Don't Believe In God For The Right Reason

Don't Believe In God For The Right Reason

When I was a baha'i we used to talk about how we would answer the statement 'I don't believe in god.' Our response was usually 'What kind of god don't you believe in?', followed by 'we don't believe in that kind of god either'. All very nice and pat!

Looking back, I can't believe how awful that really sounds and I'd cringe were in not for the recognition that that was where I was at the time.

So, that leads me back to the subject of this post.Don't Believe In God For The Right Reason.

I would say that the most common complaint against god is because of a painful life event. Death is painful, sickness, redundancy - I don't mean to make light of serious life events, but stuff happens. How we cope with such things is what makes us. Period. We do not need to depend on anything ethereal, we have the capability within us and through our friends and families, to cope with whatever life throws at us.

Now, here's another thought. If there were to be a god, I think he/she/it is very vindictive. Why would god make another person suffer in order to 'test' me? Why did god let my mother die at 95. Why did god make me physically dis-abled (hyphen deliberate). Why did god let that man murder my brother. [OK, so none of these things has really happened to me!]

To 'test' me? Where's the sense in that? What exactly is the test? So that I can show how devout I am by praying even more? Were I to pray my heart out, would it bring my mother back to life? I liken it to 'god pointing the finger' - deciding that Joe Soap needs to be tested so Mrs Soap will suffer something awful. No very fair at all. We wouldn't do that to our families, not even our pets, so where is the sense in a deity doing to us what he/she/it tells us not to do to others? Derrhhh bigtime!

People get old and die. That will always be the way as our bodies wear out. A disability may be for any number of reasons - genetics, illness, accident. The murderer kills because he can and wants to - for whatever hideous reason.

I really thought the bahai's had the answer. Guess what - they really think they do, until you analyse what they really have been saying. God is no longer the personal god of the christians - but hey, we'll still pray to god anyway. God answers all prayers (he's still not personal, by they way), but sometimes the answer is 'no'. How convenient.

Towards the end of my baha'i life I actually came to think that Baha'u'llah was preparing the world for there being no deity at all - and that really makes sense when you look at their writings: eg the 'coming of age of the human race' - attaining it's maturity.

Bottom line: discard god because it makes sense to do so, not because you think god failed to help you, support you, stop something awful happening. Those concepts are man-made. Stuff is going to happen - always has and always will.

Now be mature and don't take anyone's word for it (not even mine) - decide for yourself.
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From a spiritual non-theist

My starter post for this blog.

I actually started thinking this blog might be a good idea to expain to my Baha'i friends (I still have some) to help them understand where I'm coming from - or should that be where I'm going to.

If you have stumbled upon this blog and you don't know me, then welcome, and I hope you find it interesting. But it's not up for debate, so no comments allowed. I'm just musing, if anything, which may help other people make their own decision about faith, god, religion and all that sort of stuff.

When I was a teenager I decided I was an atheist, but my reasoning then was quite, quite different from what it is now. In those days I was rebelling. Now I have given long and careful thought to the processes and concepts - and have made this decision from a position of strength.

I prefer to call my self a spiritual non-theist, because 'atheist' has so many other connotations.

I was a Baha'i for over 30 years (check it out if you must have a religion), and deciding to move on might be considered a strange thing to do after all that time. However, I don't believe we ever stand still in our spiritual growth. This was the right move for me.

So, just why have I decided there is no 'god'?

Logic. It doesn't make sense for there to be a god - period. Besides, if there was such a being as a god, wouldn't there be more than one of them?

We, this planet, we humans, are not the centre of the universe, so why would any great being hang around for millenia waiting for us to come of age so that he/she/it could govern over us - and at the same time make out we still have free will and can do what we like. Guilt trips if we get it wrong, guilt trips for feeling good when we get it right. Bit of a conflict there.

If each religion thinks it is the right one, then why do people from all different religions claim they have received the very latest word, inspiration, revelation from god - which just so happens to lead to their own religion. Funny that. There can only be one truth - they can't all be right.

Comfort. I don't need or want to have a supreme being making me feel comfortable with everything that happens in the world, whether it be good or bad. I can draw on my own inner resources to get that. Taking it away from me makes my efforts seem puny and worthless. In fact, we all have tremendous inner strengths and abilities we can draw on. These inspirations come from within us, fed by the world around us.

Spirituality. That 'epiphany' moment. I get that just by looking at and becoming one with the world around me. I had them when I became a Baha'i and I've had them since I decided to move on.

Inspiration. Comes from everything around us and everything that has gone before and that we can imagine will come in the future. I trust my self to be inspired and I draw on that.

And what's all this about 'moving on'?

That's how I see it - my journey. In fact, apart from the obvious anachronism, I almost think that Baha'u'llah (founder of the Baha'i Faith) has been preparing us for the non-existence of God (I've deliberately put a capital G here). Mind you, Baha'is are told there is no such thing as evil - just the absence of good, and no such creature as the devil - just a concept. Yet why then, does even that faith keep referring to evil and the devil?(Grrrrrr!) For me, there is no such thing as evil, or the devil - or their opposites - period.

Perhaps I'll write about that more specifically next time, but I won't be quoting scripture - if it can't be said from my own words I'm not going to say it. Then again, I may decided to write about the absolute joy of the world and all that's in it, on it and around it - yes, even people are amazing!

Until next time.

Lynda

(The following PS is NOT for my Baha'i friends, who are all lovely people and being true to their faith, would not dream of reacting in such a way.)

PS So why have I not allowed for comments? I know all you uber-fanatical, self-righteous, born-again religious guys and gals out there (sadly, most of you mistakenly purport to be 'Christian'), would just love to bombard me with all kinds of religious scripture and goodness knows what to put me in fear of my soul for not believing in a god - ok God. Actually you are just trying to make yourselves feel good. But you can't make me fear something that does not exist - so forget it. You are so, SO wrong (I'll be kinder - misled!). I'm not going to have you waste your time and my blog space spouting off stuff which to me is utter rubbish and totally insulting to me as a person. Go and set up your own blog if you really must. I wish you all well, but DO start thinking about what you believe in - the conflicts in your faith would make Jesus weep!