Thoughts On Things

Entry 20

Sometimes I like to go on these little chat sites. People go on there to talk about their troubles and get advice and such, or listen to troubles and offer advice. I like doing both, but I can't quite say why. Maybe the word like is a bit strong. I'd say I feel the same about it as I do watching other people speak, the same I feel about watching a film, or YouTube, I feel that not quite bored boredom as time passes quickly. Then afterwards I feel the slight regret of wasting my time before doing it again. 

"God is dead." Such are the words that the man proclaimed. But what do they mean, truly? Religion is dead? Nay, it's thriving. Maybe it's not a proclamation but a wish. A hope. Spoken like a proclamation, almost to trick the man himself into believing it. Maybe it's something else, of course. A hypothetical. A presumption to make a point. A million other things. Was God ever alive? If so, God must be the most hideous creature. So many religions paint God as so many different things, I can't help but imagine God as an amalgamation of human desire, of human wishes, of human fears, of human hopes. How do people believe in God, I wonder? If there were a single religion I could understand it better, but seeing as there's so many religions, many of them as popular as each other, how does one choose the correct religion? The one that suits my desires the most? The one I hear of first? The one I'm exposed to most? I wonder if there's some predisposition within a brain making it want to believe. Or if it's simply how you're raised. Or both. If Islam was popular in the west and Christianity in the east would it make much difference?

I think one key defining feature of popular religions is their simplicity, or at least their ability to be explained simply and with charm. A simple list of Ten Commandments that appeal to most people's idea of morality, of good. A figure sacrificing themself for the people. A great afterlife to comfort one in death and a bad afterlife promised to those who wrong you. Fear of said bad afterlife if one does not believe. Various arguments that make the choice of religion simple. Pascal's wager is a great one, I believe. I wonder how many believe simply because of things like that without thinking even one step further? 

To be brave and courageous, one must have fear to face. To be good and just, one must have evil thoughts to conquer. So to be religious one must have a lack of faith to demolish first, no? One must doubt and overcome it to prove oneself to God. If I were to learn every teaching of every religion, I wonder if I'd choose any. 

Going back to the phrase "God is dead," I believe it's simply a hypothetical assumption meant to entice people into finding meaning in life beyond God, beyond heaven. Being good for the sake of reward is less than holy, yet so holy indeed. Does piety rank higher than selflessness in the hierarchy of religion if we assume piety is service to the Gods? 

Despite being an agnostic, I often mutter phrases such as "thank God," or "Oh My God." Upon such utterances I wonder just how deeply ingrained into society is religion. If it were to be suddenly and forcefully removed, what would happen? 

I'd love to be religious for a day, with all my heart religious. A true believer. Just so I could experience it. The phrase "God is dead" doesn't mean much to one who never thought God alive, after all. Would I feel anger at this blasphemy, fear, curiosity if I were to believe? Is there meaning outside of God for a believer, a devout one?

I'm reminded of a short essay I read a while ago. The details are vague at best, in fact, I remember nothing at all apart from this short part I'll now recall. It states that religious people may assume atheists are sinners and without virtue and justice, for they do not believe in God and therefore must have no morality. Then the essay counters by saying atheists have morality without God, and that the believers are the bad ones for they tie their morality directly to God. They need God for morality sake. If God were dead in this hypothetical world, which I don't believe to be the modern case, would those believers go mad and immoral?

I've been foolish up to this point and ignorant. How do I argue on a topic without knowing about it? Thus, I've decided to learn. I shall learn of any religion that interests me, adopt their ways, read their sacred texts. My first undertaking is the Bible. 

Reading the Bible, I come to notice some things. First is God's surprising humanity, though I suppose it shouldn't be shocking as we are created in God's image, as they claim. It surprised me to see how angry God was with evil thoughts and apologetic for creating us. How utterly human. Then, after flooding the Earth, Noah's Ark, we get to the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. The parts that interests me are verses 6 and 7, if that's what they be called. "Look!' he said. 'The people are united, they all speak the same language. After this, nothing will be impossible for them! Come, let's go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won't be able to understand each other.'" I do wonder why God did this? Fear of our potential? Hatred? A whim? Either way, so human. The oppression of the weak, keeping them ignorant and unable to rebel, even to conceive of the idea of rebellion. Ah, to make things easier, I will be assuming everything written is true, taking on the beliefs in a sense despite not believing, so that I can see things through the eyes of a religious person, or at least get close to doing so. I wonder what God thinks of society now? We have almost returned to that point of a universal language, what with the great abilities of translators these days. Communication is surely easier, in fact; we can speak to someone the other side of the world in seconds. It makes perfect sense then that we are more capable and great than ever. So why does God not intervene? Does God change? If so, do humans, built in God's image, also have the ability to change? "People never change," or "People can change." Contradicting viewpoints made by, well, people. I wonder if those who made them changed.

Good night.