Are more Amerikans (misspelled on purpose) turning into
religious fanatics, or do I have enough distance and
time between me and the US (have worked and lived in Bangkok, Thailand for 3 happy years now) that I have forgotten how
bad it was? For example, U.S. Republican Senator Hank
Erwin believes the hurricane ravaged areas were hit as
punishment for it’s “gambling, sin, and wickedness”,
and added that this is just “the kind of behavior that
ultimately brings the judgment of God.”
I just have to say, dude, wtf? Why do people
misunderstand religion in such magnificently erroneous
ways? Religion and spirituality, which should be
saving mankind, is instead twisted into the real
source of our doom and failure. Why do people believe
in a God who created us and our universe and all it's
laws and beautifully interconnecting relationships who
would stand in judgement of his own creation and
reserve the power to overcome these laws of nature?
Better yet (as people in general are a superstitious
group) why would they take their religious beliefs and
feel it important that all others agree with them, at
the cost of imprisonment or war and pain of death? I
would like to say it's ridiculous, but it is far to
widespread and tragic for that.
In my experience, only the Buddhists don't care how you feel about
religion, and give no pressure for others to follow
their beliefs but instead only offer it as a way that
you may, if you choose, lessen the pain and suffering
of your existence. I hope others can start to see
this more noble purpose of religion as the Buddhists
seem to. And of course in this particular instance
rather than saying 'God did this cause he hates you!'
lets put the blame where it belongs. Did God put the
holes in the O-Zone causing dramatic global
temperature fluctuations? Did God chop down all the
trees and thereby deplete a continually renewable and
breathable atmosphere? Is God the CEO of the chemical
(including petrochemical) companies polluting,
exploiting, destroying?
Now you may be thinking 'What's with all the
rhetorical questions?' I just want to point out that
it isn't neccessary to have a mind capable of bending
spoons to realize that man is not exactly treading
lightly on this planet and as a result we are
beginning to experience the negative repercussions of
our careless actions. Please tell them for me that
unless we really start to recycle waste, adopt
renewable energy sources, stop releasing all those
CFC’s and polychlorinated biphenols etc. into the
environment and forget about gambling and legalized
abortion – start giving a sh** about the
overharvesting of earths species and the needless
polluting of our global waterways. Quit shaking the
Bible before the camera and plant a tree, then deadly
tsunami’s, not one, but TWO monster hurricanes (this
year alone), massive landslides and flooding in
Guatemala, frogs exploding in public parks,
devastating earthquakes in Pakistan, over a foot of
rain in the U.K., and an avian influenza ready to
b**** slap us arethe early symptoms of a disease like situation.
I lost a lot of fat this past year, and am
exercising regularly (I can do 60 push ups
consecutively now, impressive huh?) and people sometimes ask me
how I did it. It's really simple. It is a well known science.
If you use more energy than you take in, your body
must produce the rest of that energy from its stored
reserves. Our bodies store energy as...fat (To be
precise, also as glycogen which is made from
carbohydrates(glucose) but stored only in small amounts). So
if you exercise more (use energy) and eat less (energy
in) then the fat will slowly disappear. It is the
same with these other things, I am sure. Maybe in
every case we do not understand all the factors enough
to produce the formula, but I believe it exists. This
kind of thing is to me the beauty given from the all
knowing God, and I know about many things He arranged
or created that are far beyond not just my own but
even the greatest minds. A happens because B + C + D
caused it. Why is it then that people who are easily
capable of understanding these facts prefer to live in
the world of superstition? The idea of a man-like God standing in judgement strikes me as utterly ridiculous. Why do the rest of us not
expect more from those we choose to lead and make
decisions for us?

Some of these ideas were borrowed and adapted from various sources such as Einsteins writings on religion and philosophy and various web pages etc. Actually in some way I guess all I can think has probably been thought before...I left some basic statements and facts in the same form as I found them as I am only trying to exchange ideas and have meaningful discourse and am not trying to profit or officially publish anything here. How about that for a disclaimer, hahaha

Aren't we supposed to be the 'enlightened' democracy bringing freedom to the less fortunate? The more I read about current popular or political opinion the more embarrassed I become to admit to being an American. I volunteered and served in the US Navy between high school and university and want to see something about the US that makes me proud again. All I ask is to allow differences in opinion when backed up by rational thought without getting angry or offended. I suppose I went outside the scope of religious debate...but it's a cry for logic and critical and rational thought so I'll risk it.

quick reply: blame definately falls onto us because IF there was a god.. he doesnt really seem to get involved now does he? i mean..

'For example, U.S. Republican Senator Hank
Erwin believes the hurricane ravaged areas were hit as
punishment for it’s “gambling, sin, and wickedness”,
and added that this is just “the kind of behavior that
ultimately brings the judgment of God.”

if thats the case god really has his priorities screwed up.. he didnt stop bush bombing iraq.. doesnt stop all the bombings in bali.. all that sorta stuff.. innocents die and god does nothing..

my point being what happens is a result of what man does.. god has nothing to do with anything.

Well, really I don't want anyone to misunderstand, I am not a Christian, and have my own version of what I would best name as 'scientifically influenced non-superstitious Buddhism' so was most definitely not argueing for the existence of a Christian God. In short - I think your statements above are right on.

i try