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August 20, 2013

God and more God

DISCLAIMER: BEFORE YOU READ THIS, PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU BELIEVE, AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT USE IT AS A WEAPON OR REASON TO HURT OR EXCLUDE OTHERS. I AM SPEAKING FROM MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE HERE WHICH HAS FORMED MY LACK OF BELIEF OVER 56 YEARS. SO IF WHAT YOU DO HONESTLY WORKS FOR YOU, KEEP ON DOING IT!

I had an interesting exchange with a Facebook Friend here this morning. It was about the age old GOD discussion that a typical Believer and me the typical Non-Believer recovered Catholic often have.

I decided to post my reply below because I always find this discussion so odd and curious. 

I think God is an imaginary friend for adults...I have watched many versions of God drown my relatives, let cancer and disease eat my relatives and friends alive, and kill millions with the AIDS virus also including a family member and far too many friends, not to mention the assorted other deaths and horrific suffering so many innocent people go through. 

If any other Father treated their kids in that abusive way he or she would be jailed and sentenced to death. The whole fear of God concept I guess rings true too often, and that just seems wrong from a concept/entity that should be all loving and all forgiving. Hell in concept God created the very people he or she also murders. I say murder because God is in charge right? Apparently not.

The ultimate irony that blind faith offers I suppose.

For me, (I emphasize only for me), the very notion that God does anything and is there for anyone, discounts hard working, good people who work to live a good life and help others in the course of that life, it's almost as if hard work, deep love and caring and a genuine concern and effort towards others gets brushed aside or discounted when good things happen because God made it happen. For many Christian's it's in the name of God, or it's Gods will, or the power of prayer and the real good people are slighted if not Christian or a believer, and it happens every day. Millions spend hours each day in passive prayer hoping for miracles. Why? 

The entire concept of the passivity of Christians and Religious followers is so angering to me, if we all got off our damn knees and instead helped those who have fallen to one knee from pain or need to simply get up and thrive...I think this work would improve significantly in short order.

So I don't care one way or another what anyone believes as long as it honestly works for them and others are not hurt, discounted or excluded in the process. But sadly most of our wars historically have been religiously motivated, many of our churches and 'Houses of God' exclude God's own children who are gay. And so many of our God-fearing christians live divisive, exclusionary lives and point to that damn Bible saying it's ok because they translated "God's word" to benefit them and to get those they deem as lessor humans out! 

Ahhh the endless debate.

So I just live as good a life as I can, help as many people as I can to do better, raise an awareness of giving and loving and caring for each other to empower each other do do better. I work daily to motivate, inspire or otherwise help anyone I can with the resources and networks I have. I use the power of my mind and rampant creativity to help to solve problems and I work to collaborate and not compete with others to thrive. And unlike most Christian's I don't do it for the 'gold ring' or that promise of heaven and eternal life. I do it because it's the right thing to do, with no expectation of anything in return except the condemnation to hell that other Christian's have told me I am bound for simply because I choose free will, and not to become a member of their 'Believer' club!

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