In 2002 I had my First Mid Life Crises, I was 35. At the time I determined part of this was because of a confused Religious Identity. This a result of my own force of will and that brainwashed into me from a very young age.
So I sat down and created this list of questions. I had no answers at the time, just a few opinions. So I decided to find out the answers for myself. These are the same questions answered today.
I would be very interested to hear anyone else's answers.
Questions and AnswersQ:Do you think the Adam and Eve story happened? Why?No I don't think the story is a real account. As a whole its meant to symbolise mankind's connection with god Q:What do Adam and eve represent? Why?They represent mankind's affiliation with god and that god exists because he created man. Q:Did Jesus exist? What makes you so sure either way?Historically its pretty certain that Jesus existed. There are just too many independent sources for them to all have made it up.
Q:Could Jesus perform miracles? How? Why?Since the time of Jesus there is no documented evidence that anyone has been able to raise the dead, walk on water and be resurrected from dead as described in the New Testament. In the time of Jesus it was very popular for people to claim a prophet could perform miracles. Jesus was by far not the only one, just the only one still followed in our culture. Miracles are events that cannot be explained by the laws of nature. I believe no man can escape the laws of nature and therefore that Jesus was very unlikely to have performed miracles. Q:Did Jesus raise from the dead? Yes or No? Why do you think this?The simple answer is No for the reasons I stated above. Q:Do I have a soul, what is it?No I don't have a soul, I have a mind that is a consequence of my brain, life's experiences and some inherited morals Q:When I die what will happen to that soul, why?When you die, your brain functionality will cease, your heart will stop beating and your mind or concious with it. If you have children I believe that some part of your mind and morality passes to your children. I havent quite worked that one out yet though. Q:Does Christianity teach us the morals of life? Why?Christianity teaches us the morals of life it wants us to abide by. Some of them are wrong and there are many worthwhile ones that are not included Q:If not are we immoral?No mankind like all of natures product are born with base morals, at least most of us. Unfortunately not rearing humans to a moral code can result in immorality, but then your probably defining immorality by Christian standards. Q:Do you believe in heaven and hell? Why?No to both. Hell is a construct to scare the living shit out of us. Heaven is man's answer to immortality. Q:Do you believe in god? What is his role?Now then, yes I believe in god as a concept, I even think I know where god is. Gods role is to ensure we live moral life's within certain boundaries. Q:If I don't have a soul what am I?Homo Sapien Q:Do you believe in evolution? Why?It seems the most likely origin for life on this planet based on the information we have at this time. Q:Is everything around us, our very being a consequence of nature and not god?Yes, it does seem the most likely explanation. Q:Do you think we are here for a purpose, what is it?Yes. To live, breed and die, just like the rest of nature. Q:So what makes man so specialI don't really know. We are technically bigger than most things on the planet, and there have primarily been more of us than anything else. Our brain does also seem to be more advanced than most others, although we have only really applied it in the last four hundred years. Q:Is the bible the word of god?No. The bible is the word of man, written around his need for a god. |
Written by abff (1 comments posted) 28th May 2006 | | I'd love to sit and discuss this with you or throw in my answers. Ha, no I mean opinion, which is what religion, to me, is. A matter of opinion. |
Written by jean.day (2387 comments posted) 30th May 2006 | I am hesitating about writing this, because I already know that we have very different views about religious subjects. In fact, having read the rather scathing reviews you gave to two of my pieces which played with bible stories, I am sure you really don't care to hear my point of view.
I was really amazed to read what you wrote about not believing in the bible being literally true. I had you down for a staunch born again Christian. Why then do you so fiercely protect it?
But for the record, and since you asked, I don't believe the Adam and Eve story is literally true, and feel that much of the bible is allegorical rather than historically true.
I do believe in Jesus and that he could and did perform miracles - although I again concede that the point of view of the writers might be somewhat different from a modern scientific observer seeing the same phenomenon. I do also believe in modern miracles - people being found alive after being buried in earthquate rubble for over a week; people diagnosed with terminal cancer who recover for no apparent reason;
all sorts of things. Since I believe that Jesus was God, the how of his miracles is because he could - and the why was to convert people. His audience were far more likely to listen to his words if they associated what he said with something remarkable that he did.
I do believe in life after death, and therefore I believe in the soul which is the bit that survives. I don't know if there are specific places called heaven and hell, and I sort of think that reincarnation is a possibility. But it doesn't worry me that my views are different from what the Christian Church teaches. My father had a near death experience - he had literally died and then was resussitated, and described what he had seen, which was very like what others have experienced - only his was in 1976 - before there were lots of books written about it. He certainly had never read of anyone else having the same experience he had.
Although I think the morals taught by Christianity are important, other world religions also teach morals, many of them the same. And there are many perfectly moral people who have no religion at all.
I do believe in evolution and don't think it contradicts my belief in religion. | Born again maybe ..
Written by johniebg (553 comments posted) 30th May 2006 | but not Christian.
It was when I freed myself from the brainwashed upbringing of Christian doctrine that I really started to realise who I was, which is initially documented in 'Who Am I? Realising you dont know'
This post is part of a larger essay on my website which talks about the what, why when and how. You can get to it from my profile here if you want.
I have always enjoyed your writing, especially the non-fiction stuff as the genre of your extended isnt something I would ordinarily read, although find I have been.
While your writing is always a good read you do occassionally push my buttons, I will admit. Mostly in that many people that are either Christians or what I call non practising 'spiritual' Christians only have hereditary opinions of Jesus, the figures and stories that have been taught to them and are usually way, way off the mark.
Nobody seems to read the New Testament, jsut to be willing to accept what other people tell them. I dont mean quoting, I mean reading it as a whole.
Quoting from the bible is the worst thing you can do because almost any line taken our of its original context can be pretty much applied to any other meaning or point. Christians, especially preachers do this a lot.
A perfect example of this are the portions of Issiah and Psalms that are often rolled out to substantiate the claim that Jesus was the messiah. These individual lines in a conversation about the messiah seem very relevant, but if you read the whole that the lines come from you will see that they are not in any shape or form discussing who will be the messiah.
Anyways, I love the New Testament for its beautifully written books of the first 4 centuries, containing wonderful analogies on some base morals. Many of us can learn from it, but to use it as as an instruction manual for life for my mind is crazy, to use it in the same way to shape other peoples minds, especially childrens is a crime.
If you do get to the original blog on my site you will see that it starts with a good old fashioned every day tale of christian morals. I hope you do and thanks for your comment.
| Just me
Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3590 comments posted) 30th May 2006 | I suppose if I were to take issue with this piece being in the Non- fiction I would probably get too much flak, so I won't .
Relgion is what we use to make life make sense. A religion is like a good film with an ending that makes sense of life and makes us feel secure,everything happens for a reason and teh end makes sense of it all.
I spent ;years as a catholic and left when I realised it was not about morals but social control which doesn't allow for making your own judgements. The church supported Franco in teh Spanish Civil war was that a moral act?.
The bible has been modified and translated so many times in the past. How can we say it is immutable. It reminds me of a quote from 1984 "if we can control teh pst we can control the future" Religions had spin doctors long before the labour party. I know I'm wasting my time with this as believers only hear what they need to.Just my own pathetic ramblings-no offence
BBS |
Written by brook_rivers (486 comments posted) 1st June 2006 | I find religion a fascinating concept and thanks Jonnie for bring it forward for discussion. I personally feel that I am still learning about life and am not in a place in which i can definately make any answers to these questions, and many others, just yet although I think most people regulary turn them over in their mind. It is interesting to see the viariety of different responses people have.
| Q:Do you believe in god? What is his rol
Written by Espiral (44 comments posted) 6th June 2006 | Jonnie,
In answer to the above question, you say "I even think I know where god is" - can you elaborate? This is very intriguing.
I agree that religion is a matter of opinion, like any belief.
Espiral | AT LAST!
Written by johniebg (553 comments posted) 6th June 2006 | Of course that was put there to see whether anyone was interested enough to;
a) work out whether I was totally crackerjack
b) read the article fully
The answer is ...
I had a good friend, now retired who had spent her days as a physcologist in an institution. She had been Catholic, moved away from the Church when realising it for its true worth. As BBS said in an earlier comment, not a religion but 'social control'.
She had, after years of 'searching' came to the conclusion there was no greater 'god' but through her treating patient's come to the conclusion that man was built with an inherrant moral subconcience. It was this that produced answers in hours of need, what men thought to be 'the voice of god'. She had seen enough magnified cases where a patient would have lengthy two way conversations with god for her not to believe anything else (obviously there was loads of substantive jargon she used in there that embedded itself in the wall way above my head).
The simplistic analogy was that mans moral concience can be likened to the inherrant mental processes you find in animals. If you take a hawk (or for that instance most predators) from their mother at birth, hand rear them and then release them in a city, they will almost immediately start hunting like a Hawk, because of its base instincts.
So, god is somewhere between your brain and your mind, if you want to break it down to bare basic biology.
I do not believe there is a god out 'there' but would love to believe though that there could be a god within the collective subconcious of mankind. Now wouldn't that make a great story! |
Written by Fledermaus (3506 comments posted) 13th December 2007 | Strangely enough this piece on religion seems more rational than most later ones. These seem honest answers to honest questions. Subjective, but not unreasonable. Personally I see the bible as mythology. I happen to love mythology and thus I like the bible too.
All mythology seems to be a mix of explanations, allegories and moral values. These may differ per culture, but there seem to be things which are valued in every society. As such, I think the bible is a very valuable source, even to people who won't call themselves Christian. Who cares wether Jesus was a man or a god? He had a message. That's what counts... |
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