Introduction
This will be controversial and probably lose me a lot more friends, but that is life.
So What Is Going On?
I have no problem with people finding solace or comfort in religion, but as a child I saw some disgusting behaviour by the church, mainly getting money out of people and publicly shaming people who wouldn't pay or did not turn up for church.
When things go wrong I hear "It's part of God's plan" or "God moves in mysterious ways". Well in sixty-six years on this earth I have seen no sign of God's plan or any evidence of the existence of a God.
Often the argument is that you need to have faith, but to have faith I need something concrete to back it up. I have faith that my bus will turn up and my wages will be paid because I know there are mechanisms in place to make that happen, so I am ok to have faith in that.
But some supreme being that lets people be murdered for no reason and seems to be fine with famine, wars, and poverty. That means it is a cruel spiteful God or definitely not all-powerful.
I have known many priests and got on well with them because they told me that they had faith, but admitted they did not have proof. They actually put people and those in their care first.
If all war, hunger and poverty stopped then I could accept a beneficent God, but when you consider the wars that have been waged in the names of religion the indication that there is a caring God looks more than a little far-fetched.
A common argument used by Christians is to say “prove to me God doesn’t exist”. It’s a shift of the burden of proof. The burden is on Christians to prove that their claim that God exists, is correct.
That says it for me, I need hard evidence.
In my sixty-six years, I have seen none.
The teachings of Jesus were to care for people, especially those who were poor or sick, but you look at Christian Churches and the money is being spent on very impressive buildings, vestments, wine and good food often in areas where there is great poverty. Jesus would not have approved, look how he dealt with moneylenders in the temple.
Jesus may or may not have existed but he is definitely a focus for moral and caring behaviour which seems absent from the modern world and a lot of Christianity.
I recently heard the Bible described as The Goat Herders Guide to The Galaxy and remember this book was written two thousand years ago and is being continually revised. It is often cherry-picked to persecute people, again something Jesus would not have approved of.
So looping back to "God's Plan" where is it and what is it?
When I create a plan for anything, it is stuck to as far as I can and if there are any issues then I adjust it as required to make sure nothing goes wrong.
Given the state of the world, if God has a plan it is either a very bad one, or it has completely flown off the rails.
Bad and Evil people are given free rein to take advantage of those who don't have power and God lets that happen.
We're often told that Satan or Lucifer is the bad guy, but who was the one who drowned most of the world or killed all the babies in Egypt? It was not the Devil, it was God.
Conclusion
So I will go on living my life, with my faith in science and the care of people and keep wondering if we will ever see God's Plan.
About the Creator
Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred
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Comments (6)
I'm totally with you on this. I feel that religion nowadays is all about money and business. Lol.
"You just have to believe it," is the answer I received in sixth grade during confirmation class when I asked, "How do we know this is all true & that someone didn't just make it up & is right now rolling over in their grave laughing at the wonderful practical joke they played on everyone?" I got confirmed in the church even though it turned me into an agnostic for three years. It was the philosophical/theological argument on original or first cause that turned me back toward faith. Interpersonal relationships with God & others (many of them nonbelievers) that has kept me there. But I can't blame anyone who looks at much of what the Church has done in the name of Christ who says, "Not for me!" I don't believe God blames you or them, either, nor does he/she/it hold it against anyone. While the Church serves an important function in preserving & carrying forth the traditions, teachings & artifacts of faith that they might engender faith in future generations, in many ways it is antithetical to the Gospel itself. As soon as it defines itself institutionally it also defines who is in & who is out, the very antithesis of Jesus' life & teaching. It is, in fact, the very thing he is railing against when he throws the moneychangers & merchants out of the temple. They were using the strictures of law to control who had access to the temple, the altar & the Holy of Holies--in other words, access to God's forgiveness/grace as well as the very presence of God itself, seated on the Mercy Seat atop the Ark of the Covenant--& to turn a tidy profit for themselves at the same time. The Gospel of Jesus Christ & the reign of God may not be easy to accept or live, but as far as I can discern it's incredibly simply to understand. I boil it down to three statements: God loves you & there's nothing you can do about it; God's grace is always for you & there's nothing you can do to lose it; the only thing God asks/desires/longs for from us is that we afford both God & one another the same courtesy. Jesus reduced it to two: love God & love neighbor as we love ourselves (which my wife likes to point out is actually three as the commandment to love oneself is also included in those statements). Micah reduced it to three in 6:8, "What does the Lord require but that you love justice, do mercy, & walk humbly with God." Which means I tend to see God's reign every day in moments such as these. As I read articles written by atheists or agnostics critiquing the Church & calling us back to those basic principles of love, mercy, grace & justice, I hear the voice of God. When musicians sing "secular" songs about love/justice &/or their absence, I hear the voice of God. In my mind, Meatloaf does a better job of proclaiming the Gospel then most Christian artists (which is not to say they do a bad job--though some of them do). When I see people (especially when it's children--they have a way of simply gripping my heart) caring for one another, I see God's reign. In contrast, when I hear the drumbeats of war or politicians scapegoating & condemning some minority or group without power, my heart breaks--just as I believe yours does, Mike--just as I believe does God's. So please continue to speak out, Mike, for we most certainly need to hear your voice. I might even go so far as to say that in such as these, your voice is more clearly aligned with that of Jesus Christ than many we hear speaking from the pulpit on Sunday mornings, especially when those voices are speaking from noses upon which they are looking down on others. Okay, so I could have simply said, "Amen!" & left it at that. But thanks for letting me rant a little.
No, I don't believe in "good" and "evil." There is no moral absolute (beyond pure physiological revulsion) that is not inculcated in us by authoritarian control. I believe in "actions" and "consequences." ALL of society is predatory in one fashion or another. As a certain forbidden book asks us, "If human beings ceased wholly from preying upon each other, could they continue to exist?" All societies engage in the buying and selling of weapons of mass destruction, all the better to enslave and commit acts of violence against weaker nations, and the United States does so on a global scale in furtherance of its imperialistic designs. But to control the narrative is to make people blind to the predation; to bully them into submission. Is this "Evil"? it's a reality. Is reality itself "Evil"? Perhaps. The Gita speaks of the reasons of suffering the eternal return, doing one's duty regardless, and working off the karma one is born with. "The end of birth is death, the end of death is birth!" So saith Lord Krishna, but he knew whereof he spoke.
The issue as far as I am concerned is not that there is no "disembodied consciousness" or Universal Consciousness, but that it is manifestly NOT "Good." Nor is it "Evil." Both terms are simply moral abstractions that mean absolutely NOTHING. They are not solid, quantifiable, or measurable by any standards save for those terms dictated by PEOPLE IN POWER. "Good" is what is advantageous to us; "Evil" is what we dislike. If you are Israeli, it might seem "good" to have your army bomb the hell out of women and children in Gaza. And a portion of the world (albeit a dwindling one) will agree with you and allow you to do it. If you're on the ground in Gaza, that's not such a good, now is it? MAn is a sad, pathetic, hypocritical creature that will always justify whatever barbarity he can commence with as "good" as long as he has the upper hand. power is amoral; the State functions because of its ability to meet out violence. I have too often quoted it, but Max Stirner's dicta always holds true, "The State sanctifies its own violence as law. Yours it calls crime." God and The Church are an instrument or a twin head of the two-headed snake of authoritarian control.
Universe, god's plan, creation, what ever it is, it's allowing evil, illness and bad things to happen. Not a big believer in god's plan, stuff happens. Thank you for your thought provoking article.
Thomas had witnessed miracles firsthand and still doubted. There is not much anyone can say that is likely to convince you. I see evidence all around me every day. Call it intelligent design, call it creation, call it God. Call it whatever you please. You are right to say that many Christians, or those of other faiths, for that matter, are poor examples. It is regrettable, and it stands as a massive barrier for the belief of many.