Just as the star dies giving birth to new, more complex and beautiful life, so Jesus becomes human, dies and is raised. Jesus never trivialises suffering, nor should we his followers. Even when we acknowledge that pain and death are givens in the process of evolutionary life, we are still confounded by the question: why does God create in this way? I cannot plumb the mystery of God nor the mystery of evil and suffering. I am comforted by contemporary cosmology which tells me that dynamic energy is the heartbeat of the universe, and I am reassured by my Christian faith which tells me that this energy is divine and it is love.
God is love. Why do bad things happen to good people? God does not cause suffering. It is woven into the very being of the cosmos. The real question is not why the suffering, but where is God in the suffering. A loving God does not, could not, desire our suffering. I also reject this God, for this God does not exist.
So why do people think about it? Seriously, why do people think so much about God, including those who claim to hate him, or more commonly, to be indifferent to him? Actually, as we know, he thinks about her all the time, because in his little, unformed, and charmingly immature way, he loves her.
I have often wondered why there are so many books written by atheists, so many television programs made, and so many words expressed. If he does not exist, if there is no God, it would surely be more sensible and logical to spend your time writing and obsessing about something else, perhaps about something that does exist. But, they might counter, we need to say so much and so often because we need to help and liberate the other people atheists often feel the need to educate all of the people the y think to be stupid and beneath them , because those other people are ignorant of the truth.
These wretched people, insist the atheists, have invented God because the y are weak and needy. Well, it could be true.
Sure, God could be an invention, concocted by the weak and needy to help them though their sad lives. Then again, the absence of God, the non-existence of God could be an invention. It could be something invented by scared and threatened people who are too weak and needy to follow his laws and are terrified of his judgment. We g o to him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.
It is only one set of responses to one set of questions. But I guarantee that if we scrape away the anger of the Bill Maher types, the intellect of the Richard Dawkins types and the sheer ignorance — forgive me — of the usual college student types, it all comes down to one simple moan. I def y or deny God, therefore I am. Nothing new there, nothing new at all. By Michael Core I have spent more than three decades justifying and defending the Christian faith, not so much in academic circles but in the public square, in newspapers and on radio and television.
Lewis also wrote : By the goodness of God we mean nowadays almost exclusively His lovingness. Tuition and Aid. Request Information. Visit Campus. Apply Now. See Also. Archie W. He was just stating what is.
He had worked at this place for 20 years. He was telling me what he knows. All these inmates, nearly all of them Black children, will get out of here and live their lives and go back to the streets and then end up, again, back in juvy; eventually, many of them will end up in state or county or federal prison for months or years, maybe for life. There is no hope for those kids.
Their souls? Lives as free men? End of story. Thirteen-year-old boys headed to life in a cage. Why were they born? For this? Is anyone born for prison? Evidently some are. And others are born for, who knows, endless soccer camps that parlay a half-hearted midfielder onto first-team All-Metro.
Neither party asked for their state in life. It just happened. Two were grinding at the mill, one was taken away, the other left to breathe the fresh clean air.
Is there a God? A ridiculous question. We all know the answer to that. Just look around. Behold: We are so far past the Beginning and yet the earth is still a formless wasteland, darkness covers the abyss of us, a ferocious wind sweeps over foul waters and these children are going away forever. No matter what we do, no matter the counseling, the stern but loving discipline, the schooling, the life-training—do they even receive such things?
The guard wore a black sport shirt. His black hair was not feathered, but it might have been several years back. The boys were segmented into groups, lived in pods, tucked into cells with heavy doors and thick glass. He said it calmly. They will return. All of them. An even worse answer: There is a God, and every one of those kids is coming back. Who or what can we blame for this? The breakdown of the family? The obliteration of father figures? A lack of jobs, the pervasiveness of drugs, crowded schools, harsh drug laws, the proliferation of guns, the profit-seeking prison industry, brutal cops, institutional racism, corrupted civil will, a deflation of things spiritual in the general culture?
Religious novices and their ignorance of the absurd rates of Black incarceration? Simply the year-olds themselves? Take it back and airlift these children into a life of excellent schools, churches that bring the Gospel to the streets, cities abundant with jobs, and just make things better? It is too discouraging. The bad has been so lodged into, so caked over the world, evil become so stuck, with old growth and tree rings and roots reaching way down, so much sadness that it will take ages to chip it away.
God is good? Where do you live? Oh, maybe if we all just believe in Jesus Christ enough he will blast through and save us. As I approached 25, I slowly became less and less attached to the church and its teachings. Then a remarkable thing happened: I began to be at peace with myself.
I stopped attending church some time in my 26th year. The gift of gayness is realizing that, as RuPaul has put it, we are God in drag. But what does matter is finding our true selves and sharing ourselves with those that love us. I am 31 years old. I was always really devout, but I harbored doubts about the teachings since I was a child.
I finally came clean to my family about it at the end of my first year of college when I was 19 years old and told them that I no longer wanted to be a JW. After heart to hearts with each family member, all five of my siblings and my parents stopped talking to me. I was followed around town by members of the church.
My family withdrew financial support. Though I had plenty exposure to shunning and excommunication, I was naive enough to believe that my family would never do that. I thought if I was honest they would respect my decision and embrace me. Recovery has been a long process. I ended up transferring schools a year after the shunning.
I left my hometown in South Carolina and finished my degree at Temple University. I am doing an MA in journalism next fall. I also co-facilitated a workshop last fall for people who have been shunned or have endured other forms of spiritual abuse. Thanks for posing this question about religious choice. To join the dialogue, drop us an email.
I am a Witness, been one for over 30 years. Also, if this daughter was baptized and then chose not to continue, she is not ostracized. But I would prefer to socialize more with those who serve God. Now if she were practicing wicked and immoral behaviors condemned as willful sin and was disfellowship, then this is from scripture: 1st Corinth It is a loving provision from God for the person to recapacitate as well, as to keep the congregation clean.
They asked why not? My reply may help: I could never be a part of something that does not allow their members to investigate for themselves what other churches believe. If what you believe can not survive the scrutiny in the public market place, then frankly it is a false religion. To have such restrictions against exposure to any other belief structure demonstrates a fear of not being capable of carrying the day with you argument.
There have been repeated alterations and changes in the writings of the JW teaching, and they have done their best to remove any of the older publications from the marketplace.
I was once invited to Passover by a young JW who was neatly attired with his little sister. He came to my home the parsonage and invited me to Passover. I asked him why he would invite me to something I could not participate in only the , can partake of Passover.
If at any point they think that position has changed, they will trade off with other teachers, or cancel the studies all together. For now I want to highlight one especially good reader comment on the piece Frances Johnson wrote for us about LGBT Mormons who have to decide whether to stay in the Church and stay celibate; try being openly gay and hope for the best; or resign from the membership rolls and effectively quit their religion.
A number of other religious groups are struggling with divisions over homosexuality; last May, for example, I wrote about LGBT-related conflicts among Mennonites. Either way I lose. I have very personal experiences that have caused me to believe many of the teachings of the church. Many things that I believe are so deep and personal they are at the core of my being, things that I cannot deny.
And then I have the very deep and personal feelings of being attracted to men … something that is a core to my being and that I cannot, nor want to, deny. Which is why I enjoy hearing different perspectives on the subject. I hope to broaden my thought and understanding, in hopes of something helping me decide.
Tell us about it: hello theatlantic. It was hard enough dealing with the slurs, etc. I had to choose between my faith Catholic and my desire to live a full life with a person I could love. It was an easy choice for me because quite a few LGBT friends of mine had to give up close relationships with their entire family as a result of their sexuality.
Losing chunks of your life like that were common for us then. It was even illegal for me to continue in my job, so I quit that too. So there is probably no middle ground for you. On the other hand, there are a number of Christian faiths that you might not appreciate as much as LDS but that could still give you a path to God without having to sacrifice having a life partner. My life partner is a former Mormon—no temple wedding for us.
You and your life partner can be full and welcome members in another church. The tension between faith and sexuality also has a major source of legislative conflict.
A number of states have considered similar bills and for a primer on what this looks like, you can read my piece on this topic from January. Just as LGBT people are facing choices about how to relate to their religious communities, so conservative religious folks have faced choices about how to relate to LGBT people—even those who are deeply morally opposed to homosexuality and gay marriage.
A number of groups have chosen to change their stances on gay marriage and issued new guidelines on how to treat LGBT members in recent years. In November, for example, the Union of Reform Judaism passed a comprehensive set of guidelines on transgender issues, touching on everything from gendered nametags to bathroom signs. And your own stories are coming soon. One of the most fun parts of writing about religion is having an excuse to ask people about their religious upbringing and beliefs about God at cocktail parties.
And people sometimes even invite me back! A lot of these stories hinge on choices people have either made or will soon face. Converting to another religion? Switching churches? Ditching religion, or finding it? Deciding to choose love over religious or familial expectations? All religions and non-religions are invited. Hit us up: hello theatlantic. Meanwhile, to kick us off, here are a few reader comments on my intro piece to the series, debating how the spread of and ease of access to information is facilitating new religious choices.
This comment was the most up-voted by readers:. Contemporary religious superstitions are taking their last gasp of air and will soon find themselves keeping company with other ancient beliefs we now refer to as mythology. The strength of religions has always arisen from their ability to control the information, and in turn, the message.
Without countervailing arguments, religions have made believers out of non-believers and kept the faithful content. But those days are over. At the click of a mouse, one can learn the intricate details of the theory of evolution or fact check outrageous religious claims.
And that is something religions can never deliver. So prepare to celebrate the death of religion, as it will finally free our civilization and allow it to move forward, unhindered by the dogmatic and irrational beliefs of ancient superstitious cultures.
Demographic projections suggest the opposite, actually: The world will likely be more religious 50 years from now, not less. I think your faith in the information age may be misplaced. There is just as much misinformation as information out there.
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