thread: 2006-09-08 : Picky-choosy religion, 3 views
On 2006-09-12, Clinton R. Nixon wrote:
Sydney,
Re: "allegiance to an unelected alien power." I've been avoiding this topic because I'll say things that will hurt myself and others, but this is the exact point which I'm avoiding, so I won't any longer.
It's very hard for at least part of my brain not to believe in the Christian God. It did for so long that remembering that he only lives in the minds of people is hard to do.
Basically, Christian theology boils down to "If you believe that God exists and that he sent his son to get nailed on a cross so that you won't eternally suffer, and you ask for forgiveness for the things you've done that God doesn't approve of, you will get to live in eternal bliss." I've tried to phrase that very neutrally, so that I won't sound biased towards either side here. If you don't buy that that's Christian theology in a nutshell, let me know, because that invalidates the rest of this.
Ok. If that's really true, and like I said, sometimes I have a hard time imagining that it's not, well, then, I don't want any part of it. It's a cruel, nasty game to play. It is alien. You're right - God doesn't need to be elected, as he made the universe. My parents didn't have to be elected, as they made me. My parents were great, but my grandfather - also, in that chain of creation - physically abused me as a child. He wasn't elected, and, you know, fuck him for that. I don't have to respect him for it.
Same with God. That sort of moral system is alien to everything I believe in, and I won't be bribed with eternal pain so that I say, "yep, nailing a nice man to a tree was a great idea, and also, people shouldn't be able to have a bit of sex before they decide on a life partner." Seriously, this is insane.
