Tag Archives: creation

Why Must We Go Through This?

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A common complaint against God is that if He exists, why would he make us go through all the crap that occurs on Earth before welcoming us into His embrace? Sickness, suffering, woes, violence, and so many more nasties about in life. Sure, there are many good things, too, but no one really pays attention to those or thanks God for them when they can simply focus on the bad stuff and blame him.

OK, sorry…side rant for a moment there.

But there is a legitimate question in there. What is the purpose of being here, if our goal is to be there (i.e. Heaven) for eternity?

Well, first, I highly doubt our eternity is going to be spent lounging around the afterlife or doing nothing but bowing down in front of God all the time. Seems like we’d have something a bit more varied and productive to do than the same ole, same ole forever.

So that means we’ll likely have purpose. Responsibility. And, dare I say, power.

Remember, angels have power. A bunch of them waged war against Heaven. And yet they are servants to us, the children of God. They are, in the end, lesser than humans on the heirarchical scale. Therefore, it is safe to say that we will be potentially far more dangerous to creation and to Heaven than they ever were or ever will be.

Given that, I would kind of expect to be put through some paces. I would, in fact, expect that the afterlife is not simply a destination but a continuing journey and series of tests and opportunities for growth itself.

You don’t toss a set of keys to your kid the moment his or her feet can reach the pedals and say, “Take it for a ride.”

Likewise, I don’t think God is going to simply open the doors to paradise, and reveal deep secrets of creation itself, to just everyone.

This post is a bit of a ramble, I know, but I haven’t really coalesced these thoughts firmly. It’s more of a mental exercise I’m going through. But I do think I may be on to something with it.

Superstition, Insanity and Faith

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With Friday the 13th coming up tomorrow…oh, that unlucky day…I thought I’d wax philosophical on superstition vs. faith.

Fearing that bad luck will befall you because you walked under a ladder is superstition. Leaving food out for the fairies so that they won’t do mischief in your house is superstition. Keeping a rabbit’s foot in your pocket is superstition.

Hell, I’ll even grant you (despite my Christian faith) that praying for something and expecting to get what you want is superstition. (God isn’t a cosmic ATM).

Faith in any religion or belief in a god (or God Himself) is not superstition. Maybe it is if you’re looking to explain love as being some god firing an arrow in your ass or the movement of the sun as being due to some dude’s invisible chariot. But a belief in a higher power is not superstition.

In fact, I find it no more ludicrous than believing that the whole universe just spontaneously popped out of nowhere, which is what a lot of people seem to believe. Or that it was a pre-existing compressed ball of matter/energy that suddenly exploded. Because the fact is that believing the universe is some random unguided thing that has always existed in some form is just as wacky as believing there is an entity (or are entities) that shaped it and perhaps guide it on some higher level.

So, with that, I respectfully request that anyone who has been baiting Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus or anyone else with the “I can’t believe you buy into that superstitious nonsense” line please stop. You can disagree with faith, but please stop lumping it in with superstition. I wish some of you would stop with the “delusional” tag as well, because I know that I’m well aware of reality, the laws of physics and the need to function in the world around me.

As for the Scientologists, who maintain a huge, cultish church around the writings of a bad science fiction author?

Well, they’re just fucking insane.

Hypocrisy hell, part 3

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spacey.jpgI used to hang out on some atheist discussion boards. No, not as an annoying troll. These were places that had discussion areas about religion that welcomed Christians and people of other faiths to discuss why they believe what they believe.

By and large, the discussions were civil and even enlightening. But I never could understand why I had to explain how my God could have always existed and not come from somewhere, yet atheists didn’t have to explain how the Big Bang could have created the universe and where it came from.

For some reason, I was constantly assailed by the argument that the universe was here and obviously existed and therefore they didn’t have to prove anything. The burden was on me.

But I never argued the existence of the universe, just the fact that the Big Bang is as unprovable as God. Yeah, I know the universe seems to be radiating from a central point, moving outward, but that doesn’t prove a Big Bang anymore than it disproves God. Maybe the universe is radiating outward because Heaven is in the center of the universe (that’s just for the sake of argument; not an assertion of “gospel truth”) and (a) God wanted everything moving out from that point or (b) the war in Heaven created shockwaves that carried creation along them.

All I’m saying is that the theory of the Big Bang assumes that there was a bunch of matter/energy mashed together that exploded into our current universe. How is that any more viable a theory than an intelligent God who existed before creation did?

Atheists argue, “Where did God come from?” Well, where did the damn material for the universe come from? Six of one, half dozen of the other…and equally improbable and unprovable if you come from a purely logical perspective.

Given the complexity of the universe and how nicely things tie together, I’m still in favor of some kind of intelligence behind it all. To me, that makes a lot more sense than random chance.

(Image from www.freeimages.co.uk)

Hypocrisy Hell, part 1  |  Hypocrisy Hell, part 2