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An essay donated by Nelson Rose

The G Word
A Deist's concept of the creator

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Let me open with stating that I believe that everyone is entitled to believe how they want to believe.  I also believe that when you restrict yourself to what you have grown-up being told and refuse to look at things logically and with a sense of reason that you become a prisoner of those thoughts/beliefs and are suppressing your gift of reason.

I believe there is a power out there that no one can comprehend. This power is found everywhere and in all of nature. The conception of a child, the sprouting of a seed to a tree, the wind, the tides, and the stars in the sky are all evidence of an unconceivable and incomprehensible power. This is God.

I do not believe in a jealous spirit who chose a special group of people and guided them to a special land (which has been ravaged by war for as long as history has been recorded). 

I do not believe in a gullible spirit who allowed a snake in a garden to outwit him and as punishment he cursed every person that followed with "original sin".  (This one really bugs me  - a newborn can not possibly already be a sinner.)

I do not believe in an insecure spirit who only trusted ONE man - a 900 year old guy who he forced to build a boat and collect a male and female of every species (insects included) so he could destroy the planet with a flood because he lost control of his people.

I do not believe in a spirit who gave a man the power to part an ocean, spoke through a burning bush, or allowed a man to clumsily drop stone tablets that contained the rules (commandments) to live by (twice). 

I do not believe in an spirit who saw no other way of  "saving" mankind then to send his "only son" to earth in a human form to conduct a suicide mission.  Nor do I believe that same person came back to life and later floated off into the clouds.

I believe the power that caused the creations of the past and those still occurring now are explained by the existence of a deity, a power, and I, like many other's, do not believe this god to be the one described in the Bible, the Torah, or the Qur'an. I believe the word of god to be what is found in nature and what is found in our inner sense of reason and morality.

For years I actually thought that my "faith" was weak and that I was not a good Christian and needed to pray and read my Bible. Prayer helped a little but, the Bible did not. The Bible just casted more doubt because as I read it, I found so many things wrong with it. There were just to many things in it that defied reason and there were many things in the Bible that portray god as jealous and weak. These are human weaknesses and imperfections that can not possibly exist in a deity. This is not god. Its also appalling to accept that god would allow an additional powerful evil deity - Satan. 

I know many Christians and most are good and honest people who believe and do good deeds in the name of Jesus. At times I feel sorry for them because they feel they have to do good deeds for the "glory of god" and to earn "salvation" and that they can never do enough.  Truth is they can just do good deeds because its just the right thing to do and it feels good. They don't need to live with the threat of eternal damnation if they do not believe in things that totally defy reason. The threat of eternal damnation and the promise of everlasting life are unproven and baseless. No one has ever died and come back from the dead so there is no evidence or facts that attribute to what can happen to us when our body expires. Many people believe solely because they are told to and if they don't they will go to hell. This is not faith this is spiritual extortion.  There is no proof of a heaven or a hell.  We can hope for something more; and given the beauty of nature and the perfection of the design we can trust that there is something after this life but, it is the same for everyone - regardless of your faith.

If this appears as though I am attacking Christians I am sorry but, I get really angry when I see people throw words around like "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" and America is a "Christian Nation".  Both of these are false.  "Christmas" was originally the celebration of the winter solstice (Yule) and it was replaced in attempt to stamp out "Paganism."  Jesus was not born on December 25 and anyone who believes that doesn't know their own Bible.  Shepherds did not tend to their flocks at night in December!  And America was not founded as a Christian nation.  Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and many others were not Christians - they were Deists.  The very proof of this is in our Declaration of Independence.  You see the words Nature's God, the Creator, and divine providence - all Deism terms. Nowhere does it mention "our heavenly father" or "our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ".  Sorry folks - its not there. 

I believe the Bible to be the all-time best selling work of fiction.  It contains just as much violence as it does moral teaching but, it is not a book of facts.   You may recall the outrage over the book - The Da Vinci Code.  This is a work of fiction that scared the church so much that they forbade Christians to read it.  Is a fictional book really dangerous enough to cause people to doubt what the Bible and the church say? This happened before.... Galileo was blasphemous and declared a heretic when he said that the earth was not the center of the universe.  Columbus was considered a fool and also a heretic when he claimed the earth was round.  They even excommunicated a monk - Martin Luther - when he nailed the 95 theses (or 95 things wrong with the church) on the door of a church on All Hallow's Eve. 

The church was even outraged at the printing of the Gutenberg Bible!  For those of who are not familiar, the Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible printed and made available to regular people. God forbid anyone other than the clergy have a Bible!  They might actually see that they were lying about so many things - like tithes and indulgences.

I am not saying the Bible is all bad.  There are a lot of good moral teaching contained in some of the books.  The story of the Good Samaritan is great moral lesson.  However, as I said before I do not believe it is a book of facts and given the fact it is authored by man it contains errors, untruths and weighted opinions many of which have been altered and distorted by numerous translations and revisions.

I will close this blog as I opened it in saying that everyone is entitled to believe as they choose.  I also believe everyone should be allowed to express their beliefs without being threatened with hell for believing the way they do.  I have often said and still very much believe that god is like ice cream.  There are many flavors - chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and swirls - many flavors but, its all ice cream.  So, believe what you choose and not because you grew up a certain way.  Believe in something that you can believe in without doubts.  If things you have been taught are not believable and defy nature and reason well, then they are not true and forcing yourself to believe them is a waste of time and does nothing but give you a sense of emptiness. 

In God I Trust.. Nature's God, the creator, the divine providence.

Initial posting: 2009-SEP-30
Latest update: 2009-SEP-30
Author: Nelson Rose

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