I believe in God.
I admire Christopher Hitchens pen.
So why didn’t I rush out to buy god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything when it hit the book stores?
For one thing, I’ve never purchased a Hitchens’ title, even if I regularly visit Hitchens Web for new offerings to savor. Instead of buying the book, whenever I found myself in a bookstore, I’d seek this title out, crack it open, and read a few pages. What I read intrigued me. I finally bought it and read it the other day.
As I read this book, I felt no shame, no desire to rush out and consume as many C.S. Lewis essays as I could lay my hands on, no inexplicable compulsion to shower. To the contrary, while this is an unabashed condemnation of any form of belief in God, and by extension any believer, it is no celebration of secularism. It is a celebration of reason, science, and humanity, all three of which any thoughtful believer ought to be able to “get with.”
One of my first observations about this book is the case of Hitchens’ title. Hitchens lower-cases the word “god.” Does he intend this as some kind of disrespect? Or, is he framing the problem—that all human expressions of belief in God invariably result in religious doctrine that is too often narrowly and erroneously construed and applied with disastrous results? While I think the former is true, I think the latter may be more accurate.
In this anti-religious polemic, Hitchens asserts there are three provisional conclusions about religion:
…[R]eligion and the churches are manufactured, and that this salient fact is too obvious to ignore…
This first conclusion is the most persuasive, and, in my mind at least, the most agreeable. If you have studied biblical criticism, you will enjoy recollections of familiar arguments filtered through Hitchens’ unapologetic, at times even caustic, writing. If you haven’t, this work will make you think.
You cannot conduct a serious study of the Bible’s cannonization, for example, and avoid the role of human choice in the Bible’s content. Prior to the Council of Trent (1545 to 1563), which established the books of the Bible recognized today, there were at least nineteen prior attempts to discern which writings were sacred. This not only makes troubling the claim that “the Bible is the Word of God,” on a more empirical level, it reminds me of a verse in William Blake’s “London” that references religion using the term mind-forged manacles:
In every cry of every man,
In every Infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear.
~William Blake, “London,” from Songs of Experience (1791)
Some interpret this poem as a lament of oppressive government and religion by the down-trodden. Others suggest the down-trodden in this poem have brought this plight upon themselves. After reading god is not Great, I think Hitchens would contend that both interpretations look at the same problem—religion—from different angles.
If the Biblical canon is inspired by God, in it is also the choice of “man”—inspired or not. Hitchens’ beef is that religious leaders’ first obedience is religious doctrine, not science, reason, or even humanity. Moreover, if priests, rabbis, and imams of all stripes have made inspired interpretations of the Bible, the Talmud, the Qur’an… there are most certainly a number of unfortunate, poorly deliberated ones as well. One of my favorite passages in the book deals with the duplicity of the Catholic Church over the doctrine of divorce:
Take a single example, from one of the most revered figures that modern religion has produced. In 1996, the Irish Republic held a referendum on one question: whether its state constitution should still prohibit divorce. Most of the political parties, in an increasingly secular country, urged voters to approve of a change in the law. They did so for two excellent reasons. It was no longer thought right that the Roman Catholic Church should legislate its morality for all citizens, and it was obviously impossible even to hope for eventual Irish reunification if the large Protestant minority in the North was continually repelled by the possibility of clerical rule. Mother Teresa flew all the way from Calcutta to help campaign, along with the church and its hard-liners, for a “no” vote. In other words, an Irish woman married to a wife-beating and incestuous drunk should never expect anything better, and might endanger her soul if she begged for a fresh start, while as for the Protestants, they could either choose the blessings of Rome or stay out altogether. There was not even the suggestion that Catholics could follow their own church’s commandments while not imposing them on all other citizens. And this in the British Isles, in the last decade of the twentieth century. The referendum eventually amended the constitution, though by the narrowest of majorities. (Mother Teresa in the same year gave and interview saying that she hoped her friend Princess Diana would be happier after she had escaped from what was an obviously miserable marriage, but it’s less of a surprise to find the church applying sterner laws to the poor, or offering indulgences to the rich.)
~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, pages 17-18
This passage illustrates a very recent example of selectively applied Church doctrine, one standard for the modern, Irish descendants of the nameless, faceless people in Blake’s “London,” another for the rich and celebrated. Hitchens does a remarkable job of compiling and recounting examples like this, and the effect is highly persuasive, but to most believers, this argument will do nothing to shake-up faith. It is easy to recognize the role of human fallibility through the course of Biblical history, and many Christians I know have balanced their Biblical study with such criticism.
Ethics and morality are quite independent of faith, and cannot be derived from it…
Where this deontological argument is concerned, Hitchens fails to mention what surely must be a palpable sense of discomfort in looking across the life raft that is his position to see Dr. Laura Schlessinger paddling along in rhythm with him. The only difference between Hitchens and Schlessinger is that where Hitchens’ moral code derives from a priori reasoning about the nature of things, Schlessinger’s derives from her Jewish faith. Hitchens’ emphasis on science and reason as the bedrock of ethical choice is reminiscent of Immanuel Kant’s idea that moral rightness comes from acts that further the status of people as free and rational beings. (Hitchens also commits an entire chapter to the idea that there is no metaphysical—ontological—justification for religion.)
Arguably, ethics and morality can exist in an absence of religion, but to claim that ethics and morals cannot be derived from religion is to crawl perilously far out on the branch. There are a host of studies that suggest otherwise. Still, to dwell on this is to miss Hitchens’ larger point: while examples of religious doctrine that frees people to utilize reason and science as the central premise in decision-making do not exist, examples of religious doctrine that constrain individual freedom and discourage ideas based on reason and science do.
Because it claims a special divine exemption for its practices and beliefs, Religion is not just amoral but immoral…
At this, Hitchens unleashes his own brand of shock-and-awe argument. For those who can get past the repulsion and insult, the real target of his ire becomes apparent: it is not religion in its entirety, but the kind of religious doctrine that prohibits free and rational thought, and worse, the application of this doctrine in political and legislative contexts. When Religion breaches the concept of Separation of Church and State, the result is almost always disastrous: Jihadism, condemnation of AIDS prevention through condom use, prohibition of Federal Stem Cell research, elevation of Intelligent Design as a science… his examples are legion. These are the incoherencies of religious doctrine upon which atheists like Hitchens thrive, at once my intellectual fallacy and embarrassment.
As a man who believes in God, Hitchens’ god is not Great is a great read if for no other reason than it proves that after more than 200 years, Blake’s mind-forged manacles exist still.
Cheers,
Gotta hand it to ya Mitch. You’re not shy about broaching topics that most veer away from. Start talking about belief in god or the lack thereof and you could get into some hot water. But I’ll bite.
I don’t believe in god, at least not in the traditional Judeo-Christian sense. I believe in a power, an energy, a force, which for the sake of simplicity and social convention I call god. The god that religions refer to is the same energy source that I believe in, but when you say god, most people think of the big meany in the sky that keeps track of all our transgressions so he can punish us with eternal damnation. Unless of course you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Then you can do anything you want and get away with it, because as long as you make that little statement, you’re SAVED and you get to go to heaven and sit at his right hand or some such nonsense.
I used to be a part of organized religion, born Catholic, born again Christian at 20. But I just couldn’t reconcile the “God of Love” with the judgementalism and hypocrisy I witnessed in the church. I searched many Christian churches; Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, non-denominational, before I finally gave up on the whole Christian religion. The fundamental problem with Christianity for me is fear. It’s all about fear, and mistrust, and intolerance. I was walking around all day every day, fearful, worried that I wasn’t being a “good” Christian. That someone in the church would find me out. That in spite of my declaration of allegiance to the so-called Son of God, I was blowing it, and I wouldn’t get “in” after all. For the sake of my own sanity I had to let go. Years later I discovered Taoism and found my spiritual home.
I still can’t figure out what purpose religion serves in society. It seems to have more in the minus column than in the plus column. And from my current perspective, it looks very primitive. Cavemen and women making up reasons for the weather and assigning spirits to every aspect of the natural world were no more sophisticated than today’s Christians (I only pick on Christians because I used to be one and know more about Christianity than Judaism or Islam).
Rather than bringing us all together under one God, religion separates us, makes some feel superior to others, justifies war and killing and oppression and slavery. If there is a conscious all-powerful being, making note of our behavior, I imagine he’s very angry, or disappointed…or maybe he’s just laughing his ass off!
Gotta hand it to ya Mitch. You’re not shy about broaching topics that most veer away from. Start talking about belief in god or the lack thereof and you could get into some hot water. But I’ll bite.
I don’t believe in god, at least not in the traditional Judeo-Christian sense. I believe in a power, an energy, a force, which for the sake of simplicity and social convention I call god. The god that religions refer to is the same energy source that I believe in, but when you say god, most people think of the big meany in the sky that keeps track of all our transgressions so he can punish us with eternal damnation. Unless of course you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Then you can do anything you want and get away with it, because as long as you make that little statement, you’re SAVED and you get to go to heaven and sit at his right hand or some such nonsense.
I used to be a part of organized religion, born Catholic, born again Christian at 20. But I just couldn’t reconcile the “God of Love” with the judgementalism and hypocrisy I witnessed in the church. I searched many Christian churches; Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, non-denominational, before I finally gave up on the whole Christian religion. The fundamental problem with Christianity for me is fear. It’s all about fear, and mistrust, and intolerance. I was walking around all day every day, fearful, worried that I wasn’t being a “good” Christian. That someone in the church would find me out. That in spite of my declaration of allegiance to the so-called Son of God, I was blowing it, and I wouldn’t get “in” after all. For the sake of my own sanity I had to let go. Years later I discovered Taoism and found my spiritual home.
I still can’t figure out what purpose religion serves in society. It seems to have more in the minus column than in the plus column. And from my current perspective, it looks very primitive. Cavemen and women making up reasons for the weather and assigning spirits to every aspect of the natural world were no more sophisticated than today’s Christians (I only pick on Christians because I used to be one and know more about Christianity than Judaism or Islam).
Rather than bringing us all together under one God, religion separates us, makes some feel superior to others, justifies war and killing and oppression and slavery. If there is a conscious all-powerful being, making note of our behavior, I imagine he’s very angry, or disappointed…or maybe he’s just laughing his ass off!
[...he’s just laughing his ass off!...]
G–the only thing that surprises me in that comment is your pronoun choice in that last sentence…
I have always “believed” there are three “parts” to human life: the physical, the intellectual, and the spiritual. A well-balanced life is one in which all three parts are nourished and cared for… Most would agree, I think, about the physical and intellectual, but less about the spiritual. Why? Because you can fill the spiritual with damn near anything from pantheism to political partisanship. Where some of these “anythings” are concerned, you could invoke the “garbage-in-garbage-out” rule and declare an unhealthy choice…
But how another person fills his own spiritual vessel is no business of mine. To each her own. That said, like Hitchens, I do get concerned when religious doctrine seeps into political and legislative matters…
Cheers,
[...he’s just laughing his ass off!...]
G–the only thing that surprises me in that comment is your pronoun choice in that last sentence…
I have always “believed” there are three “parts” to human life: the physical, the intellectual, and the spiritual. A well-balanced life is one in which all three parts are nourished and cared for… Most would agree, I think, about the physical and intellectual, but less about the spiritual. Why? Because you can fill the spiritual with damn near anything from pantheism to political partisanship. Where some of these “anythings” are concerned, you could invoke the “garbage-in-garbage-out” rule and declare an unhealthy choice…
But how another person fills his own spiritual vessel is no business of mine. To each her own. That said, like Hitchens, I do get concerned when religious doctrine seeps into political and legislative matters…
Cheers,
Here is how I see it…Spirituality is belief IN god, Religion is belief ABOUT god. Neither one matters in the scheme of things, unless one tries to force one’s belief ABOUT god on others, and when it crosses over into politics and policy…look out!
The gender reference in my comment; “If there is a conscious all-powerful being, making note of our behavior, I imagine he’s very angry, or disappointed…or maybe he’s just laughing his ass off!” was intentional. If god is that sort of being, then it’s definitely a guy. But if god is a loving, nurturing, compassionate, creative energy, then she is neither angry, disappointed, nor laughing. She’sprobably just mildly amused.
Here is how I see it…Spirituality is belief IN god, Religion is belief ABOUT god. Neither one matters in the scheme of things, unless one tries to force one’s belief ABOUT god on others, and when it crosses over into politics and policy…look out!
The gender reference in my comment; “If there is a conscious all-powerful being, making note of our behavior, I imagine he’s very angry, or disappointed…or maybe he’s just laughing his ass off!” was intentional. If god is that sort of being, then it’s definitely a guy. But if god is a loving, nurturing, compassionate, creative energy, then she is neither angry, disappointed, nor laughing. She’sprobably just mildly amused.
Kinda funny. Interesting topic. I had lunch with my pastor last week, which, of course turned into a 3 hour affair….
We talked somewhat along these same lines.
I’m a big picture kinda guy. I need to know and understand how all the pieces fit together so I can make a decisive decision. I’m a manager, facilitator.
A couple of years ago, I decided that I’d make a statement and I’d stand for something, … that I’d believe in something more than myself. As my deceased father used to tell me….”Jon, if you don’t stand for something with all your heart and will, you will fall for anything.”
Thats kinda what kept me going all these years.
Yet, I was fortunate enough to graduate with two degrees from a wonderful university that often gets labeled as a conservative school. What? Texas A&M University is the fourth largest university in the country, and not a school just for the country kids — whats funny is that I got a very liberal education there.
Yet, I’m a true moderate, thanks to my education there.
I want to believe that there is a God. (I capitalize God for reason, Sue). I know where Mitch went to school, not far from my hometown, so I assume that he has a feel for what a God is.
My personal belief in the idea that there is something out there greater than myself is what brings me a peace and serenity and comfort that I don’t know if I’d experience if I didn’t believe. When I’m fishing in the high country, I’m also talking to my God. And there’s something very powerful and comforting and serene in regards thereto.
Honestly… (and this where my pastor and I disagree…) I want to believe that all of us whom believe that there is indeed a God, will in fact all be in heaven together, whether we be Christian, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish,etc.
Who is to say that we perhaps don’t really serve the same God? Its a big world. Thats what I wish to believe. Until then, I believe in God, and I also believe in Jesus Christ. Scientific/Archealogical data has proved that he indeed walked this earth.. Enough for now…. my roomie needs my time… — J
Kinda funny. Interesting topic. I had lunch with my pastor last week, which, of course turned into a 3 hour affair….
We talked somewhat along these same lines.
I’m a big picture kinda guy. I need to know and understand how all the pieces fit together so I can make a decisive decision. I’m a manager, facilitator.
A couple of years ago, I decided that I’d make a statement and I’d stand for something, … that I’d believe in something more than myself. As my deceased father used to tell me….”Jon, if you don’t stand for something with all your heart and will, you will fall for anything.”
Thats kinda what kept me going all these years.
Yet, I was fortunate enough to graduate with two degrees from a wonderful university that often gets labeled as a conservative school. What? Texas A&M University is the fourth largest university in the country, and not a school just for the country kids — whats funny is that I got a very liberal education there.
Yet, I’m a true moderate, thanks to my education there.
I want to believe that there is a God. (I capitalize God for reason, Sue). I know where Mitch went to school, not far from my hometown, so I assume that he has a feel for what a God is.
My personal belief in the idea that there is something out there greater than myself is what brings me a peace and serenity and comfort that I don’t know if I’d experience if I didn’t believe. When I’m fishing in the high country, I’m also talking to my God. And there’s something very powerful and comforting and serene in regards thereto.
Honestly… (and this where my pastor and I disagree…) I want to believe that all of us whom believe that there is indeed a God, will in fact all be in heaven together, whether we be Christian, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish,etc.
Who is to say that we perhaps don’t really serve the same God? Its a big world. Thats what I wish to believe. Until then, I believe in God, and I also believe in Jesus Christ. Scientific/Archealogical data has proved that he indeed walked this earth.. Enough for now…. my roomie needs my time… — J
Jon & G-
I had a rather vitriolic reply to something G wrote all typed up and ready to go. I selected all the text and hit delete…
Jon says I have “a feel for what God is.” If I do, let me assure you it is not merely a function of where I went to undergraduate school… One of the most spiritual places I know is St. Benedict’s right here in our midst… but I digress.
G says that if God is male, he is “very angry, or disappointed,” but if she’s female, she is “a loving, nurturing, compassionate, creative energy, …neither angry, disappointed, nor laughing… just mildly amused.” As far as I’m concerned, this is tilting at windmills…
As I contemplate God tonight, I ruminate upon what Amanda Boxtel has written…
Cheers,
Jon & G-
I had a rather vitriolic reply to something G wrote all typed up and ready to go. I selected all the text and hit delete…
Jon says I have “a feel for what God is.” If I do, let me assure you it is not merely a function of where I went to undergraduate school… One of the most spiritual places I know is St. Benedict’s right here in our midst… but I digress.
G says that if God is male, he is “very angry, or disappointed,” but if she’s female, she is “a loving, nurturing, compassionate, creative energy, …neither angry, disappointed, nor laughing… just mildly amused.” As far as I’m concerned, this is tilting at windmills…
As I contemplate God tonight, I ruminate upon what Amanda Boxtel has written…
Cheers,
[I had a rather vitriolic reply to something G wrote all typed up and ready to go. I selected all the text and hit delete...]
Like I was saying, talk about God and religion and someone gets pissed…or were you upset by my sexist comment? Sorry, it’s been my experience that men are really bad at taking care of people and the planet, while women seem to excel (there are exceptions of course). I really like men, no I LOVE men, so permit me to be mildly amused at their expense.
The basic change I underwent in transforming from Christian to Taoist is one of perspective. I went from believing that god is (little g, on purpose Jon) a separate entity, outside of myself to believing that god is everything. We are in no way separate from the energy that creates us. The matter we are made up of is the energy of god – note: to gain this perspective, it helps to have read as many quantum physics books as I have over the last ten years. Taoism is the spiritual expression of the scientific phenomenon called quantum physics. Everything is not only connected, it is all the same exact stuff.
So when Jon talks to god, he is talking to the collective energy we all share. And when Amanda feels her legs, she is feeling that energy. And THAT is truly a miracle!
[I had a rather vitriolic reply to something G wrote all typed up and ready to go. I selected all the text and hit delete...]
Like I was saying, talk about God and religion and someone gets pissed…or were you upset by my sexist comment? Sorry, it’s been my experience that men are really bad at taking care of people and the planet, while women seem to excel (there are exceptions of course). I really like men, no I LOVE men, so permit me to be mildly amused at their expense.
The basic change I underwent in transforming from Christian to Taoist is one of perspective. I went from believing that god is (little g, on purpose Jon) a separate entity, outside of myself to believing that god is everything. We are in no way separate from the energy that creates us. The matter we are made up of is the energy of god – note: to gain this perspective, it helps to have read as many quantum physics books as I have over the last ten years. Taoism is the spiritual expression of the scientific phenomenon called quantum physics. Everything is not only connected, it is all the same exact stuff.
So when Jon talks to god, he is talking to the collective energy we all share. And when Amanda feels her legs, she is feeling that energy. And THAT is truly a miracle!
I believe in ARES, the son of ZEUS, which has served me well throughout my life.
I believe in ARES, the son of ZEUS, which has served me well throughout my life.
That figures alpha; ‘Ares: The Greek god of savage war, or bloodlust, or slaughter personified. Though Ares’ half-sister Athena was also considered to be a war deity, Athena’s stance was that of strategic warfare while Ares’ tended to be the unpredictable violence of war.’
Let me amend what I said before about men. Men aren’t the problem, it’s really just a matter of yin (the feminine force) and yang (the masculine force). It takes both to create the universe.
And as an example of the exceptions to the male aggressiveness and self-centeredness, let me give you Star Eagle, who recently took the time and patience to give me a list of herbal ingredients and a recipe for a poultice to treat an injury. He is a fine example of the true healing spirit in male form.
That figures alpha; ‘Ares: The Greek god of savage war, or bloodlust, or slaughter personified. Though Ares’ half-sister Athena was also considered to be a war deity, Athena’s stance was that of strategic warfare while Ares’ tended to be the unpredictable violence of war.’
Let me amend what I said before about men. Men aren’t the problem, it’s really just a matter of yin (the feminine force) and yang (the masculine force). It takes both to create the universe.
And as an example of the exceptions to the male aggressiveness and self-centeredness, let me give you Star Eagle, who recently took the time and patience to give me a list of herbal ingredients and a recipe for a poultice to treat an injury. He is a fine example of the true healing spirit in male form.
I figured if you are going to have a God, it might as well be one you can relate to.
As far as Star Eagle, see, that’s the difference…I would just tell you to suck it up and take the pain. : )
Actually, I am something of a medicine man, with may ancient healing remedies along with a dose of magic and animal sacrifices. You should have asked, I am sure I could have helped…
I figured if you are going to have a God, it might as well be one you can relate to.
As far as Star Eagle, see, that’s the difference…I would just tell you to suck it up and take the pain. : )
Actually, I am something of a medicine man, with may ancient healing remedies along with a dose of magic and animal sacrifices. You should have asked, I am sure I could have helped…
Sue, I told you a story over breakfast/brunch a few weeks ago. I told you a story that I could seriously get in trouble for telling, albeit, I didn’t tell you any specifics, other than where the operation commenced and happened.
I told you how we got there that night. I told you where I was bedded down. I told you what my job there that night was. I told you a humanistic story of how I watched that woman nurse her son on her front porch, 25 yards from me. I told you how someone else screwed up the mission, foiled my job, and how the wrong civs got taken out that night. I told you how we barely got out by sunrise. I told you how I cussed Scwarzkopf out repeatedely on a satellite phone, begging to get us out, which finally happened, but it wasn’t pretty.
Why do I want to believe in a God? Because somehow my spiritual Christian walk is helping me make sense of this incredibly @$#^% ‘d up world.
Like my father always said, if you don’t find a belief in something, you are gonna fall, and fall hard. I don’t have the answers yet, and not sure if I ever will. But I take pride in me not becoming a Lt. Dan.
I’ve become good friends with a cool guy here locally that was a Army Airborne Medic, a guy who stufffed the intestines back into one of my buddies in Somalia, but later died. We have a connection, for obvious reasons. We connect, too, because we are at a similar place spiritually. There is a God, and his Son walked this earth to teach us the right way to live. I don’t understand it all yet, but I hope to before I die, and go to what I hope is a Heaven. — J
Sue, I told you a story over breakfast/brunch a few weeks ago. I told you a story that I could seriously get in trouble for telling, albeit, I didn’t tell you any specifics, other than where the operation commenced and happened.
I told you how we got there that night. I told you where I was bedded down. I told you what my job there that night was. I told you a humanistic story of how I watched that woman nurse her son on her front porch, 25 yards from me. I told you how someone else screwed up the mission, foiled my job, and how the wrong civs got taken out that night. I told you how we barely got out by sunrise. I told you how I cussed Scwarzkopf out repeatedely on a satellite phone, begging to get us out, which finally happened, but it wasn’t pretty.
Why do I want to believe in a God? Because somehow my spiritual Christian walk is helping me make sense of this incredibly @$#^% ‘d up world.
Like my father always said, if you don’t find a belief in something, you are gonna fall, and fall hard. I don’t have the answers yet, and not sure if I ever will. But I take pride in me not becoming a Lt. Dan.
I’ve become good friends with a cool guy here locally that was a Army Airborne Medic, a guy who stufffed the intestines back into one of my buddies in Somalia, but later died. We have a connection, for obvious reasons. We connect, too, because we are at a similar place spiritually. There is a God, and his Son walked this earth to teach us the right way to live. I don’t understand it all yet, but I hope to before I die, and go to what I hope is a Heaven. — J
Jon,
I’ll never forget that story. It shocked and horrified me. But not for the reasons you may think. That woman and her baby were gone in an instant, but the memory will stay with you always. I don’t understand the dichotomy of the compassionate human spirit in warrior form. I’m sorry for that, it’s just difficult for me to reconcile belief in God and Jesus with a personal choice to do or be complicit in violence. Does it ease the guilt? Maybe. Personally, I find Taoism more conducive to acceptance, forgiveness and understanding than Christianity ever provided. I’m a much more peaceful, happy and tolerant person now than I was in the church.
I don’t understand the need for religion, but I do understand the need to believe. We naturally want to make sense of and to order what’s going on. I also think that there is a strong egoistic urge to feel important. Though I think that is merely a hope and not a reality. I do believe we are everlasting, as energy can never disappear, just change form. So will we. But I don’t think of heaven so much as a merging with the infinite energy, which might feel just as good. And who knows, one day if I get my wish I might soar with the vultures!
As for Jesus, after my having been indoctrinated at a young age and quite familiar with his words and deeds, when I began to study Tao and Q.P. I was amazed to discover that Jesus was actually a Taoist and a Quantum Scientist. Imagine that!
Jon,
I’ll never forget that story. It shocked and horrified me. But not for the reasons you may think. That woman and her baby were gone in an instant, but the memory will stay with you always. I don’t understand the dichotomy of the compassionate human spirit in warrior form. I’m sorry for that, it’s just difficult for me to reconcile belief in God and Jesus with a personal choice to do or be complicit in violence. Does it ease the guilt? Maybe. Personally, I find Taoism more conducive to acceptance, forgiveness and understanding than Christianity ever provided. I’m a much more peaceful, happy and tolerant person now than I was in the church.
I don’t understand the need for religion, but I do understand the need to believe. We naturally want to make sense of and to order what’s going on. I also think that there is a strong egoistic urge to feel important. Though I think that is merely a hope and not a reality. I do believe we are everlasting, as energy can never disappear, just change form. So will we. But I don’t think of heaven so much as a merging with the infinite energy, which might feel just as good. And who knows, one day if I get my wish I might soar with the vultures!
As for Jesus, after my having been indoctrinated at a young age and quite familiar with his words and deeds, when I began to study Tao and Q.P. I was amazed to discover that Jesus was actually a Taoist and a Quantum Scientist. Imagine that!
Well, first off, Mr. Editor… I must commend you on the picture you chose to post with this post. I cracked up. Why?… Because I’ve actually caught a fish that big on a rod, and I have pictures to prove it, pics that were published a few days after landing that monster, pics in all the local papers. When are we going fishing, by the way, Michael? I’m ready. I’m always ready.
To Mrs. Gray….
Sue, as I listen and jam to Bad Company, I must admit your post here is striking a nerve. I gotta pause here as I shed some tears….
I freakin’ don’t understand it either. I seriously don’t. I don’t know why the God I chose to believe in and serve thought it okay for me to see and do and experience what I did. As for now, and as for my $150 an hour shrink in Aspen concurrs… I’m beginning to understand and accept that a higher power allowed my to see the true ugliness of our world, the part of our world the other 99% never see. Why? Perhaps so I can do something, anything… to make this world a better place. I have an incredible 8.5 year old daughter. I don’t want her to ever, ever see what her Daddy saw, but if she does, perhaps she’ll understand her Daddy a bit better…. ‘Nough for now… — BJT….
Well, first off, Mr. Editor… I must commend you on the picture you chose to post with this post. I cracked up. Why?… Because I’ve actually caught a fish that big on a rod, and I have pictures to prove it, pics that were published a few days after landing that monster, pics in all the local papers. When are we going fishing, by the way, Michael? I’m ready. I’m always ready.
To Mrs. Gray….
Sue, as I listen and jam to Bad Company, I must admit your post here is striking a nerve. I gotta pause here as I shed some tears….
I freakin’ don’t understand it either. I seriously don’t. I don’t know why the God I chose to believe in and serve thought it okay for me to see and do and experience what I did. As for now, and as for my $150 an hour shrink in Aspen concurrs… I’m beginning to understand and accept that a higher power allowed my to see the true ugliness of our world, the part of our world the other 99% never see. Why? Perhaps so I can do something, anything… to make this world a better place. I have an incredible 8.5 year old daughter. I don’t want her to ever, ever see what her Daddy saw, but if she does, perhaps she’ll understand her Daddy a bit better…. ‘Nough for now… — BJT….
For me the teachings of Christ show how acceptance of spirit is possible, by being aware, and embracing the energy. This spirit god has accessed many besides Christ, and that includes me. I sense the same of BJT Mitch, Sue and my girlfriend Judy. How we interact with this situation is based on our humanity. I couldn’t imagine any of us needing a law to stop us from indiscriminate acts of wanton behavior. I have to meet people and “know them well” to get this understanding. I have also met people who do not have this spirit god embraced, legal constraints and fear of reprisal, keep them in check, sometimes.
For me the teachings of Christ show how acceptance of spirit is possible, by being aware, and embracing the energy. This spirit god has accessed many besides Christ, and that includes me. I sense the same of BJT Mitch, Sue and my girlfriend Judy. How we interact with this situation is based on our humanity. I couldn’t imagine any of us needing a law to stop us from indiscriminate acts of wanton behavior. I have to meet people and “know them well” to get this understanding. I have also met people who do not have this spirit god embraced, legal constraints and fear of reprisal, keep them in check, sometimes.