Who Might Be The Author Of An Individual's Character? God Or Self?

Me not acknowledging God for my pleasant nature is not arrogance, rather it is humility. Of course it could be construed as arrogance because it is I that am taking “credit”, as it were, for my pleasant nature. The problem with this assessment is that it makes the “forever unpleasant” appear as if God has “forever” neglected them. Why did God bless me with a pleasant demeanor but not others?

Here is a propitious segue into my denying God as the "author" of my pleasant nature: if God fails to sow in others a pleasant demeanor as He has sown in me, how could I reasonably condemn or criticize their poor behavior? More importantly, how could God reasonably condemn them only because He Himself did not sow in them pleasant natures?

Be clear that I am not implying God does not exist. I am only making it abundantly clear that I do not "see" Him as the author of anybody's character.

In summary, regardless of whether He is the author of anybody's character (including my own), my pleasant nature leads me to be non-judgmental and understanding. And this, in my opinion, is the essence of humility! Am I arrogant for thinking this way?

Skepticism.....Friend Or Foe?

What values can a skeptic reasonably justify? How can a skeptic justify any if he is skeptical? I can think of a value which systematically stems from skepticism and is thus implied.....humility. This further corresponds to open-mindedness.

What arises from those that are most certain about any given issue? Close-mindedness and hence lack of humility. Anybody who has chosen "once and for all" has forever closed off his mind. New found information which (potentially?) contradicts this "closed-off" mind will likely be seen as erroneous and hence disregarded.

How is one to progress in life if he does not acknowledge new found information which might conflict with his "closed-off" mind?

God And Bioethical Considerations

The more I ponder the discipline of bioethics, the more I become dissuaded of the existence of God. At least a God that could reasonably intervene on our behalf such that He might be considered personal. The ironic thing is this comes in response to having read Francis Collins' “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief”. Ironic in that he is a self-professed Christian.

In the end, trying to “fit” a wonderful, personal God into the obviously callous and cruel nature of reality seems to necessitate absurd explanations as to why a child would be born with cystic fibrosis, something or other.

Concerning the discipline of genetic engineering, it would seem that God can choose to be either personal to the wishes of those who believe genetic engineering in all its grandeur is an affront to His authority or personal to the wishes of those who believe He has given us the fortitude and perhaps even His blessing to reverse these genetic “oversights”. In other words, he can't be personal to both.

With this realization, it becomes difficult to endorse the idea that God is personal to us all. Perhaps He is personal to NOBODY?

If one outright rejects this supposition, a challenging follow-up question to the notion of this Creator being personal is personal to whom? I have pondered this extensively and have concluded, perhaps regrettably to many, that the idea of a personal God does not seem to overcome simple scrutiny. How can God be personal to all of us when it seems the vast majority of our prayers and desires seem to conflict with that of other faithful followers? For instance, how would God personally intervene in the lives of countless God-fearing males all seeking the affection of the same God-fearing female?

If one chooses to overlook this “problem”, he is burying his head in the sand like an ostrich to deny what is perfectly obvious.

Alternatively, if one believes God is personal, this would of course imply that He is personal to him. Does this not seem of utmost arrogance? Where is the humility?

A "Godly" Moral Paradox

Many of the devoutly religious seem apt to believe that being 100% certain they are right is somehow a virtue God respects above all else. I believe St. Paul, among others, encouraged this “Godly” stance. However, a “moral” contradiction arises.

If one is absolutely certain he is worshiping the one and only true God, where is the humility? Which stance might God honor more? Being absolutely certain or humbly conceding the fact that as much as one might really believe or at least really want to believe he is right, he could just as easily be wrong?

However unconscious it may be, I think many are reluctant to adopt this less than certain stance because they fear they would be “letting God down”. But without humility, what does this type of thinking systematically foster? Self-righteous superiority. This need not be blatant and obnoxious. I remember a “strong” Christian girl (please forgive me but this notion plasters on my mind a girl bench-pressing 350 lbs.) at a party causally and without any doubt asserting how others of different faiths were “buying into a lie”.

It seemed so innocuous, as she was a very amiable girl whose only “problem” was that she was absolutely certain she was right. Nothing overly harmful about said comment. But ultimately it projected self-righteous superiority. Once again, where is the humility?

A Heavenly Realm

Heaven.....a literal place thought to exist beyond and transcendent to this realm. Why must it be literal? Perhaps because many feel compelled to envision an ideal society the likes of which will probably never be experienced here. But still, why must it be literal?

If one were to envision this “Great Beyond” as merely metaphoric, might this actually encourage him to “build” heaven here? Or at least try? In this case, why wait for it?

Heaven, in the mind of many, seems to be a place of homogeneity where everybody is worshiping the same God, the same ideals, the same politics, the same this, the same that. This seems very arrogant and boring, in my opinion. I see God as being the totality of every religion, every philosophy, every political viewpoint, every perspective, etc.

Why is it that many think heaven to be a place where everybody bows down to their religion, their philosophy, their politics, their perspective, etc? Probably because it caters to their INDIVIDUAL perspectives*.....this is nothing but EGO.

Might this nicely explain why many seem apt to believe that heaven will be experienced only in the “Great Beyond”, i.e., after we die? In this way, it is never incumbent upon them to exude humility and understanding and admit that they might not have the “absolute” truth of everything or anything for that matter. This humility would likely lead to tolerance of different ideas and create a less hostile world thus potentially leaving the coveted “Great Beyond” within sight. Behold, heaven!




*see link below for corollary

http://kurtsthoughtemporium.blogspot.com/2009/07/shortcoming-of-absolutes.html