God and Future of AmerciaGod and Future of AmerciaPeter MartinoExpos PaperGod is an all seeing, all hearing, and all knowing being that no one has really ever been in direct contact with. For skeptics that is enough to make an unbeliever, yet, with all of the resurrections, walking on water, and visions of the Virgin Mary crying something must be there. That something is the true dilemma. What exactly is God and what exactly does he want us do? Many have tried to analyze what the answers to these questions and most of them have received answers, itās just that all the answers are different. Many factors have played part in my understanding of spirituality, from the views of the past to the radicals of the present each idea has helped me realize that God is there, anyway you want him to be.
The Problem: the Myth of the Bible.
John D. Nott says: It is commonly held that some of the most famous, all-seeing people in the history of the West were unbelievers, either in religion or in their moral beliefs. This is, of course, false. One of the greatest examples of this was the British Catholic writer John D. Nott in his book What Faith Is? In The New Testament: Some of the greatest scholars, both Catholic and Protestant, deny this. What is more, they blame Christians and Judaism as being in conflict, although the latter claim only that the two are on different sides of that conflict. This claim is frequently referred to as the “Jewish issue,” and while this issue is a bit hard to reconcile, it is certainly a common one.
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John D. Nott, “Unbeliever and the Great Western Atheists”, NAMC, August 27, 1969,
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A few things you should know
The following is an excerpt from the book of John D. Nott [published by the U.S. Naval Historical Institute]. The book is called The First Year of the American Folk Religion, by John D. Nott. This was the same date published in the “Christian” paper that was then the subject of this article. I believe it was the same date published in the “Christian” paper that was then the subject of this article — it is my interpretation. Because of the fact that not a lot of people at that point — maybe it was quite a few at that point — were able to take on the first year of the American Folk Religion, I think, that was a good point for some. (You may think I’m referring to the first year of the American Folk Religion, but that will be made clear later.) Although John and Paul were the first to start using Scripture for their own purposes (I guess that’s the first place this happened as far as I know), it was the second time that they had done it in their churches, on their own, or were simply looking to see if they could get their act together. This meant they took some extra time on their own on Sunday, but then took all of that and added on Sunday into this particular year’s event the first year. (You may remember I said on the previous page that because of this being the first year of the American Folk Religion I believe the first year was the year which introduced Christianity into the United States.) John D. Nott was the first to get his start on the first year in the American Folk Religion. As I say, he worked so well in the first year of the American Folk Religion that no one even thought of it. If some of you thought his American Christianity was better than the other, don’t worry about it at all. He was the first to do it. For some reason, you may be inclined to think of this as a coincidence. Although the American Folk Religion has been called “an American” Christian, it actually wasn’t until the second year (which was the year which introduced Christianity onto the world) that the concept
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Now that we have established that a person is an unbeliever, we can now examine the legal status of atheists. The First Amendment states that a religion is a private and personal right protected by the First Amendment. As defined in the First Amendment, a “religious person” is not limited by a religion to whom they are committed, but any state or local agency which may lawfully issue license licenses to atheists under the same circumstances of religion as a government agency that has the same legal rights as any other, or even both, religion. For the purposes of this analysis, this means a person who sincerely believes in the existence of God is a member of a religious group, which is not limited to a particular religion.
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So what can it mean that a person is not a “religious person” but for non-religious purposes, under the First Amendment? You’re not a “religious person” at all, but you have a right to practice your religion on a state level and on the public square, which is a private or special interest not mentioned in the constitutional charter, which is clearly defined in the First Amendment as well.
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So this is a state by state discussion about whether a person is a religious adherent, a “religious adherent”, not a “religious believer”, for example. It would be strange to define an “atheist”, and thus, not just religious, as something outside the scope of the Constitution. But this does not excuse the state law, which includes the First Amendment protections in both the First and Second Amendments. There are exceptions to the First Amendment. That is, state laws that prohibit persons from taking any action that is not directly associated with their religious beliefs are still protected under the First Amendment and the Second. If a person is not a religiously adherent, he’s not necessarily prohibited from religious action. But the question becomes how many of his or her sincerely held beliefs, while not being directly associated with their religious beliefs, are valid for the state to apply his or her religious beliefs against. To determine that, we need some way of defining “belief” as being at most 5% of a person’s beliefs, or 3 as being on the “line” (rather than the “curve” to be on), from which he or she can draw a broad swath of legal action.
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In the second place, these decisions can have huge impacts on the rights and liberties of other people as well as the rights and liberties of others. The Supreme Judicial Court has done many very compelling things to promote the right to speak out about their religious beliefs. (See in this case, the federal case challenging the Affordable Care Act, in which
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Now that we have established that a person is an unbeliever, we can now examine the legal status of atheists. The First Amendment states that a religion is a private and personal right protected by the First Amendment. As defined in the First Amendment, a “religious person” is not limited by a religion to whom they are committed, but any state or local agency which may lawfully issue license licenses to atheists under the same circumstances of religion as a government agency that has the same legal rights as any other, or even both, religion. For the purposes of this analysis, this means a person who sincerely believes in the existence of God is a member of a religious group, which is not limited to a particular religion.
[…]
So what can it mean that a person is not a “religious person” but for non-religious purposes, under the First Amendment? You’re not a “religious person” at all, but you have a right to practice your religion on a state level and on the public square, which is a private or special interest not mentioned in the constitutional charter, which is clearly defined in the First Amendment as well.
[…]
So this is a state by state discussion about whether a person is a religious adherent, a “religious adherent”, not a “religious believer”, for example. It would be strange to define an “atheist”, and thus, not just religious, as something outside the scope of the Constitution. But this does not excuse the state law, which includes the First Amendment protections in both the First and Second Amendments. There are exceptions to the First Amendment. That is, state laws that prohibit persons from taking any action that is not directly associated with their religious beliefs are still protected under the First Amendment and the Second. If a person is not a religiously adherent, he’s not necessarily prohibited from religious action. But the question becomes how many of his or her sincerely held beliefs, while not being directly associated with their religious beliefs, are valid for the state to apply his or her religious beliefs against. To determine that, we need some way of defining “belief” as being at most 5% of a person’s beliefs, or 3 as being on the “line” (rather than the “curve” to be on), from which he or she can draw a broad swath of legal action.
[…]
In the second place, these decisions can have huge impacts on the rights and liberties of other people as well as the rights and liberties of others. The Supreme Judicial Court has done many very compelling things to promote the right to speak out about their religious beliefs. (See in this case, the federal case challenging the Affordable Care Act, in which
The Solution: Christian Doctrine.
What, then, are Christians and Jewry apart or who do they know, and what do they believe that Christianity, Judaism, or any of the religions they are associated with, really stands for? Well, for a start a large majority of Christians see Jesus Christ as the supreme prophet of the Bible and of God, the “Messiah” and the “great and holy Father,” and this is of great importance indeed because most of those who follow Jesus in His life would agree that Jesus was the most significant and important figure who ever was. They see in his story one of men in the world who has won the hearts and minds of many believers in various countries, and because he is the one living today, who has had a great impact on a generation, and because he has given such a great deal of hope to people worldwide, they believe his story.
Here is how the Christian Doctrine developed to be in practice. The first Christian doctrine that emerged from the Christian world was the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. This doctrine was the Bible’s answer to the Bible’s many other issues, notably that if an ancient Christian were resurrected, or died, he/she would “bring them back to life,” or as David would say it, they would “bring them back back to God.”[1] A second Christian doctrine was the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, according to which a resurrected human would once again “come to life.” The next is to be seen was the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead referred to as “the kingdom of God.” John 9:15: “The world shall return when I have given the angels power to take away from them their things and to eat them up and to bathe them with their blood; and then the house of God shall be glorified, and the angels shall return to life.” It turns out that this doctrine was not what Jesus was telling everyone, for not everyone would want to eat or bathe Jesus with his blood at all. In fact, the entire Gospel of John was also based upon this belief.[2] It is worth noting that as we learn and learn more about that story, it has been noted that the earliest gospel writers would actually write in the Gospels that Jesus
I feel that religion is overrated, just as cigarette ads try to suck young teens into smoking, religion tries to suck kids in through fear. Yet, while this approach may work on some, others grow out of, just as in believing in Santa Clause. Currently, with the more open-minded view of everything in society, there are less and less overtly religious people in the world. Jean-Paul Sartre saw this concept. He saw God as a concept dwindling on the brink of existence. āTraditionally religion tells us that we must conform to Godās ideas of humanity to become fully human. Instead we must see human beings as liberally incarnate. Sartreās atheism was not a consoling creed, but other existentialists saw the absence of God as a positive liberationā (Armstrong, 68). The idea of God as ājust thereā appealed to me. That is how I have always felt; yet was convinced that a life without full-fledged devotion would get me nowhere. All though this view was refreshing I still questioned the reality of God.
The world is not a warm, loving place. Although you may have a good life filled with much happiness, what about the millions of others that have a life of despair? āThe Koran says āNot so much as the weight of an ant in earth or heaven escapes from the Lord.ā That is touching that Allah, God, and their ilk care when one ant dismembers another, or notes when a sparrow falls but I strain to see the use of itā (Dillard, 195). Annie Dillard skepticism is threw a wrench in the gears of my thoughts. While I wish to believe that God is on a constant look out for all of his creatures, so many things have happened that can in no way be for the benefit for humanity. Catastrophes such as the Holocaust and the sinking of the Titanic show no good. āāGod Speaks succinctly,ā said the rabbisā (Dillard, 194) either God really knows what he is doing or he isnāt there. Yet, I feel as though I have to believe in the second.
While Dillard does make excellent points in her disbelief, there is too much belief in our world, itās people, and in myself to just give up. A.N. Whitehead brought up an interesting concept in my quest for God. He believed God to be āthe great companion, the fellow sufferer, who understandsā (Armstrong, 73). What if God isnāt mean to always be the solution? What if he is in our lives for support, someone to talk to, someone that is there to believe in you, someone that you know believes in you. With the billions of people in the world and the constant disasters, no matter how large or small, that occur God has his hands full. It is almost kind of silly to believe that he can do it all. No matter how holy and amazing he is, he once walked on the same soil as us, breathed the same air as us, and lived a life like ours.
The Prophet’s account about dalek-kalÄm is an interesting addition to our understanding by giving us this very specific example of a man who took up this position in his own life: “I was married; she who is not married can’t live and the man who married her can.” The Prophet said, “When the women are given to you as slaves, they have no opportunity by them to learn of the meaning of life. They don’t have the knowledge that when a slave dies, she can give you as long as you give her what she wants, while the man who owned her is in the same position as she.” (Dalek-kalÄm, 7ā8). His wife gave her a certain amount, even to her death. There is no one who can bear the burden of the husband and can, so he took action to make amends of his marriage.
Blessed is he who bears a portion of his wife’s blood through marriage! It is through marriage that his marriage is held, for all his wives are worth more than any one will ever bear.
Now the Prophet’s story, while interesting, it is the second one that needs addressing. The first is that Allah granted these men special rights to marry, something that would apply to anyone who made the decision to move from slavery to a full time job. The Prophet said in the following words:
“Now Allah has made us heirs to wealth, to the enjoyment of his children, but because of our marriage, to the exclusion of the male, and because of our parents, to the exclusion of all other menā¦ (i.e., to the great protection of Allah) are those men who are most liable to become his rulers. Those who have become his rulers for his benefit are his descendants who will inherit all his wealth and to whom he will call upon His angels.
“Allah did not let my marriage be terminated to protect anyone, or a woman. Allah did not let a woman become his slave. Allah only accepted those who refused to obey Allah and accepted Allah’s justice. He gave them the right to kill their wives and to get their possessions. The Prophet said, ‘In that case, if they can’t have sex, then give me one.” (Jabir, Volume 2, Book 47, Number 548.)
The Prophet’s view (Shara’a, p. 46) is clear: “Do you think the Prophet gave these men the status of ‘Abd al-Walid’ that would have enabled them as well to escape from slavery while being able to live on welfare with their families?” The Prophet replied, “Those who have become rulers for his benefitāthey make the ruler his master.” (q.v.)
This quote was in response to the revelation about the wives of men who were raped in Saudi Arabia. The Prophet then asked, “Do you think the Prophet gave us such slaves under his authority?” The reply was, “They
The Prophet’s account about dalek-kalÄm is an interesting addition to our understanding by giving us this very specific example of a man who took up this position in his own life: “I was married; she who is not married can’t live and the man who married her can.” The Prophet said, “When the women are given to you as slaves, they have no opportunity by them to learn of the meaning of life. They don’t have the knowledge that when a slave dies, she can give you as long as you give her what she wants, while the man who owned her is in the same position as she.” (Dalek-kalÄm, 7ā8). His wife gave her a certain amount, even to her death. There is no one who can bear the burden of the husband and can, so he took action to make amends of his marriage.
Blessed is he who bears a portion of his wife’s blood through marriage! It is through marriage that his marriage is held, for all his wives are worth more than any one will ever bear.
Now the Prophet’s story, while interesting, it is the second one that needs addressing. The first is that Allah granted these men special rights to marry, something that would apply to anyone who made the decision to move from slavery to a full time job. The Prophet said in the following words:
“Now Allah has made us heirs to wealth, to the enjoyment of his children, but because of our marriage, to the exclusion of the male, and because of our parents, to the exclusion of all other menā¦ (i.e., to the great protection of Allah) are those men who are most liable to become his rulers. Those who have become his rulers for his benefit are his descendants who will inherit all his wealth and to whom he will call upon His angels.
“Allah did not let my marriage be terminated to protect anyone, or a woman. Allah did not let a woman become his slave. Allah only accepted those who refused to obey Allah and accepted Allah’s justice. He gave them the right to kill their wives and to get their possessions. The Prophet said, ‘In that case, if they can’t have sex, then give me one.” (Jabir, Volume 2, Book 47, Number 548.)
The Prophet’s view (Shara’a, p. 46) is clear: “Do you think the Prophet gave these men the status of ‘Abd al-Walid’ that would have enabled them as well to escape from slavery while being able to live on welfare with their families?” The Prophet replied, “Those who have become rulers for his benefitāthey make the ruler his master.” (q.v.)
This quote was in response to the revelation about the wives of men who were raped in Saudi Arabia. The Prophet then asked, “Do you think the Prophet gave us such slaves under his authority?” The reply was, “They
While the truth is the truth, belief and speculation often are the more commonly accepted. Humans are on a constant quest for paradise, Utopia. When they hear that God will lead them there, many find it as a relief to life, to āknowā that one day they will walk among this being that will bring eternal happiness. āThe idea of God has frequently been used as the opium of the peopleā (Armstrong, 80). This God drug makes people