Sorry if this offends people, but I'm just not sure about religion at all. I look forward to any input. I'm also conducting a survey to see the demographics of users on religion, though t's probably different than it used to be, before the implementation of the new forum rules.
Following Roosh's recent turn to faith, I have been thinking about the reasons one would turn to religion. This forum has always been proud of its rationality and conservative values. And yet I fail to connect logic and God together.
I have been raised in Catholic schools all my life, but I have never felt "the call" at all. Not sure if it is an age thing or just that I didn't pay attention to the priest, the Bible or just the concept of God just doesn't make sense to me.
Here's a few questions I have for believers, I am sure these have been done to death, but I'd like to hear your replies anyway. By the way, some of them I feel are slightly overlapped:
1. What makes you turn to God?
2. What difference does it make if I am a good person with morals but I don't believe in God? If I am a Buddhist monk that heals local villagers for free, I am still a sinner by traditional Christian values since I worship weird idols? Or is that tolerated nowadays? If so, isn't the change contradictory to the Bible? Who decides these changes are acceptable? For example the Church has again and again conceded on fundamental grounds of Christianity, most notably the Earth revolving around the Sun thing, as well as the existence of microbes. Is the Bible/scriptures still credible if parts of it can be taken out? What else is there to fall upon as solid teachings?
3. What makes you think God showcases goodwill to us? To me, he doesn't boast a good track record at all. If God exists, why does He allow the clergy to abuse their power by such a shocking extent? I have seen firsthand a priest molesting a boy, and it disgusts me so much it was one of the factors I have distanced myself from religion. Similarly, if the Holocaust, wars and massacres were God's will, then I cannot but feel He holds some serious malice towards us, for causing billions upon billions of death and destruction. I don't think anything can balance that out.
4. The Bible, especially the Old Testament, sounds evil, illogical and inconsistent at times. Tempting Adam and Eve with the fruit, killing people if they manage to see God's face, striking down the Tower of Babel all sounds like dick moves to me, to name a few. If He doesn't us to see His face, just don't bother showing a physical figure to us then, I'll take a glowing orb of light too, why even bother tempting us? Also Jesus is leaving a big banana skin on the ground for Judas if the betrayal was all scripted and foreseen, guy's been despised for 2 millennia. And it's not really a betrayal if Jesus knew all along, right? He basically consented to it, isn't that more like turning himself in?
5. Explaining everything by saying it's God's unfathomable plan is no longer a good argument. It might work 2000 years ago, but it's not a convincing explanation in itself anymore once the Enlightenment hits.
6. I also hate the idea of original sin. Bearing responsibility for another doesn't seem right to me.
7. What's your take on some of the archaic rituals they used to do? If Christianity condemn premarital sex, we might as well observe Sabbath too. Why observe some but discard others? What are the standards?
Welcoming all comments, I am open to anything and interested in seeing the replies. who knows, maybe a new convert is incoming.
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