Tuesday, November 16, 2010

v40.5: Reason for Religion?

Howdy folks,

-slurp-

First off, let me start off by giving a quick update on my NaNoWriMo progress.  So far, I'm sucking pretty bad at keeping my word count up.  The month of November is half over and I'm nowhere near half way through the word count.  I should be over 25,000 words right now and I'm not even half way to that goal.  Of course I'm blaming WoW for my lack of progress.  The next expansion for World of Warcraft is coming (out December 7th) and there are a ton of things going on in the world right now that are leading up to that expansion.  I'm getting a bit excited about this expansion.

-slurp-

I'm sure you've all heard the story of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.  There have been so many different variations of that story over the years it is hard to tell which (if any) is the right story.  The story talks about how Arthur became the King of Camelot and how he pulled the sword from the stone and all that fun stuff.  It has been retold and passed down over the generations.  Did it really happen or was it just a story?

I often wonder if some of the "stories" in the Bible are similar.  I mean, how many of these stories were written by the people who actually lived them?  Take the creation of the Earth for example.  Obviously this wasn't written by Adam or Eve; in fact, the book of Genesis was written primarily by Moses.  Moses tells the story of the creation of the earth and tells us all about the fall of mankind after the first sin.  Moses wasn't around when the earth was created and he definitely didn't witness the first sin or the first murder.  These are simply stories.  In fact, if we take the book of Genesis for truth, it would have occurred around 4000 B.C. and poor old Moses wasn't born until around 1550 B.C.  So you have approximately 2500 years worth of "stuff" going on that was put into a single book of the Bible.  Some believe the stories we read in the bible are nothing more than stories to convey a religious message; similar to the way some Pastors will tell stories today.  Of course people will believe what they will and everyone believes something slightly different from the person sitting next to them.  That is what makes us unique and special :)

This begs the question, if the creation of the earth was nothing more than a simple story told by a man thousands of years later, is it safe to assume that nobody has a sweet clue about how the earth was created and they simply created a story to make God look all powerful?  I was always told that there was nothing God could not do and he was all powerful.  Personally, if I was God, it wouldn't take me 6 days to build a plant.  I would build it in less than a day and I wouldn't need to rest afterwards; but I digress.

-slurp-

Of course this also raises some other interesting questions about the Bible and its authenticity.  Think of all the times in the Bible where God "spoke" to people.  Now I haven't gone through the effort to find the original word for spoke to see if it means verbally spoke or "spoke" through other means but given the fact there is text as if God was speaking, I would have to assume it meant he literally spoke with a voice.  Why doesn't that happen today?  I find it hard to believe that God is shy or has issues with public speaking.  What made the people in ancient times so special that God actually spoke to them?

Don't get me wrong folks, I'm not trying to tear apart anyone's religion here.  I'm just trying to figure out (for my own benefit) what the point is.  If I've learned anything over the years of studying religion it is that they all believe in something bigger than themselves.  Who's right?  Are any of them right?  Is there even an all powerful being out there that listens to our needs and shelters and protects us?  Unfortunately that isn't a question I can answer and everyone believes something different so there's no help there.  Personally, I'm beginning to think people need to follow their own heart and their own beliefs.  Religion isn't all about worshiping something greater than you, it is about living our lives and making the best out of this short life we're given.  Think of it as a set of guidelines for people to follow and how to live good lives and respect others around them.  Think back on all the bible stories you've heard.  How many teach a lesson in one form or another about being kind to others or respecting others.  The bible is full of stories like this and they all teach us right from wrong.

Unfortunately religion has turned people against each other and has started more wars and fights than anything else in the world.  In fact, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I received some hate mail or nasty comments here because of this topic.  Personally, I don't care.  If you feel you need to say something, then by all means, post a comment or send me an email.  I'm always up for a good debate.

-slurp-

Anyway folks, WoW is calling to me and I must listen.  I hope you all have a great day and hopefully things will slow down enough that I can post again soon.

Cheers,

Al

1 comment:

  1. First of all, I would like to congratulate my amazing brother on being a Dad for the 4th time last night!!! :) So proud and happy to be your sister and an Auntie to all of your beautiful children!!
    Secondly, I have very strong opinions in the manner of which you spoke above and think (as you always tell me), it will probably be just an extension of what you've already said.. lol
    I truly believe that there is a God, in some way or another. I've had the same debates with myself about the "stories" in the Bible and how true they might actually be. But my Faith is never deterred in this thinking, it actually makes me think more outside the spectrum of just the Bible and adds the world as a whole. Laws of Attraction, Good begets Good. Why are these laws there? Who put them there and made them so? The Big Bang theory may in fact be true because Science has proven that, but how did the properties get there to create this Big Bang? I just checked out this site (http://www.big-bang-theory.com/) and even in their scientific explanation of how this occurred, there is no explanation as to how it came to be. Why is it impossible for them to believe that God had intended this to be? When all evidence shows that he truly is almighty and can create things from nothing and turn it into what we have today?! Humanity and life on Earth in itself is an amazing feat too big to even comprehend.. so we ignore it. Then they have to find other possibilities, or "Proof" of something to hold on to.
    I've also thought about the way the Bible says that God "speaks" with certain people, but then I'm brought to today's world and thought the same thing you did, until I remembered prophets. They claim to hear the spoken word of God. Who's to say some of them can't? We think their crazy because the majority of people today (out of 6.77 billion) don't hear this "Voice of God". But don't we? If we were brought up to believe in God, or go to Church, or even just brought up in a very well rounded home who have profound beliefs in good manners and all around good behaviour, then don't they hear "a Voice" that explains the right way and warns about the wrong way so that we all can live a happy healthy life. Isn't that what God was trying to say in the Bible, as well? To teach us what he wants us to know in order to live Eternally in Heaven with him? I try to take the "lessons" from the "stories" I read from the Bible and apply them to my daily life as that is what I feel He intended us to do.

    As you can see, I do have extremely strong opinions in this area, so I will stop here now! But anytime you want a debate in Religion, you just let me know! ;)

    -Megan

    ReplyDelete