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{"id":34,"date":"2012-09-24T17:43:30","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T23:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovingthejourney\/?p=34"},"modified":"2012-09-24T17:43:30","modified_gmt":"2012-09-24T23:43:30","slug":"who-or-what-is-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovingthejourney\/2012\/09\/who-or-what-is-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Who (or What) Is God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Who (or what) is god? I don\u2019t think anyone on earth knows for sure, despite some religions stating that they do. Why would a god expect people to worship a certain way, and then allow people to worship in other ways, thereby sending the ones who don\u2019t worship the way he wants to hell automatically? God could have made sure everyone believed the same things, worshiped in the same way, and obeyed his laws if he wanted to. But we aren\u2019t all the same, and we clearly don\u2019t all believe the same things about god. Even within one religion there are people who believe slightly different versions of god\u2019s law, who are more progressive than others, or who are classified as a certain religion but pick and choose which parts they want to believe or adhere to. $\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

So, who\u2019s \u201cright?\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as I can tell, no one.<\/p>\n

If there were a religion that had absolute proof that their version of god and how to worship him was right, everyone would surely believe it. There\u2019s just one problem: there isn\u2019t. There were people across the globe who had never heard of Christianity before Christians came and started converting them. That does not prove Christianity is \u201cright,\u201d nor does it prove that god wanted everyone to be Christian. If anything, it shows just the opposite \u2013 that god doesn\u2019t care how we worship, or even if we truly know who he is. Religion in general \u2013 any religion, really \u2013 gives us a medium for understanding and worshiping god, and for laying the foundations for morality and ethical behavior, family relationships and interactions, and general rules about how to treat other people.<\/p>\n

In some cases, people have done things \u201cin the name of god\u201d or \u201cin the name of their religion\u201d that I would argue god would certainly not want. I don\u2019t think he would want us to take religion into our own hands. I think he would want us to focus more on our relationships with other people, not making sure that other people are doing what we think they should be doing. What business is it of mine if someone is Hindu or Christian, Jewish or Muslim? None whatsoever. Many, many people have made it through life believing all sorts of things about god and religion, and some people have never heard of the Christian god, or the Muslim Allah, or any of the Hindu gods. I doubt all those people went to the respective hells of all the other religions that they don\u2019t believe in.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t even argue that my own belief, which I would classify as \u201cspiritual but not religious\u201d is right (I believe in a higher power, a god of sorts, but I have no idea what form it takes \u2013 I have a hard time believing there is absolutely nothing but us, but I also don\u2019t believe we need an organized religion to communicate with that higher power). Perhaps the atheists are right, and there is no god, no higher power, and it\u2019s just us, we live our lives, and that\u2019s the end of it. If so, many people are wasting their time on religion. In fact, I don\u2019t waste my time with organized religion because I have felt closer to god on a long bike ride, on a secluded hike through the mountains, while looking at a field of wild flowers, or any number of other experiences, than I ever have in church.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"