why doesn't God love me?

[Mempy]

Lol. This thread title and the whole thought behind it are awesome.

Whatever, I'm sure that if there is a God, God loves you. Why? Because you see so much beauty in life! You revel in nature and architecture and wine and all the finer things in life--and then you revel in the rustic and rough and gritty sides of life, too, or at least it seems that way.

But I know what you mean, really. I've often wanted to join a religious affiliation just because it seems so warm and welcoming. They want you to be there. Reality is, though, as someone else said, they have their own conditions you must meet in order to be accepted, and it's only when you stop meeting those conditions that you become aware of that fact. You can face just as much, if not more (someone else's words) rejection from them as you would from anywhere else. So it's not picturesque.

But maybe you just want that feeling of sensing God's presence. I can tell you, you probably do but just don't know it. Or whatever presence or joy or euphoria you do feel, say for example, when you look at nature and are surrounded by it, is as beautiful as any "God-like" experience you might feel if you could, as you would like, connect with a parish and feel God's presence. Just a thought.

For what it's worth, you seem to see a very good side of life. I think I could be quite a bit happier if I were more like you in the way you enjoy life and appreciate things.

 

[miss fortune]

I missed seeing your posts around!

yeah, the conditions thing is what always gets me... I think that most religions tend to find the degree of hedonism I can throw into life to be a bit... sinful My thoughts though are that if god gave us senses and amazing things to sense with them then we'd sure as hell better enjoy them!

I'll admit... at times I feel a bit sad that people don't worship fun gods like Dionysus anymore

but yeah, I kind of miss the sense of support and community I had as a heathen child running around in the church that I don't have now

 

[forzen]

God probably loves irony since people say he's an INTJ. Don't change your way, your entertaining HIM.

 

[miss fortune]

oh no... if he's an INTJ all the penis jokes I've told have definitley guarenteed my damnation!

 

[Just Some Guy]

Repeat after me-- there is no God.

If it helps, try "there is no Easter Bunny" first, as it's equally true.

It may not make you feel better, but it's the damn truth, and maybe this world wouldn't suck quite so bad if people would follow their conscience rather than superstition and try to make the world a better place during their time here rather than searching for the approval of a non-existent deity.

"The only church that illuminates is a burning church"-- Buenaventura Durruti

 

[Mempy]

I missed seeing your posts around!

yeah, the conditions thing is what always gets me... I think that most religions tend to find the degree of hedonism I can throw into life to be a bit... sinful My thoughts though are that if god gave us senses and amazing things to sense with them then we'd sure as hell better enjoy them!

See? A healthy perspective. When you get to the gates of heaven, some poor soul will be proudly (albeit a bit worriedly) listing off all the good things he's done in life, and God will turn to you and ask what you did, and you'll shrug and say, "I had fun. "

I'll admit... at times I feel a bit sad that people don't worship fun gods like Dionysus anymore

Lol.

but yeah, I kind of miss the sense of support and community I had as a heathen child running around in the church that I don't have now

Yeah, it's that community and support I miss, too. I went to a small, secluded Catholic grade school where everyone was familiar with everyone else's family name and the sense of community and being tight-knit was almost overwhelming--or maybe I'm romanticizing it in my memory. All I know is that I had a spectacular childhood, not just because I felt I belonged in that community, but also because I went to a recreation center down the street, which we called "summer day camp," and we had field trips and swim lessons and played capture the flag and came home dirty and sweaty and sunburned and exhausted EVERY day. God, it was wonderful. It's probably also why one of my favorite smells in the world is suntan lotion. Well, that's a bit off-track.

But you know, I do know what you mean. I wish I had the solution. Don't you wish you could just make your own tight-knit community/club? We could worship things like nature and boggle and fine wine and staying up late roasting marshmallows and stuff. And it would be AWESOME and tight-knit.

 

[miss fortune]

that sounds perfect!

oooh... and we can catch lightning bugs and play with sparklers and play hide and seek in the graveyard at night while the "grownups" are doing "grownup things" and eat wild strawberries too!!!!!! (and those are my memories of church as a kid )

Any decent God wouldn't turn dow a good partner in crime to have in a heaven anyways... that would just be BORING! :horor:

 

[LeafAndSky]

whatever wrote: "I'll admit... at times I feel a bit sad that people don't worship fun gods like Dionysus anymore "

Don't you wish you could just make your own tight-knit community/club? We could worship things like nature and boggle and fine wine and staying up late roasting marshmallows and stuff. And it would be AWESOME and tight-knit.

You two realize you've just described Eclectic Wicca, right?

 

[miss fortune]

we can toast marshmellows around bonfires?

 

[Mempy]

Now that sounds perfect. Sounds like your memories of childhood are golden. I wish I had memories of playing hide-and-seek in a graveyard after dark! (I do have pleasant firefly memories, though. Except the ones where one or the other of my brothers would smush the firefly and smear the glowy stuff on the concrete and think it was awesome. :horor: Sadistic little kids. )

Yeah, God will probably look stern and leave you hanging for a second at the pearly gates, but then bust out a hearty laugh and say, "I had fun watching you, girl! Oh, my. I can't tell you how many times you nearly made me crap my pants! In fact, I still have a pair you ruined!"

 

[Synapse]

Religion feels inconsistent, fragmentalistic as a UNIVERSAL construct to spiritual freedom. Isn't GOD a MALE construct. As a MAN made GOD then, it is not about what you can do for GOD, but what GOD, cough, can do for YOU! How many books of the Bible are written from female points of views. Is it just me or is the entire spectrum of religious affiliation misguided somewhat. Perhaps its just me, but isn't this supposed to be about the SELF.

You know, its all very well and good to have a healthy belief in something. Its a universal aspect to our spirituality, to want to grow, express and look towards significant events to fill that void, that state of empty that belief systems tend to promise. Perhaps its so entrenched that people forget that the greatest BELIEF is to believe in YOURSELF NOT ANOTHER IMAGE that is a reflection of somebody elses personification and manifestation that is unlikely to be esteem and confidence building. For then you become reliant on a religious or spiritual discourse without a true boost to your confidence. How can that be possible if YOU give your power away to a FAITH, a BELIEF like that, are you then going to say you have confidence in RELIGION? I dunno, why not rebuild the TEMPLE of YOURSELF over ENTRUSTING YOUR CORE BELIEFS to biased literature and human interpretation hence GOD?

Besides how can religion be unbiased with such MORTAL views as HEAVEN and HELL, almost like cowing people into a false sense of fear or security that the AFTERLIFE is about reward and punishment, black and white thinking which sounds FALSE...why not a gestation period for the human experience in a living, breathing, thinking, emotional world. WHO brings SIN into this...THE DEVIL...GOD...why are there such limited interpretations? Well anyway there are too many holes, when there are too many holes, then the ship can't stay afloat unless its GODLY...apparently.

But then again BELIEF is a funny thing, we all want to believe in something so desperately that maybe blinding ourselves and accepting certain IDEALS is perfectly natural.

Then again I wouldn't know, maybe its just easier to believe in something to gain a sense of security in a world that offers hurt and pain when love and respect seem out of reach. One of those technical effects on the mind, like feeling good after rigorous fitness where you feel on top of the world. And just like working out your muscles, you gotta work out your spiritual, emotional and intellectual curiosity to keep healthy and distracted by something, to scratch that itch of EMPTY, fill that VOID of LONELY. Certainly its much simpler for people to believe there is SOMETHING OUT THERE ROOTING for our existence or ROOTING AGAINST our existence. Does it makes sense that this wasn't the bees knees throughout HUMAN history. And when was whats up with GOD, JESUS, ALLAH, ELOWYN, YEWAH etc...sounds totally masculine role models for EVERYONE! Where is the magnetic north and south, why are the polarities lopsided, is it INTELLIGENT DESIGN...EVOLUTION....MORE!

Sorry if that offends anyone.

 

[forzen]

oh no... if he's an INTJ all the penis jokes I've told have definitley guarenteed my damnation!

I guess you now know to start negociating terms with whoever runs the place where people go if they were damned .

 

[Litvyak]

What sort of sick bastard of a deity would do that to a person?

Yourself? You're the world, and we are your guests. Just like "God". If you find a safe spot inside, you no longer need one outside. Feel free to kick him out if you feel strong enough.