Questions from a religiously confused little man
I’m a simple man, I think common sense and reason, to the best of my ability, is the only way to understand how things work and what makes them work. The idea of a god and the explanations of religions as to who god is, how many gods and other supernatural beings there are, and what they do, and why they love and hate various people is very confusing. So some of my questions are…
If there is only one god, why are there so many religions?
Which religion is the one that god started, and how do we know that?
If god talks to some people to let them know about him and what he wants of us, why doesn’t he just talk to everybody?
If there are many gods, why do they fight with each other, sort of like humans do?
If there is only one god why does it have so many other supernatural beings, some good, some evil, that it seems like it can’t control?
If Islam is the true religion, why does god want to control every aspect of human life, and why does he want to destroy those that don’t believe in him according to what Muhammad said he told him.
If Christianity is the true religion, and there is only one god, why did god split itself up into three different and apparently independent parts? And why did he wait so long, thousands of years, before he told humans who they are and what they are supposed to do?
Is the Christian Bible the true word of god, if so, how does god deal with translations and interpretation?
Why does god or gods want humans to worship it or them? Is that why the god of Abraham made humans; to revere, worship, and beseech it for favors? Does that mean that god is as needy for praise, respect, and admiration as are many humans?
Does god or gods have a human kind of love for all human beings? Can god and other supernatural beings experience the emotions and mental states that humans experience; love, hate, anger, happiness, sadness, pleasure, agony, contentment, etc.?
If god made human beings out of dust and clay rather than as a product of biological evolution, why do humans have all the negative as well as the positive attributes of vertebrate animal life?
Why would the god of Christianity and Islam want to eventually biologically kill all humans and keep in “glory" only those that believed it exists and eternally torture the spiritual body, the soul (?) of those that did not believe it existed, with extreme and never relenting pain that a physical biological body can experience?
Why does god expect humans to have faith that it exists when there is so much hate, distrust, anger, argument, and even war between those that profess different beliefs? The phrase “Trust me, I know what I’m doing” does not fill me with confidence.
I’m sorry, I know religion can be a very positive (and often negative) force for cultural survival and individual well being, but for a simple, but rational mind it all just doesn’t make sense.
But despite all that: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Allahu Akbar to whoever treats their neighbors kindly, and doesn’t kill those who teach their children that religion is nonsense.
Martin Moe
Religions are shadow plays of some unknowable something beyond human understanding.
You should spend less time on the words in ancient texts and more time trying to get to know that something on a personal level for yourself.
Be present in the moment. Never know when the slight breath of god might tickle your ear.
God flowing into the Word
Citizen's Challenge: God flowing into the Word
Religions are shadow plays of some unknowable something beyond human understanding. You should spend less time on the words in ancient texts and more time trying to get to know that something on a personal level for yourself. Be present in the moment. Never know when the slight breath of god might tickle your ear. God flowing into the Word http://citizenschallenge.blogspot.com/2008/08/god-flowing-into-word.htmlOr pretend it's god when it's actually your imagination.
Religions are shadow plays of some unknowable something beyond human understanding. You should spend less time on the words in ancient texts and more time trying to get to know that something on a personal level for yourself. Be present in the moment. Never know when the slight breath of god might tickle your ear. God flowing into the Word http://citizenschallenge.blogspot.com/2008/08/god-flowing-into-word.htmlOr pretend it's god when it's actually your imagination. Well okay, but when trying to talk with the religiously touched, you gotta start with baby steps. Don't you think?
Just noticed I left out those golden words from the Bible that have been my guide and done me quite well I might add.
Seek (with a pure heart) and ye shall findYou don't need no crusty old dogmatists telling you what to think and feel, figure it out for yourself. :cheese:
If there is only one god, why are there so many religions?Who said there is only one god? No one has ever been able to count the number of gods there has been. But it has to be over 100,000 gods. History will tell you, you are living in the Age of Deities. At the time of Jesus being a god was not that amazing. Many Caesars were gods, their mothers were virgins and even their brothers and sisters could be gods. Caesar Augustus who ruled at the time of Jesus was a god. In Matthew 22:21 Jesus said "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." If Matthew really said that, it may be the reason Matthew preached in Ethiopia instead of other countries closer to Rome. Martin, you say you use common sense and reason. Then you must realize that Jesus most likely did not say those words. Jesus most likely called god by his name and not his title, like he did with Caesar. You have to take what you read in the bible with more than common sense and reasoning. You need a background in history. And there are over 900 names and titles use for the Christian and Jewish gods. The name Jesus most likely used was Elohim. Point being is that there was many gods and religions evolve.
Which religion is the one that god started, and how do we know that?Which god are you talking about? We know that religion has been around for at least 100,000 years, some say 300,000 years. But gods have only been around for 10,000 years. So religion with heaven, the spirit and afterlife was used long before gods came to be. Ask yourself, why does religion need a god for? The answer is to judge. Before gods, people judged themselves. Point being, god did not start a religion. Religions were here first and gods evolved out of the religions.
Why does god or gods want humans to worship it or them? Is that why the god of Abraham made humans; to revere, worship, and beseech it for favors? Does that mean that god is as needy for praise, respect, and admiration as are many humans?Abraham’s god was not around anymore. Just like the gods Baal and Yam who the Canaanites worshipped before Abraham. It was the Children of Abraham gods that were being worshiped. And this was all verbal and not written down. Point being we don’t really know all about Abraham’s god, just what survived and was verbally passed down. Then the priests of the Religions of the Children of Abraham’s god was captured and moved far away from Juda. They were told to write down their religion. What this did is force them to create the Children of Abraham’s religions into one religion, thus the rise again of the religion of Abraham. But it did not use any of Abraham’s gods like Elion, Olam, Shaddai or Ro’i. Now I think they built genesis on older genesis stories. Point being. I am not aware that god wanted man to worship god. They said god created man to rule over earth and the things living on earth. Sort of like god saying, I am tired of this earth project, I don’t want to mess with it anymore. I will create humans in my likeness to take care of and look after this project for me.
I’m sorry, I know religion can be a very positive (and often negative) force for cultural survival and individual well being, but for a simple, but rational mind it all just doesn’t make sense.Try stepping back and taking a broader view using a timeline of evolution. Religion, heaven and soul have been around a long time before god. And those religions have evolved and are still here today that don’t use a god. Mankind’s original term for god was knowledge. And it is all about knowledge and the control of knowledge. What happened was the priests became the judges and the controllers of knowledge. They claimed that animals and stars held the knowledge. Then it evolved into part human and part animal gods. And eventually all human gods held the knowledge. Point being is that you think this entity call god has all the answers to your questions, don’t you? And as long as god controls the knowledge that is able to control heaven and earth you want him to like you. Therefore the power of god is knowledge. Yet the basis for the religions without a god is also knowledge. Once you understand the history of knowledge, you will understand the history of god. It is all available to you today with the internet and computers. Point being. If you consider that religion is about knowledge. Then it does make sense. How do we look at education and how much do we spend on knowledge as a nation today? NOTE: 34% of American adults currently have a religious identity different from the one in which they were raised, which is up six percentage points since 2007. If the three major Protestant traditions (evangelical Protestantism, mainline Protestantism and historically black Protestantism) are analyzed as separate categories, then the share of Americans who have switched religions rises to 42%.16 And these figures do not include an estimate of the number of “reverts" (people who leave their childhood religion before returning to it later in life). If the survey had measured this category, the estimates of the number of people who have switched religions would be higher still. http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/chapter-2-religious-switching-and-intermarriage/ Point being. Is this where you are at today? I will answer the rest of the questions with my thoughts if you want. Merry Xmas & Happy New Year