Monday, September 18, 2006
God is ... ?
Authoritarian?
Benevolent?
Critical?
Distant?
Read Rubel Shelly's article about the Baylor study.
I tend to see Him as distantly benevolent, myself.
What say y'all?
--ER
Benevolent?
Critical?
Distant?
Read Rubel Shelly's article about the Baylor study.
I tend to see Him as distantly benevolent, myself.
What say y'all?
--ER
Comments:
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The complete publication of the study at:
www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf
www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf
# posted by 
: 12:05 PM
: 12:05 PM
God is ...
... gonna come down here and kick all our asses if we all don;t settle down.
Let's see.
Pope says boo.
Backlash: Muslim extremist say hoo.
Backwash: Christian fundies say boo hoo!
Gawdlemighty! Can you imagine the turns of events in this country if the Klan of old had had the Internet and 24/7 news coverage -- AND EVERY BRAIN FART THEY HAD WENT ROUND THE WORLD?
That's what's going on now with these Al Quaida freaks. The keep having brain farts, and the gloabl media keep amplifying them, and people give them more credit than they deserve.
Are they a threat? Sure. Like the Klan was. And look how long it took to beat those extemists back.
Sigh.
... gonna come down here and kick all our asses if we all don;t settle down.
Let's see.
Pope says boo.
Backlash: Muslim extremist say hoo.
Backwash: Christian fundies say boo hoo!
Gawdlemighty! Can you imagine the turns of events in this country if the Klan of old had had the Internet and 24/7 news coverage -- AND EVERY BRAIN FART THEY HAD WENT ROUND THE WORLD?
That's what's going on now with these Al Quaida freaks. The keep having brain farts, and the gloabl media keep amplifying them, and people give them more credit than they deserve.
Are they a threat? Sure. Like the Klan was. And look how long it took to beat those extemists back.
Sigh.
This reminds me of a convestation my grandmother had with a muslim man quite a few (25) years ago. They were debating which religion was "right" so my grandmother challenged him to describe God in one word. He said God is merciful.
She said no, you are wrong, God is Love. See, your religion is wrong.
I kind of always figured you could get ot peoples root belief by asking for a one word description of God.
She said no, you are wrong, God is Love. See, your religion is wrong.
I kind of always figured you could get ot peoples root belief by asking for a one word description of God.
Benevolent - and not distant at all. I saw God this morning in my daughter doing a kindness for her mother.
I saw God last week in the homeless guy who was gracious and patient (but perhaps not forgiving...) despite having been beaten by some young toughs simply because he was homeless.
I see God in the autumn rain falling softly on my city this morning, washing away at least some of our sins.
Certainly, there is part of me that recognizes the pissed off God ("I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't take notice." -Alice Walker) but my God is not defined by anger nor hatred - not even hatred of sin and oppression - but of love.
I saw God last week in the homeless guy who was gracious and patient (but perhaps not forgiving...) despite having been beaten by some young toughs simply because he was homeless.
I see God in the autumn rain falling softly on my city this morning, washing away at least some of our sins.
Certainly, there is part of me that recognizes the pissed off God ("I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't take notice." -Alice Walker) but my God is not defined by anger nor hatred - not even hatred of sin and oppression - but of love.
I think that because God is love, He is merciful. I would much rather have a God of mercy than a God of justice. Mercy is getting what you need, rather than what you deserve. Justice is getting what you deserve, rather than what you need.
And I believe God is every bit as close as we invite Him to be in our lives. If He's distant, it's because we haven't asked Him to be with us closer.
And I believe God is every bit as close as we invite Him to be in our lives. If He's distant, it's because we haven't asked Him to be with us closer.
God is: none of the above.
Those are all human attributes and personality traits.
We see God as: All of the above.
Because we can seemily only relate to God in human terms.
The Baylor study is about "Religion" not God.
Allah the God of Islam is merciful? Then why do so many of his followers want to kill so many of his non-followers?
Islam, the word means "submission".
Islam is a relgion of submission to Allah. So how many Muslims do you think would fall into the Authority catagory?
"The Pope says Boo!." and every Islamic demi-pope says apologize, all 3,456 of them. Imagine if the Catholic Church structure stopped at the Bishop level and all of the Bishops hated and mistrusted all of the other Bishops. That is the model for the current structure of Islam. That's why you can't apologize to it, talk to it, or even bomb it, it is in a thousand parts not working together.
Glen Beck on CNN talks about Islam as if it were "An Enemy". Harking back to your previous blog, it ain't even our "enemies", some elements are, but Islam is not "An Enemy!"
God is Love. Love doesn't really describe any of those four Baylor catagories, not even benevolence, does it?
Allah is a God of submission. Now he does fall into one of those catagories.
Those are all human attributes and personality traits.
We see God as: All of the above.
Because we can seemily only relate to God in human terms.
The Baylor study is about "Religion" not God.
Allah the God of Islam is merciful? Then why do so many of his followers want to kill so many of his non-followers?
Islam, the word means "submission".
Islam is a relgion of submission to Allah. So how many Muslims do you think would fall into the Authority catagory?
"The Pope says Boo!." and every Islamic demi-pope says apologize, all 3,456 of them. Imagine if the Catholic Church structure stopped at the Bishop level and all of the Bishops hated and mistrusted all of the other Bishops. That is the model for the current structure of Islam. That's why you can't apologize to it, talk to it, or even bomb it, it is in a thousand parts not working together.
Glen Beck on CNN talks about Islam as if it were "An Enemy". Harking back to your previous blog, it ain't even our "enemies", some elements are, but Islam is not "An Enemy!"
God is Love. Love doesn't really describe any of those four Baylor catagories, not even benevolence, does it?
Allah is a God of submission. Now he does fall into one of those catagories.
# posted by : 3:46 PM
: 3:46 PM
Holy anthropomorphism, Drlobo, I think you nailed it.
That's the biggest reason God appears to have multiple-personality disorder in the Bible:
Tribal deity.
Jealous.
Angry.
Justice-seeking.
Loving.
Thank God for Jesus, is all I gotta say. It's a shame people so worship the Bible and its literal words and so miss the point.
People treat it like a big book of one-liners and miss the gist of it, which is the Gospel itself.
That's the biggest reason God appears to have multiple-personality disorder in the Bible:
Tribal deity.
Jealous.
Angry.
Justice-seeking.
Loving.
Thank God for Jesus, is all I gotta say. It's a shame people so worship the Bible and its literal words and so miss the point.
People treat it like a big book of one-liners and miss the gist of it, which is the Gospel itself.
At the root, God (Deity, the Life Force, what you will) is love.
on the mundane level: is everything, thus, whatever you see is there.
so to that extent i do believe we create our own gods/reality, yes.
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on the mundane level: is everything, thus, whatever you see is there.
so to that extent i do believe we create our own gods/reality, yes.
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