Wednesday, April 15, 2009
"SEEK, AND YOU SHALL FIND"
The recent religious holidays got me thinking about God and religion. What a mind boggling subject. Initially, what you believe depends on where you are born, your parents religion, and how your brain is wired. Then, the thinking begins. As you live, learn, and have experiences, your personal beliefs are developed and even change over time. I think it is safe to say that it is impossible to rationally prove whether there is a God, or not. I have studied most of the world's sacred holy books such as, Vedas, Bhagwad Gita, Pali Canon, Torah, Christian Bible, and the Koran. I have read about Yahweh, Christ, Allah, and the Buddha. I am sure that other people have done the same, and arrived at different conclusions from mine. The holy books of the great religions are filled with poetry, history, myths, parables, philosophy, "Gods Word", and symbolism, which is the essence of all religions. Mystics and Prophets do a better job explaining God than theology or science. Personally, I feel that God is involved in all the religions. It is too bad that dogmatic religions divide humanity into warring camps. Ironically, love one another, and Do unto others as you would have them do onto you, are important commandments in all the great religious traditions. Why can't we do what we preach? If the Bible (and other holy books) are interpreted literally, the idea of God becomes impossible. To imagine a deity who is literally responsible for everything that happens on earth involves impossible contradictions! The God of the Bible ceases to be a symbol of a transcendent reality and becomes a cruel and despotic tyrant. God is real, but has yet to reveal himself and his nature to me. It is a mystery.
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You make some good points, Mr. Thinker. The conclusion I draw is that, on balance, we are better off without religion. Yes, I know how much solace many people find in their religious beliefs, but the death and destruction wrought by religious fanatics over the centuries is hard to overlook . . . or tolerate. In a world where weapons of mass and massive destruction increasingly become available to every nutcase who thinks he's God's weapon, we can no longer afford the luxury of solace at the price of violence. It's time that people take responsibility for their actions, with no excuses, and reverse the direction of human destruction.
ReplyDeleteI would not go quite that far. My opinion is that there is a 50% balance between good and evil created by religion. Also, I think religious freedom is a good thing; including freedom to not be a part of a religious group.Faith in God ought to be a positive characteristic for humanity. Maybe someday...
ReplyDeleteCheck out the Chinese philosophy Tao. It means "the way". It has been around for 25 centuries, longer than any religion.
ReplyDeleteHey, Lilly,
ReplyDeleteGreat comment! I forgot to mention the Chinese.
25 centuries ago is just a little before my time. Maybe it can show me "the way". I will study up on it. Thanks!