How to end a blog

There are lots of abandoned blogs around the Internet - several of them at this very site (and by this very blogger!).

This is about to become yet another statistic in that sad yet unsurprising group.

What can I say? I've gone around in the usual circle, from unquestioning faith, to complete doubt, to kind of uncertain, back to shaky yet sturdy (for the moment) faith.

I'll go around again in the future, I have no doubt.

But does anyone really want to read about it?

Based on my hit count, apparently not.

So if you're one of the few who's actually been reading my posts - or if you stumble across it late one night, on your own journey round the circle of faith-doubt-faith - let me just say:

Even if there is no God - you're not alone.

And if there is ... well ... you're not alone.

Either way - you have to figure it out for yourself. Ultimately you just have to decide what seems right to you.

And yes, I know all about the Bible verse that says "There is a way which seems right to man, but it leads to destruction." OK, I get it.

But there's another one that says, "He remembers that we are dust."

What that tells me is very simple:  if there is a God, he UNDERSTANDS.

So be not afraid - live your life - and (if you're in the mood to pray) ask for that understanding.

Because if there is a God - you'll get it.
Goodbye - and thanks for reading this far!

And yet there's this ...

The late great Internet Monk, Michael Spencer, came up with this list, 10 reasons why I am a Christian, a few years ago, and it still resonates with me.

I wonder if I'm just doomed to bounce back and forth from belief to nonbelief to all sorts of different varieties of belief.

Is life just a giant pinball machine?

What have you learned, Dorothy?

Well ...

I've learned that just because you were born into a certain religion doesn't mean you have to follow it all the way to the end of your life.

I've also learned that almost every religion, when you get right down into the center of things, are very similar, because almost all of them are about getting right down to the center of things.

I've learned that there are good and decent and compassionate people who practice all types of religions, including "none of the above".

I've learned that assertions are not facts.

I've learned that there is so much more to learn that one lifetime just isn't enough. And that if there is indeed a god, he/she/it had better (a) be infinitely patient and (b) have a great sense of humor, because we're all going to screw things up. All of us.

And I've learned that I'm not the world's most consistent blogger.

What next?

So here I am, after all these weeks, still struggling to figure out what path (if any) I should follow.

Because there are so many I’m attracted to!

There’s:

1. Wicca
2. Catholic Wicca
3. Catholic Paganism
4. Neopaganism
5. Buddhism
6. Unitarian Universalism

And on and on and on ...

Maybe I should just accept the fact that I’m NEVER going to be able to choose.

Maybe I should just embrace the doubt

and, like a butterfly, take in sustenance wherever I can find it.

(But preferably with a longer lifespan!)

I'm still thinking ...

Hi, intrepid readers!

Don't fret - I'm not abandoning this blog as I've abandoned soooo many others the past. No, no, don't look at my personal history! Look at the NOW! Be. Here. Now.!

Okay, yes, I do have a bit of a history of, er, "blog 'em and leave 'em".

But this time I really don't want to do that.

The problem is it's really hard for me to find big chunks of free time in which to write - that I don't want to use for other things.

Like "Scrubs" reruns. Hey, do you think THIS time Ted will really jump off the roof?

But seriously folks - religion! Christ! OK, here we go.

How I feel now, after - what? - a month of this? is that the nonbelievers are probably right. Either Jesus existed but wasn't God, or he didn't exist at all and all the stories about him are just that - stories.

So the real question for me is - are the stories of any value?

Because look - I read a lot. a LOT lot.

When I was a kid, my brother and sister would sleep with stuffed animals. I slept with books.

I love to read! So the idea that these are "stories" doesn't really bother me that much. Let's say they are.

Are they GOOD stories? Are they worth reading? Do they teach anything that might be of use to me, in my daily life?

I think some of them do. Jesus himself told a lot of great stories.

How about "The Prodigal Son", eh? That was a good one! C'mon, how can you not love a story that has both hookers AND pigs?

And that Good Samaritan story was pretty cool too. The two bad guys were the Catholic priest and the lawyer - and the good guy was the Muslim! You won't hear that one on Rush Limbaugh anytime soon!

So maybe the answer I'm eventually going to settle on is the one that a lot of Christians have found - focus on what Jesus actually said, and NOT on what any of the Churches say they THINK he MEANT to say.

Not that I agree with everything Jesus said, but any religious leader who loves cheesemakers* can't be all bad.

* Blessed are the Cheesemakers!

Liar, Lord, Lunatic (or None of the Above)??

Usually when someone says they don’t think Jesus is God, Christians get all shocked and upset.

“But but but … “ they sputter, “He SAID He was! So He was either a liar, a lunatic or the Lord! Deal with it!” and stomp off in a huff.

Now being a Narnian fan, I like a good C.S. Lewis quote as much as anyone else. But you know, with all due respect to Clive, that “Liar lord lunatic” thing really irritates the heck out of me.

Here's the quote:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

OK, Clive, nicely said. But there IS another possibility:

4. HE WAS WRONG!

Yeah, I know, hard to fathom, right? But stick with me:

What if Jesus (who I think really existed and was really a good and sincere person) just THOUGHT He was the Messiah?

What if (like most Jews at that time) He didn’t think of the Messiah as “God in the flesh” but as the Deliverer of his people?

What if (like most of his followers at the time) he just got convinced that all the signs of the times were right and he was the one?

And then after he died, his followers (who I suspect were not only grief-stricken, but guilt-ridden at their failure to protect this wonderful man from a horrible death) managed to convince themselves that they’d actually seen him, alive and well.

And I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt: maybe they really thought they had seen him. After all, there are people who insist that Michael Jackson faked his own death and appeared at his own funeral. Grieving people see ghosts and have extremely vivid dreams which convince them their loved ones are alive and well. Why wouldn’t the same thing have happened to the disciples?

Of course, this is all assuming that the stories in the New Testament are historically accurate and not just all made up.

All I’m saying is that even assuming that, it’s reasonable to conclude that Jesus wasn’t Liar, Lord or Lunatic – just a nice mixed-up Jewish guy.

Would you treat an employee this way? Jesus says it's OK!

This morning's Gospel reading was from Luke, Chapter 17:7-10:

"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"

(New International Version 1984)

Now I don't know about you, but if I had a servant (these days we call them "employees"!) who had spent the whole day out back plowing the North Forty, and he came into the house all hot, tired and sweaty, you're damn right I would say, "Come along now and sit down to eat!" Poor guy.


Actually, I'd probably say, "Wow, you really look tired! Why don't you take a break, shower, etc.? Take about half an hour and then come and start putting dinner on the table. Thanks, pal!"


What kind of human being would I be if I ignored another human being's suffering just because he worked for me? And Christians are always saying how compassionate Jesus was. This sure didn't sound all that compassionate to me.

Maybe that servant just didn't belong to the right union.

 

Ten Good Things About Having a Religion

Just off the top of my head:

1.     Free coffee and donuts every Sunday and some holidays. Also sometimes there's lunch, if you stay late enough.

2.     Someone to blame when things go wrong.

3.     Someone to thank when things go right.

4.     Virtuous feelings when broke.

5.     Inability to get any sex can be viewed positively.

6.     Sickness can be turned to your advantage.

7.     Belting out hymns in public encouraged, regardless of singing talent.

8.     No reason to fear death as long as you’ve done it right

9.     People who cut you off in traffic will get theirs, someday

10.  Free donuts (yes, I repeated it twice, but still … )

Next week: Ten good things about NOT having a religion!

Atheism vs anti-theism, or won't someone please think of the children?

There’s a tendency, especially among Christians, to use the word “atheist” as an insult.

“You – you filthy atheist!”

(Stings a little, doesn’t it?)

Yes, all over the Internet and beyond, "atheist" is almost synonymous with "evil" (and "militant" is a given).

And yet an atheist is simply (as defined in  The Free Dictionary): “One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods”.

Simply lacking a belief in God or gods is not a character flaw or a crime (dare I say, “Thank God!”?). Yet some theists think it is exactly that. It’s certainly a sin, in most religious belief systems.

Yet how can that be? If you don’t believe, you don’t believe, and that’s it.

You can’t force someone to believe in something. (Well ... you can. But the methods are generally unpleasant, if not illegal. And the desire to force someone to believe anything seems like a character flaw in and of itself, at least to me.)

So I’m not going to use “atheist” as a pejorative in this blog. (And if, as may occasionally occur, I slip up and do exactly that, please feel free to call me on it!)

Look - if you believe in something (or Someone), great. If you don’t - great again.

Frankly, I don’t really care what someone believes or doesn’t believe. What I DO care about is how that belief, or disbelief, affects how you behave towards others - specifically, yours truly!.

Which brings me to “anti-theism”.

Anti-theists are not just atheists. They fit the definition - they don't believe in a God or gods. But they don't stop there. They don't shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh well, live and let live, just don't ask me to share your weird delusions."

No, no - anti-theists are people who don't believe - and don't think anyone else should, either. And are willing to do whatever they can to make that happen.

As an analogy, think of nonsmokers and antismokers. Nonsmokers disapprove of smoking, and will support laws banning smoking in public places. But if smokers insist on continuing their filthy habit, well, it’s their life and more power to them, just don’t blow the smoke in my face, that’s all.

Antismokers, on the other hand, KNOW that smoking is always and everywhere dangerious, and are constantly proposing new legislation to make it illegal for anyone to smoke, anywhere – even in the privacy of their own homes or cars.

“Think of the CHILDREN!” they wail.

So I’d classify people like Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, etc. as "anti-theists", rather than just ordinary garden-variety atheists.

Dawkins especially incurs my irritation, because of his ridiculous – and, if ever enacted into law, EXTREMELY dangerous – assertion that parents who teach their religious beliefs to their children are committing child abuse.

Child abuse. Really? Yes, he does say that.

“Think of the CHILDREN!”

To me, that’s not one whit different than the religious nuts (shall I call them "pro-theists"?) who want prayer reinstated in the public schools and the 10 Commandments on display at every courthouse in America.

Thank God (or gods) that our great country, the United States of America, has laws protecting the general public from BOTH anti-theists and pro-theists. We don’t allow our government institutions to promote religion, but we also don’t use our government institutions to forbid the free exercise of religion.

Sure, from time to time we go a little too far in one direction or the other. But the mechanisms are in place to correct the wrongs, and generally keep everything pretty well-balanced.

So no, you can't put up a Nativity scene on the lawn in front of City Hall.

But no, you can't pass laws forbidding private citizens from displaying even the most ludicrous of Nativity scenes on their own property.

And I like it that way. I like it that way just fine.

So – my criticisms of atheism or theism, here in this blog, are aimed primarily towards the extremists on both sides – the anti-theists and the anti-atheists.

Like anti-smokers, they have a right to their opinion, but they have a tendency to be a pain in the butt.