Monday, April 11, 2011

A question for jesus

When the ladies from the church first came to my door (very nice older ladies and very tolerant of yours truly it should be noted)I was tempted to do the old fast attack on them. Throwing questions at them faster than they could possibly answer then shouting "Can you answer even ONE of my questions!?" This would be followed by my door closing and a loud "JESUS CHRIST!"
They had come to my door just after I had finished my shower so I opened the door wearing jeans and no shirt, bald head and tattoos shiny and clean. I could tell that they had given at least a moments thought to running away. I laughed and asked how I could help them
The two ladies then went into autopilot opening their black books and asking me if I had accepted jesus. Unable to pull the fast attack on two elderly ladies holding olive branches I informed them I had not. They assured me it was something I needed to do. I disagreed and told them if they could answer some questions to my satisfaction then I would be happy to have jesus over for dinner every Wednesday evening and I would even invite him over for beers on weekends.
The ladies and I had a enjoyable conversation, I did do most of the talking.

If(big if) there is a god then why didn't he/she/it didn't design your life so that you have to take things 'on faith' daily? The world around you is interactive, allowing you to touch it, see it, feel it, test it, and experiment with it... you don't have to take any part of it 'on faith' except the part you are not part of because you are dead.
My son has cerebral palsy. He will never feed himself, use language, (except his own)he will never walk, he is unable to tell anyone if he has a pain or need of something. He is a wonderful kid and happy in his world. he has also gone through tremendous discomfort and needless suffering. Surgeries, pneumonia, seizures, are just a few things on the list. Some of the stories I could tell you would break your heart. What possible need could there be to cause this little boy to suffer?
When religious people get all weepy after hearing about my son and say "you just need to have faith" or "if you pray, jesus will help heal your son" I want to hit them in the face with a brick. Jesus isn't going to heal my son, he is who he is and that is the way it is. To be mad at god for his disability would be like being mad at jack frost for a cold spell.
I wonder why religious people can't use the same logic they use in everyday life when they consider an entity who is sitting in a magic kingdom looking over us and watching as children like my son struggle through life. What about the other children who suffer only to pass away? What about that child's family who live the rest of their lives with a pain no parent should ever know? Is this god testing them? Testing them for what exactly? If god feels the need to do some sort of SAT on people before they get into heaven or go to hell then why isn't everyone tested? Does he/she/it use a lottery system? That doesn't seem very fair, you would think a god that could create the universe could figure out a fair way of giving a test. What about the countless stories of loved ones lost, not quick and painlessly but after days, weeks, months, or years of suffering? Couldn't god find some way of cutting to the chase? Is she/he/it trying to make sure the story fills enough pages to satisfy the publisher?
Why can't the people who consider themselves the children of a loving god apply the same rational to that gods example as they would to anything else? Because god created everything then it's okay to treat people like shit? So if you give birth to a child it's okay to torment them? I think most people would say it's not.God clearly lacks any ability to provide clear guidance and as a role model it/he/she fails miserably. My dad was an alcoholic for a lot of my childhood (recovered now thank you very much) and he was 100x the role model god provides.
Those who follow organized religion use a 2000 year old book as their guide. usually the parts of the guide that actually apply are picked according to how comfortable they make the user.
If you were looking for a doctor would you pick one who learned his trade from a 2000 year old lesson book written in a language he wasn't fluent in, translated by random people with no medical knowledge, and he followed the book's instructions according to how easily they made it for him to live his life?
And what about it being okay to drink beer but if you smoke some weed you are a sinner? Where is the logic in that?? Wasn't pot created by god? Who came up with beer? Beer doesn't grow out of the earth or rain from the sky, doesn't man make beer?
With that the ladies had run out of time. They thanked me for the conversation and assured me they would relay some of my questions to whoever the head honcho was at their place and get back to me ASAP. I smiled , thanked them for stopping by, and informed them I would await their return. As I closed the door I thought to myself "Not a single answer..... JESUS CHRIST!"

1 comment:

  1. My brother spent most of his (and my) childhood dieing from cancer.

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