On God
God. Allah. Yahweh. Whatever you choose to refer to the deity of the Old Testament and, according to three major religions of the world, the creator of the universe.
I attended church almost every Sunday for the much of my young life. Like most kids, I took what I was told by the pastor, by my parents, by the Bible as fact, not theory. I recall vividly the moment my skepticism began to seep into my mind though – thirteen years old, sitting in church, I suddenly wondered something which nagged at me for quite a while afterwards before I would pose the question to many devout Christians thereafter – never once receiving a convincing answer in response.
Why, I would ask, did God not reveal himself (and his only begotten son, Jesus) to the Native Americans? Or well, really, anyone outside of the ‘cradle of civilization’ for thousands of years? I saw no logical explanation for this. Is it fair for them to go to hell, even if they were genuinely good people? If that were the case, I wouldn’t be willing to bow down to that kind of god. Would it be fair to simply give them a free pass to heaven for not knowing though? If so, wouldn’t it just make more sense for God to reveal the truth, rather than hand out all of these free passes? You know, being all-powerful and all-knowing, one wouldn’t think that would be too difficult.
It does not make sense, plain and simple. The most common reaction is a “You know, I don’t really know.” Which is fine. I certainly have no vendetta against religion, only questions for those who choose to follow without truly examining what it is that they believe. The other response that I have heard a few times which frustrates me is “God did speak to them and they didn’t listen.” Generally, I will immediately stop the conversation with a person who says that and walk in the other direction.
Please, share your thoughts and opinions, because I’d love to have a discussion about it.
April 22, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I think there’s a fairly simple answer for that. Obviously it’s because He knew the white man would have an easier time taking land from a group of heathens than His devout followers. Come on, Jon. Learn your history.
April 22, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Oh you are about to stir up a storm, man. Even if I agree.
I would prob be labeled “agnostic,” because there are many things about the bible that don’t make sense, this being one of them. The inconsistencies are obvious and it has always bothered me how many Christians try to sweep it under a carpet and refuse to answer the hard questions with anything but “it’s just faith.”
I want to believe, I really do, but my better judgment can’t let me. It wouldn’t make sense that he only revealed himself to some and not others, including Asia, parts of Africa, South America, etc etc
If there is a god or some higher power that created us (INTELLIGENT DESIGN), I would believe that he doesn’t interfere with our daily lives and that there is probably no afterlife.
April 27, 2009 at 5:56 am
My assumptive answer as a christian would simply be that the Native Americans were exposed to the “God” but simply saw him/her in another way, which simply split into a bunch of different lines of thinking (the many different Native American religions) just like modern christianity has… but the truth is I am not a christian and I believe that as the Native Americans were behind technologically in MOST respects (not intellectually, technologically – due mainly to lack of resources/lack of exposure to such resources, I mean c’mon it is one – then two- sparsley populated continents working individually toward advancement) and thus they were also behind in religion. Look at the early religions of the “cradle of civilization” most were monotheistic, very similar to that of the native americans’. Nearly all of Mesopotamia/Egypt/Nubia etc. had many gods, and as time passed so did the “power” of each one until one day monotheism was born and bible was finally known to the people (I mean c’mon it surely didn’t exist until after the latest books in it, wouldn’t you assume?). So monotheism was born around 0 B.C. – (0 B.C.E.) or during the life of jesus… are there many references to the bible pre jesus? I doubt it, but maybe. My point is simply that it was the evolution of the religious system and naturally it happened slowest at the youngest part of the earth and most rapidly at the oldest part of the earth. I hope this makes sense, if not feel free to e-mail me and I can try to break it down more simply. – Seth
April 28, 2009 at 3:34 am
Oh no, Seth, I understand, because I am in agreement and it was what I was hoping people would examine by reading this – or at least it is my hope that people who are raised in a religion at least take a step back and view everything from an objective point of view before.
As far as I’m concerned, I prefer ethical philosophies (think humanism) to any sort of deity-centered religion.
April 28, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Well said, Seth. Also well put, Author. People follow religion, government, and school taught history (pilgrims and indians, one big happy family!!) blindly. I agree… people need to examine things more closely and come to their own opinions, not just follow what they were taught as a child blindly. The same way that people in the Middle East hate America so much… many were raised that way and should really take a look at it all and come to their own conclusions.