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Originally Posted by mickiel
I made this quote almost a year ago, and unto this day I had little idea of just how true this is where God is concerned; even believers in God don't think he can be proven.
And I think that is strange in this world of overflowing knowledge.
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To the believers no 'proof' is necessary. Existence itself suffices.
The thing that really opened my mind to God was the simple yet profound realization that God is bigger than I am. 'Simple' as in, 'duh!'. Profound as in, God thinks of the things I do not, and probably can not, think of. Such as more than one way to see the world.
I don't take my clues about God from any specific religion. Rather, I largely take what I understand about God from what I observe in the universe around me. After all, the universe is God's 'Word', is it not? I am a firm believer that nothing can happen in the universe without God's consent. God created the universe, God is the One with The Plan, therefore nothing happens in the universe without Him having designed it for some divine purpose. I think that's pretty clear. That's not to say that God necessarily
agrees - but such is His love for His children that He created us to have REAL free will.
As such, He made belief in Himself optional. The God I have come to know is not a petty and insecure God, demanding constant awe and adoration. I mean, it's great to be recognized for being the Source of All, but looking around me, I see that really what matters is kindness and respect to EACH OTHER - and our ability to
fail to do so.
Have you ever investigated the Humanist movement? Wikipedia has a great article on Secular Ethics, and number 3 in their short list of the tenets of secular ethics is this:
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This may lead to a behavior preferable to that propagated or condoned based on religious texts. Alternatively, this may lead to the advocacy of a system of moral principles that a broad group of people, both religious and non-religious, can agree upon.
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Why is it that religious and secular ethics are so easily congruent (which they are!)? IMO, it is because God 'programmed' the universe this way. In other words, the behavior we all see as fundamentally ethical is written into the very fabric of the universe. What
genuinely hurts you, hurts me, and likewise, what
genuinely helps me, helps you. People are good at heaping all kinds of conditions and caveats on that, but these are always meta-conditions that just boil down to personal preferences that don't
genuinely hurt or help anyone.
Secular ethics say we should treat each other kindly because we are all humans - we are all the same inside, all innately 'worthy' on a fundamental level. Religion goes just one step further, saying we should all treat each other kindly because we are all God's Creations, thus equally innately 'worthy' by divine providence. After all, if God created us, we must be worthy of existence. We each get to the same place, even if by a very different road map!
Now, I'm sure that is all very wordy and personal and boring, but my point is that God does not demand we believe in him, and to do so would be petty and childish, circumventing His obvious desire that we should all think for ourselves. Personally, I respect His wish as best as I am able, not taking upon myself any kind of 'mission' to convince others of His existence and 'supremacy'.
