First of all, I love you.malictus wrote:The notions of 'God' and 'Satan' changed over the course of the writing of the Bible. In much of the Old Testament, God was a vengeful, spiteful being who had no problem with smiting people, killing first born sons, and all that. Who needs Satan when God is like that?
In the New Testament we see the notion of God as a loving, generous, 'good' entity; but if God is completely good, how do we explain all the sadness and cruelty in the world? That's where the devil comes in.
Which brings us to the old 'problem of evil' --- if God is all-seeing, all-knowing, and perfect, where did the devil and all the evil in the world come from? And how could this perfect being send a human to a place of eternal punishment? Christians have a very hard time with those questions.
It's important to remember that Christianity as it is practiced today is based on a very selective reading of the Bible. The Bible-thumping preachers who claim that every word of the Bible is the sacred word of God have no answers for the huge contradictions that exist between various parts of the Bible, in notions of God, the devil, the trinity, etc. Even the four Gospels themselves contain glaring contradictions.
Secondly, you hit the nail on the head as to why I don't follow organized religion.
With Christianity in particular, many of the practices and holidays they claim are there's were taken from old pagan religions. That, for one, makes me wonder about the 'truth' of the bible.
Christmas is a perfect example. Christ wasn't born in winter at all. The actual holiday is Yule, a big celebration for pagans at the time. The church found it convenient to add their own religious beliefs to a holiday that was already widely celebrated and loved...and over time, their beliefs replaced the original purpose of the holiday.
Easter is another example. It's Ostara, if I remember correctly...once more, nothing to do with Christ.
I believe in many of the principles laid out in the bible, but not all of them. I don't take it as a work of history or theology, but I uphold some of it's teachings because I believe they make sense. Not because I fear going to hell, but because I feel they are right.
At the same time, I also follow bits of paganism, buddhism, and native american teachings. I wear a Thor's Hammer around my neck not because I believe word for word in Asatru (viking religion), but because it proclaims strength, and I follow many of their teachings.
I do believe in god(s), I believe in spirituality, but I don't believe any one culture or religion has all the answers. The world is such a vast place, with many mysteries and many strange occurances...why would one small group of people be granted ALL the answers, and the rest of the world be wrong?
I look for common practices in religions around the world, and go from there. The details are usually built around cultural or historical events from the time they were written, and often have little to no relivence in the overall picture.
