For the last 2 months I have wanted to dedicate a post to the achievements of Sir Lloyd George Geering who reached the great old age of 100 on the 26th of February this year. The problem is I have been struggling not only with what I should say, but how I should say it.
While I’m able to spout facts as well as anyone (especially if it’s on a topic I have an interest in), expressing more abstract notions presents a real problem for me. I’m not sure whether my thought process is closer the that of the autistic mind or that of the neurotypical mind, but I have great difficulty in converting what I feel/sense about ideas and concepts firstly into words and then into a series of ordered sentences.
So I will simply say thank you Sir Lloyd for helping me realise that my beliefs were not “way out” or heretical way back in the 1960s when I liked to think I was Christian and for affirming to a large sector of NZ society, both within and without Christianity, that religion does not have to be steeped in supernatural beliefs.
Oh, and a very happy (and belated) 100th birthday!
Another Spectrum 
12 Apr, 2018 at 12:08 pm
Religion and superstition are very much bedfellows. Sadly.
I don’t see how it’s possible to divorce/separate/isolate the two? As for Doc Geering, I do remember the name and (vaguely) that he was the subject of quite some opprobrium in his day.
12 Apr, 2018 at 1:17 pm
Don’t confuse tradition with superstition. They may appear outwardly the same, but they come from different places.
I belong to a tradition where “God language” is still used, but few if any believe in deities or other supernatural forces. Here, even among the mainline churches it’s rather easy to locate congregations that perceive God as (to paraphrase Sir Lloyd) “the personified verbal symbol that reflects the values one holds most dear”.
In the 1960s he was charged by the Presbyterian Church with “false doctrine”, in other words heresy, for stating there was no immortal soul and that there was no resurrection. The church found he had no case to answer and the charges were dismissed.
He’s highly respected here in Aotearoa New Zealand (unless one is a fundamentalist/Bible literalist), even by those who hold different religious views. He holds the country’s highest honour (for his services to religion and theology) and has no belief in any form of supernatural force. Quite common in this part of the world.
12 Apr, 2018 at 4:18 pm
I love the way he/you put that “the personified verbal symbol that reflects the values one holds most dear”. Anyone using this has got it right, from an average (?) New Zealander’s perspective; certainly from mine too.
Every day and with absolutely zero intention of really invoking a spook many of us say things like “God help you if you’re home late from school” or “Shall do, God willing” or (a personal favourite) “Oh for God’s sake!”.
It is indeed difficult for a New Zealander to understand the real meaning of religion in this modern world (or to accept that men hundreds/thousands of years dead still rule most of the globe) and cheerfully butcher others for ‘worshipping false gods’ … long may it last, Kiwi!