Lounge Religion? God?

MrV

Being a Jew,Catholic,Protestant,Lutheran,Buddhist,Muslim doesn't mean a hil of beans to me. But when one individual pretends to be upset over a screen name just to garner attention to himself is wrong. Fuck Him & his entire tribe

 

Living for many years on Long Island, I lived among one of the highest concentrations of Jewish folk in the country. My college fraternity's nickname was the McHebes, as it was about half Irish and half Jewish.
My first bar was also called McHebes and my handle -shadroch comes from when I was partnering with Brian Epstein and names like Eppie-I and shadroch sounded better to our reggae crowd than Sullivan and Epstein.
So many of our frends are not observant in the least, but they all married Jewish girls and see that their kids get bar or bat mitzvah.

 

Valid question.
There is more to being jewish than following the bible.
There is very specific jewish food......no such thing as "catholic food"
There is a very specific way of raising children where certain attributes are strived for....mostly educational. Whereas catholics have a wide range of raising kids to be athletes. mechanics, doctors. teachers, plumbers. But because the jewish household( for good or bad) values higher education rather than sports and manual labor......you see rare jewish mechanics, athletes, construction workers. That has to do with a jewish upbringing but has nothing to do with the bible or belief in god.
So the jewish value system, and results of it that has been passed down from generation to generation, and the jewish eating menu that has been passed down from generation to generation is more "ethnic" like a race of people..rather than a religion. But jews arent a race of people...but it sometimes seems that way. I am proud to have been raised jewish, with the value system and education I have acquired.
I was raised with the regular religious training that most jewish kids receive and in the end it didnt resonate with me. But the value system did. And the food as well.

And thats the way it is with alot of modern jews. You know they eat shrimp, ham, non kosher chinese food when they go out. They go to synagogue just for major holidays.,,,not every saturday. Buffet jews..just as there are buffet catholics. However the home value system has not been cracked..and the food menu for authentic jewish food is the same. As there is more intermarrying , things will get diluted. But for now the jewish home value system for raising children is pretty much intact.
2 non religious catholics can meet and discuss their upbringing, their home value system and the food they grew up with.....and it would vary immensely.
2 non religious jews.meet....and there is a definite bond in the way they were raised and the food mom made.

 

SELF EDIT

 

back to the original question.....what benevolent god would allow that.

If there is a creator....who says it has to be benevolent

It can be an indifferent entity like randy newman wrote about

It can be a sadistic entity

no one would want to even think about that.

 

There is no god, obviously.

 

not to say though that the belief in god has no value.

If something horrible happens like one comes home and sees their family murdered.
If they can make themselves believe that god wants them in heaven, and that they are in a better place etc....then it saves alot of therapy.

If I had to deal with a horrible crime.....I would have to deal with the reality of it, without being able to delude myself into some fantasy where if my loved ones are in a "better place"....then god deserves thanks from me. You know...thank you for having my wife and kids killed so that they can be with you "in a better place".

Heck , if heaven is such a "better place" then we should all visit the grand canyon....and take the great leap..at least the believers should.

 

Oh yes, a belief in god can be a comfort, a balm, but oh, what a price the believer must pay.

First comes the rejection of the scientific method: it cannot coexist with faith.

Then comes the loss of time which one could have spent on other things, things other than god / religion.

Then of course is the big one: intolerance of another's god, and a psychotic, manic desire to smite nonbelievers.

Hard to be a god.

 

I hesitate to believe in things I prefer to believe.

 

I'm not saying that believing in yourself will save each and every human on our planet. You are saying that people in the US know nothing of life's real ugly side and you are right to the certain extent.

But do not forget that world never was a place with equal opportunities where everyone has the best place under the sun. It always was a cruel place where only knowledge, innovation and the believe in your own powers were able to make some changes. I'm not saying that those poor 800,000 tutsis in Rwanda had to just believe in themselves to survive. They had to have more knowledge to survive. Knowledge is power and those who were behind this genocide certainly had more power then those who were the victims. And I'm sure that those behind the genocide thought that they were right. They are not from the world's point of view but they are from their own.

The same cases are with Jews, mothers in third world nations, gays in muslim countries and etc. No one can protect them except themselves and to protect themselves they must believe in themselves. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to excuse all the atrocities which happened, continuing to happen and will happen in the world. No, I'm just saying that the Utopia is impossible and it's of no use to tear your soul for everyone who is dieing every day. No God will save them.

If you really want to help someone - you must think of the way to do it. I respect such individuals like Irena Sandler who saved 2500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto. I respect Mahatma Gandhi who showed the world on his example that peace can be the way. To make the world better place you must not think of those whom you can't help already, but you must think of those who will live and prosper because you helped them. To achieve that you must at first believe in yourself.

 

Knowledge is power and believe in yourself is nice general talk you can hear at graduations. It might help you get a job.

But the topic of how can you believe there is a god when you see the widespread death, torment,and suffering inthis world .....is not addressed by just having more positive thinking and knowledgeable victims.

The people in the orlando nightclub could have been very positive thinking and smart people.
Maybe the people dying in drought ridden countries are positive and smart. Its not like millions of stupid people are dying there.
All the children in the world dying of cancer are not doing so because they dont believe in themselves or are stupid
People dying from volcanos, earthquakes, and floods are not doing so because they are stupid. or arent positive people.
The mother that comes home to find her husband and children murdered can be very smart and have great self confidence.
The people who dies in the twin towers were probably well educated and I am sure many believed in themselves.

So why would a god that according to most bibles is all knowing and all powerful,,,,allow these things to happen....especially to young children

People thank god when people survive crashes, and survive cancer,......but somehow this is a god that doesnt get the blame for any of the tragedy

Certainly if there is a god...its not a kind benevolent god. If anything its a sadistic or at best an indifferent god.

what if it was a god, that created ...and then just walked away,,,thats possible as well

 

i think being an atheist is just as narrow-minded as being religious imo. agnosticism is where it's at.

those who unequivocally proclaim that "there is no god!" when we can't even explain what happened before the big bang or what's going to happen after the heat death of the universe are imo just as narrow-minded as those who proclaim "there is a god!" when they have zero evidence for it other than their "faith".

science cannot prove or disprove the existence of god, so until it can prove either, agnosticism is where it's at.

as for religion, imo it's mythology created to deal with matters we cannot explain or that we are too scared to consider. think about it, what's easier on the populace, that when you die you cease to exist and experience the same thing you did before you were born, or that when you die you get to plow 72 virgins? i'll take the virgins please, thank you very much. with a side of sluts.

but unfortunately for me, i don't believe that mythology, so death scares the living shit out of me and i accept that. so carpe diem, my friends, carpe fucking diem.

 

I kind of agree with MM......
If there is a god, it isnt a compassionate god. If anything its an indifferent god or a sadistic god.

it could only be a "creator",,,,who has no powers to influence

But I cannot deal with the hypocrisy of people who praise god for all the good, and doesnt hold him accountable for any of the suffering.

The people who praise god for having the broncos win the superbowl, but dont blame god for the twin tower deaths

 

I believe in science and all exact knowledge

 

A debate if there is a god is a very complicated one, but one can have his/her opinion.
I personally think there is some being higher than us and more intelligent than us.
I cannot say if one or many since I'm just man and its too big for me to solve and think.

 

There is a God and he watches over us always, though Im note sure if he all knowing and all good.

 

There is a god, however we are the one who perceives what kind of being he/she is.

 

If there were no God there would be a need to create one.

 

And you wonder that these kids have their parents?They should work to protect their children, like our parents.And here is God?Country are not children.There are people , and it's not just a story.Each country goes its way, and get smarter, or will disappear from the face of the earth.And God created people.And people make the choice or die. Life is a complicated thing.And some countries have passed the difficult part of the journey, while others are just rising to his feet.Gradually all equalized.