For "believers" the world over, the entire point of life comes down to nothing but what you believe. Regardless of basically ANYTHING else, one's life boils down to simply standing before a "God," who will judge how a person should spend eternity based on their "beliefs."
Those beliefs come down to having "believed" in the right religion, or the right god, or the right morality, or the right whatever. If anyone FAILS to "believe" the right things, then, they're thrown into hell for being such a dolt.
But if life is all about necessarily having the right "beliefs" about God, religion, morality, etc, than it can only work if everyone on the planet is willing to accept - necessarily! - that someone, somewhere, HAS the right beliefs. And more importantly, that person has to know exactly how to apply those beliefs in an ever changing and increasingly complex world.
Of course, the Catholics have their Pope, who can speak "infallibly" about such matters, although he rarely ever does. That he rarely ever does alone tells us something about the problem with this plan. For as the world gets more complicated, the pope seems to have less and less to say "infallibly" about it all.
Even Pope Francis is condemned by countless Catholics who are all convinced that they KNOW with all of the infallibility of a Pope, that God finds "homosexuality" to be an abomination, even if actual Pope is too stupid or too afraid to say it.
The biggest problem with "beliefs," however, is that they are simply that - beliefs! They cannot be tested, or proven to be "true," or in any way verified to be of any relevance at all. Sure, people willingly feed themselves to the lions for such "beliefs," but that is perfect evidence for why such "beliefs" should make people nervous in the first place.
In a world that runs on "beliefs," then, anyone can simply choose to "believe" whatever the hell they want. And like a preference for the taste of liver and onions, no one can say such "beliefs" are wrong, simply because they happen to find such beliefs distasteful themselves.
Since they are, like one's tastes, simply beliefs, and nothing more.
But the religious "believer" has become convinced that their entire existence revolves around making sure that EVERYONE has the RIGHT beliefs, so they can spend eternity in paradise (maybe), lest they be thrown in hell for all eternity for having the wrong "beliefs," even if it's a belief as innocent as thinking you can blaspheme the holy spirit, which is a sin the Bible says is a sure fire way to end up in hell butt quick!
But since a belief is inside someones head, and since our mind is an ever evolving thing that cannot help but continually play with all of the ideas in contains like an infinite sided rubiks cube, a "belief" is never a static thing. And even if it was, it is NOT something that anyone can ALWAYS keep in mind, let alone perfectly, and always know how to apply in every complex and impossible situation one is forced to confront, and often at a moments notice.
The Christian and the Muslim, however, not only "believe" in their "beliefs," but they also believe those "beliefs" will enable mere mortal minds to overcome any confluence of obstacles, including lack of sleep or food, or caffeine and sugar, etc, so that a person may always, or mostly, know what the "will of God" requires of them.
And if they fail to get it right, then they are judged for having given it the old college try, as it were.
Those beliefs come down to having "believed" in the right religion, or the right god, or the right morality, or the right whatever. If anyone FAILS to "believe" the right things, then, they're thrown into hell for being such a dolt.
But if life is all about necessarily having the right "beliefs" about God, religion, morality, etc, than it can only work if everyone on the planet is willing to accept - necessarily! - that someone, somewhere, HAS the right beliefs. And more importantly, that person has to know exactly how to apply those beliefs in an ever changing and increasingly complex world.
Of course, the Catholics have their Pope, who can speak "infallibly" about such matters, although he rarely ever does. That he rarely ever does alone tells us something about the problem with this plan. For as the world gets more complicated, the pope seems to have less and less to say "infallibly" about it all.
Even Pope Francis is condemned by countless Catholics who are all convinced that they KNOW with all of the infallibility of a Pope, that God finds "homosexuality" to be an abomination, even if actual Pope is too stupid or too afraid to say it.
The biggest problem with "beliefs," however, is that they are simply that - beliefs! They cannot be tested, or proven to be "true," or in any way verified to be of any relevance at all. Sure, people willingly feed themselves to the lions for such "beliefs," but that is perfect evidence for why such "beliefs" should make people nervous in the first place.
In a world that runs on "beliefs," then, anyone can simply choose to "believe" whatever the hell they want. And like a preference for the taste of liver and onions, no one can say such "beliefs" are wrong, simply because they happen to find such beliefs distasteful themselves.
Since they are, like one's tastes, simply beliefs, and nothing more.
But the religious "believer" has become convinced that their entire existence revolves around making sure that EVERYONE has the RIGHT beliefs, so they can spend eternity in paradise (maybe), lest they be thrown in hell for all eternity for having the wrong "beliefs," even if it's a belief as innocent as thinking you can blaspheme the holy spirit, which is a sin the Bible says is a sure fire way to end up in hell butt quick!
But since a belief is inside someones head, and since our mind is an ever evolving thing that cannot help but continually play with all of the ideas in contains like an infinite sided rubiks cube, a "belief" is never a static thing. And even if it was, it is NOT something that anyone can ALWAYS keep in mind, let alone perfectly, and always know how to apply in every complex and impossible situation one is forced to confront, and often at a moments notice.
The Christian and the Muslim, however, not only "believe" in their "beliefs," but they also believe those "beliefs" will enable mere mortal minds to overcome any confluence of obstacles, including lack of sleep or food, or caffeine and sugar, etc, so that a person may always, or mostly, know what the "will of God" requires of them.
And if they fail to get it right, then they are judged for having given it the old college try, as it were.
Comments
Post a Comment