MY GOD

My granddaughter, Kayla, is a sweet young lady, gregarious and cheerful; strong of character with a deep sense of right and wrong. We have always been close; able to talk freely about everything--until she became a Christian. That is the one topic she avoids, and even becomes emotionally upset when I attempt a conversation. It isn’t that we’ve argued, or had heated discussions; she’s just never been receptive. In an attempt to explain my beliefs I wrote this letter to her a couple of years ago, when she was sixteen.

Hey Pistol, I know this isn’t something you want to read and I know I’m being pushy, but I really have a problem. You see, on the one hand, I believe everyone has a right to their own beliefs, I’d like to say I’d even fight for that right, but I’m not sure I have the courage, so I’ll only say I support the idea. On the other hand, when you have been deceived and you see the ones you love being led astray, you can’t just stand by and keep silent. Oh, I know it’s probably harder for you because you feel I’m the one who is being deceived, that I’ll lose my soul and go to hell. I also understand why discussing this subject upsets you so. I know how threatened you feel, how unsure you are of your knowledge in the Lord, how you fear hurting me, and want to help me, but don’t know how. I know how hard it is for someone new in the faith to confront others who have studied for years. Then, there are your friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, to believe me would be a betrayal to them. But the hardest and most terrifying part is that believing me might mean renouncing your God and facing the prospects of hell. I understand so well how you feel because I’ve been where you are and I know just how hard it can be to deny what you once perceived as holy.

I’ve never lied to you, so I’ll be honest with you now. As I sit here writing this, I ask myself if I am asking you to give up your religion, and I’m also wondering if that is a fair thing to ask a sixteen year old.  I can’t deny the questions; no matter how I uphold everyone’s right to their beliefs, I see religions as destructive and hateful. So I must say yes, I am hoping you will at least consider my opinions. I ask myself if this is something I should present to a young girl, a young Christian. I’m concerned that I might destroy the strength in your life and leave you without a staff for support and I wonder if I have that right. But then, I remind myself that someone felt you were old enough to make a lifetime commitment to Jesus, based on speculations, so why shouldn’t you be mature enough to at least consider what I believe to be true.

As I said earlier, I have been where you are, I’ve spent endless hours praying for the souls of my loved ones and agonizing over the fate of my children. I have seen what you believe so clearly I couldn’t understand how any could deny it. At one time there was absolutely no doubt within my mind of its truth. I knew the Bible so well I could turn to chapter and verse to prove that truth. There was only one flaw in my reasoning--no one ever proved the Bible. It was accepted on faith. And that is where the error lies.

But why should you believe me, one old man, when everyone else worships God? In a Christian world of billions why should anyone believe one voice of rejection? Simply because being among the majority does not ensure truth. And though I am in the minority here in America, I am not so throughout the world. About two thirds of the world's population rejects Christianity. Some are atheists, some agnostics, others are Hindu, Moslems, Deists, Taoist, Jews and of countless other persuasions. Had you been born in another country, say India, do you think you would now be a Christian? The strongest reason for your belief in Jesus as the Christ is your place of birth! And personally, I do not believe that the majority of Americans are really Christians, not in the true sense. The first Christians were persecuted for their beliefs and openly condemned what they believed to be evil. To stand by and not resist sin was sin itself and they died for their resistance. They sought death because to die was to be with their Lord! (Just like the Muslims of today.) How many Christians today are truly willing to die for their beliefs? How many Christians do you see standing on the street condemning sin? None? One or two? And are they not thought mad by both Christians and non-Christians? Of course, today Christianity is a socially acceptable religion; it is a must for politicians and fits in comfortably on the five o’clock new. However, the first Christians despised wealth and considered the rich as the enemies of God (See James 2:1-7 & 5:1-4). Isn’t America the wealthiest country in the world? The wealth of the early Christians went to feed the poor, the homeless and widows, not into million dollar houses of worship with swimming pools, ball fields and tennis courts. The Bible also speaks of those who have a form of Godliness, like many of our politicians, bankers, lawyers, government officials and businessmen who need to maintain a public appearance. I know I sound harsh, but I am not condemning anyone and I’m not saying how Christians should live; as a matter of fact I can say that almost all the Christians I have known throughout my life were good, honest, sincere, loving, people. So, you may ask, why am I so opposed to you being a Christian? I am opposed to you accepting any creed or position blindly, on faith, without true knowledge! But be honest with yourself, if you tell someone the Bible is the Word of God shouldn’t you prove it; so as not to pass on someone else’s deception?

I can’t forget you once asked why I believe what others write and not the Bible; you only asked because you’ve never researched the question. Once you remove the blindfold of faith and look at the Bible with reasoning you will have the answer to your question. Until then, I would like to help you understand what I believe and how I feel.

My concept of God is really different from what most people believe. Almost all religions envision a supernatural, personalized, all loving, and all caring being; molded from the idea of human imagination. In most cases, as with Christianity and Islam, these gods have given man a book of instructions with rules, or laws, by which they should live. And while those laws may be good, moral, codes they have one great flaw--they have been written by, or assuming they were god given, entrusted to man. And man is fallible--therefore the law is fallible. To show what I mean lets look at the Christian Bible.

Let’s suppose that the Lord, God, Yahweh (the Jews’ name for God) did write the Ten Commandments on tables of stone for Moses, and lets suppose He did dictate the Torah, or law (the first five books of the Bible) to Moses. Where are the tables? Where is the original manuscript of Moses? Lost? Did they ever exist? We see that even from the beginning we have to believe what someone (we really don’t know who) wrote, thousands of years ago. We have to have faith in a fallible, unknown, man. We are told God chose a people, the Hebrews, to keep and protect his Word, but did they? Did you know that there was at least one time in Hebrew history when their “Law” was lost--a period when the Hebrews did not have the Torah and knew not god? The event can be found in II Kings 22 & II Chronicles 34. The young king Josiah was attacking pagan worship and attempting to lead his people back to Yahweh. While reconstructing the temple the priest, Hilkiah, just happen to “find” the Law of Moses. Here we’re back to trusting in man. Did Hilkiah really find the law, or did he write it as a way to unite the people under Josiah? At that time no one knew the law, because we are told that young King Josiah “rent his clothes” upon hearing it read. And how did they know it was really the Law of God? They sent to a prophetess, a soothsayer, for affirmation. So, in this case it wasn’t God who was the revelator, but a fallible human--and a witch at that.

Another human fallacy of Judaism and Christianity is the fact that their sacred writings, the Bible; is supposed to be the divine revelations of God. However divine revelations can only occur one on one. That is, I might experience a direct revelation from God, but if I repeat it, it would not be divine. It would only be as valid as my word because of the human element involved. So Moses may have had a divine revelation from God, or Jesus, Mary, Paul, a Pope or hundreds of other “saints,” but any divine revelation involved could not be passed to the next listener. That means the Bible is subject to human error, and that human error can be seen in the many (thousands) of different scripture readings, and the thousands of differing “churches,” and thousands of denominations within those “churches.” You simply cannot have it both ways; there may be either one divine Church, or many humanly conceived churches.

When we look to the Bible for proof of a supreme creator god we find only confusing, contradicting, humanly written passages and absolutely no proof to back up the stories and teachings claimed. It is at this point that the Christian will turn to faith--belief without evidence. It is here the Christian claims God will reveal himself supernaturally to the believer. And, it is here we must turn again to the question of numerous, conflicting, messages and thousands of differing religions that claim supernatural, personal, revelations. How is it that Christians, Moslems, Zoroastrians, the Mystics, Native Americans, Voodoo worshipers, Satanists and thousands of minor, obscure religions--scattered throughout the world--testify to miracles, indwelling spirits, and special knowledge from their god--and yet, all differ? How are we to know which (if any) is the true god?

All such confusion vanishes like an early morning fog when we look to the world about us. For what we find is a world build upon the fact that everything that happens has a cause, it is a world based upon knowledge, logic, and scientific facts. The Bible describes an earth created in six days by the spoken command of God. But today, astronomers have disproved that statement simply by observing the gas filled clouds of the nebulas and watching the birth of stars and planets. The Early Church believed the world to be flat; stars and heavenly bodies were living, rational beings, having souls; and, the sun and moon were lights suspended in the “firmament” overhead. Those who disputed such teachings were imprisoned, tortured and often suffered martyrdom at the stake, rather than deny what they knew to be true. Now the knowledge of our solar system is commonly accepted facts taught in our schools. We’ve even sent cameras to distance planets that send photographs back. We know the stars are burning suns within galaxies of their own.

The Dark Age, a vague 1000 year period of ignorance, superstition, enslavement, torture, and depravity, was introduced and executed by Roman Catholicism. Only the clergy (members of the Church) could read and only they could interpret the Bible. All the wonderful knowledge and enlightenment of the early Greek and Roman philosophers and scientists was replaced by the religious superstition of the Church--ignorance reigned. Those who disagreed were declared outlaws and given a year to denounce their beliefs and surrender to the Church’s teachings. If not, after the year they were excommunicated and declared heretics (godless) and, as such, were subject to death. During that year, as outlaws, the community shunned them. They could not practice their trade, they were not allowed to work and there was no recourse to the law. Anyone discovered helping them was subject to the same excommunication.

In this way the intellectual, the thinkers, the brilliant, the leaders of society were either destroyed or corrupted. Millions were slaughtered leaving only the beaten, uneducated and ignorant. Destroy the best of a society and you destroy the society. The result was a collapse of the economy, with armed bands raiding in the name of the Church, and finally starvation and plagues depopulated the lands. This is the history of Christianity and the legacy of superstition and ignorance. It is the results when men stop thinking. All this is undisputed truth, not even the Catholic Church will deny. In fact they admit it. They admit it because they sincerely believed it was their duty to convert everyone to Christianity or destroy those who refused. 

The jealousy with which the Church guards and defends her deposit of faith is therefore identical with the instinctive duty of self-preservation and the desire to live. This instinct is by no means peculiar to the Catholic Church; being natural it is universal. All sects, denominations, confessions, schools of thought, and associations of any kind have a more or less comprehensive set of tenets on the acceptance of which membership depends. In the Catholic Church this natural law has received the sanction of Divine promulgation, as appears from the teaching of Christ and the Apostles... (New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia - www.newadvent.org/cathen/07256b.htm under “VII. VINDICATION OF THEIR TEACHING

In other words, the Church’s animalistic instincts to survive are sanctioned by God!

I don’t, I can’t, accept such reasoning. Instead, when I look about our world I see a wonderfully balanced system of natural laws that operate without fail. The movement of our planet about the sun dictates the seasons, the seasons give periods of production and rest for the earth which in turn provides life for all living creatures. The heat of the sun produces the water evaporation--rain cycles to water the earth. It gives warmth to ferment the seeds and energy for growing plants. Each year is a dying and rejuvenation for the earth. And like the earth, all living creatures are born, live, and die in cycles. These are immutable laws, sure, proven, and unchangeable. There are physical and mathematical laws; laws that protect the environment and laws that provide for our health and well-being. They are all about us. They direct our ways, they regulate our lives, they bless us when we act within their bounds and they irrevocably, impersonally, and mercilessly lash us when we transgress. Like it or not, this is our God, more powerful than all the gods of Olympia, more vengeful than Yahweh, more of a blessing than Jesus; fair, impartial, and as enduring as this world of ours.

There are those who believe God, as the creator, is the author of these laws but they can show no proof. On the other hand if God did set them in motion why did the Church deny and suppress them for so long? (As mentioned above.)

Am I a Deist, that is, do I believe that the creator god lives in and is witnessed by nature? No. Unlike a lot of people I do not believe that all creation had to come from infinite wisdom. And if such an infinite wisdom did exist I see no reason why that would automatically make it a God. Quite the contrary; the fact that we have natural, catastrophic, tragedies such as earthquakes, storms, floods and fires belie an all wise, all-powerful, benevolent God. However, the acknowledgement of natural laws explains the seemly unfair occurrences in life, the death of innocent children, the suffering of the just, and the impersonal selection of diseases. For an omnipotent, omniscient, all loving god to blame the evils of his creation upon the original parents, also his creation, is only a cop out. Such reasoning is on the same plane as a drunken, destitute father--unable to buy a gift--telling his child that Santa Claus won’t bring her a doll because she’s been bad. The excuse protects the inept father and places the guilt upon the innocent child.

The recorded history of man upon earth can be traced back millions, not thousands, of years. Throughout that time men have attempted to create a deity to protect and save them. Religions have risen and disappeared, gods have come and gone, but not one of our natural laws have fail. Catholicism may annihilate heretics, Protestants may promise heaven and threaten hell, Palestinians may bomb Israelis, and Muslims may pray for their Holy War; but no matter their efforts, they will not change one natural law--not even if they destroy all humanity. For, assuming our planet remains, the laws will continue to function and eventually life will return to our earth.

Tell me the name of the god who can defy gravity and cause Newton’s apple to fly rather than fall to earth. Which god has the power to lengthen the day or shorten the night? Where is the god who can shift the tides of the oceans? Or perhaps these feats are too hard for your god. Perhaps he can do something simple like make one and one equal three? (The contention over the Trinity proves the fallacy of such an endeavor.) No, don’t refer me to chapter and verse in your sacred word, fables are not proof, have your god declare the feat, and then perform it in the open. Can you not see that all the gods throughout history are helpless before the laws that govern our world?

What is my religious philosophy then? It is simple, the laws that regular this world in which we live regular our lives as well. The same law that tells birds when to migrate or animals to hibernate has given man the ability to collect information through the five senses of sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing. To collect and analysis this information we have been given a fantastic and amazing brain with which to think and reason. Religions enslave their members and destroy their ability to reason. This is a violation of nature’s laws and the results can be found inscribed repeatedly throughout history. Neither being a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Baptist, atheist, agnostic, nor the promise of eternal life, is of any importance when compared to the surrender of reason. Despite what religion would have you believe, faith is not a good thing and should not be equated with trust. You trust someone or something of which you have knowledge. Religious faith aith demands total, blind, obedience to that which you cannot know. It demands a denial of reason. It is submitting your life, not to a god, but to an organization of men that have been deceived even as they would deceive you. If you would draw closer to God look to the sciences that govern our world. Look at the blessings and knowledge they have given us in the fields of medicine, mathematics, biology, archeology, technology--think of the wonders yet to be discovered! We have learned much about the laws regulating our world, but there is so much still hidden. Imagine the world without religions; a world where all men realize that it is “Mother Nature” they should fear instead of humanly conceived deities. (And no, I’m not advocating a form of nature worship.) Imagine a world where all men strive to understand the laws that regulate their world and work together for the good of all! Sure it’s a far fetched idea, but one that is a lot more likely than a pie-in-the-sky-after-life, and unlike religions it can be proved and is demonstrated daily in every person’s life. Such a philosophy will not always lead you to the “right” decisions, but neither will you be left to helpless prayers and hopeless indecision. The superstitious man sees events as mysterious wonders. The reasonable man sees events as logical occurrences. Knowledge is power because it dispels superstition and fear.

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