(May 15, 2023 at 3:08 pm)HappySkeptic Wrote: I understand what theists get out of their belief. We all have the right to discover our own story that explains our connection with the universe.
I believe that all religions are mostly wrong. I have no problem with someone wanting to believe in an afterlife, but when people claim to know what a non-evident god commands, that's when I get cranky.
I was attracted by your question: "What God?".
Rare persons in the world try to define clearly the word 'God' first, before talking about 'God'.
By this definition of the word 'God', one can see, based on his logical reasoning, if such a God can exist and be useful in his life or not.
On my side, I know that any imposed law on humans is a man-made one. How I am sure of this?
Very simple, the Will behind the existence of the universe (including humans) has already planted pre-programmed instructions in every living thing (including humans, they are called instincts). So, it doesn't matter if someone believes or not in the existence of this Creative Will, he has no choice but to obey IT whenever he follows his instincts (much like how AI robots follow the instructions which are embedded in them by their makers).
For example, I was in China where most of them were atheists. An atheist Chinese doesn't need having a God to tell him 'Do not kill', he already knows that killing another human is not an act to be proud of. But I also won't be surprised seeing an atheist or a theist (Muslim, Jewish or formal Christian, to name a few) being proud of serving his ruling system by killing its enemies. This proud (or fear of disobedience) comes from following the instincts of survival because, if a soldier in any side refuses to serve his ruling system by killing some humans in war time, he would be treated as a traitor/criminal who may deserve the penalty of death, if not worth.
Conclusion: Any religion which has a certain law (or rituals) imposed on humans is surely a man-made one.
Only in Jesus' message, as presented on the today's Gospel, one doesn't find any imposed rules. Instead, it focuses solely on how to live the Unconditional Love towards all others, good or evil. Let us recall that an imposed love could be anything but True Love.
Now you know why all dependent formal Christians are not supposed to listen seriously to most sayings of Jesus, because controlling the multitudes has to be done by rules, not love
