Leaderboard

I never heard the phrase "eternal elitism" used in the Way, up to and including the year 1989, but can't speak for after that. Elitism - this in Wikipeedonit is informative. I'm careful about Wikipedia, but this addresses some aspects of what's being discussed here I think. Dunno if I've ever chimed in on the Gnostic/Wayfer comparison before but I'd agree that the Way Nash wasn't gnostic, looking at the major streams of thought in gnostic beliefs and traditions. Thinking one is better than another and more capable of (x whatever) appears to be an aspect of human development. One can very well be better than another in any number of considerations - more knowledgable, more experienced, more influential, more this or that. How that plays out - whole different topic. God Himself describes His ways as "higher" than ours. God's reluctance to have a name, a place to put "Him" when referred to demonstrates that I think. Creator, Father, Just - these describe different aspects of how we might view God as ultimate authority but only describe in part. Jesus described the Kingdom of God where many who are first will be last, and vice versa. He describes the greatest as being the servant of all - in effect lesser by certain standards but greater by others. Modern society loves to reward and recognize "success stories" where someone works their way....up...from the bottom. In many societies past that wasn't possible to do regardless of the service you provided, as those who recognized it didn't, wouldn't or couldn't elevate that person "higher". So...if we think about it the dynamics involved in the processes of the "Kingdom of God" and that arena are very different than what we see in life if we distinguish ourselves without the recognition of others. And if that's reflected in this life, it requires a different way of actually hmmm, seeing stuff.