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GOD Unplugged. (or how to get religion off of your back forever) |
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Most people are turned off by religion. I don’t blame them - it did me (and still does at times). But is there any proof there is a supernatural world in addition to the natural world? If so, should we all buy crystals or a Bible? I quit being afraid of asking hard questions about religion and what I found out is below. See the booklet The Spiritual Emergency Manual, which tells you exactly what the Bible promises to deliver on Health and Wealth; and why troubles come. It started the day my momma
turned on Billy Graham when I was 13. While my biggest concern was the right sized bell bottom styles and trying to get my first kiss, mom suddenly morphed into Darth Vader. "What kind of music was I listening to?" "Are kids my age drinking?" "Was I having sex yet?" (Like I’d talk about that with my mom!). There were more commandments handed down that week than Moses on Mt. Caffeine. I was just sure of one thing - I was no longer neutral on religion. I was now firmly against it. Now mind you, I still didn’t really understand why people made such a big “to do” out of all this. Supposedly it had something to do with going to heaven, but let’s face it - I had plenty of time to deal with that after I’d at least gotten my first kiss. As I grew older, religious nuts would grill me on whether I was a Christian. I always assumed since I use to go to “the club” on Sundays when I was kid I could still be counted in. “Oh Yeah,” I’d respond, (praying it would spare me from the 20 minute conversion speech!) |
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GOD
UNPLUGGED! CONTENTS
How it started What does the Bible REALLY say? Can there be more than 1 religion?
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Years later when the subject of religion came up, I came across lots of people who were down right hostile toward this concept of religion. They’d attack it as a fairy tale or a "crutch." This didn't seem right either. So, I would attempt to defend it using the few bits and pieces of the arguments used on me. Only then did it dawn on me. I didn’t really know that much about it. What if it was a bunch a hooey and I was making myself out to be a fool? I just as well might be some nut trying to convince people the world was flat.
Lots of people would start their argument, “Well. I believe that...” like it was some kind of superior logic. Of course, my believing that “the world is flat” has no bearing on whether it really is or not. Thus came my first major adult revelation: What people believe really doesn’t matter. What matters is whether it is true or not.
If someone wanted me to buy an ABFlex, I would be pretty stupid (at least more than I usually am) to hand over my wallet just because they thought it was good for me. I would first want to know:
1) What is it supposed to do for me? and 2) How much does it cost?
After I’ve answered this, I’d have two other questions: Is it the best (or only one) on the market?, and, most importantly, Is it true?
In Mere Christianity, the philosopher C.S. Lewis makes a case that God is the most logical notion in the world. With apologies to him, here is his case:
So, we know there IS a moral standard. It isn’t an instinct and or just society’s expectations. And, as long as it doesn’t effect us, all of us we all want it as high as possible to protect us from the other guy’s weaknesses. However, if it hits something we think is justifiable, we want it as low as possible. If I’m an adulterer, I don’t want laws putting me in jail for failing to keep my commitment to my spouse. But if my spouse betrays me and brazenly runs off - I want to see them hang. So, I know there is a moral standard and, if I’m honest, I know I can’t keep them all. Sooner, or later there will be something I want to get away with.
Random "Chance" has no morality. If man didn’t come up with rules AND trying to live with no rules is impossible, where did these rules come from? We know whoever created them is a stickler for honesty, unselfishness and courage. Nothing but religion (rules from God) falls into that category. And they obviously were designed by Something or Somebody.
What's in it (Religion) for Me? So what did I know about religion? My short list was pretty depressing:
Of course this was just my perception and not based on actual study or experience. I did know there are only two types of religion. The first type are religions that believe in a single, omnipresent god (Christianity, Judaism, Moslem, Mormon, Buddhism) which all share the acceptance of the Old Testament. Of these only Judaism discounts the Divinity of the New Testament. The second type believe in some other unnamed philosophy and/or powers (Humanism, Hinduism, New Age, Greek Mythology, the worship of Howard Stern, etc.). Since the second types don’t clearly address the concept of a Law Giver/Designer and all in the first type share belief in the Old Testament, I figured that Genesis and the Bible was a good place to start.
When I saw how big it was, I almost quit right there, but I’d never really read the Bible for myself to see what it REALLY said. And regardless of whether I ended up believing it or not, just think how intellectual I would look to my friends! But, I ran into two problems. The only copy I had was the King James Version with all the thee’s and thou’s (which would be worst the subjecting yourself to a full month of PBS specials). I ended up getting one plain english version and some books on how historically accurate the bible was and wasn't.
My two questions still stood. What does it do and what’s required from me? If it involves poison Kool-Aid I’m out. If it says I’ve got to starve myself on a mountain in the freezing cold (and the only benefit is 20% off my all my clothes at Monks-R-Us), who cares? God just put up a bunch of rules and there is no downside to disobeying them, right?
So, I made a list of questions that I wanted answers to from the Bible’s point of view. Things like, what does it really say about drinking? or Do miracles really happen? Can they happen today? That sort of thing. Over the next 3 months I read the bible cover to cover 2½ times. What I found was a truly amazing book. As a screenwriter, my first observation was the incredible interwoven plots and consistent message of a document that had been written •over a period of 1,500 years, •by over 40 diverse authors, •at different times in history, •on three different continents. It took me an entire month, 10 hours a day reading, to get through it all. Now I am no theologian, but here’s the gist of what it is asking us to believe and practice. Before we get to evidence of scientific or historical facts, a few insights:
• Partying (under control) and celebrating was common for the Jews and the new Christians. • You can’t get to heaven by being “good” and there is no spiritual benefit to being rich or being poor. • Jesus was hardest on religious people. He didn’t try to change non-religious people by yelling at them or telling them they were bad. He still expected morality, but it seemed to always be out of a sincere love for them and with an explaination of why it was needed. • The bible wasn’t mostly about mighty kings and moral primadonna's you and I wouldn't share a cab with. They were at best average men and women like you and I struggling to make sense of life and love. • If you were the perfect parent, you would want to do good for your kids and want them to respect and love you. Your heart would be in constant pain if your children openly despised or ignored you despite what you did for them. You could force them to say “I love you”, but deep down you know it wouldn't mean anything. You would have to give them free will to freely choose this option without letting them become spoiled brats!! God seemed to be like that to me: Wanting His kids to really love Him but teaching them bad behavior does have consequences. The bible is kind of like a dictionary of human inadequacy and faults. It shows how much God has put up with on His playground. The “playground” was made with certain rules like gravity. You can try to defy it all you want, but if you jump off the top of the swing set, you will fall down. You can go off and have sex with whomever you want, whenever you want. But if everyone did (as what happened at the beginning of the Soviet Union), you’d have disease, kids roaming around without anyone to raise them or provide for them, insane jealousy from other partners, etc. You can try to invent your own rules that make things somewhat more like you want, but you always need standards. And the person Who built the playground will know which ones are best for you to get the most enjoyment. We are just too stupid too accept rules until we understand why we need them. So, I found this book really unique. It’s more complex and well crafted than any novel. And, as a religion, it is unlike something I (or probably you if you’re honest) would have required of myself or others. Letting sinners off the hook simply by believing and trusting God? Come on. There are statements like, If you live God’s way you will be happy. And, oddly enough, we find common day evidence to support that. Recently, two different studies showed that married, religious people rate their sex life significantly higher than all others. Who would have guessed that? And, science now understands (5,000 years after the Old Testament was written) mixing beef and dairy (as against Kosher law) prohibits calcium from being absorbed into your system! God was giving His children rules because it was the best thing for them!
But doesn’t it seem medieval to pray to a god? I keep getting visions of Fred Flintstone bowing swahili-like to The Great Babushka or an airport Hare Krishna. Aren’t we more “enlightened” than going back to concepts from ancient times? Ol’ C.S. makes another good point here. If you took the wrong fork in the road, you would be dumb for “progressing” forward rather than going back to take the right path. Progressing or being enlightened is only valuable in finding the truth, not just in going “forward” to avoid looking old fashioned. I'd even wear bi-focals if they'd help me see!
If there was an all knowing, all seeing God that was everywhere at once, I would start talking to him in faith - as if he could hear me. Things I would ask, I would expect answered. But, since He is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, I would have no right to believe He would answer according to my expectation of when and how. No more than I could expect Bill Gates of Microsoft to give me $100,000. He’s a powerful man and doesn’t have to even acknowledge my request. But if I agreed to work for him (and he really liked me) I would at least have a shot. It seems that what the Bible is asking isn’t that weird. It says to love God. From Adam and Eve to Peter, Paul and Mary (the Bible figures not the singing group), the people of the Bible were rewarded for pursuing a relationship with God - not a ritual. Just like our relationships, if we are ignored by someone, we start demanding different behavior (rules) of them. But, if things are going great, we do just about anything the other party asks us out of your love for them. This is a tough concept to grasp. How do you have a relationship with something (or Someone) you can’t see, hear, or touch? Isn’t that like the emperor’s new clothes? Believing in something that doesn’t exist? This is what the Bible calls faith. Believing (relying, trusting or having confidence in) something that doesn’t seem to be there. At first it does seem like something only suited for Disney movies, until we realize we operate in faith every day. John F. Kennedy is a prime example. He said, we would land a man on the moon before the end of that decade. He said it with confidence. No one doubted we would. But why? It hadn't been done before. We weren’t even sure how to launch a big rocket, let alone hit a pebble in the sky that moved. He said it in faith. And, just like that incident, it wouldn’t happen unless someone spoke it, believed it, and kept expecting it to happen. Who says there is a planet Pluto? I haven’t been there (that I know of). But we’ve relied on the word and evidence that others have written to come to believe it. Many of us have read or heard of Shakespeare and don’t doubt that some old guy wrote plays a long time ago. Yet there is actually less evidence of his life and existence than there is for the facts of the New Testament written over 15 centuries earlier! So if the Bible is real, there ought to be some consistency between what it says and what we observe in science, history and human nature. - After all, though said in faith, we did get bring back real moon rocks!
Is there evidence that God is real or do people just pretend He is?
Here you uncover two types of people. One type will say that expecting evidence cancels your ability to believe or have faith. They would argue we have to accept God blindly. They would point out the bible says, "without faith it is impossible to please God." Jesus had no problem accommodating 'doubting' Thomas after his resurrection, though He did say that those who didn’t need evidence were to be happy and envied in not needing that proof.
Another group will argue it is pure fantasy to believe in something without evidence. For instance, if I had unwavering confidence (faith) that the earth was flat - would it be? Of course not. We’ve all seen pictures and talked to those who have seen a first hand account.
The Bible itself says knowledge is admirable. Proverbs says knowledge is better than gold and is something wise men obtain.Pv 9:10, 21:11 Hosea says that God’s people are destroyed without it. Before this, I based my beliefs on what friends and culture thought rather than finding a grounded logic or reason to believe for myself. First I had to face if there was any evidence of God at all. Logic is one thing, but there ought to be signs in history, archaeology, geology, astronomy and other sciences that don’t contradict what the Bible states. By reading multiple sources from atheists and Christian scientists, I figured I could look at both arguments and decide which seemed more credible. And I did:
The bible is an amazing book. Written over 1,500 years by over 40 different authors at different times in history, it has amazingly survived attacks by its enemies like no other book. From the days of the Roman emperors to present day communist countries, it has been the target of complete annihilation and continues to thrive in readership and reference. (Amazing for a book that merely teaches submission to governing authorities, goodwill toward your fellow man and personal diligence). Not only do all authors agree on the same subject, unlike any other great work, they are painfully frank about their shortcomings and failures.
•Using the same method as used with any ancient text from Homer to Caesar to Shakespeare, it’s historical evidence and reliability is better than any 10 pieces of ancient literature combined. When the dead sea scrolls were found, parchments (written 1000 years prior to our earliest known copies) matched current copies in the meaning of every sentence! Of course the original scrolls had long ago deteriorated and been copied. Copying and cross checking the content was so strict, the words hadn’t changed! Even works, like Shakespeare, written a few hundred years ago have copies that don’t match, so we aren’t sure which is the correct version.
•No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Early this century, the National Academy of Sciences listed 100 discrepancies between the bible and science. Now there are debatabley a few. •The ability of the Bible to predict the future is astounding. The book of Isaiah predicted Christ's birthplace, His death place, the way He would die, how much money would be paid to betray Him, on and on and on. Old Testament prophecies regarding; invasion by Alexander the Great, the fate of cities like Tyre, Sidon, Samaria, Palestine, the reuniting of the Jews and establishment of the state of Israel - the most hated minority in their region - and hundreds of other events were all foretold hundreds of years before any existence. Resource: Evidence that Demands A Verdict, Josh McDowell, Thomas Nelson publishers
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