so this came up in conversation today:
i don't think i've ever wrote about this before...so here we go...
Yes, I do believe in God. I don't believe in the 7 days of creation. I see God as more of a tinkerer. Set the universe in motion and see what happens. Help out sometimes, don't help out others... ok I guess I should step back farther.
I think that in the begining, there was ultimate chaos. Not little molecules bumping into each other chaos, but conflicting lines of probability. It's much more of a concept and would take me a long time to fully explain. So lets just go with random mass of lines of probability.
At some point, the probabilities crossed and a being was created that could think/reason/however you will. By simply being extant and thinking, this being (call it God) could push the probability lines into conformations that it wished. Not having any prior experiences, it played around for a bit. Over time it gained experience/knowledge/etc. After a while, it decided to try to understand itself more deeply. In order to do this, it would have to see its own creation. The best way to do that? Create other beings that could think. So, probability lines were pushed around, and the universe as we know it came to be. Call it the big bang, whatever. Over time, planets formed around stars, life as we understand it came to be, yada yada yada. Now, from time to time God steps in to direct evolution towards thinking beings, beings in "its own image" if you will. After time, on earth, humans came about. Still, from time to time, God steps in and plays with things a bit to see what happens.
SO, where does religion come in? The whole point of God's toying around is to understand itself more, thus how to prepare people to have discourse with God and thus give God more information? Religion. Every religion is a path to God. This amounts to two ideas: One, that all religions are inherently right. How can this be? Because the only religion that matters on an individual basis is the one you believe is right for you in your heart of hearts. Sins only matter when they go against what you believe to be right deep down inside. Every god that mankind believes in is just a facet of the same God, which brings me to idea two: when you die, if you believe you have followed the path correctly, you will be there ready to talk to God in that vast sea of possibilities. If you believe deep down that you did not follow the correct path (ie you went against the stricture of whatever you believe deep down) then you will end up in your own personal pocket existance where you will deal with your problems for however long it takes you to deal with them, but ultimately you will be brought to the big discourse. And yes, for those people who believe this is it, the end all be all, since they do not expect anything next, their minds will have no reason to hold theirselves together after the body fails and they will disperse into the nothingness, happily as can be.
The whole point of the universe is simply that: finding an intelligence capable of giving discourse with God, that God might know more about where it came from and answer some of its own questions. For those who seek a path, any path, all roads lead to where they are going. I personally think that people should suck up their problems and tolerate each other and not partake in forcing others to "believe" in their religions...but that's just me being intolerant of people who are intolerant :)
Now, as to my own personal path: I see God as a friend to help when needed, but not something that should be relied upon. It's not God's job to keep you from making mistakes. Once in a while bad things happen and it's ok to ask for help, but don't expect it, just like with any other friends. Also, sometimes its up to you to do a return favor from time to time.
Now the kicker. Over spring break this year, I ended up talking to a "holier than thou" girl from a christian group that was in panama city as well. She asked me how I dealt with things without Jesus, how could I possibly believe that I would be alright without Jesus in my life. I then proceeded to explain all of this to her, and that Jesus is but one path to God and that he isn't MY path to God. At first she was all "Jesus is the ONLY path," but I continued to explain how I felt during times of great trial, that I ask for help not from Jesus, but from God, and numerous times have had answers that were good enough for me to believe in. She then asked how I knew it was God and not "the Devil" and I told her what it felt like, and I amazed her because the feeling I got was exactly the same as what she feels when she prayed to Jesus and had her prayers answered. At the end of the conversation, I think I actually got through to her and showed her that their might be more than one right path, and its ok to show others your path but you shouldn't force it on them as it might not be their path in life.
Whoa. that took a while to write. There's tons more behind all of this, especially my own concept of God/the universe, where it came from etc...but that would take much longer to write...and I'm le tired.
Hope you enjoyed reading this. If anyone thinks I've posted this before, let me know, cuz I think I might have, but I'm too lazy to go back and look. Also, that would be interesting to see how my thoughts on the matter have(not) changed over the years.
Yes, I do believe in God. I don't believe in the 7 days of creation. I see God as more of a tinkerer. Set the universe in motion and see what happens. Help out sometimes, don't help out others... ok I guess I should step back farther.
I think that in the begining, there was ultimate chaos. Not little molecules bumping into each other chaos, but conflicting lines of probability. It's much more of a concept and would take me a long time to fully explain. So lets just go with random mass of lines of probability.
At some point, the probabilities crossed and a being was created that could think/reason/however you will. By simply being extant and thinking, this being (call it God) could push the probability lines into conformations that it wished. Not having any prior experiences, it played around for a bit. Over time it gained experience/knowledge/etc. After a while, it decided to try to understand itself more deeply. In order to do this, it would have to see its own creation. The best way to do that? Create other beings that could think. So, probability lines were pushed around, and the universe as we know it came to be. Call it the big bang, whatever. Over time, planets formed around stars, life as we understand it came to be, yada yada yada. Now, from time to time God steps in to direct evolution towards thinking beings, beings in "its own image" if you will. After time, on earth, humans came about. Still, from time to time, God steps in and plays with things a bit to see what happens.
SO, where does religion come in? The whole point of God's toying around is to understand itself more, thus how to prepare people to have discourse with God and thus give God more information? Religion. Every religion is a path to God. This amounts to two ideas: One, that all religions are inherently right. How can this be? Because the only religion that matters on an individual basis is the one you believe is right for you in your heart of hearts. Sins only matter when they go against what you believe to be right deep down inside. Every god that mankind believes in is just a facet of the same God, which brings me to idea two: when you die, if you believe you have followed the path correctly, you will be there ready to talk to God in that vast sea of possibilities. If you believe deep down that you did not follow the correct path (ie you went against the stricture of whatever you believe deep down) then you will end up in your own personal pocket existance where you will deal with your problems for however long it takes you to deal with them, but ultimately you will be brought to the big discourse. And yes, for those people who believe this is it, the end all be all, since they do not expect anything next, their minds will have no reason to hold theirselves together after the body fails and they will disperse into the nothingness, happily as can be.
The whole point of the universe is simply that: finding an intelligence capable of giving discourse with God, that God might know more about where it came from and answer some of its own questions. For those who seek a path, any path, all roads lead to where they are going. I personally think that people should suck up their problems and tolerate each other and not partake in forcing others to "believe" in their religions...but that's just me being intolerant of people who are intolerant :)
Now, as to my own personal path: I see God as a friend to help when needed, but not something that should be relied upon. It's not God's job to keep you from making mistakes. Once in a while bad things happen and it's ok to ask for help, but don't expect it, just like with any other friends. Also, sometimes its up to you to do a return favor from time to time.
Now the kicker. Over spring break this year, I ended up talking to a "holier than thou" girl from a christian group that was in panama city as well. She asked me how I dealt with things without Jesus, how could I possibly believe that I would be alright without Jesus in my life. I then proceeded to explain all of this to her, and that Jesus is but one path to God and that he isn't MY path to God. At first she was all "Jesus is the ONLY path," but I continued to explain how I felt during times of great trial, that I ask for help not from Jesus, but from God, and numerous times have had answers that were good enough for me to believe in. She then asked how I knew it was God and not "the Devil" and I told her what it felt like, and I amazed her because the feeling I got was exactly the same as what she feels when she prayed to Jesus and had her prayers answered. At the end of the conversation, I think I actually got through to her and showed her that their might be more than one right path, and its ok to show others your path but you shouldn't force it on them as it might not be their path in life.
Whoa. that took a while to write. There's tons more behind all of this, especially my own concept of God/the universe, where it came from etc...but that would take much longer to write...and I'm le tired.
Hope you enjoyed reading this. If anyone thinks I've posted this before, let me know, cuz I think I might have, but I'm too lazy to go back and look. Also, that would be interesting to see how my thoughts on the matter have(not) changed over the years.