I was recently flicking through the TV channels en route to the evening news, when I stumbled across the religious channel,100 Huntley Street. I was sufficiently incensed by the outpourings of the speaker to write down something that has been bugging me for some time.
I was solemnly informed that God loves us all unconditionally, shows limitless mercy and only has our best interests at heart. Looking around the world I find this oft-repeated bit of religious doggerel totally absurd.
This was evident following the recent earthquake in New Zealand where God’s “best interests at heart” involved the destruction of the very church from which the city gets its name! I can well understand the relief and joy felt by survivors. I can also understand their impulse to give thanks to something or someone for their continuing existence. Indeed this is to be expected if they have been recipients of a diet of religious pablum over the years. However what I take issue with (-apart from the fact that they believe it!) is how cruel and insensitive this must have appeared to the friends and families of those who were less fortunate. Where did they go wrong? Why did they fail to make the cut? Could they define any shortcoming in their lives which had offended God and resulted in such a distressing outcome? Of course not!
This brings me to my point. Why is it that God gets all the credit for the good things but none of the blame for the bad? Either God is omnipotent or he is not.
Countless variations of this anomaly exist throughout the world. One obvious example is the seemingly limitless suffering of the millions of African children, many of whom are starving, sick, homeless, orphans or (and) victims of the most appalling abuse. Where is the unconditional love, limitless mercy and any evidence of having their best interests at heart?
Similarly, many admirable people dedicated to doing good works and whose life is conducted fully in accord with the concept of the “Golden Rule”, are without warning laid low by terminal cancer or other life ending tragedies. Why? Didn’t they pray long, loud or fast enough -or heaven forefend; maybe not at all! Certainly it cannot be justified as divine retribution for unsatisfactory conduct. In the case of the African children, they’ve simply not had the time.
How can this dispenser of unconditional love be so capricious and illogically selective? Maybe it’s as some would insist “God moving in mysterious ways his wonders to perform!”
Indeed the notion of a bearded old man wearing a long dress, sitting on a cloud with his celestial lap top, carrying out periodic performance updates on over 6 million souls is no more ridiculous.
I am not an atheist. Indeed I believe that we have a spirit (-some people might be more comfortable with the word conscience) and that a divine spark exists within all of us. As Lance Armstrong once said in a Suburu commercial “We are driven by what’s inside”.
Ongoing research conducted by quantum physicists has revealed the mysterious, weird and unpredictable nature of sub-atomic particles. This has made clear that we know far less than we thought. However, having discovered the existence of the electromagnetic matrix, field, flux or plenum (-choose one) which comprises the cosmos, hopefully we will progressively draw closer to a true, more mature understanding of the origins, wonders and evolution of the universe(s).
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