SPIRITUALITY|GOD|THOUGHTS|IDEA
In Search of God
“I don’t believe in God. I believe in something, not just in God.”
When asked about their belief in God, most people seem to have very little idea of what God is like, which is inextricably linked with organized religion. When they cannot reconcile that little idea with their belief system they say they do not believe in God and therefore have no relationship with God. Such a relationship may be desirable, as it may provide security, unconditional love, support during times of help, and a sense of belonging, but it can also be a lie to you and therefore cannot be maintained.
Many who say they do not believe, however, still feel that there is something greater than us, something they would like to connect to a certain level, not within the traditional context of organized religion. As I can see, there are many ways to approach the mind of God and organized religion is one of them.
Organized religion establishes God himself, usually man, almighty (almighty) who rules the world and, by allowing humans free will, and by allowing the existence of His Adversary, the Devil. God wants His servants to come to Him of their own free will, but if they do not, they will spend eternity in the flames of hell. There is only one life and you must live by God’s laws. Within Christianity, there are ways to atone for sins, by confessing sins and sincere repentance, then God’s appointed representative can give you forgiveness and cleanse your soul.
If you cannot reach such a representative of God before you die, bad luck, you die and go to hell whether you repent or not. Until recently, the Catholic Church would not allow children born into heaven to remain in ‘Limbo’ forever because they had not been baptized before their death. (‘Limbo’ is a place outside Heaven, far from Hell but also far from the presence of God.)
Personally, I believe this is a very limited view of God. This God is omnipotent; there seems to be a serious flaw in his power if he is unable to forgive the repentant soul, without the representative of the intervening person (e.g. priest) representing him. This God is not omnipresent (he is omnipresent at all) or: he is not in Limbo, he is not in hell forever and he is not present until the discovery is approved by baptism, and by an attorney for a legally appointed person. The choice is relative, here: ‘do as I say, or you will burn in hell forever’. After death, this God refused to take refuge in anyone who disobeyed His laws; the idea of forgiveness lasts only a short time.
Getting to heaven, to a certain point, is simply a matter of luck. It is not based on your contribution to the world as a caring, loving, non-judgmental person, who is not afraid to help other people and to make good and right decisions, rather than those driven by personal gain. This can play a role, but not the most important. Getting to heaven is mostly achieved through baptism, Sunday worship, prayer, and Bible reading, by telling God that you think you are good, that you love Him, and that you cannot live without Him.\
So if you could be born in a place that has never heard of God; if you die alone; if you cannot reach one of those representatives before you die, who can provide forgiveness of your sins and cleanse your soul; if you die angry with God because you have been hurt and tortured, you are not allowed to be with God. You go to hell. Life in this context is not a process of growth: it is a cruel and unjust test, in which most people in this world are deprived of the worst, or impossible, pass in conditions beyond their control.
Organized religions are structures, which include religious ideas about the deity, which are often represented as absolute truths, and which govern the approach and inclusion of God in human life, often predicting adverse consequences if these rules are not followed. The most important thing you need to understand about organized religions is that they should keep their institutions alive and therefore they desire to put worship in their institutions, using their people.
The need for survival must be met because otherwise, it will not exist. That is why donating money to religious institutions, collections or gifts, is considered a divine duty, why one can find true salvation only through institutions, and why members are commanded to continue returning, every morning in the past, and now, as more and fewer churches, at least once a week. Institutions, to the best of their ability, are doing excellent things. With them, good people help other people in good ways. Yet, they are still organizations that have a clear understanding of divine principles and laws on the need for survival.
I believe that the problem that many people seem to have in God’s mind could be caused by the failure of organized religion, according to science. Most churchgoers do not accept the idea of hellfire as they used to or do not think of God as being a force for revenge or punishment. Many even believe that it is possible to have a relationship with God without the distractions of church and traditional worship, but in reality, the churches continue to place a great patriarchal community in all aspects of religious life: God is a man, a kind father, a Head common in religious organizations. The woman is still fully present in God. Mary has never been given a deity; she may be ‘the mother of God’ but is still considered human. Angels are men; Jesus is a man. None of this holy family has ever lived
Monotheism is the existence of the universe, omniscient (omniscient), almighty god, or God. It is said that Christianity believes in one God, but there are some problems with this claim. In practice, we do not see the omnipotent and omnipotent God, as discussed at the outset of this article. His omniscience is questionable too. First, her opinion is limited by her gender: she is masculine and therefore lacks a feminine perspective. (Although in the Old Testament this concept of God as a man only is contradicted, e.g. Gen 5.1–2: … When God created man, He made them in the image of God. He created man and woman, blessed them, and named them Man when they were created.) Second, there are many times in the Old Testament where God created man.
Now, why is this a problem at all? It is problematic because there are natural contradictions in organized religion. On the one hand, we are told that this God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, but on the other hand, all the structures imposed on us by organized religions tell us that he is not one of these things. Theology limits God’s power, God’s understanding, God’s knowledge, God’s reach. The fact is, many who say that they do not “believe in God but do believe in something” believe in God as something far greater.
Belief in a God who is truly one, claiming that Christianity does not exist, includes a God who truly knows, not man or woman, and at the same time, both; Almighty God in truth, who controls everything but nothing because the earth could run this way because there is no other way; God is omnipresent, omnipresent, but not present, for the essence of existence is limited. This God is past, present, and future, and all at the same time because this God is past and present.
This God is all-encompassing, so much so that we cannot escape it, no matter how ‘wicked’ it may be or whether we deny that he exists. To deny this is to deny God. This God does not need or want to be worshiped, or praise or prayer, because this God has no pride. Instead, it is we who need prayer, to reconnect with the truth. To connect with God can mean to connect with what it needs to be, to receive life. Hell is just a delusion, a state of rejection, non-existence, rather than an active force of existence. Hell does not really exist because God is omnipresent and therefore cannot exist without God.
So in answering the key question: is there a God, we can say this: the idea of God as an all-encompassing being, or life itself in every way, encompasses any view of the world around us. There is no limit to what you can or cannot believe. We know very little and very little, in this world. One could say that angels and ghosts and fairies do not exist because there is no ‘real’ evidence. There is very little evidence that it does not exist.
One would argue that reincarnation is a failure to accept the fact that when we die, that is all we really are. On the other hand, disbelief can be an excuse not to learn what we need to learn because if we do not, we will have to do it in the next life. The skepticism about the existence of God has always struck me as strange. The sun rises every day, doesn’t it? You breathe, don’t you? Do you deny the existence of the universe, simply because we cannot measure it, simply because we do not understand?
So, what about that relationship with God? How can you connect with all of these things at once, and why bother if you don’t believe in the gray man in the clouds?
The answer is simple. You have no relationship with God and that, that would be foolish. You have a relationship with God or you're ‘divine’, to have a moment of peace and tranquility to feel connected and in control in a very difficult, stressful world. Talking to God in those brief moments does not mean that you believe in a personal God. You can pray, you can talk to God when no one can hear you, write a letter to God, do yoga, meditate, and take time to meditate. You will not be deceived. You can have your own religious cake and eat it. And to the best of its ability, perhaps that is what organized religion can offer to some of us: relationships that almost have something ultimately beyond comprehension.
