There are a couple of observations I've made regarding religion.
1. Religion never gets in the way of a good time.
2. Religion never stood in the way of one man killing another.
3. Guilt can be justified away.
4. God's judgment is random and indiscriminate.
5. Often the most pious are the most hypocritical.
We claim we are a heavily-religious country. We have churches on almost every corner. Most of us claim believe in God, even if we feel strangely guilty or ashamed when asked if we're saved. We cry at funerals and pray to God when we need money or a home run or to be saved from an earth quake or rapist. We've gone to war for religion in the past and are masking this one in religious undertones barely concealed.
So, why do we sin? We are tempted by the beauty of a big-screen goddess. We admire the contestants in a Miss America Pageant or a Playboy Bunny. We stare at our neighbors and some small part of us desires them. Why? is this not sin? If we are so religious, why do we not feel guilt past getting caught?
Monks in Myanmar were killed in large numbers. Many are imprisoned, where who knows what is happening to them? Those that killed them are going to the deepest depths of Hell, just ask the fellow monks that escaped. But will they? If you don't believe do you suffer the repercussions regardless? Is there sin without belief, or is this the opiate that the masses take? Do they believe repercussions exist to punish the guilty, or is it hope that there is?
If you look at murders and rapist past, both your neighborhood variety and the genocidal variety, if there is justice and repercussion, why do some of them live such long lives while their victims don't? When a god-fearing soldier bayonets a mother and shoots the child, does he believe he's going to Hell? Only in casual conversations will he say, for inside he doesn't believe it. He justifies his actions. If it's not in his heart, does it exist? This is the same as those that lust after others. If it's in the head, does it make it sin or does action make it sin? Is it intent or thoughts that makes it a sin or is action that makes it a sin? Certainly, it could never be acted upon if it were not first in the heart/head. So, where does sin reside?
How about the randomness of it? Why is a child taken and not an adult? Why is one person saved in a car crash and not another? Does the person that perishes not call out to God? Does the one that was saved? What lesson is learned a child dies on the street and the family never finds out? What lesson is God trying to give and to who? And ultimately, is the lesson alone worth the life of a child?
The truth? God is random and indiscriminate in meting out injury, sickness, and death. Why does one child get cancer and die before he's ten or a teenager get shot on a random stray bullet not meant for him? Why does a man drafted into the army against his wishes die while the man beside him that enlisted gets off free? Why can a priest sexually assault boys in his care and get away with it? What lesson is learned? What is God's plan? Who benefits other than the priest, and if so, what does this say about God? Was not the priest pious and devoted and a believer?
... Just saying...
1. Religion never gets in the way of a good time.
2. Religion never stood in the way of one man killing another.
3. Guilt can be justified away.
4. God's judgment is random and indiscriminate.
5. Often the most pious are the most hypocritical.
We claim we are a heavily-religious country. We have churches on almost every corner. Most of us claim believe in God, even if we feel strangely guilty or ashamed when asked if we're saved. We cry at funerals and pray to God when we need money or a home run or to be saved from an earth quake or rapist. We've gone to war for religion in the past and are masking this one in religious undertones barely concealed.
So, why do we sin? We are tempted by the beauty of a big-screen goddess. We admire the contestants in a Miss America Pageant or a Playboy Bunny. We stare at our neighbors and some small part of us desires them. Why? is this not sin? If we are so religious, why do we not feel guilt past getting caught?
Monks in Myanmar were killed in large numbers. Many are imprisoned, where who knows what is happening to them? Those that killed them are going to the deepest depths of Hell, just ask the fellow monks that escaped. But will they? If you don't believe do you suffer the repercussions regardless? Is there sin without belief, or is this the opiate that the masses take? Do they believe repercussions exist to punish the guilty, or is it hope that there is?
If you look at murders and rapist past, both your neighborhood variety and the genocidal variety, if there is justice and repercussion, why do some of them live such long lives while their victims don't? When a god-fearing soldier bayonets a mother and shoots the child, does he believe he's going to Hell? Only in casual conversations will he say, for inside he doesn't believe it. He justifies his actions. If it's not in his heart, does it exist? This is the same as those that lust after others. If it's in the head, does it make it sin or does action make it sin? Is it intent or thoughts that makes it a sin or is action that makes it a sin? Certainly, it could never be acted upon if it were not first in the heart/head. So, where does sin reside?
How about the randomness of it? Why is a child taken and not an adult? Why is one person saved in a car crash and not another? Does the person that perishes not call out to God? Does the one that was saved? What lesson is learned a child dies on the street and the family never finds out? What lesson is God trying to give and to who? And ultimately, is the lesson alone worth the life of a child?
The truth? God is random and indiscriminate in meting out injury, sickness, and death. Why does one child get cancer and die before he's ten or a teenager get shot on a random stray bullet not meant for him? Why does a man drafted into the army against his wishes die while the man beside him that enlisted gets off free? Why can a priest sexually assault boys in his care and get away with it? What lesson is learned? What is God's plan? Who benefits other than the priest, and if so, what does this say about God? Was not the priest pious and devoted and a believer?
... Just saying...
Comments