P
paulo75
Guest
I'm trying to bring in a bit of a fresh perspective to things around here so bare with me.
I just finished reading a very enlightening book entitled "What God Wants" by Neale Donald Walsch. While trying to do his book justice here would be a disservice, I wanted to pass along some of his (not just his) ideas and see what everyone thought.
There are many examples of what many people feel is "What God Wants":
Marriage
Remain abstinent until wedlock. Once married, the wife must be obedient to the husband, and the man is the head of the house. This is what God Wants.
Homosexuality
Any sexual activities between a man and a man or a woman and a woman is unatrural. Partake in these and go to Hell. This is what God Wants.
Money
Society discourages wealth: "Money is the root of all evil". So, do something nobel, and get little or no monetary reward. This is what God Wants.
Free Will
People have been told that if they do not do what God asks of them, then they'll burn for it for all of eternity. This is what God Wants.
Suffering
God has been hurt by the weakness and wickedness of humanity, and in order to set things straight, people must suffer, believing that they will be rewarded in the afterlife. This is what God Wants.
These are just a few examples of what major religions around the world have taught humanity. Mr. Walsch offers a very refreshing and eye opening view as to exactly what God wants:
Nothing.
Nadda, zip, zlich. Think about it: Why would an omnipotent, omniscient being like God want anything? The best reason to believe in God is that we don't need Him. He made us capable enough to get along just fine without Him. That's the beauty of it.
The very notion of God not wanting anything opens up a whole new way wave of questions:
Why would God make human beings responsible for getting what He wants? Would you make your children responsible for your happiness?
Why would God want us to surrender to Him, worship Him, and pay homage to Him... only to be sent to Hell for all of eternity if we don't? Why would God punish us so horribly for our confusion and weakness?
Why would God ask others to kill in His name?
We are told to fear God, thus convincing ourselves that being unhappy is what makes us happy. Why? Why would God want us to fear Him? Fear and guilt are the only enemies of humanity.
And here's a biggie: What would happen if all the religions in the world finally realized that God wanted nothing? Everyone thinks that they have God on their side. This is why people fly airplanes into buildings shouting "Allah is great!", while others drop bombs on innocent people paid for by money that's imprinted with "In God We Trust". We have world leaders doing things according to their own beliefs as to what they think what God wants.
Look at the problems of the world today. We say that all of our problems are either political or economic, but they're not. They're spiritual. We have a major spiritual problem in the world right now. If there is only One God under many varied religions, then we have to realize that we are all part of a larger group called humanity. Why did we just shake our heads at the people massacred in Dafur by other people, but rush to the aid of thousands in Indonesia when the Tsunami hit? Were we guilty as a human race and wanted to turn our heads at Darfur? It makes sense since we rushed to Indonesia, which was a natural disaster (not intentionally caused by mankind). People claim that they want Oneness with God and other people, but we can't experience that if we deny it; hence the "Separation Theology" that religions have taught.
Religions have taught that humanity's imperfections have caused them to be separate from God. That we must live a good life, and follow a book of rules in order to find our way back home to the 'promised land'. God wants humans to be separate from Him and work their way back "home" (to Heaven, as it where). Is this want God wants? No.
Most of the major religions will say that there is only one God. There are many religions who say that even attempting this train of thought that "God Wants Nothing" is blashemy, but it's not.
The problem is that society refuses to tolerate any new ideas on faith - or even question it for that matter. No new thought is allowed. If humanity had taken that train of thought, then virtually no progress in science, technology or medicine would have been made in the past 300 years or so. We're trying to build a 21st century reality with 1st century thinking.
You can't take the Bible literally. It there's to provide historical context within larger, timeless messages. If we try to apply our history to today, we'll most likely repeat it.
For example, I mentioned homosexuality. About 8 years ago, a young man by the name of Matthew Shepard was beaten to death in Wyoming. Reverend Fred Phelps went out of his way to visit the young man's funeral and yell "God hates fags!" And, if that wasn't enough, He went as far as to produce a monument in the young man's name that read:
"Matthew Shepard entered Hell on October 12, 1998, at age 21 in defiance of God's warning"
Disgusting. That is the ultimate proof of what God does NOT want.
But here's an example of some open thinking, coming from none other than the pope. In 1999, he describe Hell as not a literal place of fiery torture, but as a situation where someone may find themselves separated from God. He said "fire" was metaphorical. Are there people in Hell though? That's something we can't know.
The 2 basic questions of Theology are:
1. Who and what is God?
2. What does God want, and why?
Proposed answers:
1. God is life and everything in life. Life is the Alpha and the Omega, the All in All. There is nothing that IS that It is not. If this is not the definition of God, then what is?
2. God wants nothing because God has, and is, everything that God could possible want.
The human brain hasn't developed to the point where we can truly understand God.
Moses. Confucius. Siddhartha Gautama (Budda). Jesus of Nazareth. Migammed. Patanjai. Baha'u'llah. Jala al-Din Rumi, Paramahansa Yoganda, Joseph Smith These are all Messengers from God. But many of us has been told that only one of these is the right one. Choose the "wrong" one, and you'll go to Hell.
So which one is it? It's all of them. Words do their best job by falling away:
God is being what God is.
God is being what God?
God is being what?
God is being.
God is.
God.
Like I said, it's hard to explain everything that I mentioned without reading the book, but here's hoping that it is cause for an open and unbiased discussion.
Thoughts?
I just finished reading a very enlightening book entitled "What God Wants" by Neale Donald Walsch. While trying to do his book justice here would be a disservice, I wanted to pass along some of his (not just his) ideas and see what everyone thought.
There are many examples of what many people feel is "What God Wants":
Marriage
Remain abstinent until wedlock. Once married, the wife must be obedient to the husband, and the man is the head of the house. This is what God Wants.
Homosexuality
Any sexual activities between a man and a man or a woman and a woman is unatrural. Partake in these and go to Hell. This is what God Wants.
Money
Society discourages wealth: "Money is the root of all evil". So, do something nobel, and get little or no monetary reward. This is what God Wants.
Free Will
People have been told that if they do not do what God asks of them, then they'll burn for it for all of eternity. This is what God Wants.
Suffering
God has been hurt by the weakness and wickedness of humanity, and in order to set things straight, people must suffer, believing that they will be rewarded in the afterlife. This is what God Wants.
These are just a few examples of what major religions around the world have taught humanity. Mr. Walsch offers a very refreshing and eye opening view as to exactly what God wants:
Nothing.
Nadda, zip, zlich. Think about it: Why would an omnipotent, omniscient being like God want anything? The best reason to believe in God is that we don't need Him. He made us capable enough to get along just fine without Him. That's the beauty of it.
The very notion of God not wanting anything opens up a whole new way wave of questions:
Why would God make human beings responsible for getting what He wants? Would you make your children responsible for your happiness?
Why would God want us to surrender to Him, worship Him, and pay homage to Him... only to be sent to Hell for all of eternity if we don't? Why would God punish us so horribly for our confusion and weakness?
Why would God ask others to kill in His name?
We are told to fear God, thus convincing ourselves that being unhappy is what makes us happy. Why? Why would God want us to fear Him? Fear and guilt are the only enemies of humanity.
And here's a biggie: What would happen if all the religions in the world finally realized that God wanted nothing? Everyone thinks that they have God on their side. This is why people fly airplanes into buildings shouting "Allah is great!", while others drop bombs on innocent people paid for by money that's imprinted with "In God We Trust". We have world leaders doing things according to their own beliefs as to what they think what God wants.
Look at the problems of the world today. We say that all of our problems are either political or economic, but they're not. They're spiritual. We have a major spiritual problem in the world right now. If there is only One God under many varied religions, then we have to realize that we are all part of a larger group called humanity. Why did we just shake our heads at the people massacred in Dafur by other people, but rush to the aid of thousands in Indonesia when the Tsunami hit? Were we guilty as a human race and wanted to turn our heads at Darfur? It makes sense since we rushed to Indonesia, which was a natural disaster (not intentionally caused by mankind). People claim that they want Oneness with God and other people, but we can't experience that if we deny it; hence the "Separation Theology" that religions have taught.
Religions have taught that humanity's imperfections have caused them to be separate from God. That we must live a good life, and follow a book of rules in order to find our way back home to the 'promised land'. God wants humans to be separate from Him and work their way back "home" (to Heaven, as it where). Is this want God wants? No.
Most of the major religions will say that there is only one God. There are many religions who say that even attempting this train of thought that "God Wants Nothing" is blashemy, but it's not.
The problem is that society refuses to tolerate any new ideas on faith - or even question it for that matter. No new thought is allowed. If humanity had taken that train of thought, then virtually no progress in science, technology or medicine would have been made in the past 300 years or so. We're trying to build a 21st century reality with 1st century thinking.
You can't take the Bible literally. It there's to provide historical context within larger, timeless messages. If we try to apply our history to today, we'll most likely repeat it.
For example, I mentioned homosexuality. About 8 years ago, a young man by the name of Matthew Shepard was beaten to death in Wyoming. Reverend Fred Phelps went out of his way to visit the young man's funeral and yell "God hates fags!" And, if that wasn't enough, He went as far as to produce a monument in the young man's name that read:
"Matthew Shepard entered Hell on October 12, 1998, at age 21 in defiance of God's warning"
Disgusting. That is the ultimate proof of what God does NOT want.
But here's an example of some open thinking, coming from none other than the pope. In 1999, he describe Hell as not a literal place of fiery torture, but as a situation where someone may find themselves separated from God. He said "fire" was metaphorical. Are there people in Hell though? That's something we can't know.
The 2 basic questions of Theology are:
1. Who and what is God?
2. What does God want, and why?
Proposed answers:
1. God is life and everything in life. Life is the Alpha and the Omega, the All in All. There is nothing that IS that It is not. If this is not the definition of God, then what is?
2. God wants nothing because God has, and is, everything that God could possible want.
The human brain hasn't developed to the point where we can truly understand God.
Moses. Confucius. Siddhartha Gautama (Budda). Jesus of Nazareth. Migammed. Patanjai. Baha'u'llah. Jala al-Din Rumi, Paramahansa Yoganda, Joseph Smith These are all Messengers from God. But many of us has been told that only one of these is the right one. Choose the "wrong" one, and you'll go to Hell.
So which one is it? It's all of them. Words do their best job by falling away:
God is being what God is.
God is being what God?
God is being what?
God is being.
God is.
God.
Like I said, it's hard to explain everything that I mentioned without reading the book, but here's hoping that it is cause for an open and unbiased discussion.
Thoughts?
