Discussion Something I overheard

[Eren]

2 girls sitting down at a restutant I was getting takeout from. Around my age.

Girl 1: Yeahh God has really just helped me overcome… (I didn’t get the rest)

Clearly some kind Jesus freak recruitment thing.

I’m not against religion but the talking about how “God has helped you” to a prospective new member of your church to me exemplifies a core issue regarding religion, that being believers always get some kind of benefit from their belief system. Literally the definition of ulterior motives and this is how they lead. You shouldn’t believe in God because of the “benefits,” you should believe in what you find to be the truth.

 

[Deleted member 2142]

Jesus is the truth

 

[Lain]

Most people want to believe in God because he's the strongest member of the tribe and will save them in the next life. It's a nice idea, that of some kind of all powerful entity that blesses his followers with miracles. The idea that appeals to me the most is a blend of various beliefs.

1. Reality is a sum of atoms, which everyone and everything has, which was once connected in a singular form (this is God)
2. Heaven and hell is a place on this earth in each moment, and the connections we have with others and the future we build will determine in this life and for future life what that future will be.
3. The atoms that we are, will break the connection of our current consciousness at "death" but we will still exist in this same universe and deal with the result of our actions, regardless if we are aware of them.

I like this notion a lot. It's something akin to Buddhism or Orthodox Christianity in which everything in a manifestation of the Godhead, that me, you, Christians, Muslims, Jews, whatever your beliefs, all share the same kind of innate Godhood and a deep connection to what can essentially be called God. Instead of God being something to worship because you expect salvation from them in the next life, you worship God by being kind to yourself, to your fellows, you realize the magnificence nature of this reality and see everything and everyone as a manifestation of God rather than separate creatures.

I've always found this notion that everything will be fine in the next life to be a type of neuroticism. Maybe it will be true, I can't say, but it's a way to diss the present moment and we may miss out on God when it's staring directly at us in all of its glory. Not as a he, or a she, but as everything that encompasses reality.