279My Daddy Can Whoop Your Daddy
posted by Jeffrey on March 1st, 2007
Do you think that is the over-arching mantra of religion? Christians say to Muslims, “Our God is THE God, and our book is THE book.” Muslims return with the same rebuttal. (Never mind that both religions stemmed from the same man, Abraham.)
Last night I was having a conversation with some good friends, and one new one, when a topic like this came up. The question was, “Is God a belief system?” My friend Rick who writes at a new thought provoking blog, SpiritualLiving.net, posted some intriguing, gut level questions after the conversation. Here are a few of them:
Is God a belief system?
Some might say Islam (Muslim faith) doesn’t = God.
Others might say Buddhism doesn’t = God.
Still others might say Hinduism doesn’t = God
But…
Does Christianity = God? Is God a belief system?
…
If God isn’t a belief system, what is God?
[Read the rest of Rick’s post]
My friend Jim, author of Divine Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God, also alluded to this conversation in a post at his blog this morning.
So what do you think, is God a belief system? If so, as a new friend from last night asked, “how’s that working for you?”
[Note: that last question can be read with disdain and sarcasm, but that was neither the tone last night nor is it here.]
Technorati Tags: God, love, spirituality, religion, Jim Palmer, Divine Nobodies, Rick Harris, Jeffrey Davis
001: Jim,
March 1st, 2007 at 8:50 amthe other way this is working out in me is learning not to judge people, meaning quit assuming i am in a “better” and “more enlightened” place and need to help others “progress” to where i am. aren’t we all aready in every moment in the perfect place - enveloped by the love of God. and perhaps we all right now are in the place we need to be to grow in our awareness of this. that doesn’t mean we don’t encourage and help one another along. but maybe we act/speak in love and let the chips fall where they may rather than trying to steer/control the process for others because we assume they need to be where we are.
002: Nashville is Talking » Question of the Day,
March 1st, 2007 at 11:46 am[…] “Do you think that ‘My Daddy can whoop your Daddy’ is the over-arching mantra of religion?” -Jeffrey Davis Spread It Around: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
003: Jeffrey,
March 1st, 2007 at 4:01 pmyeah, that’s a tough one for me too Jim. I struggle with not feeling “more enlightened” as well. It’s not that I want to be “right”, but that this way (Love) is just sooooo much better than anything I’ve ever known, and I want others to experience that.
Unfortunately, sometimes I transform that into some state of better-ness than another person may live in…
004: Linda,
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:08 amIs God a belief system? I would say no, but that our understanding of and relationship with God forms the basis of our own belief system. I know God as loving, forgiving, accepting, comforting, sheltering, providing for all our needs, and putting hope into our hearts. So, my belief system mirrors those traits. That is all I can strive to be - a reflection of God and Christ in the work I do everyday and the interactions I have with all people and creatures I encounter.
005: Jeffrey,
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:14 pmWelcome Linda, glad to have you. Interesting thoughts. Are you saying that a “system of belief” is inevitable and unavoidable regardless of whether or not a person aligns them self with a certain religion or sect?
Maybe there is a fine line between a belief system (which we should probably define first) and belief in something itself. When I think of a system of belief I think of some dogma that is firm, standing, exclusive, and inflexible. I think of people who are closed-minded enough to say that they have it all figured out and their way is the best (or only) way. Maybe to simply BELIEVE something, i.e. God is Love, without constructing a rigid system around it is different…at least I hope it is.
Thoughts?
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