I think that one of the most insipid things about religion is the teaching that we are not good enough. The idea that we are not good enough is at the root of so many of our ills, if not all of them.
Not only do the religious powers drum into us that we are not good enough, but they also then offer the carrot of becoming good enough through belief in their ideology.
This leads to otherwise good people saying and doing evil things and, what is worse, they are blind to it.
The reason most religions do their best to indoctrinate children through early education in religion, homeschooling, Sunday school, Bible class, is because they know that if they can corrupt children they will have power over the adult that the child becomes.
This corruption is very clear when you listen to otherwise intelligent adults who believe in complete nonsense and illogical ideas.
It is not my intention nor my business to convince people one way or the other about God. I am not interested in convincing you that there is one nor am I interested in convincing you that there is not one.
If there is a God then this God would be far removed from us human beings. She would not need our constant praise, nor our obedience, nor our worship. These things are only needed by a fragile human ego.
No if She does exist and she is a God of love, then that love, in order to be love, would be completely unconditional.
What does that mean?
It means that we do not have to believe anything, we do not have to be anything other than what we are, we do not have to do anything, in order to be loved. We cannot possibly do anything that would stop Her loving us. We cannot do anything that would cause Her to turn Her back on us, or withdraw Her love. There is nothing we could do that would cause Her to abandon us nor destroy us. She, being omnipotent, would not allow any other being to destroy us either, nor torture us for eternity, nor keep us from Her love. The very idea of a satanic supernatural being is completely incompatible with the idea of an all loving omnipotent God.
You are acceptable just as you are. Right now. Right here. Not when you or others feel that you are good enough. But now. Who you are. Just as you are. No matter what you have done no matter what you will do.
3 comments:
As a student of history, myth, philosophy and religion, I agree with much of what you say.
Most of the "problem," as I see it, came from the dualistic perspective of the ancient Persians (Zoroastrians) which was later infused into Gnosticism and Essenic Judaism.
I stepped off the Abrahamic merry-go-round years ago. However, it was not because I had had no religious experiences. Rather, my religious life centers on the ancient Greek pantheon. In this, ethics are a human construct designed to foster the well-being of humanity and the individual. Consciousness that we "know" that we are individual beings makes us responsible. This makes people who are reprehensible, even though they might say that they "believe" and are "saved", still reprehensible and evil. We create our own good and evil -- the gods don't.
I think, your last sentences could be misunderstood by some people and be taken as excuse for them being dangerous for themselves or others. "no matter what we do" could be interpreted by an amoral being in the way, that it would have proof of or be justified in the fact, that torturing or killing living, feeling fellow beings is o.k. I dont think it is what you meant to say though.
We all need to strive to give/be the best we can (no competition, but not slacking either), to be true to ourselves and do what is needed to be done for our and our fellow living creatures well-being.
To act when action needs being done, to not act when it is necessary to not do anything and to know when which of the afroementioned is necessary. If we as humanity could follow those concepts,this world could be a good and safe place to live in.
Sorry for rambling, I hope, I did not garble too much, what I wanted to say :-)
Anachronist is beating up the wrong peson. Just because someone reads something in a blog, the meaning of which they choose to misinterpret, and just because they, then, choose to do wrong based on that chosen misinterpretation, does NOT make it the fault of the blogger. It's called common sense and human choice. YOU can never, ever, be to blame for someone's poor judgment. This is a place for you to state what you believe and to air your own thoughts. Don't let fools dictate what you write. Let them have their own blog and let them write there what they choose. I'm sure we could find a lot to disagree wtih there, too. I'm just not going to try to foist the blame for the misdeeds or misfortunes of others onto THEIR blog and they should do the same.
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