Whimsy

Yes, I've been super-bad about posting. I never was really good about going to church, either... and this isn't the only thing I've been neglecting. It's been some months of.... well, it's just been.

Anyhow, earlier today I was reminded of a scene from a Heinlein book, wherein a character goes to meet God and learns that He likes Coke. My sense of whimsy activated, and I wondered what else out there that humans have done with His creations that He is partial to.

Now, I'm pretty sure that He loves the art and music humans have created, being the ultimate Creator Himself, but what about food? Does He ever think, "Huh... I gave you strawberries and dairy and wheat and sugar, and you made this 'strawberry shortcake' out of it. I like it!" Or "So you just wrap all these things up in this flat bread thing? Portable and tasty!"

Anyhow, I just thought I'd share that, so I at least posted something on-topic lately. I do actually think about God (and religion, and etc.) more than I seem to post about Him; I should probably try to get more of it from my brain to the pixels.

And that's the difference

I have a right to worship who and how I want.

I do not have a right to insist others worship who and how I want.

I have a right to support or oppose proposed laws based on my morality, which is informed by my religion.

I do not have a right to insist others support or oppose those bills based on my morality, informed by my religion.

I have a right to choose to associate with, or refrain from associating with, people whose morals and life choices I approve or disapprove of.

I do not have a right to insist others associate with, or refrain from associating with, people whose morals and life choices I approve or disapprove of.

I have a right to religious freedom.

I do not have a right to dictate others' religious expression.

God has no religion

"God has no religion." -- Gandhi

Of all the things Gandhi said, this one may be the most interesting.

Gandhi was, by all accounts, rather universalist in his views. We share that, although his perspective and mine were shaped by different core religions. Another thing we seem to share is a belief that all religions are about love. In particular, I think they are (or should be) about love and respect for both God and all His creations.

Everything else is just window dressing. By which I no means intend to say that it's unimportant; the rules you adopt as a sign of devotion are definitely important. The commitment to those rules and rituals help you show that love and respect, and help you overcome your own flaws by doing so. It's a very human thing to adhere to a religion (or a non-religious moral and ethical code), to give oneself a guide to life.

But God isn't human, and he has no need for those things.

Which, again, isn't to say that He wouldn't consider them important for us to adopt. What I think it does mean is that (from His perspective) it matters very little which particular religion is used to acheive the goal of trying to live up to that ideal of respect.

And I think that is what Gandhi was getting at as well.

Epiphany

So, although I'm not a trinitarian and so have (minor, in this case) disagreements with the details in the post, overall, I'm very fond of this post by Fred Clark over at slacktivist, because it's a great explanation of what's so important about this holiday, which means once again it's time for me to wonder why it is that it isn't a bigger one. Like I said last year, it would seem like a holiday tailor-made for those people who feel secular Christmas and the generic "holiday season" in December are terrible things. Yet the people who scream loudest about how their holiday is being ruined by evil liberalcommienazisecularists don't even tend to notice the holiday exists. Go figure.

It seems to me that today is an excellent day to talk about something I bet most Christians don't think about today (or, in some cases, any day): what if it didn't happen? I mean, what if Jesus was just some really nice guy who didn't even have a pipeline to God? Or, you know, if that's because there is no God? Or what if there wasn't even some guy named Jesus or Yeshua or whatever and the Gospels were the result of a really drunken bet about starting a new religion? What if today was the celebration of fiction?

Well... what if it was? What if Christ didn't exist? Would that make the message any less meaningful? Is charity and brotherhood a bad message? Empathy a bad idea? Even if it were a total fabrication, the message in the Gospels is a good one. It's not a bad way to live your life, after all: caring about what happens to people, wanting no one to have to suffer, doing at least something to leave the world a better place in however small a fashion you can accomplish. If everyone did it, the world would be a better place, and it really wouldn't matter that much why they did it at that point. Even people who give to charity so they can Be Seen Giving to Charity are accomplishing something useful. One less person going to bed hungry, or living on the streets, or being stuck in poverty because they lack education, or dying young because they don't have access to clean water... any of those things is worth a celebration.

And that's an epiphany more people could stand to have.