God made me do it

I looked in my Dad’s eyes yesterday, and saw a complete lack of recognition. He did not know who I was at all.

For thousands of years, war has taken place over a tiny stretch of land. Millions upon millions have died over this tiny spot consisting largely of dessert. The current inhabitants only live there because no one else wanted them, and some even tried to wipe them out. And now they turn away another dispossessed people who seek the same haven. With arms. These are supposedly my people.

Greed is rampant. The power-hungry deny those who simply seek to live the barest necessities, because they can. People are constantly killed over a difference in opinion, or worse yet because they are just simply different.

Nature is being destroyed left and right, again for greed and power.

This is Divine

So let’s talk about God folks.

I honestly don’t know what I believe when it comes to an actual Deity. And I am not trying to tell other people what to believe. I simply offer a few observations. Take them as you will.

Humanity started off believing that there were multiple deities, all whom had many of the worse human qualities. Pretty much anything that could not be explained was ascribed to a deity. Even individual families had their own spiritual guides. And often these deities and guides were at odds with each other. Excuse for violence and strife against each other. Somewhere along the way, folk began to notice that a lot of these separate guides offered the same kind of wisdom, and that if you found the commonalities  they could actually live with common purpose. Soon people decided that My God and Your God, or the God of This and  the God of That, were probably really all the same God, and before we knew it these folk had only one God. This turned out to be a very healthy thing for smaller societies constantly at war and a more unified group of people began to emerge. Except not everyone agreed with this one God.  So now the one God not only became the reason for everything unexplainable, but also the excuse for bigotry and war: if you do not believe in MY God then you need to be brought to believe, however I have to do it.

Since the One God-ers were powerful in their unity, many were drawn into the fold. Sometimes they recognized a certain sense in only one God, and saw the strength of the community it built. In other cases it was simply fear of a seemingly stronger military force. But in either case, the concept spread. And as with any faith driven ideal … the more faithful the stronger the ideal and the harder to combat it. Thus the one God became the reason and excuse for everything. Something bad happened to people … they must have angered God. Something good happened … Thank God.

No such thing as personal responsibility.

Populations grew. Many agreed that there is only one God, but they seemed to have great disagreements on what God was saying. And who had the right to call themselves God’s people. It was inconceivable that one God could love everyone equally apparently. So once again God became My God and Your God. Even though in theory everyone is still talking about the same God. And pretty much every war, ever atrocity of one human against another since those times, can be on some level attributed to people’s INTERPRETATION of who God is, and what God wants.

As if humans could even come close to understand the mind and intent of something powerful enough to create all of existence. We can barely even understand ourselves.

Not MY idea of Divine …

I don’t know if there is some sort of divine being. I don’t know that it even matters whether or not I actually believe one way or another. But I do know that I  do not believe that such a powerful being would be so petty as to assign its creations to constant death and destruction of each other in the Divine name. That such a being would be so self-absorbed and in need of adoration from a group of selfish flawed beings that hatred and intolerance was more important than peace and unity.

There is nothing wrong with believing in a Divine source, but stop pretending that your understanding of this being is somehow more pure or better than another’s. Stop letting other people tell you that THEY know God’s will and mind, so you should do what THEY say. If they had such a profound understanding, why aren’t they god’s themselves? And stop using God as an excuse!! If such a being exists, said being has the power and ability to make what it wishes to happen happen. Would you use ants to do your landscaping? So it would be kind of ridiculous for an ant to say I ate that piece of leaf because my Human told me to.

If man was made in God’s image, I have no desire to have anything to do with that God. Unfortunately the issue is that we have made God in OUR image. And we are very poor role models. So take responsibility for your own actions; for your own hatreds and crimes and sins if you will, and stop blaming the Divine. Live a good life because it is the right thing to do. If there is a God, and if said God really has any interest in judging us for our worth, it seems more likely that approval will be found for being good simply to be good, and not out of fear. And if I am wrong about all of this, and God finds I am worthy of some sort of divine punishment … well that’s between me and God.

YOU have neither the right nor the wisdom to judge me.