Over 2500 years ago the ancestors of modern day Jews, Christians, and Moslems believed God used a man named Hosea. Through him God warned Israel, the world and all people of history, even us today, that eventually all peoples are held accountable to God, because it’s God’s world.
Was that warning presented because we the world were feeling more accountable to our own selves, our families, our religions, and our causes, than we were toward God? The message of Hosea declared survival was not possible if that was true.
Why? The moral character of people, as a whole and as individuals, is accountable to God. Ultimate survival is not possible for those that refuse to acknowledge the Creator’s divine authority and to commit to the basic tenets of honor. We all answer to the Creator for the lives we lead, whether we believe it or not. The intellectual force that created and now sustains life, through what is called the natural laws of creation, is concerned with every created creature and their contribution to the rest of creation.
What does it mean to be accountable? It is to be: agreeable - accepting the ideas of others as valid as yours. For instance you let others talk as much as you do, because more views increase the understanding and value of things. That is why with diamonds the fewer the facets the cheaper the diamond.
What does it mean to be answerable? When we acknowledge that everything we do effects others we begin to understand why everyone answers to someone. In the oceans scientist know that every wake made in that water rocks in some way every boat. How much depends on both boats and the distance apart.
Remember the ad, "Ring around the collar?" A woman feels guilt because her husband’s shirt has ring around the collar. If we hold all accountable, why didn’t we ever ask, "Why didn’t the husband wash his neck?"
To comprehend this notion that all are accountable to the Creator, we must be open minded to the ideas of others and feel responsible toward them. No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. No raindrop in a flood ever feels responsible. No one in a war ever feels responsible. No person in a book burning community ever feels responsible. Yet God the Creator has taught us in every known faith that we are responsible for others in this world of which we are citizens.
What is a citizen? It is a resident of my street, community, state, nation, continent, and world. No person one can totally withdraw from life. We cannot isolate ourselves in any corner of this planet, it is too large and still growing. Like the boats in the ocean, every one’s actions affect the others, whom we are responsible for in this life.
What is it to be responsible? It is our duty to all others. After all, we believe, "God so loved the world," not just some of it or one particular people or area, but all of it. People who blame others for the problems of the world haven’t begun to learn about life. People who blame themselves for the problems of the world have begun their education. And people who blame no one for the world’s problems have finished their education.
Why is this so? Because to accept human imperfection as the norm and part of the landscape is to accept the fact that love/holiness can only come through blameless people responsible to God.
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