Fear Factor

[eggwards]

I'm going to try not to over write (nee, overthink) this next statement (besides, I need to go to work!). If I get to deep, I might muck it up.

If the creator, God, whatever - I'm sort of noncommittal to any one religion, really wanted his creations to worship him day and night, he wouldn't have allowed free will. I'm personally of the opinion that the creator is sitting there watching the largest reality TV program, and only steps in when necessary. Is there a reward system? It's not made entirely clear. People have faith, people believe that there is a reason to stay in the "producer's" favor, but beyond that belief, there is little evidence that you'll win.

Good is good for society, of course.

Religion for too many centuries has been used to hold people in their current situation. Often Christianity was oriented to a past that included serfs, indentured servants, and lords. What better way to keep the serfs from overthrowing the lords than telling them that their true reward comes from staying in the faith, and not rocking the boat in this world. It's only after the Enlightenment of the 17th-18th centuries that you find the true revolts of the people.

When people take control of their own lives, people succeed. It's a tough statement for many. It's much easier to hope that a benefactor will come and take you away from where you are now, be it the state, Donald Trump, or the aforementioned creator.

To quote Nancy Griffith, channeled by Bette Midler, "God is watching us, from a distance"

Comments

[baeritone.livejournal.com]

People taking control of their own lives. *contented sigh*

The problem is that people in general want to comfort of believing that someone out there is taking care of us, watching over us. To give up that belief is to reap the whirlwind, to realize that bad things WILL happen to all of us at times, and to realize that those bad things are, in the main, random.

Robert Heinlein actually wrote of it very succinctly in Stranger In A Strange Land:

“’Thou art God.’ It’s not a message of cheer and hope, Jubal. It’s a defiance—and an unafraid unabashed assumption of personal responsibility.” He looked sad. “But I rarely put it over. A very few, just these few here with us, our brothers, understood me and accepted the bitter along with the sweet, stood up and drank it—grokked it. The others, hundreds and thousands of others, either insisted on treating it as a prize without a contest – a ‘conversion’—or ignored it. No matter what I said they insisted on thinking of God as something outside themselves. Something that yearns to take every indolent moron to His breast and comfort him. The notion that the effort has to be their own… and that the trouble they are in is their own doing… is one that they can’t or won’t entertain.”

Grokked

[wikkid-beast.livejournal.com]

I grokked that book the very first time i read it. It's one of the best.

Thou art God

[hugh-mannity.livejournal.com]

But I don't want to be responsible and a grownup and take care of myself WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! /whine

Well, actually I don't mind all that. However, far too many people have that response when you try to tell them that.

[randomcub.livejournal.com]

I think God is watching from all OVER the place, actually, not only from a distance.

And I don't know that taking control of one's own life is mutually exclusive of faith in God's actions in the world or in my life. I don't necessarily believe that God is micromanaging my life somehow, but i don't believe he's not involved, either.

Every day is a gift, as are friends and loved ones. I'm very thankful for all of that.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's an exclusive separation. We obviously benefit from the creation we're living in, sunrises, sunsets, and lot of other beauty do lend me to believe there is a creator, or consciousness at work. On the othe rhand, you would think a control-freak deity would take a larger role in settling major conflicts (wars) and might be more strict in defining moral codes. To me, the Bible is a book of morality and societal lessons, written over time. I'm not big on beliving the Bible, or other books have the direct hand of God in them.

I think the creator either left us to our own devices, or is much more benevolent than many believe, allowing us to choose our own way. Besides the details of a ticking clock, gravity and other points of nature, I don't think he really cares who we love, or what kind of car we drive.

Of course, you can also tell that I don't have a well-defined sense of the creator.

You're right, everyday is a gift, and what we choose to do with that gift is important.

[theevilnub.livejournal.com]

...Often Christianity was oriented to a past that included serfs, indentured servants, and lords...

Often Christianity was oriented to a past that included , servants, & .

hehe...

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

There's a movie in this, I'm sure!

50/50

[alphaschnitz.livejournal.com]

I think it's somewhere in the middle.

I believe the higher power (whatever form that may be) places situations and opportunities in front of us constanly. As humans with free will, our responsibility is to see the opportunities, grab them, and run with them in spite of the risk. The HP is not going to spoon-feed it to us. That, in my mind, is taking charge of one's own life.

I believe that faith comes into play when the person trusts that they will still be OK even if the opportunity/risk degenerates into a not-so-stellar "growth opportunity." Faith, in my mind, is believing that the next opportunity will present itself exactly when it's ready to, and trusting in oneself's ability to recognize the opportunity and accept it.

Re: 50/50

[eskiebear.livejournal.com]

Very interesting and much more plausible point of view. Having faith that the sun will still rise in the morning (even on a cloudy day)is the only guarantee I know of other than the standards (Death and Taxes), but I try.

I expect to be surprised when I die no matter what. Pearly Gates, Brimstone or another round at the world....Who knows? I tend to think our karma has a say. Good gets good...Bad gets bad...in the end.

Your outlook of recognizing and taking advantage of opportunities is so lost on alot of the younger crowd. I see that some think that easy money, success and growth is around the corner waiting to discover them. I count less than a dozen people I know that always look for something better.

We can only hope for the future.