JW wrote:
I was born Catholic, raised Baptist and grew up devoutly religious; saved, born again, and a frequent leader of the Sunday evening service at our church. Today, I am agnostic.
Former church-mates of mine are quite certain that I could not have been sincere if I am truly agnostic today. I have assured them, and now you, that I was as sincere then as I am now and I am as sincere as I can possibly be.
There may be a God, I don’t know, but the characterizations of God currently celebrated on planet Earth are pure fiction in my view.
Why do I say such a thing? Firstly, if God can truly do anything, why would He design a universe that cannibalizes itself at every level. Why would any omnipotent being create a system in which His greatest creations can only exist by destroying His other creations? The sadism in that design says nothing positive about a universal creator.
Secondly, if God is truly omniscient, knows all, past, present, future, He would have known from the very beginning of the pain and terror felt by every prey species and every mistreated child throughout the history of His Creations. Once again, the sadism in that behavior says nothing positive about such a universal creator.
Thirdly, if God really is omnipresent as advertised, He is an ever-present witness to all of the pain and agony, torture and death, loss and grief that He has designed into His creations. Finally, the sadism in that voyeuristic proposition says nothing positive about such a universal creator.
I do not object to anyone’s personal beliefs so long as they remain personal. I do not discourage any from their beliefs. I don’t know if it is possible to exist as a society without some omnipotent father figure somewhere in the mix. The current devaluation of the strong father archetype is having some very unfortunate and profound impacts on our ability to maintain and operate a civilized society. That is another of what I view as failures in the design.
It is not my goal here to attack or promote any belief. It is my intention to present an argument for open-mindedness. I know that is a difficult standard to maintain. It requires a constant review of one’s own feelings and information bases. It is not always a matter of conviction that leads us to separate conclusions. Sometimes it is merely a difference in point of view, or of information possessed, or of t***sient uncertainties.
I was born Catholic, raised Baptist and grew up de... (
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JW...As a true Agnostic you are not shunning God....you are just wondering 'How can I know there is a God, and if there is a God what does He do??? Why does He do it??? Why does He allow such terrible things ??? etc. .But the one thing we all need to have is Faith that things can be good !! Do we place that Faith in ourselves...one among billions to right all wrongs ?? Do we place that Faith in men ....who have shown collectively that they cannot be trusted of their own volition to be totally honest and trust worthy ??? Is life actually just one big dice roll OR do we make choices ??? I know me personally that I have had dozens of Major Crossroads where I had to choose between what was best for me personally vs. what was best for my family,neighbors,community,etc.....when I chose the ' what is good for me ' path....it never worked out !! Luck of the draw ??? Maybe ??? But my mother tried to abort me multiple times ( I love my mother and miss her dearly) My Godmother was the best Godmother a person ever had ( she told me just before she got real sick that she always felt she had to watch over me)...I should have died over 7 times that I count....and the Drs. thought I was never going to get out of the hospital alive 4 times!! Luck of the draw ??? Maybe ! Or is it that my job isn't done yet ??? I don't have answers, just questions, and FAITH and an understanding that there has got to be Someone better than me watching out for me, guiding me and who am I to question His judgement !!! If I'm wrong ...Oh well !!! I did my best to be good and I'm happy ! I believe in Jesus ,God the Father and the Holy Spirit.....If my Faith was misplaced I don't care I did what I could to not add to the misery of people and hopefully brought some joy and happiness to others, for me that is all I could do...and way more than people even thought I would do since I wasn't supposed to be here....the final question is ...What is the Final Chapter ????
JW, I wish you peace , happiness, and you pass it around the best you can ....sometimes that is as good as it's going to be!!