daddy1gringo wrote:This is interesting. Once again let me apologize for getting you all wrong, but you've got to admit that from most of your posts one could never have guessed, for instance, that you believe "all you need is faith."
So, if you don't mind my asking, and if CoffeeCream doesn't mind me hijacking his thread a little (though I think this is relevant) Why do you believe what you believe? And the God you believe exists, since he/it is evidently not the same as we Christians believe, what is he like? I'm not being facetious or sarcastic at all. I'm curious, and I think it can shed light on the discussion.
Well, with all the various ideas, pantheons, and conceptualizations of God, gods, and goddesses; it seems the most reasonable.
Unfortunately, I cannot describe what he is "like" anymore than I can define what He is directly. I've never met the man face to face, so I don't know his personality. He seems to be supremely detached, but funny. He also seems to be benevolent to a fault.
I believe that the God I believe in is the same God that you believe in, but without all the pomp, circumstance, and psychodrama.
He's just a cosmic guy who created us. If He wanted something in return, I'm certain He would have created us in the capacity to give Him something that he had trouble getting. Being a God, it's probably not hard for him to get love and/or fear from a population of lesser beings. It's also not hard for Him to get stories and religions made about Him. So why do we bother? Because, in my opinion, 99% of people out there have missed the point entirely.
God is not about sin, death, redemption, and abstaining from all things material and/or pleasurable because of some arcane system of morality-based laws. He's about enjoying the things He created. God made us this planet, our senses, our free will, and our pleasures. He's not the type of being to then make us all reject it on the basis that it's the "good" thing to do. Such a thing would be a colossal waste of time and resources.
Bottom line: If He wanted a bunch of drone-like worshipers who reject all that is "sinful" even though He created those things, He would have made more angels. The stories about Lucifer's fall and all that are human-made theater to get people to come in. If all Church ever told you was "It's all cool, just don't do anything unrighteous or mean," how often would they be able to pack the pews?
It's the old adage, "If it bleeds it leads." Why write about how God is good, loves us all unconditionally, and has created this paradise for us; when you could write about how he loves us in spite of our faults, and how we're all wretches and sinners and dirty and we are undeserving unless we bow down and beg His forgiveness?
Churches would never survive if they told the real message of "God loves you, that's it."