Religion, the End of the World

The Nature of Belief and Faith

Do you believe in large squid like creatures with large teeth that live in the bottom of the ocean. We have never seen them because they live miles below the surface and when they try to surface, they blow up. That is why we have never seen one. However, you know those big whirlpool that sometimes happens in the ocean. They have them on tv. Well, that is when one of those big creatures implodes, it causes that big circle sucking whirlpool. And if you don't believe, you lack faith.

Where is the evidence you might add.

Well, there is also this story of this guy called god. If you pray to him, a kind of talking, he might answer it or not. If he does, he was for your good, or if he doesn't it was, too. He is all powerful and loving, but either allows all the evil and ugliness in the world, or really is not all powerful or all loving. Those that believe in him are saved, those that honestly don't are to be punished for their honesty. And if you don't believe you lack faith.

Where is the evidence you might add?

Honesty, My God

I made up my mind that honesty is my god, kindness is my religion, tolerance is my faith and compassion is my hope. Of course, I can't really pull it off. I can't lose weight either, but it is still a good thing. My god, religion, faith and hope are noble and I am but an unfaithful servant to simple concepts.

When you see your fellow man, he is on the same journey as you. Someday he will die, as you will. You can either wish him happiness or suffering, or just ignore your fellow traveler. Wishing him happiness is to practice my religion, to wish him less is to lack compassion. There is no saved or damned in my religion. No chosen, no one that gets special favors from his god in my religion. My god knows that life is tough and then you die and my religion makes no other promises that it can't keep.

The Rewards of Faith

Take Iraq. They are fighting because of their religion, ours and theirs. We are run by fundamentalists, so are they. Ours are tempered by education, but deep down they believe the world needs saving. It needs to be protected from the morning afternoon pill, from evolution being taught in schools, from pills that prevent cervical cancer in women, from stem cell research that kills cells that could have in another place grown into a human, from drugs like pot even when used by a cancer patient to keep his last meal down. In short, U.S. fundamentalists know what is best for you and the world. They religion is not compatible with freedom. Try to buy a beer in a resturant in Salt Lake City, or a beer before noon in most of South Carolina. Then you will understand that they control your freedom. They know by faith what is good for you.

IRAQ Gods are Not as Cool

Their gods say all infidels must die. Kind of the like when Jehovah Bush's god told the Israelites they were to kill all the Palestinans and to not leave any man, woman or child alive. Why, was unclear, it was just a matter of faith. So, Iraq god same basic principal, just less cool.

Faith and Logic

Faith is the permission to leave logic behind when it is no longer convenient for one;s argument to be logical. For instance, an all powerful and all loving god that allows all the pain and anguish in this world. That is not logical. But if I had faith, which is the absence of logic, I could accept this as wisdom greater than mine. Of course, I don't believe that anything would make this apparent paradox logical, or even okay. Or a god that sends allows people to go to hell for an eternity. A kind loving god would at least just annilate them. I would do that and I not all that kind or loving. But, I am better at loving and kindness than a god that would do this. Your escape from the logic of this is to invoke faith, which is the grand cope out to escape the fact that such a god does not exist since his characteristics are mutually exclusive, they can not belong in the same set (mathmatics).

The End of Faith

I just read The End of Faith, a great book. I agree with it basic tenant, that as long as we use faith as permission to ignore logic, to do things that our basic instinct says is wrong, then the world is doomed. We have to embrace logic and our humanity and help each other along the way without all the prejudice bound up in every organized religion. Even those that do not practice organized religion carry around a lot of baggage and guilt from religion in their heads.

A Journey Without Faith

You ask, do you think we are capable of this journey. Well, it is not that I think we are going to do great. It is more that I think we can do better than the Pope and others that depend on wisdom that is 2000 years old. And besides, the alternative is not going to be pretty. Just imagine Iraq on a global scale. Well, that is where it is headed if we don't all start seeing ourselves as pilgrims on a long journey with no clue where we are and start seeking the truth about ourselves and our existance. There is no easy way, we must be courageous in the face of globalized religion that will unite on a common foe: honesty.

Our One Faith

Consumerism. We believe we can buy happiness. But, that is a subject for another time and not quite on theme, as in Disneyland.