talking about God
I'VE GOT A PEN-PAL ON THE NET WHO IS A CHRISTIAN, SHE MENTIONED
RECENTLY TO ME THAT IT WAS "JUST A QUESTION OF WHETHER YOU BELIEVE OR
YOU DON'T". I CHOSE TO DISAGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT AND THIS GOT ME
INTO THINKING ABOUT IT AND THEN I WONDERED WHAT THE REST OF YOU MAY
THINK? ...
HERE'S WHAT I WROTE BACK TO HER:
Now you're asking!!!!
Well, I remember age 10 or so spending long nights awake scared and
shaking cos I knew I couldn't live up to the precepts the church
presented, and therefore I would go to hell
this prompted off some very early quests for philosophical truths
where I read a lot of pro and anti religious literature
and now whilst I believe Jesus was a spiritual leader I believe he
was also a political leader and an anti-Roman revolutionary
(ref book 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail')
I believe miracles are possible
I take what Jesus said about all of us being the children of god as
meaning we are all spiritual beings and can make magic and miracles
in the world
what I can never forgive the church for implying is that we are all
flawed and need forgiveness
this takes away any sense of personal responsibility
god is inside, not outside
'he' is not a forgiving father, he is the spirit energy of existence,
and no I don't truly know what this means, however its an empowering
belief to have!
Heaven and hell are what you make them and both are here on earth
I have no idea what happens after death
I have had some out of body experiences which I take as first hand
experience of spiritual existence, there's no proof with this of
course, its a subjective experience, anyone objectively looking has
no evidence that anything unusual has happened to me
I left the church when I was 13. Through my reading I created a load
of questions to ask at the interview before my confirmation
the only one I remember was related to the environment I grew up in
and people going to hell
I asked the curate of a hypothetical situation
"what happens to a kid who grows up on one of the housing estates
round here, his father beats him, he is taught to steal and fight,
becomes a thief, lier and a bully, gets drunk, gets into a fight, gets
angry with someone and kills them intentionally, because he is
programmed to behave this way?"
he had no clue to answer this and neither I suspect do you
I walked away, did not get confirmed and look back on that day as the
first day of my adult life
its not just a matter of belief, since regular religion is so full of
nominalistaions, and deletions of reference that you and most
Christians that are not religious philosophers cannot really even
explain what it is that they believe or do not believe
try it some time!
yes its good to give children choice, but I wish my parents hadn't
bothered to give me the choice of religion - the biggest effect I got
was to be constantly criticised and disciplined when I showed the
spark of life and creativity rather than just being a good little
rote learner!!!
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