Theo

some theology psychology 

The sushi place I like told me, today, that they ran out of rice (!). Then there were like 5 people inside the corner liquor store, so I turned around and went back.  Then I cancelled my Snoopy and Shelby walks for the coming week, because of the (rainy) forecast.  Then I only got 56 page views, on my blog.  Not my worst.  But still.   And finally, I slept too much.   So I got less done.  But it’s a Saturday, for chrissakes.

I hope Alexei Navalny survives Putin.  And the Uyghurs, Xi Jin Ping.  And I’m worried about the Rohingyas, Ethiopia, Animalia, etc.  And the world, the stupid.   Like the reinstatement of federal funding of abortions…  My aunt pulled through her covid infection, thank goodness.  And my mom should get vaccinated soon.  And nobody in my household has it, so far, as far as I know.  Thank God, you could say.

I’m an atheist, really.  Theisim is just hopeful hypnosis.  I mean, you can be God to yourself, and be inspired by the good in others.  But that’s about it.   Well, actually, I believe in a God of dreams.  I don’t think dreams are generated solely by our own brains.   There’s a degree of telepathy, thought-insertion, shared mind, morpheus, other.   Whatever you want to call it.  God?  A psychiatrist might call a belief in God schizophrenia.   But prayer is assumed to be heard by somebody, right?  Are we really just talking to ourselves?

If God is love, well love exists.  If god is everywhere (and "everywhen" !?!), then reality/spacetime exists.   And thirdly, if only god is good, then God exists, because there is definitely good shit in the world.  But it’s hard to say everything is good, honestly.  If you can individually come to a point where it’s “all right,”  then you’ve got God’s mojo working for you, you could say.   But a universe of nothing but love is a stretch!  So I’m still an atheist.   Heaven is a work in progress.  I’m not currently in a relationship, much less in love.  Even if I was in love, I might not be willing to say I’m in God, which nobody says, although you might expect that to be a thing.  Finally, the only other sense I’m willing to be semi-theist, is in contrast to the devil.  Evil exists, so there needs to be a source of love, justice, consequences, peace, joy, and opposition to the demonic, diabolical, and devilish.  People take delight in evil.  The devil needs to be playing chess against somebody!  This is not exactly a theologian’s explication of a necessary and eternal Deity, I imagine, but it works for me.  

I don’t believe God is the source of all that is good.  I mean, maybe there were aliens in a previous incarnation of the universe, before the big bang, who had a hand in creating ours, but that’s a weird concept, and not something people really profess a belief in.  Well, maybe deists.    Another sense of “Creator” would be your parents, but it would be weird to go to a Mass and pray to your Mom and Dad, lol (!). You could, though.   

God is a virtual reality.   Virtual realities are still a part of real reality, if only existing entirely and merely just in our heads.  God could be just a concept, that you have faith in, despite it’s irrationality, and the obvious presence of wickedness in the world.  If we’re being honest, I think that’s the dominant mode of religious conviction.  Evil is responsible for God.   We make God in our own image.  An omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God grants free will, which results in evil, which results in submission to a God that can eventually make all things right.  Including heaven, which is an almost universal human wish, if not need.  That might be the reason in fact that people profess belief, and are faithful and observant.  Heaven and hell are the ultimate carrot and stick, the divine incentive structure.  But the facts dictate against full conviction.   Faith is necessarily blind.  Even Jesus had his moment of doubt.  

Why is faith irrational?  Maybe you are coming from a place of mindless repetition and uncritical acceptance of the authority of priests, nuns, etc.  Maybe you live in a bubble of religiosity.  Maybe you have a need for immortality, so this life doesn’t seem so damned unfair and meaningless and devoid of love.  Maybe you need justice.  Jesus’ crucifixion might seem an instance of historical depravity, demanding an equal and opposite reaction, i.e. heaven.  Well, I’ll tell you.   And I’ll try and be systematic about it.

World wars, things like genocide, torture, premature death, atrocities, “acts of god” like famine, flood, earthquakes, pestilence, plague; global warming and extinctions, deforestation, desertification, pollution, plastic in the oceans, overfishing;  the banality of evil, meat and abortion, the cruelty, the corruption of power, rain on the ocean, absurdity, futility, nonsense.   All these things are biblical, you could say.  God is guiding history, making us better, helping us grow, by way of horror at the ungodly?  We’re learning by experience, getting better over time, approaching the kingdom, the utopian?  Heavenly guidance by means of showing us the error of our ways, learning from experience, the trauma of childbirth before the beginning of earthly Paradise.  True knowledge, not merely conceptual and theoretical, a necessary step in the evolution of manKIND.   God permits the worst as a downpayment on future best-ness.   A long-term investment.   God employing the devil in service of holy perfection, in the long game.  

Sinners in the hands of an angry god.  Shag, lol.  Punishment before forgiveness.  Permission of depravity as a result of the higher good of freedom.  Being God’s slaves would be a worse evil.  Genius solves problems created by itself.   Creating sin so it can be forgiven, lol.   Or creating a virtual world, for virtue in the real world.   Creating heaven and hell, to create rewards and punishments, for saints and sinners, ruled by God and Devil.   It’s all a good way to instill and inculcate morality in the young, even if it’s all, in the end, utter nonsense.   Souls?  Eternal Life?  Maybe a world without religion would end much sooner than our world, with.  The art of war, after all, is deception.   And the average IQ is only 100.  Go out to love and serve the lord!  

That’s my truth.  It might not be yours.  But is it THE truth?  Objective reality? We all kind of gamble, I feel.  Maybe the source of goodness is the source of evil, too.   The devil is just God, drunk, or something.  God has a compartmentalized mind, with vice and virtue on right and left, or something.  That makes sense, no?  Don’t let the left hand know what the right is doing?   That makes no sense, whatsoever.   The right represents blessing and mercy, while the left hand is the hand of the king and justice, the Echo says.   Lord, light or darkness.  If I'm telling the light of truth, then I'm a kind of lord, no?   The truth is good.  That's why I'm my own God.  We all have a hand in creating our own virtual reality.  To me, serving Jesus doesn't make sense, because he's been long dead.   The living God resides between your own right and left ears!

some fun-

buddhist flutist

defection and defecation

a small smell

the homosexual and cannibal subtexts of "I will make you fishers of men."

the catholic definition of God?

God the Father, in Heaven, The Creator of all, seen and unseen, the source of all that is good, Love, who hears and answers prayer, is all-powerful, all-knowing, always and everywhere, (omipotent, omniscient, omnipresent), is a man of war, one, a consubstantial trinity of father, son, and holy spirit, a mighty king and ruler, beneficent and merciful, deserving all honor and glory, forever and ever.   Etc.

Joy, Truth, Christ:  Joyce, Ruth, Chris

break bread, brake bred, body bawdy baud rate, 

sell, store, market, sold:  loan lee (lonely)

    celebrate restore mark-it, sins or lawless deeds

satan, sin, and separation

lore, lord, implore

poor, pour, pores

hosanna, hallelujiah, in the highest

hhhhh, to he who humbled himself (teshara!) in our humanity

cons, confess, convert, contribute, consecration

sing, suffering, sinning, hissing;  king, killing; working, were king

lamb and islam; request, re-quest

word, lord;  lord, god; duty, devout, devotion

tight with Titus, victim with Tim

congregationalist Connecticut 

everybody and every buddy

hungry and homeless, homely and hung

puns and parables, punishment and a pair of bulls

awe and wonder, A and W (root beer)

open your eyes, ears, minds, and hearts

tree of life, tree of knowledge, Jesse tree

family tree, 3 on the tree, Tree (a comedian), Treena, pantry

   happy Tu BiShvat!  a rainy day, happy Ents

slavery and slayers and slated to slaking thirst

slavery, suffering, and shit like stupidity, selfishness, sickness, and satan