Is Man Trustworthy?

It's funny how those with dogmatic views on "hot-button" issues so arbitrarily justify or deny the democratic process. For instance, concerning referendums to sanction gay marriage, if the majority votes in favor of not legalizing gay marriage, the vociferous "anti-gay marriage" advocates will claim that "man's" verdict is the infallible truth. What a great service democracy is for humanity! 

But how does one suppose these same "anti-gay marriage" advocates would respond if 75% of voters were in favor of legalizing it? "Well, ah, this verdict just, um, demonstrates how sinful and depraved we are, uh, as a society!" We must, therefore, seek God's counsel on this issue! Of course a truly open-minded interpretation of "God's Word" doesn't really have anything to say about gay marriage one way or the other.

Are you starting to see that behind this kind of reasoning is NOT God but competing EGOS all trying to have things their way? Perhaps many of us have taken Burger King's advice a bit too far?

Paradise Questioned?

The idea that man fell while in God's created Paradise seems asinine to me. As if one whispered to another, “you know, we could become Gods ourselves if we broke out of this shit hole!”

But if God's created Paradise was in fact “paradise”, why would anybody have wanted to leave? A seemingly more powerful argument is how in bloody hell could anybody have known or even conceived of anything better (like being his own God*) if everything was already perfectly paradisal?

How then are we to be assured that heaven in the afterlife will not simply revert back to the same supposed “hell” we find ourselves in now? 



*Though after watching the movie Bruce Almighty, why in God's name (pun intended) would ANYBODY want to be HIM?

The Power Of Metaphor

It is my opinion that those who take an overly literal interpretation of any given belief often and easily become distracted from any real meaning said belief might contain. Real meaning in the sense that it can provide practical insights with which to approach life and its associated problems which will arise sooner or later if they have not already.

For instance, taking the story of Adam and Eve literally, I get distracted by the talking snake. No amount of pleading has or ever will compel me to believe this literally. There is just no rational reason for me to believe there has ever been a snake that talked (except, of course, in the world of Harry Potter).

Literalists might figuratively (pardon the irony) feel compelled to argue such details as the type, size and venomousness of snake God or Satan might have appointed to the task of leading humanity astray. But this kind of information serves no practical purpose in dealing with life's matters. However, if this story is taken but metaphorically, it easily becomes meaningful.

I have dealt with this story specifically elsewhere, so I will summarize. Adam and Eve were “told” not to eat from the forbidden tree. It matters not whether God or an authority figure or perhaps even their individual consciences “told” them not to eat of the tree. What matters is that they rebelled against this “command” and it cost them dearly. As a result of this transgression, they became aware of their nakedness and were ashamed, whereas before they knew not even the concept of shame. They squandered away their “innocence”! Once this decision was made, it set into motion a host of negative repercussions precluding a return to “the good 'ole days”. Dealing with the painful consequences of this misdeed then became a prerequisite for any further progress. This is meaningful.

Imagine if people used this metaphor as a tool to avoid making rash or unwise decisions regarding any number of issues in life. One who is tempted to try cocaine, for instance, may want to ponder the meaning of this metaphor before he tries it. Cocaine is very addictive and as a result its use commonly leads to ruined or at least greatly hampered lives only because it was tried just once. The same can be said of young teen-age couples “creating” babies thus greatly limiting their potential options in life. Any number of different scenarios can be supposed making it personal to all of us.

Remember, when people lust for short-term gratification, there is likely despair and anguish in the long-term. Add to this the fact that everything is a trade-off and this metaphor becomes an encouragement to think twice before giving into temptation especially when it involves trading long-term benefit for short-term gain. This is but one of myriad ways a metaphor like this can be applied practically. I love metaphors because they beg us to ponder their meaning(s)!

An Inescapable Truth About Belief

If a religious believer does good deeds beyond which he would otherwise do as a nonbeliever, these superfluous deeds are clearly motivated by reward and/or fear of judgment. In this sense, these “good” deeds seem to lack authenticity. As such, they are merely contrived.

Now, if the believer says that he would perform all his good deeds even if he didn’t believe, then why does he believe? Because it redeems his soul something or other? Belief can actually do something? Well then, in that case, I can't help but think Satan would be saved as well. For how could Satan thwart God’s plans and lead us astray so easily if he didn't believe in and know God.

The point here is to demonstrate how meaningless belief is. Ultimately, a person is what he does and not what he believes or at least claims to believe. See link below for further corollary to this:

http://kurtsthoughtemporium.blogspot.com/2010/04/obfuscating-christian-doctrine-of.html

What Makes God's Ideals Ideal?

I believe one of the subtle messages Jesus taught about ideals is that it is not enough, nay it is nearly meaningless I tell you, to follow ideals with practicality in mind. Meaning, if one follows ideals only within the context of what is deemed practical, he will likely never follow them when they are at all meaningful. In other words, I think Jesus was teaching us that ideals are only truly ideal when they are not practical.

For instance, consider Jesus' teachings on love as an ideal. If treated as such, love is most ideal or perhaps only ideal when it involves loving those that are most difficult to love. If you only love those that reciprocate, what credit is that to you? Even the devil of hell and mobsters are quite capable of this! Loving only those that love you certainly is practical but is far from ideal. Applying this principal to other things like forgiveness and mercy, it appears many might believe in ideals. However, their Achilles' heel prohibits them from actually exercising these ideals when it is impractical to do so. But when an ideal is exercised only when it is practical, it will not be followed when it is most needed. This is not ideal.

Isn't it touching that people have sympathy for an abused baby or an abandoned puppy? Of course people have sympathy for them! But this is a case of practical sympathy. It does not require anything close to that of a saint to be sympathetic to the plight of a suffering child or defenseless puppy. But what about having genuine sympathy for a convicted rapist, drug abuser or child molester facing dire consequences entirely brought on by his irresponsible and reckless behavior? At this point, most would adopt the ideal that he is reaping what he has sown. This certainly feels much more emotionally comforting for most because it is practical. Which means any and all sympathy for a “low-life” like this is conveniently abandoned in favor of the emotional satisfaction of feeling like he is getting what he deserves. But if the ideal of sympathy is taken seriously, what could possibly be a better demonstration of it than to have sympathy especially for a dreg like this?

Conversely, if we subscribe to the ideal that one should reap what he sows, there is no reason to have sympathy for a penniless widow if she is penniless because she did not prepare responsibly for this possibility. Are there many people that would not have sympathy for this woman? I would like to think not! My point is that no matter how much we try to act out and uphold ideals, if we do not do so absolutely, our ideals become merely relative. Which means they are not really ideal. They are simply arbitrary based on any given individual's preference.

With this realization then, I must admit I fail to see God as the author of many of our supposed "ideals" and moral convictions. Rather, I see ego as its principle author.