Published on June 16, 2004 By Horatio0193 In Life Journals
Religion. Where do you start? We could waffle on about how the dinosaurs are or are not fake or how the ark is or is not sitting on top of a mountain, sorry mountains as I have seen 3 different programmes saying it is on 3 different mountains. But we won’t do that, no we will just talk about the basics. The man, or woman who is someone’s God.

Before we get too far into this no I do not believe in God, never have done and never will. I can’t explain why we are here but you know what? I don’t think I want to! There is an argument that has been used against me by Jehovah’s witnesses of “Everything must have a creator” Ok, so who created God? The answer has always been no one, God has always been there are was not created by anyone or thing. Yeah but you just said that everything needs a creator and God is a thing so they need a creator too! This just causes confusion and shouts of BUT HE JUST IS!!! Why is it so simple to believe that a God put us here rather than some big bang and we grew up out of mud and slime. Actually some of us did and quite a few of us didn’t, politicians for a start! Cheap shot I know but I am in a cheap shot kind of mood!!

So where are we so far, everything needs a creator except a God because they just are and that is easier to believe in than we just are. Ok. Now on to the whole worship thing. Why? Why do I need to show a God that I believe in them? I am either a good person or I am a bad person why does worship have to play a part?? If there was a dictator and they made their people worship every week otherwise they would be killed then they would have the UN and NATO on their doorstep and in years to come after they have been toppled we would talk about their ego. Now I am not saying that God kills people I am saying yes he may have an ego but not kill people. Condemn them to an eternity of nastiness yes but kill them nope. Which brings me nicely on to…

I am friends with a devout catholic. He is a git. He sins a hell of a lot but it’s ok because he is going to confess on his death bed and walk through those pearly gates and sit on Gods knee and be patted for eternity where as I, yes on to me again. I am going to end up with a roasting fork shoved up my butt and be used instead of marshmallows and be toasted for eternity in the fires of hell even though I am a good person. I never understood that, I know I am no angel and I have done things wrong in my life, hey who hasn’t? Let he who something something sin cast the first stone. But if I know I did wrong and I regret it surely it is up to me and the people I hurt to forgive myself not a God?

Now you could be sitting there thinking I know absolutely nothing about religion and that it isn’t really like that and I admit it, I have never studied religion there are huge holes in any argument I make about religion but this is only my opinion and unlike most subjects everyone has a view about religion and the stronger your view the more you know about it. So this must mean I don’t have a strong view on it and again you would be right there. I don’t hate anyone because they have beliefs I don’t, I don’t want to kill anyone for being a sinner, I don’t even care if the God you worship is the one true God or not. But isn’t that in itself a good outlook to have? I don’t understand why people believe and those who believe can’t understand why I don’t believe but we are human, we are not meant to be the same!

I am sorry to have waffled on and had random thoughts on the whole thing but I am trying not too think too much, that is always dangerous! J. My last thought is about worshiping false Gods. If you of the wrong religion then you may end up in the hot place where us non believers are going so you have to make sure you choose the right one right? If you by some chance choose the wrong one then it might not matter, it might turn out that if you have been a good person then you will get to frolic through a pretty garden listening to pretty music for eternity and if you were bad then all the bad things you did in your life will happen back to you. It is even possible that religion is just a test and when you die you will sit in a huge exam room and be tested on the Bible and what it teaches you but what I like to believe is this:

Ok so it would be nice if there was a reason we are here and it would be nice that when we die we get to go somewhere and it does make sense that if you have been a good person then you go to somewhere better than Attila the Hun but I am hoping that if there is an exam you get tested on what life taught you! Not how you lived your life or if you regret it or anything like that but what did you get from it! But I am probably doomed to the roasting fork thing and if I am then I can be told you so just hope those that have gone upstairs have a bit of pity on me and pass the sun block every now and again!

Looking back on this I feel I have gone nowhere with this but then random thoughts hardly go anywhere anyway do they?

Oh, I do like the Bible, it is a cracking read! All that death, revenge, love, drama etc… if it was written today it would be a bestseller! Ok I know it IS a bestseller still but doesn’t that prove what a damn good read it is? Is that why they call it the good book because it is good as opposed to “good” Totally last thought, show me the bible as written by the man himself, not one that has been edited over a couple of thousand years and I may be convinced, only may, but until then…

Comments
on Jun 16, 2004
Horatio:
You are working too hard at this. The Bible is a history and stories about man and his relationship to God and mankind. It is not intended to be "pretty" but rather to present you with a choice of either believing in what you cannot see or seeing what you mostly cannot believe (i.e. a race of sentient beings whom seem to have no sense of direction).
Believers in God (available in a wide variety of colors and flavors) live a life where they celebrate life. Those who get so hung up on it (playing "What's My Sin" on a regular basis) forget that God is forgiving of our humanity and accepting of our mistakes. Faith in God is not the same thing as a religion which is, in essence, a set of practices or framework which many people agree to commonalities of belief. Does God care? Will the ________ (fill in a particular religion) be the only church whose members get into a place of eternal bliss? Well, that's silly.
As for you not believing, that's not a choice you have to make. That is to say, most people have at least some doubt about what they think all of their life. The choice then is to keep an open mind, live the best way you know how, and don't get tripped up on the difference between faith (your relationship to God) and religion (some group of people's).
You'll figure it out eventually.
on Jun 17, 2004
I was brought up by a strictly Catholic mother and made to attend services twice a week until I was 18. The only thing I got from that particular brand of religion was an over developed guilt complex and a disliking for any form of religious structure. Nowadays I view things in a similar way to you. I don't believe in the 'my god's better than your god' childishness which seems to go on between different religions. And I don't believe I will ever again have anything to do with a formal religion.
I don't know if I believe in a higher being or not. But I do believe that if there is a period of judgement we go through after we die I won't be judged on my attendance record. As you say - live a good life, and you should be OK. And hey, even if we aren't going anywhere but the cold, cold ground, live a good life anyway - it's a lot more enjoyable and helps you sleep at night.
Nice article.
on Jul 04, 2004
I am tired of all the churches in my area and their 'my god can beat up your god' nonsense. I do not believe that any one brand is better than any other brand or if you don't believe in (fill in the blank) brand, you are going straight to hell. I have many friends of many different beliefs (Judeo-Christian, Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu, et al). Having had a comparative religions course in uni, I like the take that Baha'ullah (founder of the Baha'i faith) provided: Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, et al. were all prophets of the same god, but came to different people at different times in different places. Each provided the same message, but in words and terms that those people in those places at those times could best understand. Made the best sense to me. There are many, many good people in this world, who do not have anything to do with a formal religion, but show much more Christ-like behavior than any of the 'locker room Christians' I have met...those are the people who talk about Jesus a lot, but you never see them put Jesus' words into action, when it comes to helping people and doing kind things...
on Jul 06, 2004
1) "There is an argument that has been used against me by Jehovah’s witnesses of “Everything must have a creator” Ok, so who created God?" This one is easy enough to answer: When they are talking about everything needing to have a creator, they are talking about MATERIAL things. God is a spirit, thus an immaterial (in the sense of "having no material body", rather than "inconsequential"). While we can study material objects, and thus learn about their properties, the same cannot be said about immaterial objects. Therefore, after study, one can say that all material objects need a creator, whereas spiritual beings may or may not.
2) "I am either a good person or I am a bad person why does worship have to play a part?" A good person, but by who's standards, yours or God's? God's standard, by the way, is 100%- if God were only just, then none of us would make it on our own merits. But He is merciful as well, allowing for those who are willing to renounce their sin to do so. Worship is a means to show one's appreciation for such a gift.
3) "He sins a hell of a lot but it’s ok because he is going to confess on his death bed and walk through those pearly gates and sit on Gods knee" Does he get this from the Bible, or from a misinterpretation of the Bible? If the former, I would like to see some references to scripture; if the latter, then this point is irrelevant, since it's his interpretation that's faulty, not the Bible itself.
4) "I am going to end up with a roasting fork shoved up my butt and be used instead of marshmallows and be toasted for eternity in the fires of hell even though I am a good person" Again, where is the scriptural support to show that Christians should believe such a thing?
"Condemn them to an eternity of nastiness yes but kill them nope." I'm not so sure that God condemns people to such a fate so much as they condemn themselves. If one lives a life of pure self-interest without regard for other people, what could be more hellish than God showing them how much better that person's life could have been if only that person had given up a foolish pride and trusted God?
5) "Why is it so simple to believe that a God put us here rather than some big bang and we grew up out of mud and slime." Why is it so simple to believe in some big band and that we grew up out of mud and slime than to believe that a God put us here?
6) "I don’t hate anyone because they have beliefs I don’t, I don’t want to kill anyone for being a sinner...." Neither does the Christian, at least if he's following Jesus' teachings (unless you can show me where the Bible represents Jesus' response to sin as "Whoa, we gotta kill this sinner dude").
7) "If there was a dictator and they made their people worship every week otherwise they would be killed...." True worship of God is entirely voluntary, it cannot be forced on those who have obtained accountabilty. That's why the Inquisition went so wrong, because they were trying to further God's ends using the world's means.
8) "I am hoping that if there is an exam you get tested on what life taught you! Not how you lived your life or if you regret it or anything like that but what did you get from it!" And yet you denounce your Catholic friend's belief that he should get away with a lifetime of sinning by means of a deathbed confession. A little consistency would be nice here.
9) "But I am probably doomed to the roasting fork thing...." If you are, it's because it's your choice. And nowhere in the Bible is Satan represented as having a roasting (or pitch) fork, or having horns, cloven feet or a tail, or even being red. For all we know, he just might have "blue eyes and blue jeans", as one song out of the disco era put it.
on Jul 06, 2004
Is it permissable for a scientist to fake his data? If you answer no, then you believe in God. It's just words that are fucking you up. Something to think about anyway. But then, what do I know, the moron that I am...