth and decline. An elementary school child today probably knows more than the sages of ancient Greece and Rome , while the child of tomorrow will know more than the wisest of us. We once thought the earth was flat, until someone reconsidered that belief. We once believed the sun rotated around the earth, until Galileo considered another possibility and was pronounced a heretic for his troubles. For those not quite up to date, in 1991 the Vatican finally admitted he was right (only 400 some-odd years late, but hey, better late than never.) The fact is everything evolves! “Consider This…” is about the evolution of ethics democracy and spirituality, or, if you prefer, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The driving philosophical principle behind “Consider This…” is based on the belief that the entire history of human culture is the antagonism between 2 points of view--- a static world view, and a dynamic world view where everything is constantly evolving. With the advancement of quantum physics and the unraveling of the DNA mystery, we have finally established that everything is made of energy---EVERYTHING! “Consider this…” comes from knowing that this apparent abstract fact has very practical consequences.

I see the static world view as extremely dangerous, and recognize that from this concept has sprung the fanatics of every age. They say “we possess the absolute eternal truth, and all others are false.” I believe when these tendencies are in power in politics, there are wars and terrorism. When they hold sway in religion there is fanaticism and persecution. When they take the lead in the realm of science, there comes a sterile period in scientific progress. The fact is, the idea of truth has undergone a progressive disturbance and Einstein, Galileo, Darwin, Hawkings and so many others have proven beyond a reasonable doubt the ‘relativity' of all things. One reminder I've kept close throughout this work of love, was a quote by British philosopher and writer Herbert Spencer:

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance---that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”