Yesterday, June 22nd, the LA Times had a article about different religious groups plotting the so-called exit strategy, hastening the end of the world. This means the arrival of the messiah for their particular religion. You have the Christian, Muslim and Jewish groups all believing the end of the world as we know it is near. Now I don't know who is right but I know they all can't be right. Obviously everybody can believe what he wants to believe, but some of the contradictory statements made by religious leaders strike me as being illogical.
The President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, hopes to welcome the messiah Mahdi to Tehran in 2 years. If he thinks the messiah is going to come so soon and convert everyone to Islam then why is he worrying about building nuclear weapons for the future? The Jews, meanwhile, are rebuilding the Holy Temple destroyed by the Romans, before the coming of their messiah. Gershon Solomon of the Jerusalem's Temple Institute remarked that when the temple is built "Islam is over." The Christians are helping Israel as they believe that they will be judged by how they treat the Jews. So the Christians are strong lobbyists for Israel. Of course they also believe that the Jews who do not convert to Christianity will be condemned to hell. This is a concept that shock the Jews. Gershon Solomon, when asked about the Christian belief, said "What kind of religion is it that expects another religion will be destroyed?" Of course that is exactly what he thought would happen to Islam. It is also what Muslims think will happen to Jews and Christians.
So they all think they are smart enough to know their religion is the right one. I guess I am not so smart. Read back to my blog on 9-26-05 and you will see that I have no idea who is the true God. All I know is that the true God will be more forgiving than us, not less. For example, if Mother Teresa believed in the wrong God, would the true God condemn her to hell? If your religion teaches you that good people from different religions than yours are going to hell, I don't think you have found the true religion.
Friday, June 23, 2006
2 comments:
Use the following html code to make a clickable link in your comment (instructions in the sidebar). You can test the link by previewing your comment.
<a href="http://angryyellowman.blogspot.com">Angry Yellow Man</a>
The above example will display as Angry Yellow Man
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I can see where you're coming from on this subject. I have a hard time in believing in one religion, especially when there are so many contradictions out there. I suppose if we had grown up with a strong religious background, our thinking may be different. But maybe because of the way we were brought up, we have a less biased view and clearer world view of religions. I am not knocking religions but I think most wars are started because of religious differences. I say, instead of concentrating on our differences, why not concentrate on our similarities? Can't we all agree that the God we speak of, no matter what name, is the same God that created the universe? Just my two cents. See you in Hell;)
ReplyDeleteLBOAYM
Oh old man. You make several effective points. But then you end on this:
ReplyDelete"All I know is that the true God will be more forgiving than us, not less. For example, if Mother Teresa believed in the wrong God, would the true God condemn her to hell? If your religion teaches you that good people from different religions than yours are going to hell, I don't think you have found the true religion."
Sigh...seeing how you deftly noted the lack of logic in the world's religions was refreshing. But the moralistic end to your argument lends optimism to the situation.
I'm usually all for optimism. Hope, uplift, all that good stuff. I just don't think you can say to a certainty that "God" is a just, moral, forgiving being. Such a viewpoint lends a Judeo-Christian slant (see corresponding Holy books), yet you yourself mention the seeming lack of logic these religious followers have. Why conform to their viewpoints?
If Mother Teresa had believed in a "different" God than the one in "existence," we don't know what such a God would do with her. It's naive and metaphysically useless to wonder how God would act.
Someone once said (and I can't remember and I'm too lazy to do a google search) something like, "If God didn't exist, man would create him." In other words, man needs God, a creative construction of an omnipresent being, the ultimate judge/jury/executioner, etc. Let us study why man needs God and why man follows God (Gods, whatever) and how man derives meaning. Man's search for meaning: that is "true" religion.