I don’t quite follow you here. I don’t know that I advanced a theory similar to this…?
I think I prefer to have the responsibility to find knowledge on my own, rather than being placed bodily on the “right” path if I am reluctant. (And if God is messing with our likes and dislikes, I think He’s altering our personality in a fundamental way.) If I don’t feel any strong desire to read Origin of the Species, I may very well choose not to do so because I am a lazy ass, not because I have a divine mandate that it is right to do so. Any time I see God being used to avoid learning something I cringe–mere mortal apathy can be overcome, but if you feel that God is endorsing your indifference, it’s awful hard to convince anyone to learn something new. As I see it, I don’t have a deity telling me it’s OK to ignore things I’m not particularly interested in; if I ignore such things, I take personal responsibility for possibly missing out on important knowledge since I don’t know that God will be sure to make me learn all I need to know. Since I don’t see much evidence of God teaching creationists how NOT to fill their kid’s heads with bad science and thus cripple their learning, the theory that God is making sure that everyone knows what they need to know doesn’t hold much water with me! I understand where you’re coming from–and I certainly don’t think it a great crime that you don’t wish to study the Falun Gong–but as I see it your belief has enormous potential for abuse in those who wish to remain ignorant. A God who doesn’t say “seek out all knowledge, weigh it carefully and fairly”, but instead “if you really need to know it, I’ll make sure you do. So it’s a good idea not to bother at all with stuff that doesn’t thrill you”? How do you explain those who do not seem to learn what they need to know in time, or those who feel no urge to question their hatred…why doesn’t God make them question? If God’s path for them included keeping them as ignorant bigots, how can His path be seen as for the ultimate good of the person?
I am also reluctant to condone a belief that God has certain experiences that He wants you to go through, and you will experince them willy-nilly. I think I’d rather rip my own tongue out then try to explain someone’s rape as a God-mandated “learning experience”…but your idea of a path that we cannot sidetrack by our actions doesn’t seem to leave much room for viewing it otherwise.
“Well, how do you know that the Falun Gong wouldn’t be better for you if you don’t investigate it?” (paraphrase) is the “your theory” I was referring to. Hey, on my testimony, you oughta be running out and talking to the first Episcopal priest you run into!
Seriously, I take your point. But I’m not portraying Him as the Big Power Up There Who Commands; He’s my beloved Father whom I trust. Different metaphor, with different consequents. It’s a cooperative effort. Obviously, I could resist any “leading” He might place in my path. (Heck, for all I know, your insistence on the Falun Gong may be His wake-up call to check it out!) But if I sense that He wants me to look at something, I’ll do it, for the same reason I check out the links you post in reference to things I’ve said: I trust you (and Him) to give me information that will be beneficial to what I’m trying to do and say. (And, though David may have imbued you with some of his store of wisdom when you became a godlike Moderator, and you had plenty to begin with while still a poster, I figure that His omnipotence and benevolence (at least as they’ve been demonstrated to me to date) outshine anything you could come up with – no offense intended! Wherefore it behooves me to check out what He wants me to, not because it’s a Divine Command, but because He knows me and what I need and want better than anyone, including myself.
It’s a cooperative effort. I trust Him to guide me; He trusts me to trust Him and to follow His leadings. “And the wheel in my tummy keeps a-turnin’…”
Poly, I know more about Christianity than any other religion. I know more about Christianity than atheism! (there’s nothing to know about atheism. ) I think that I have done a fair bit of investigating of the Christian religion, and while I am always willing to learn more, I think those belief systems that I have wholly neglected have moved up on my List Of Things to Learn About. I gave and still give Christianity a reasonably fair shake, IMHO, but I think it’s only wise and fair to investigate areas where I am totally ignorant rather than simply sharpen my wit on the same old Christian apologetics.
You could resist, but you’re going to follow His plan anyway, right? No action of yours can derail it. I know you trust in your God to tell you anything you need to know. But how and why does God’s unchangable path lead you the right way, when He leads others to be ignorant? According to you, if we assume that it is good for you to study the Falun Gong, God will make certain than you do so. So why aren’t ignorant bigots being taught the information they need to know to overcome their predjudices? Is it not on their path?
Like I said before, it’s a cooperative venture. He takes my decisions into account (and yours, and goboy’s, and everybody else’s).
And yes, He does work on ignorant bigots, too. Mostly through the people He calls to do His work. Why do you think the Witnessing Fundie Poster shows up here from time to time!?
And if said ignorant bigots claim that the fact that they feel no urge to investigate gay rights mean that God doesn’t want them to do so, what do you say? Simply tell them that their experiences of God are wrong and yours are right?
I have grievious issues with condoning a God-given right to resist investigating new information. It disturbs me deeply. To make a choice on your own as to what you think worthwhile to learn, and take responsibility for possibly making a mistake and not doing what you “should”…this I can accept. But to claim that God Himself condones your reluctance to learn something new, quite frankly, bothers me a great deal. Your argument can be used just as easily to excuse a bigot from learning more about homosexuals or evolution as for you to excuse learning about the Falun Gong. Not that I think you are evil to refuse to do so! But I think such responsibility should rightly rest with your best decisions, not your deity’s almighty plan.
Now you got me thinking of the Falun Gong.
When they burp, is it like saying amen?
When if throw up, is it a sin?
How about alka seltzer? Communion?
But seriously folks, I believe Jesus was a man and God.
According to the Bible, and anyone who purports to be a christian, God was always God, He didn’t have to work His way up. The Bible says otherwise.
