Tony\'s God (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Friday, November 25, 2011, 00:05 (4726 days ago) @ dhw

One of the more irritating habits you have, is that when these discussions come up, you normally immediately put in me the role of defending the Bible as though I were a bible thumping Christian. Because that is the role I am put in, I tend to play that role to the best of my abilities. Yes, I do believe that the vast majority of the bible is true and accurate, and I also recognize the possibility in it for misinterpretation, mistranslation(intentional and unintentional), and outright fabrication on the part of the original authors or later translators. I get it, I really do, and yet I consistently find myself in the position of having to defend a position that I might not be a firm defender of in the first place. Truth be told, and as I have repeatedly stated, I have just as many questions about the bible as anyone, it is simply the book that I am most familiar with, the one in which I know the stories, legends, myths, names, and whatnot. It seems to me, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong, that you get really hung up on the ins, outs, and details of these stories, so much so that I think you end up losing their meaning and importance in favor of trying to prove or disprove their validity, accuracy, and significance.

Also, I hate it when you twist what I say around. I said it "could be seen as sparing them the problems of this life, and fast tracking them on the road to a better life..", not that it would or should be, nor that any person would not have strong personal feelings about losing their loved ones in such a manner. I simply refuse to pass judgement on him for an action that I do not have complete understanding of. Humanity is only capable of presenting their side of the story, and a single sided perception in a trial is generally useless. The point that seems to have been generally missed and/or ignored is that in no account has God ever taken what he did not give in the first place or what he could not give back. And yes, to me that is a pretty profound yet often overlooked truth.

As far as the good of mankind, I absolutely do recognize the 'potential for good in mankind'. More specifically, I recognize the potential for all things in mankind. I simply to not share your optimism that man will start making good decisions any time soon. Individuals are smart, people are stupid. Man will dominate man to his ruin. Love of money is the root of all evil.These kinds of cliches are cliches precisely cause they are true. All you have to do is open your eyes to see these represented in the heart of man absolutely everywhere you look.

Lastly, I identified sin as 'a mistake' to Bella because for me it was new a shift in the way I think brought about by our discussions. I shook off the last clinging notions of universal good and evil, and what is left what is a mistake, and what is not. This leaves in a much more fruitful position than morality because it leaves in the position to ask "Why is this a mistake?" with an open mind and heart without all the psychological trappings of good and evil. The why, by extension, leads to the how, and between answering the two there is something to learn.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.