Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Great Assumption About God

The great comparison of Christianity vs. Islam is one that is quite eye-opening, not just on their differences, but in how people perceive themselves superior and have forgotten about history. 

Even in hearing non-believers I notice this is assumed, that Islam is worse than Christianity, and that Christianity has dialed down a lot so should be respected more. It was mentioned by Bill Maher, of the film Religulous, with absolutely no belief in a God whatsoever. It is in this and all other comparisons in the competition of religion that the great assumption is made. That assumption is what baffles me.

Christianity has, in fact, a terrible history just as much as Islam does. Extremists exist in both, as everybody knows. And the religion teeters into bizarre hypocrisy when denouncing zealots while encouraging zeal. If hell were real, Christians will insist, people will regret not doing anything and everything they can to prevent people from going there. Yet extremists are frowned upon, of course. How many Christians who say this then quickly distance themselves from Westboro and the Phelps family?

Islam has a text full of violence, while our religion is of peace, Christians say. Clearly they've not read their texts. When I studied the Holy Bible with people, many went from insisting this was so and that the book was infallible, to being shown the extremist language within it, to then insisting that even if it's in the book, they know without a doubt their God couldn't possibly be that hateful. How's that for a sudden change of thought?

Christians insist hell is real and the sins, that once caused the sinner to be stoned to death, is still to be hated but the person dealt with gently. Yet their God never changes, and this is in no way a contradiction. And because of their gracefulness now, they see Islam as backwards and behind the times. They must have forgotten the historical times when Christians were busy beheading each other while Islamic cultures brought the many advances of their times. Did they shift places? Did Christians pretend it was their own religion which brought these innovations because they wouldn't admit another culture was superior to them even in a minute way?

Islamic countries now suffer at the leadership of zealots, as is most evident. Yet is it fair to assume all Muslims, or even a majority of Muslims, are as hateful as that leadership? Of course not. Yet is it fair to assume they believe in the same book that encourages that hate? Of course they do. The same is true of Christians.

Both religions have followers, therefore, that are emerging from the extremism of their religion's language. It is under the great assumption that they do this. They hear a calling to worship a peaceful God of love. 

Just as Pascal waged to atheists, What if you're wrong? I must ask the same question to believers in such a benign deity. What if you're wrong? I'll drop the assumption that there is a god in existence, but I want people to wonder if there's just one. That such a god is a he and not a she, or a they, or even an it. And that such a being is one of love, above all.

If such a being created all existence, wouldn't you see evidence of their ideals in creation itself? In reality the beings that exist are diverse. Also, they eat each other to stay alive. Based on that alone, I see little reason to see love in any existing deity. Diversity may be a heart-warming concept, but diversity is also seen in professional wrestling. God seems less a love guru and more a salivating spectator at an animal fighting ring, waiting for the blood and making bets on which contestant dies first.

He's also a horribly wasteful deity with space. Light millenia of absolutely nothing between stars, and when he does place some life somewhere, it's in an out-of-the-way place orbiting a boring, mediocre star. On that particular planet, pretty much every inch of the planet's space is used for life, but if such a god indeed chose any particular people as his favorite, it sure as hell ended up being people poorly served by their environment. Based on the paradise-factor, God seems to have hated the major religions, putting them in desert regions and making life hell. If such a God can in fact say to have a favorite people, clearly it's islanders. 

For believers giving us evidence based on nature (and they all do), clearly none of them are paying attention to nature. God hates gays and calls homosexuality unnatural, but sure keeps making lots of us and lots of other animals practice it as well. God wants people to love, but rewards people for the values of hate and punishes those who love with venereal diseases, but those who don't with sexual desires so inflamed they can't stop from raping kids or paying for STD ridden prostitutes. 

If anything, God is either a sick twisted fuck, or the world is just a messed up place with no designer whatsoever. With a nature so full of pain and bizarre malfunction, it seems insane to me that people are so quick to create a perfect and loving being and insist this existence is his fault.

And then I have some bacon and ponder on whether God just loves pig to give it that wonderful flavor. And then I eat it until I'm full, fall asleep, and wake up horny. God loves pigs. Oink.

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