text; un: camille

[cinaedus]

I would like to pose a question for everyone. Consider it curiosity, or a thought exercise.

What is your understanding of God? Or experience with, if you prefer to answer that.

Comments

[emyoji]

Hm. I don't think there is anything wrong with that?

We have countless gods. Together, you could say that they can love and know everything. Even though they might fight sometimes, it's not so bad to believe in the best of others.

Why do you say you 'grew out of it'?

[cinaedus]

I hope you keep that view, seeing the good in the world.

The God I was taught to believe in made no sense when faced with the realities of life. Atrocities and monsters abound and yet God does nothing to stop them. Does He not love his children? Is He not powerful enough to stop them?

[ Camille believes in a different God now as he's dealt with it directly, but... that's a little much to share over a text post. Or at all. Ever. ]

[emyoji]

Love...?

[ Okay, that one hurts. He can't deny it. ]

Loving and protecting are different, even though they often travel together. Sometimes the forms they take are unconventional and not what the protector or the ones they love imagined. But still they might have done what they could. Maybe that God also has regrets?

[cinaedus]

To regret is human. The God I was taught to believe is above humanness. In any case, it is in our holy book that he has destroyed the world and all people save a single family, so I imagine disease and all the monstrous things humans commit on one another are paltry in comparison. The whole thing begins to fall apart in one way or another the longer one looks at it; hence my choice of phrase, 'growing out of it.'

I think gods that are a little more human would be easier to believe in. [ Easier to forgive. ]

[emyoji]

I have to admit, that sounds strange. I like the idea of a god that is loving and patient under any circumstances, but at the same time, when we help others typically someone does feel pain. Whether it's a misunderstanding or an unfortunate choice we make, even the gods have their regrets. Still, there's some merit in your past view too, I think. If it were me, I'd want to be thought of gently by those I loved.

If you stopped believing in a god because they wronged you, could you believe in them again? Is there anything they could do to help heal that wound?