By Carl S ~
Here's the "reality" most people are taught: There's a creator who made everything that exists, as it is. Out of all the billions of galaxies, this creator chose this particular planet to be God's own planet. He made it, pronounced it "good," and has been finding fault with its human inhabitants ever since. Now, the human inhabitants are to serve this god on earth, obediently do his will, and get a reward in an eternal blissful afterlife, or go to eternal torment. Anything this god does, or allows, is good. Anything his chosen people do in his name, for his glory, is virtuous and a.o.k. It's called justification. But, just how the will, wishes, or work of god is defined, is never questioned, just obeyed.
This is quite interesting. For a Mormon, not imbibing in alcoholic beverages or coffee is the will of god, and proselytizing is the work of god. For the Moslem, pork is forbidden, likewise the Jew. God permits one wife only, or many wives, creates homosexuals but forbids gay intercourse. God tells both the Christians and the Moslems the same thing: Kill the infidel. God approves/does not approve, of many things, all over the moral landscape, and things that have nothing at all to do with morality; tells some humans he is three persons, while telling others that he is but one god. He has worshippers bowing toward Mecca and others kissing statues. He has tens of thousands of spokesmen telling their followers just what he expects of them, what his will is, what work they are called to do in his name and stead. He's always coming up with new ways to put people at odds with each other, to make some people feel much more superior to others, telling for example, one group that it's "true" to him whereas another isn't, and that means that every one of them is a "heretic" to the other.
Deprivation is god's game: sex, booze, delicious meats, sleeping in on Sunday mornings (or Friday, if you're Jewish or Moslem), etc. Deprive your senses, mind, and reasoning. Just obey, that's all. This is the formula god lays out for success in spirituality - the society that he reigned over for more than a thousand years, and longs to repeat: just believe, obey, don't ever question. (I wish this were sarcastic, but it's theologically correct.) Interestingly, the will of god is contingent on geography, culture, and the pressure cooker indoctrination of children.
If you want to know what "God wants," what his will is, you'll have to check out all the religions which speak for "him;" and don't stop there, check each congregation, each spokesman, each cult, because they will tell you. And the smaller the unit, the more specific and "certain" are god's rules, will, wishes, doctrines, for god is very adaptable, capable of morphing, while giving contradictory commands from one place to another. In fact, because the will of god is so ambiguous, as well fits the hiddenness of god, just about anything can be said to be the will of, the raison d'ętre for the work of god, and is. Whether you are told to believe Mohammed or Elias or Jesus (and his mom floated up through the clouds), that god is one or three, that Islam or Christianity is the one true religion, god has said all of this is true, so shut your mind and be quiet and obey. Oh, and by the way, pick whatever truths you choose to accept, for crissakes. God will lead you on.
Reality check: There's no such thing as "God's will", or "God's laws". There are the laws of man and the fabricating what is the will/wishes/commands of an invisible, imaginary power, and buffoons speaking in its name simply because they've done so for centuries. Get real. If they were truly honest, they would say, "We don't know."
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And those who are given power to impose absolute values of an absolutely powerful invisibility, are the most corrupt of all. It's all about power: over thoughts, sexuality, appetites, freedom, children's minds. It's about the lowest, sneakiest reality hiding under the camouflage of goodness. That's getting real, when you realize this.
This is quite interesting. For a Mormon, not imbibing in alcoholic beverages or coffee is the will of god, and proselytizing is the work of god. For the Moslem, pork is forbidden, likewise the Jew. God permits one wife only, or many wives, creates homosexuals but forbids gay intercourse. God tells both the Christians and the Moslems the same thing: Kill the infidel. God approves/does not approve, of many things, all over the moral landscape, and things that have nothing at all to do with morality; tells some humans he is three persons, while telling others that he is but one god. He has worshippers bowing toward Mecca and others kissing statues. He has tens of thousands of spokesmen telling their followers just what he expects of them, what his will is, what work they are called to do in his name and stead. He's always coming up with new ways to put people at odds with each other, to make some people feel much more superior to others, telling for example, one group that it's "true" to him whereas another isn't, and that means that every one of them is a "heretic" to the other.
Deprivation is god's game: sex, booze, delicious meats, sleeping in on Sunday mornings (or Friday, if you're Jewish or Moslem), etc. Deprive your senses, mind, and reasoning. Just obey, that's all. This is the formula god lays out for success in spirituality - the society that he reigned over for more than a thousand years, and longs to repeat: just believe, obey, don't ever question. (I wish this were sarcastic, but it's theologically correct.) Interestingly, the will of god is contingent on geography, culture, and the pressure cooker indoctrination of children.
If you want to know what "God wants," what his will is, you'll have to check out all the religions which speak for "him;" and don't stop there, check each congregation, each spokesman, each cult, because they will tell you. And the smaller the unit, the more specific and "certain" are god's rules, will, wishes, doctrines, for god is very adaptable, capable of morphing, while giving contradictory commands from one place to another. In fact, because the will of god is so ambiguous, as well fits the hiddenness of god, just about anything can be said to be the will of, the raison d'ętre for the work of god, and is. Whether you are told to believe Mohammed or Elias or Jesus (and his mom floated up through the clouds), that god is one or three, that Islam or Christianity is the one true religion, god has said all of this is true, so shut your mind and be quiet and obey. Oh, and by the way, pick whatever truths you choose to accept, for crissakes. God will lead you on.
Reality check: There's no such thing as "God's will", or "God's laws". There are the laws of man and the fabricating what is the will/wishes/commands of an invisible, imaginary power, and buffoons speaking in its name simply because they've done so for centuries. Get real. If they were truly honest, they would say, "We don't know."
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And those who are given power to impose absolute values of an absolutely powerful invisibility, are the most corrupt of all. It's all about power: over thoughts, sexuality, appetites, freedom, children's minds. It's about the lowest, sneakiest reality hiding under the camouflage of goodness. That's getting real, when you realize this.
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