I think that whatever Divine Force is running the universe DOES speak to us, trying to teach us from small good things, every single day. The problem is, if you allow yourself to be desensitized to violence, you also are more likely to dismiss these small goodnesses as flukes, accidents.
In my belief system, the big bad things happen when large groups of people ignore the small good things. "If you're not going to listen to Me, and use your free will to appreciate and act upon the good things in your life, I don't really have much choice but to send something bigger that will get your attention."
And don't try to tell me this is just a JudeoChristianMuslim belief. I'm pretty sure at least some pagan theology follows the same logic. Mt. Vesuvius destroying Pompeii was probably seen as an act of the gods. There are probably lots of other examples from mythology that are escaping me at the moment.
You point to Noah's Ark as an Old Testament example that the JCM God is a bastard (and I hope those reading will forgive my abreviation). I can think of some others, too. The plagues in Egypt. The Hebrews having to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Exile to Babylon. You know what? Each of these was immediately preceeded by God showing great kindness to His people, and His people turning around and saying, in pride, "Ah, all our good fortune is due to our own power and supremacy, we don't need no stinkin' Jehovah!" God then would send prophets to warn the people that their pride was going to their heads, that they should thank God for their blessings. The prophets were ignored, the people went on in their pride since things were still pretty good. BANG! God loses His temper and punishes them.
According to the Torah, this went on for at least a thousand years. And you know, in the 2500 or so years since the end of the Torah/Old Testament, people haven't changed all that much. Christianity started out trying to change that, but as soon as it changed from a faith to an institution (around 300 C.E.), the institution reverted right back to the same mindset: "We're God's elect, screw you all! Oh wait, why does such terrible stuff happen to us? Gee, it can't be because we're messing up, so it must be because of all the other horrible people who don't believe in our God!" (BS logic, if I do say so.)
BTW, the people who go door-to-door are generally Mormons, aka The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This is a completely different form of Christianity from both most Protestant sects, and Roman Catholicism, not to mention the actual teachings of Christ. If you expect anyone to give your arguments credence, love, you need to quit lumping all people who revere Jesus the Nazorean in a religious context together. Catholics would be rather offended by being lumped together with Mormons or born-again Christians, Protestants resent being lumped with "those Popish Mary-worshipers," and born-agains generally look down their nose at anyone who isn't born-again but still claims to be Christian. (If you want to go with devout stereotypes, that is.)
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Date: 2003-09-08 10:41 am (UTC)In my belief system, the big bad things happen when large groups of people ignore the small good things. "If you're not going to listen to Me, and use your free will to appreciate and act upon the good things in your life, I don't really have much choice but to send something bigger that will get your attention."
And don't try to tell me this is just a JudeoChristianMuslim belief. I'm pretty sure at least some pagan theology follows the same logic. Mt. Vesuvius destroying Pompeii was probably seen as an act of the gods. There are probably lots of other examples from mythology that are escaping me at the moment.
You point to Noah's Ark as an Old Testament example that the JCM God is a bastard (and I hope those reading will forgive my abreviation). I can think of some others, too. The plagues in Egypt. The Hebrews having to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Exile to Babylon. You know what? Each of these was immediately preceeded by God showing great kindness to His people, and His people turning around and saying, in pride, "Ah, all our good fortune is due to our own power and supremacy, we don't need no stinkin' Jehovah!" God then would send prophets to warn the people that their pride was going to their heads, that they should thank God for their blessings. The prophets were ignored, the people went on in their pride since things were still pretty good. BANG! God loses His temper and punishes them.
According to the Torah, this went on for at least a thousand years. And you know, in the 2500 or so years since the end of the Torah/Old Testament, people haven't changed all that much. Christianity started out trying to change that, but as soon as it changed from a faith to an institution (around 300 C.E.), the institution reverted right back to the same mindset: "We're God's elect, screw you all! Oh wait, why does such terrible stuff happen to us? Gee, it can't be because we're messing up, so it must be because of all the other horrible people who don't believe in our God!" (BS logic, if I do say so.)
BTW, the people who go door-to-door are generally Mormons, aka The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This is a completely different form of Christianity from both most Protestant sects, and Roman Catholicism, not to mention the actual teachings of Christ. If you expect anyone to give your arguments credence, love, you need to quit lumping all people who revere Jesus the Nazorean in a religious context together. Catholics would be rather offended by being lumped together with Mormons or born-again Christians, Protestants resent being lumped with "those Popish Mary-worshipers," and born-agains generally look down their nose at anyone who isn't born-again but still claims to be Christian. (If you want to go with devout stereotypes, that is.)