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MSD · 10-19-2005, 08:28 PM

I struggled with religion after years of devout Catholicism, questioning everything, and come to my conclusions. I was first struck by the passage in my CCD book stating that "homosexuals disobey God's law and should be shunned and avoided for their sinful lifestyle." This wasn't the love that I'd been told flowed through us in the form of the Holy Spirit. I struggled with individual beliefs and found myself picking at the core of the religion itself, the assertion that God is good, he created us in his image, and he gave us free will.

A paradox I cite frequently in discussions on religion is that an all-powerful being who gives us free will and threatens us with eternal punishment if we don't use it right is exhibiting sadism, a very human characteristic. Combined with the way I see religious figures manipulating the masses, I am left with the conclusion that if an all-powerful being did create us in his image and gave us conditional free will, then this being is not Good. Anyone who would abuse divine powers like that as flawed as the rest of us. So the choices I have based on that are that either man created God in his image, or that God does exist and is one hell of a prick. Unwilling to accept an evil deity, I allowed the uncertainty to simmer in my mind for years. Finally, one day, someone asked me why I go to church, and if I have a reason for believing in religion, and I couldn't find an answer.

Left with a false God created in the image of man, I was left with other possibilities. There could be a "blind watchmaker" deity who wound up the universe and let it go, not interfering, and who would not demand worship and tribute, and would certainly not expect anyone to organize masses of people in his name. The other option, which I leave open as an equally plausible theory, is that there is no God, there is nothing out there, and everything came about on its own. These two theories seem equally plausible to me, and I see no reason to pick one or the other.

Since abandoning my faith I have, however, come up with a reason for going to church. MY mom needs someone there with her (she gets upset and starts crying at times since my father died,) and the University chapel uses whiskey instead of wine.

10-19-2005, 08:28 PM	#20 (permalink)
MSD The sky calls to us ... Super Moderator Location: CT	I struggled with religion after years of devout Catholicism, questioning everything, and come to my conclusions. I was first struck by the passage in my CCD book stating that "homosexuals disobey God's law and should be shunned and avoided for their sinful lifestyle." This wasn't the love that I'd been told flowed through us in the form of the Holy Spirit. I struggled with individual beliefs and found myself picking at the core of the religion itself, the assertion that God is good, he created us in his image, and he gave us free will. A paradox I cite frequently in discussions on religion is that an all-powerful being who gives us free will and threatens us with eternal punishment if we don't use it right is exhibiting sadism, a very human characteristic. Combined with the way I see religious figures manipulating the masses, I am left with the conclusion that if an all-powerful being did create us in his image and gave us conditional free will, then this being is not Good. Anyone who would abuse divine powers like that as flawed as the rest of us. So the choices I have based on that are that either man created God in his image, or that God does exist and is one hell of a prick. Unwilling to accept an evil deity, I allowed the uncertainty to simmer in my mind for years. Finally, one day, someone asked me why I go to church, and if I have a reason for believing in religion, and I couldn't find an answer. Left with a false God created in the image of man, I was left with other possibilities. There could be a "blind watchmaker" deity who wound up the universe and let it go, not interfering, and who would not demand worship and tribute, and would certainly not expect anyone to organize masses of people in his name. The other option, which I leave open as an equally plausible theory, is that there is no God, there is nothing out there, and everything came about on its own. These two theories seem equally plausible to me, and I see no reason to pick one or the other. Since abandoning my faith I have, however, come up with a reason for going to church. MY mom needs someone there with her (she gets upset and starts crying at times since my father died,) and the University chapel uses whiskey instead of wine.