Believing

No, dangit! I wasn't around much because I was busy with a week-long, major event taking place in my region. And dammit, I'm glad it's over. It was hard being nice that whole week.

 

I don't believe in your god, boots.

 

I'm not sure if I believe in a god or not. I'm more or less on the "no" side right now. And if there is one, I've got some serious bones to pick with him.

I'm more confident that I don't believe in Christians. Maybe it's where I live. Maybe it's the people I've been exposed to. But the majority of Christians I've encountered have served up hate and hypocrisy in equal doses. It seems like the ones who talk the most earnestly about God's love are the ones quickest to dismiss homosexuals, Muslims, atheists, etc. And it seems like the ones who proclaim themselves to be upon a pedestal of virtue are the ones who always end up getting busted for drugs, caught with porn, sleeping with married men, etc.

The response I always seem to hear is that those people aren't the real Christians. Maybe. But I know I can turn on my TV or radio or computer any time of the day and plug in to someone (Falwell, Robertson, Phelps,) who uses their faith as the basis for hate. You say those aren't a good representation of Christianity, but I wonder why the "good" Christians don't have a public voice and organization, then.

 

A few thoughts from the brilliant Robert Anton Wilson:

'If you think you know what the hell is going on, you're probably full of shit.'

'Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence.'

'Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong.'

'The Bible tells us to be like God, and then on page after page it describes God as a mass murderer. This may be the single most important key to the political behavior of Western Civilization.'

 

It is truly amazing how much some people preach with so little understanding of what they are preaching about.

 

Jerry and Oral made a bet. Jerry drank Oral under the table. As a result, Oral Roberts is joining the Big South Conference for the 2008-09 season.

 

To answer the actual question, though, I don't know if I believe in god or not. I certainly don't believe in organized religion of any kind, and it's certainly difficult to take seriously a book that was 1) written by people 2) changed, altered, subtracted from, added to by other people 3) and has multiple versions that purport to be the true version.

 

Why care about that? I believe and my sister doesn't, and she is the better human being -- not perfect, just better, in fact the best one I know personally. I can't think the God that I believe in would send a person like that to hell, even if she doesn't believe.

 

I'm sure my priest (I'm Catholic) would kill me -- or at least make me run through the rosary a few hundred times, but here's my belief on people who don't believe in God. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm not. I'll sign off SportsJournalists.com and take my beating like a man:

If you don't believe in God, that's your decision. Your judgement day will come. That's it. I grew up in the South, had Bible thumpers at my door pushing the Lord like it was sweet tea on a summer day. I just don't believe in pressuring people into believing something they don't want to believe.

When it's all said and done, we'll all find out. I believe what I believe. You believe what you believe. On judgement day, I think I'll see the Lord and ascend to Heaven. Some of you won't.

Sorry if that comes off as unconcerned or cruel. But that's just what I was raised to believe. You live your life, you ask for forgiveness for your sins and you believe in the Lord. Everything else ... good luck.

That's my opinion. Feel free to disagree.

P.S. The point of what I'm trying to say -- and if I were sober, I would have made it in my initial post -- is that it's not my job to judge anybody. That's the job of somebody much higher up in the food chain. I live my life. You live yours. When it's all said and done, I'll be judged, you'll be judged. I'm not the one doing the judging. And I don't hate anybody for disagreeing with my view. God will make His determination.

 

i don't believe there is a god. but i'm also quite confident that he/she will forgive me if i'm wrong. so i'm covered. 8)

 

"I've begun worshipping the Sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the Sun. It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely day. There's no mystery, no one asks for money, I don't have to dress up, and there's no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered to God are all answered at about the same 50-percent rate."
- George Carlin, Brain Droppings

 

SC Editor verbalized it better than I did; however, I'm Methodist so my reverends would say the same thing I do. Actually, I'm not sure they would, but the methodist church preaches open hearts, open minds, and open doors.