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kooka
I wrote a response to your last comment in my blog Christianity - what is it about?
www.bloggingnetwork.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/Cosette8419/
I hope you will read it and make some comments.
posted by
Cosette
on October 22, 2003 at 7:55 PM
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Organized Religion
Just look at the history and fragrementation! It's is nothing more than a manmade concept that is run by a committee. That is the quickest way to bastardize any hornorable and high-sounding aspiration, given time and remoteness from it's origin. I've entertained everything, from Mark Twain's "Celestial Railroad" to Dante's "Inferno" etc. and St. Thomas Aquainas to the Agnostics and Nihilists. It all boils down to one thing.... it's a leap of Faith! So let's get back to the metaphysical discussion, why do we leap? I call myself a paganist, that is; I see the higher power in nature, for lack of a better discription. Please see my only contribution to BN so far: "This a Good Day to Die?" in Writing.
posted by
bObie
on October 22, 2003 at 6:55 PM
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Cosette
As a father myself, I know that no matter what my boys do in their lives, I will never, never want to see them tortured for all entirety. Yet the Bible tells us that God will do this us unless we believe in him.
If my sons grow up and tell me they want nothing to do with me and I am not to be a part of their lives, I will not go and find a way to hurt them. I love them to much to ever think of harming them in any way. Just the idea that God claims to be a loving father who can punish in such a way is horrible. It has to be one of the worst example of parenting in history.
That is one of the main reason I can not believe in the God of the Bible.
I will forgive my children no matter what and so should he, even if they do not ask for it.
posted by
kooka_lives
on October 22, 2003 at 4:01 PM
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kooka
I'm glad to hear that you do, or can, believe there is a higher power than we. I understand you are comfortable with not knowing. But does it have to be that way?
Why, if we have a creator, would He create us and then leave us without knowing him, always to wonder who He is? That would not be natural. Nature shows us that parents, in general, love their children. They cherish them, teach them, and bond with them. What is our model for this behavior? Do we not have a creator, a "parent"? Why then, would He not want to love us, cherish us, teach us and bond with us? Could you accept that maybe, just maybe, God is our Father and He does desire that kind of relationship with us? That His one desire is for us to recognize Him so that
posted by
Cosette
on October 22, 2003 at 3:38 PM
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Cosette
I agree with most of what you are saying here.
We are something more than just our bodies.
The numbers are astronomical that we evolved into what we are.
And I would not for one moment be surprised if a higher power played a hand in it.
But it was not the God of the Bible.
I do feel there is something more out there that is beyond our understanding. We have gone and created 'God' to help us explain it, just as everyone tribe of man has created such stories since we learned how to tell stories.
Humans do not like the idea of not knowing and that makes them believe easier. They are scared of the unknown, i.e.: Where we came from, what comes after death, and that makes them want to believe in things like the Bible which explains it.
I am comfortable not knowing. I can live my life with the desire to know. and not have all the answers.
Although I would also not be surprised to learn that a single cell of life just came into being through random chance and evolved into us.
posted by
kooka_lives
on October 22, 2003 at 3:26 PM
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kooka
Have you noticed the common thread in your argument? The word is 'believe'.
Humans, all of us, believe in something. Even if it's just believing that there are no spiritual truths. What makes humans need to believe in something? No, it's not even a need, but something we do instinctually. We don't even think about believing. We think about what we will believe, but we will always have to believe something. What is this that humans have that nothing else on Earth has? We are wired differently than any other creature. Each of us has his own thoughts, his own opinions, his own beliefs. No one is separate from that. That "spark" is that part of us that is not our bodies. We are spiritual beings, all of us. Our bodies are not who we are, they just hold the spirit that is each individual.
Why are we so unique? Most who don't believe in God will say that we are the product of millions of years of evolution. They believe that Darwin nailed it in his theory. And it is a theory, since it has not been proven. But let's say that evolution is our beginning. We all know that the improbability of us evolving into what we are is astronomical. It blows even the Darwinists away. It is so improbable that it is surprising that so many believe it is true. If just that is so unbelievably improbable, how much more so that on top of that, we have this extra something that separates us and makes us unique from any other creature.
So again, I ask, what has caused this part of us? What (or Who) has created us to be believers?
posted by
Cosette
on October 22, 2003 at 3:14 PM
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kooka
Yep, that about sums it up. The mind is a very manipulative tool, and it will create from what you are feeding it (although my penis still doesn't seem to be fourteen inches long yet!)
But seriously, it's like selective vision, in that you will only see what you want to see. Believing in something means you will be more aware of evidence that supports your belief, even if said evidence doesn't have any credibility - just like The Bible.
posted by
chris2303
on October 22, 2003 at 11:03 AM
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