Tell me all your thoughts on God (again)
I don’t attend organized religious services nearly as often as I probably should, and not nearly as often as I would like. First of all, it’s difficult for me to find an organization in which I feel comfortable. Second of all, it’s difficult for me to go to such places alone. At any rate, as a means of somehow of atoning for what I perceive to be religious laziness, I try to dedicate as much as possible of my Friday nights/Saturdays to some sort of religious/spiritual thought. It at least makes sense in my head.
Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about two religious concepts. Or, more accurately, two extremes of the same concept. Namely, praise and blasphemy.
I’ve always found both concepts a little curious. I’ll start with the idea of praise. I’m sure we’ve all been at a party or some other social gathering where substantial quantities of alcohol have been consumed and then there’s always “that guy” that comes up to you like “Hey man. Hey. Hey. Man. Dude, you...you are the man. Seriously. You’re the man. I mean that. You. Are. The man.”
Such an exchange, to me, seems similar to that of mere human brings attempting to praise a perfect, all-powerful being. In a way, it just seems unnecessary to me. I would imagine that an all-powerful, omnipotent being certainly wouldn’t need a bunch of lowly sinners singing his/her/its praises.
So that raises the question, in my mind, as to why we do it. It seems to me that God doesn’t need reminding of his own perfection and greatness, so what’s the point? Is it for our own benefit? I’m open to suggestions.
In the same vein, I find the concept of blasphemy somewhat curious. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not big on insulting God. But if it happens, as it does from time to time, I don’t take it as personally as many people seem to. And I certainly don’t feel the need to riot and set buildings on fire. Much in the same way that I don’t believe mere mortals can effectively praise an all-perfect being, nor do I believe we can hurt the feelings of an all perfect being. To go back to my drunk guy analogy, if a drunk guy were to come up to me and call me a douchebag, I wouldn’t be particularly upset.
I’ve said before that my belief in the Old Testament makes me more partial to the more hell-fire-and-brimstone version of God. So I certainly believe that God is capable of being angry. I just don’t think it’s necessary for people like me to defend him. I take the approach that if someone wants to piss off God, that’s between them and God. Much in the same way that if someone wants to slap a hornets nest, they can do so at their own peril.
Anyway. Those are my thoughts for the evening. If it sounds a little convoluted, give me a break. It’s 2:30 in the morning. If you have any thoughts on the matter, feel free to share them. As I said, I’m open to suggestions.
posted by That guy @ 2:37 AM
1 Comments:
The Biblical quotation that comes to mind is "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Basically I think you're right about the praise being more for our sake than for God's sake. When we're praising Him, we're less focused on ourselves and more focused on Him. We are more in tune with what really matters if we can think of reasons to praise God and actually do so.
As for blasphemy, I think that is also for us. It's a matter of defending the faith when others blasphemy. It may not sound like a huge test of faith, but there are tests of faith that we go through, large and small, daily. It's a matter of if you're willing to stand up for what you believe in or if your faith luke-warm.
As for when we ourselves curse God, that tends to occur when we don't believe in God, we are really upset, or if we don't think it's a big deal. Lack of belief doesn't really require any explanation. As for being a big deal, well, it is a commandment...
To not blasphemy is relatively easy during your average day. I don't think most people have an overwhelming desire to do so in general. The only time I think most people are tempted to curse God are bad times when one's faith is being tested. The story of Job comes to mind. Satan wanted to cause Job to lose his faith in God and to curse Him. In that story, cursing God was tied in with losing faith and/or hating God. Blasphemy would be the outward expression of this hatred/lack of faith. So if ones thinks of blasphemy as a lack of faith, it is one of the most important commandments of all.
I do think you're right that committing crimes supposedly in reaction to blasphemy is unacceptable. I can't say I follow the thought process that says it's acceptable to burn down buildings if someone blasphemies. Politely asking someone to try and not do that seems a bit more appropriate. I can't say I always speak up when someone utters blasphemy but it does seem like a good idea to do.
Just my two cents
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