IS GOD CHRISTIAN?
Or Muslim; or Jewish; or Buddhist; or any other Religion for that matter? It's a fundamental (pardon the pun) question, which seems to have only one answer: of course, he is. He is all of the above. If you believe in God.
Let me just start out by saying, I'm an agnostic. I have my doubts about God, and he/she/it has his/her/its doubts about me. Be that as it may, I can still ask the above question and come up with a reasonable and reasoned answer. And there's the rub, because if you are a Devout Christian, Muslim, Jew, whatever, it has nothing to do with a reasoned answer and everything to do with your faith being better than the other guy's faith. For instance, reason tells us that an omnipotent, omnipresent God created all things, which means he created all faiths and therefore God is part of all faiths. Simple, clear, concise. But bring that question and logic to a true believer, and they care nothing for it, because what it all comes down to is an unwavering faith which does not believe in either logic or using one's brain for anything other than keeping space between your ears.
For instance, abstinence. The Catholic Church states in its doctrines that one must be abstinent, even in marriage, unless your purpose in having intercourse is procreation. How many Catholics follow this doctrine. Yet these same Catholics have no problem condemning contraception and sexual education. Their faith overrides their logic. It even goes to extremes, where an African Bishop recently stated that he knew for a fact that condoms from Europe were being deliberately infected with the AIDS virus, and the only protection against AIDS was abstinence. How much of a conspiracy nut do you have to be to believe that European condom manufacturers are trying to kill you? If you don't believe this story, here's the link.
Or we can discuss Bill Donahue of the Catholic League. Admittedly, an easy target; why anyone believes Donahue is a valid representatvie of the Catholic Faith is beyond me. Yet even when he makes outrageous claims about Hollywood being run by secular jews who like pederasty, you hear nary a peep from mainstream Catholicism. Why is that, I wonder? Not really. What I'm sure I would be told is that we must tolerate even the intolerable. Except, of course, if you're gay. No; the truth is is that Donahue serves a very useful purpose: He gives voice to positions the Church believes in but thinks would mar it's alraedy tarnished image. He can be the voice of intolerance which the Church so desperately needs, without the Church actually having to admit to its hate.
The same can be said of Evangelicals: they just don't worry about how they look in other people's eyes, because,let's face it, you don't believe like they do, you're going to Hell anyway. Intolerance of others seems to be the common overriding theme of most religions. That and the fact that you are damned. Which explains Muslim extremists who see nothing wrong with suicide bombing, or Evangelical extremists who see nothing wrong with murdering Doctors and Nurses who perform procedures they do not agree with. Or even pharmicists who believe that their moral judgement overrides your rights.
It would take excessive amounts of time to list all the extreme and horrendous acts which are perpetrated in the name of a specific Religion, and I just don't have time to do that. Others have been working long and hard in that area. Suffice it to say that Religious extremism continues unabted and, in fact, seems to be gaining momentum. When Shia kill Sunni, Sunni kill Shia, Evangelicals create videogames where the main focus is to convert or kill so-called non-believers, where The Church denies contraception and abortion yet does nothing to eliviate the very problems which occur becasue of their approbation, where Jews kill Palestinians in their belief that they are the chosen people; what more can one say. I wonder, does God ask himself, Is this what I created? Is this what I intended? Why? I wonder if he has an answer?
Let me just start out by saying, I'm an agnostic. I have my doubts about God, and he/she/it has his/her/its doubts about me. Be that as it may, I can still ask the above question and come up with a reasonable and reasoned answer. And there's the rub, because if you are a Devout Christian, Muslim, Jew, whatever, it has nothing to do with a reasoned answer and everything to do with your faith being better than the other guy's faith. For instance, reason tells us that an omnipotent, omnipresent God created all things, which means he created all faiths and therefore God is part of all faiths. Simple, clear, concise. But bring that question and logic to a true believer, and they care nothing for it, because what it all comes down to is an unwavering faith which does not believe in either logic or using one's brain for anything other than keeping space between your ears.
For instance, abstinence. The Catholic Church states in its doctrines that one must be abstinent, even in marriage, unless your purpose in having intercourse is procreation. How many Catholics follow this doctrine. Yet these same Catholics have no problem condemning contraception and sexual education. Their faith overrides their logic. It even goes to extremes, where an African Bishop recently stated that he knew for a fact that condoms from Europe were being deliberately infected with the AIDS virus, and the only protection against AIDS was abstinence. How much of a conspiracy nut do you have to be to believe that European condom manufacturers are trying to kill you? If you don't believe this story, here's the link.
Or we can discuss Bill Donahue of the Catholic League. Admittedly, an easy target; why anyone believes Donahue is a valid representatvie of the Catholic Faith is beyond me. Yet even when he makes outrageous claims about Hollywood being run by secular jews who like pederasty, you hear nary a peep from mainstream Catholicism. Why is that, I wonder? Not really. What I'm sure I would be told is that we must tolerate even the intolerable. Except, of course, if you're gay. No; the truth is is that Donahue serves a very useful purpose: He gives voice to positions the Church believes in but thinks would mar it's alraedy tarnished image. He can be the voice of intolerance which the Church so desperately needs, without the Church actually having to admit to its hate.
The same can be said of Evangelicals: they just don't worry about how they look in other people's eyes, because,let's face it, you don't believe like they do, you're going to Hell anyway. Intolerance of others seems to be the common overriding theme of most religions. That and the fact that you are damned. Which explains Muslim extremists who see nothing wrong with suicide bombing, or Evangelical extremists who see nothing wrong with murdering Doctors and Nurses who perform procedures they do not agree with. Or even pharmicists who believe that their moral judgement overrides your rights.
It would take excessive amounts of time to list all the extreme and horrendous acts which are perpetrated in the name of a specific Religion, and I just don't have time to do that. Others have been working long and hard in that area. Suffice it to say that Religious extremism continues unabted and, in fact, seems to be gaining momentum. When Shia kill Sunni, Sunni kill Shia, Evangelicals create videogames where the main focus is to convert or kill so-called non-believers, where The Church denies contraception and abortion yet does nothing to eliviate the very problems which occur becasue of their approbation, where Jews kill Palestinians in their belief that they are the chosen people; what more can one say. I wonder, does God ask himself, Is this what I created? Is this what I intended? Why? I wonder if he has an answer?
Labels: Abortion, Catholic, Evangelical, Extremism, Faith, God, Hate, Jewish, Muslim, Religion
posted by George at 4:48 PM
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