Posted on 02/17/2011 2:33:25 PM PST by DARCPRYNCE
My name is Edward L. Daley, and I'm what's known as a deist. That is to say that I embrace no particular religious faith, yet I do believe in an eternal creator of all life and existence... as best we understand those terms. I simply do not claim to know the motives or methods of our creator.
(Excerpt) Read more at renewamerica.com ...
As a deist, I'm generally regarded by most religious people as being a little weird, which suits me just fine, since I AM a little weird... and believe me, religion has absolutely nothing to do with that fact. Still, I've always been fascinated by religion, and that's why I'm writing this article today.
For you see, I've come to conclude over the course of my 48 years on Earth that there are good religious practices and bad ones. I shall not name the various memberships of either camp here, but I will outline, in the simplest terms available to me, the necessary elements of what I believe to be a 'good religion.'
In my view, a good religion is one in which its practitioners understand that a person cannot force another to honestly and wholeheartedly embrace any particular belief system. True faith can only be achieved of one's own free will, devoid of coercion, bribery or any other illicit act.
Secondly, no good religion systemically endeavors to punish people for not embracing it. If one truly believes that one's faith is the only means by which one may enter into the kingdom of God, such a person would necessarily pity a non-believer, and one does not punish those for whom one has sympathy.
Lastly, no practitioner of a good religion would seek to openly demean, degrade or defame the good religion embraced by another, even though one may strongly disagree with the latter's method of worship. One may attempt to convert a person of a different faith to their own, but only via positive means, lest one be essentially corruptive in nature.
After all, if the point of embracing a religious faith is to find oneness with God (and please tell me, what other point is there?) what Godly purpose would it serve a person to embrace a religion which causes harm to non-believers for simply failing to share in said faith? Are not all people created equal in God's eyes? And if one is judged wicked by God, isn't it God who determines one's ultimate fate?
I rest my case.
If that were true, what need is there for free will? What difference would it make in accepting or rejecting Christ?
Shalom
Yer doin’ alright Ed. Keep seeking—it took me about 48 years too. Here’s a hint—it’s not as complicated as we make it.
“The rest is simply creating a god to suit yourself.”
Nonsense. I wasn’t talking about God, I was talking about religions and the people who embrace them. Do you believe a religion is good which has, as a built-in mechanism, a means for punishing all non-members of the faith?
Secondly, explain to me the goodness inherent in demeaning, degrading or defaming other religions that neither do nor wish harm to you or your faith?
Again, these things have absolutely nothing to do with what God may or may not think, since I have stated clearly that I do not claim to know God’s mind. My points pertain to the behavior of PEOPLE and their religious organizations.
Thanks for your encouragement. :o)
“If that were true, what need is there for free will?”
Let’s suppose that Christians are right and God requires that you accept Jesus Christ as your savior in order to be accepted into Heaven.
Doesn’t that mean that someone who may never have even heard of Jesus will necessarily be excluded from God’s kingdom in spite of their own free will?
Just a thought. There is only one Truth and it takes effort to unearth it.
Relativism is what is killing this country and all the “immutable” principles that made it work for hundreds of years. We are preventing a “God”-centered country now, instead of being one.....Our government is promoting Secular Humanism in schools and media (the Atheist religion) and chasing God out of our “democracy”. We are no longer a Republic...we are a socialist mess where we have had our freedoms stripped from us at an amazing speed.
We need to restore God as the Giver of all our rights and get rid of the Positivism and return to the fundamental intent of our
Constitution....no man-made laws allowed that go against Natural Law Theory which always presupposes a Supreme Being. Put the 10 Commandments back in the public square because that was the intent of our Founding Fathers and the basis of our legal system. Revelation with Natural Law Theory. We never were intended to be a country of man-made law based on whims and corruption to force ideas that go against God’s Laws and the Laws of Nature.
Think about it....Since Oliver Wendell Holmes...our judicial system has become an absolute JOKE! So corrupt and unjust. He removed Moral Law from our our Judicial system. It can never be Just and won’t!
Judicial system is an oxymoron now.
No one knows the mind of God, but plenty are more than ready to speak for Him. In the Bible they were called Pharisees. There are a plethora of them around here.
In his first letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul makes a statement that seems harsh:
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. (I Corinthians 10:20, KJV)
I suspect that sacrifice was likely the most common form of worship in the world at that time. You might call I Corinthians 10:20 "demeaning," "degrading," or "defaming" to any or all of the religions of the Gentiles, as Paul is claiming that when they worship their god or gods (or goddesses), they are actually worshiping devils.
By the way, do you notice how this answers the claim that "we all worship the same God?"
I don't care to speculate on what you meant by "inherent" goodness. I will simply say that my God spoke I Corinthians 10:20 by means of His apostle, and that it is good.
Perhaps you would judge the religion of the apostle Paul to be a "bad" religion. You're not alone; there are a couple thousand years worth of people who would agree with you.
I will stand with Paul on this one.
I agree. I believe that our unalienable, immutable rights come from our creator and not from any Earthly agency. That which the government gives, the government may just as easily take away. But that which God has bestowed, no man can remove nor repudiate.
And while I am not a Christian, I am perfectly okay with the 10 Commandments being displayed in public places, as well as allusions to God being placed on our currency and public buildings.
Christianity is the foundation of our culture and laws, whether I happen to embrace it as my religious faith or not, and the secularists and atheists who argue otherwise are simply wrong.
This all sounds very reasonable, but that is the problem. When will people realise that one cannot be neutral about spiritual things? If I believe my viewpoint of God to be true, how can I possibly admit that a different viewpoint has validity without undermining my own belief? I mean, I’m perfectly prepared to admit that ones attitude to people who have strayed off the path in one way or another should be respectful, but I dont see any virtue in sugaring the pill by refusing to tell them that they are wrong.
“Do you believe a religion is good which has, as a built-in mechanism, a means for punishing all non-members of the faith?”
It depends whether you are restricting your statement to worldly physical attacks, or beliefs in general. Do you consider hell to be “a means for punishing all non-members of the faith”?
“explain to me the goodness inherent in demeaning, degrading or defaming other religions that neither do nor wish harm to you or your faith”
Please define “demeaning, degrading or defaming”. Euro-style countries have laws that ban such generic morphable concepts, and in practice those terms are used to mean anything the unjust government wants them to mean. They are, for example, used to bring Mark Steyn before a kangaroo court, or to prevent Christians from evangelizing.
Something is either true, or it is not true. It does not depend on whether we consider it to be nice and easygoing based on our view from the 21st century. One of the greatest insights I have ever had is that my attempts to define the world in my own terms were utterly insufficient.
I dont know what will happen to people who, through no fault of their own, have never heard of Jesus, but I do know that a loving and just God will deal with them lovingly and justly.
The people I really worry about are those who HAVE heard of Jesus and have not chosen to follow Him. I mean, what excuse do they have?
Fair enough, but I shall endeavor to refrain from speaking or behaving hatefully toward those who do not speak or behave hatefully toward me or other good people first.
[ECUMENICAL] For My Non-Catholic Readers
Why Only Catholicism Can Make Protestantism Work
[CATHOLIC CAUCUS] The Church is A Miracle
Be proud to be a Catholic (prominent Jewish business man explains)
Organization of the Catholic Church
[PleaseReadBeforeJudging] Why Only Catholicism Can Make Protestantism Work: Bouyer on Reformation
I never said you should refrain from telling someone when you believe their viewpoint to be wrong, but that’s not the same things as demeaning them for disagreeing with you.
Exactly right! The world has worked hard to redefine our basic concepts of right and wrong until they revolve around not hurting peoples’ feelings!
But we in America, Europe and the Anglosphere are the only people whose worldview has been thus warped. We must regain a clearer view of reality or we are toast.
[CATHOLIC CAUCUS] Now This is Communion
Ten Facts Most Catholics Don’t Know (But Should!) (Catholic Caucus)
The Church, Yesterday and Today
[CATHOLIC CAUCUS] The Church is A Miracle
Be proud to be a Catholic (prominent Jewish business man explains)
THE RITES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH -- There are many!
How Did the Catholic Church Get Her Name?
Catholics, Protestants, and History (the faith of the early church)
Organization of the Catholic Church
How Old Is Your Church?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.