Hello again folks, Yes, I know, I took a powder for a few days. Many apologies. Will strive to keep more on the ball here.

So I’ve spent a good amount of time talking about how God, couldn’t really be playing straight dice with us human beings and now I’m going to tell you why he probably IS playing a totally straight game.

The simple reason why God probably isn’t a bastard is the sheer existence of our universe. Ahh, but wait, some of you are thinking I’m about to wax prosaic on the beauties inherent in nature and what have you. Well you’re wrong. I’ve had seven allergies since I was young. Nature is my enemy.

No, in fact I’m speaking in a much more lateral thinking sense. Allow me to explain. In our universe, many things are possible, physically and mentally. Different schemes for viewing the universe are likewise possible. One of these is the acknowledgment of something called a paradox. Now to you who received high scores on your SATs you know that a paradox is a situation wherein two contradictory pieces of information coexist.

Well, funny thing, our universe allows for us to conceptualize the existence of paradoxes. I postulate that indeed in a universe created by a God figure of some sort, that figure must then be on some level an embodiment of what he has created. I mean, how else would he have the expertise to create it? So hey, he might embody the concepts allowed in his universe. If he does, then just maybe he also embodies paradox. If so, all those previous logical qualifiers I listed in the last post go right out the window.

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Typically speaking (if we must speak typically) Monotheistic Religion views God in one of two lights. God is either merciless and good, or merciful and good. The merciless sort of deity is where we get holy wars from. The merciful sort is where we get hippies.

That said, I think there’s actually a great deal of evidence that says even the merciful sort of God is pretty bastardly if taken in a purely dogmatic sense. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say you’re a little African girl born in some out of the way village at the turn of the 1200’s. Let’s say by virtue of the lifestyle and environment in which you were raised, you have opportunity, nay, even imperative to breach all ten of your classic Christian commandments.

If you think this couldn’t be done, that it would somehow violate some fundamental moral code we all have, check out some anthropology. Don’t think I’m being exclusive to Africa here either. I dare say that virtually any culture at a certain level of development and isolation would have plenty of reason to breach ten magical laws they were unaware of breaching.

Back to my example, say you’re this African girl and in your life you’ve committed awful sins against the classically interpreted Christian God. One day you die and find yourself face to face with the almighty, (who for purposes of this story is the Christian God) and he looks NOTHING like what you were expecting. He tells you you’ve got a choice, repent now, or face everlasting torment. This is a quandary for you, because, not only are you faced with something unfamiliar, but in fact your own theology (much like Christianity) most likely includes both good AND evil forces in the universe, and the evil ones ALWAYS lie.

So you’ve got a choice. Either trust this unfamiliar deity who’s blaming you for things you didn’t know were crimes, and who very well might be lying, or you go with what you know, tell him to shove off and hope that your own benevolent ultra-deity will step in and get your back. Generally speaking, people are slow to change. My money says you go with what you know.

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So just what is it with all these deities running about the place?

The first thing that I remember wondering about once I was exposed to other religions was why on Earth there’d actually be so many pesky Gods and Goddesses running about in the cosmos without a single one of them being polite enough to step in and clear up some issues for us common folk. What was the point of so many deities existing in the world? Truly, this question baffled me for quite some time. In fact, it was so baffling that it lead me to try out atheism for a solid two years before realizing that I just didn’t have the energy to be that militant.

There’s a very comforting notion that many of us settle into once we’ve gotten in touch with our own God. That notion is that we have somehow stumbled upon something that is intrinsically unique to us. God is here for me; me and no one else. Ok, maybe my friends, family and members of the congregation, but surely no one beyond that. Sadly, this is when the two-by-four of reality comes crashing in. God is, in whatever form, here for everybody, and the vast populace of the universe has known this for eons.

Though we might not like to admit it, the warm, tingling feeling that one person gets talking to Jesus is almost identical to another warm feeling that another person gets talking to Ribos of Nebulon 7. No, I don’t actually know of any real Ribosians, but they do make a wonderful example.

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Greetings all! My name is Jake, and I’ve been graciously given the opportunity to share with you some musings on the subject of religion. Given that most of what I’ll be writing about is beliefs, I’ll start with something I firmly believe in, a good introduction. Introductions are like first kisses: you only get one and generally speaking they’re hard to get over. Here goes.

When I sent the mail off asking to write for this site it was so I could fill the shoes of a religious writer who was spiritual, but not necessarily religious. This describes me to a T. Now, I know what a lot of people will think. They’ll think that means I’m some wishy washy agnostic who can’t make up his mind about whether or not he believes in a God. Quite the contrary. I’m a firmly entrenched believer in “something” and through the course of my writings I’m sure that “something” will become clear to an extent.

I was raised in a staunchly Baptist family, my upper elders (the grandparents, great aunts and so on) being practicing fundamentalists and the not so upper elders (my mother) being a pseudo-practicing liberal Baptist. Though I have attended weekly services at various points in my life I’ve never been baptized, and never quite felt at ease in the surroundings. This wasn’t because of any particular negativity I experienced, more perhaps a personal and unexplained feeling of unease.

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