Subject: Re: Jesus/fat lady and dying
From: Suzanne Morine (suzannem@dimensional.com)
Date: Sat Nov 25 2000 - 23:55:31 GMT
At 12:48 AM 11/22/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>[..] one never knows when He may come again. It is this
>type of threat that turns me off from Christianity, the moral codes, the
>threats. Maybe this is why Seymour and Salinger look elsewhere for a
>spiritual calm. To quote the movie Dogma, "This religion inhibits man because
>it imposes a father figure from 1000 years ago saying, 'Do it or I'll f*cking
>spank you!'." I don't find the thought of discovering spirituality out of
>guilt as very enlightening. Maybe that is why such radical Christianity is
>practiced, such internal, personal, zealous Christianity.
I totally agree. I don't see how any being that truly is superior would
abuse power. A superior being would convince us, not threaten us. If there
are humans who can convince, a superior being sure could. So I don't find
coersion to be superior, don't find it better than humanity, don't find it
to be a trait of a god I can honor.
Speaking of which, the demand of praise is the second thing I don't find
believable. A superior being who knows our thoughts would not demand
praise. The superior being wouldn't be fooled by false praise, which is the
only type of praise that you can hope to *demand*.
Further, I have always found the idea of doling out praise to god to be
degrading, like giving canned praise to a good dog to get him to repeat a
desired behavior. If you feel admiring and your praise comes truly, that is
something, but I have long felt that if someone is trying to get god to
please them by praising him, they're treating him like a dog.
Dog is god spelled backwards. Accident? Coincidence? I think not. :o)
And finally, if we can fool and control a superior being like we can a dog,
how are they superior: only in power. A giant dog who we don't want to poop
on us. Nothing superior in the sense of wanting to emulate them, or wanting
to follow them in admiring appreciation -- though the line gets blurry as I
see an awe and appeasement that would happen with a giant dog of a god
could spill over into admiration of dog.
Thus ends of my doggone observations on the western idea of god. :-)
>On another wacky tangent, maybe the fat lady is not some abstract allusion to
>Christ. Maybe the fat lady is Seymour himself.
(I liked this idea but don't remember the Glasses well enough to add comment.)
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