God is too big to fit into one religion...
What do you think of that folks? Well...i saw that on a T-Shirt during one of my various escapes in Bangalore...couldnt resist buying that T-Shirt!! I sport it now and then...but in Germany where i am right now, it got a couple of odd reactions from people.First, my graduate program manager...she took one look at that and she went "Jesus saves all" followed by some very high pitched preaching...or rather praising the lord. I was like..."Hmm...oooook.....if you say so".
Then more recently...a professor of mine...he looked at the T and asked me about it...i told him that i liked the underlying message of religious equality that this implied and not exactly the thing about how great god is...and he was quite interested in this view...he started talking too...and we spoke for a long time after that...he told me of various incidents that occured all over the world with many people...all about jesus...god...the holy spirit...heaven and hell. Very interesting for me...very...
But finally, i think he too was trying to make an attempt at propounding his own religious beleifs. He is not a religious person people...he is not a follower...but just a beleiver. Now what makes me wonder is...in this coutry which is the seat of the religion in many ways than one...did i do the right thing by wearing such a T shirt? I mean...in todays world of tolerance and secularity and respect...does it really matter? I am amazed how people cling to their beleifs...if someone is agnostic or an atheist to start with and then realised certain truths or felt the invisible vibes which exist all over the universe and then started beleiving in what we call as "god", he or she is a true beleiver.
Others...well...maybe they are true...maybe. But i have my doubts whether half the people around you know what the hell is going on in their religion...oh sure...they know whats it about, they know how it works, they know all the rules...yes, the rules. But...does any one of them know why they do what they do? Do they know how other religions work? Do any of them know how another person is brought about beleiving certain things that consumes his or her entire being to the extent of whitewashing their mind...?? Or...are they aware of how certain people can be without any beleifs whatsoever and be free of any burden...but yet...lonely...longing...hmmm.
What i am saying is this...one should be given the option of choosing ones own religious beleifs. One should be able to check out what its about...what one can associate with...what suits one beleifs. If nothing is available, customise it i say. Take the first two paragraphs from the Kuran and merge it with the gospel of john or something...i mean, whatever...finally, if one can find that one formula that one can depend upon blindly with the reassurance of it never letting him or her down during times of need or otherwise...thats what true beleif is about.
Where does god play a part in all this? Poor dude has been ignored all this while...we humans are a pretty self important lot...we emphasise on our own brilliance...we revel in our own magnificence...our crowning achievements...ha! God...hmmm...the concept. A lovely concept...evolution maybe...or the brainchild of some desperate person...or maybe the other way around. Dont know...maybe...maybe not! You know what the problem is...the word "god"...or its equivalent in other languages...they all evoke the same feeling in people, the same inner meaning...but damn, so many forms and shapes and colours and flavours. Discord among the same final thought...its only a thought and a feeling damn it!! Thought...which saves mankind from the dangers of everyday life...i have a feeling thats the reason why we have many of the stupid ugly problems of yesterday still around today.
Each day...each minute...a fresh conflict happens...2 sides form...and in time, a third side evolves...neutral...totally unconcerned. Is this the way evolutions seperates the next generation from the older defunct generation...but then, a fresh conflict happens...and again, someone neutral and so on and on...forvever and ever. But the older generations never disappear eh...
Entropy...is it? I think so...
Am still searching...until then, god is too big to fit into one religion...
posted by Maharaj at 11/26/2005 02:05:00 PM
17 Comments:
i agree buddy... we're born into a family following religion XYZ... the way i see it, we're all handicapped to follow without choice! And i doubt God himself aprooves of such blind beliefs.
I expected something else in this entry, i guess the title was misleading, you know what i mean :)
hmmm.... I can well imagine the look of your face when the above said incidents happened :-) should have been very close one of your mime faces!! Well as always you succeed in confusing me! Thought it was all about forming a belief and then clinging on to it, being a true believer, you call it... then realized that wasn't the point exactly.. but then what was the point?? Was there a point at all??!!!:-)
hmm.. Nice post dude!
My thought Exactly Arun! Well written! The point about making one's own chioce is very important.
But I think people prefer to beleive blindly without any questions or thought going into it for they want to just rely on "GOD" when they face with problems.....they keep "GOD" and "Religion" in a very special place in their mind which they refuse to re-evaluate or even talk of it's negatives...or the reason behind the rituals they perform!
Anyway - good post!
-Sami.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Great post da! amazing stuff and very well written. I totally buy the points in this post. However, I sometimes I think that the way we behave and react is a reflection of what we have seen all the way - lemme give it a thought and will probably get back with a post on this.
Where did you find it? Interesting read » » »
All religions differ vastly in their description of God and man's relationship to him. Therefore, either, (1) God fits into only one religion (2) He fits into none of them. ...or (3)He's a spongy, wishywashy cow-towing yes-god who becomes whatever we want.
People who say He's too big for one religion don't believe in a real God and their rant is pointless.
I have just found this fantastic aying on a bumper sticker at the MOnterey Reggae Festival and love it. I wish you weren't so "long gone" and then I'd have hope you still get messages here!
Truly, Thia
“God is too big to fit into one religion”
So says a bumper sticker I recently saw. On the surface this sounds right…but I find the implications troubling as they run counter to Christian belief. The implication is that God is so profound and infinite that one religion can’t possibly fully grasp God in His entirety, and therefore his truth may persist in multiple religions and/or belief systems.
Why does this sound right…and sound wrong at the same time? That’s because it is. The fallacy is found in a faulty conclusion based on a correct premise. Yes, God is beyond humanity’s grasp (or any being not God). This issue is not that He is not knowable, but rather, He is not exhaustively knowable. If He was, He wouldn’t be God, for how could a finite being fully wrap his limited mind around an eternal one?
So the idea that God could not possibly fit into one religion is true. The key word here though is ONE. The statement could replace “one” with “a” and still be true. As it is, the given contextual premise skews the conclusion. The word One more so implies that the dilemma lies in the incapacity of a singular religion as opposed to the idea of religion itself being unable to fully encapsulate God. The sticker is subtly misleading.
Again, of course no religion could ever hope to fully express God, given this, additional beliefs could not possible solve the dilemma. The question is though, would multiple beliefs allow a closer approach to God? The idea of multiple beliefs implies that the various beliefs differ from one another sufficiently so to be distinguished from one another. Admittedly, differing perspectives regarding some entity may be neutral or even in agreement with another in some instances. I perceive that ball to be red, while she perceives it to be rubbery. We can both be right while offering distinct descriptors. On the other hand, I cannot say the ball is entirely red while she says it is entirely blue and both of us be right (alas, she’s probably right).
It is quite obvious that various religions offer ideas that are essential to their religion, fundamental regarding their view on God, and in opposition to one another. While the word opposition is strong, I think it is fitting. In putting forth the belief that X consists of Y and Z, any other belief regarding X must necessarily include (but not limited to) Y and Z, else they are in conflict, and one or both are out of harmony with truth as both cannot be true.
To say I can mix and match as I please implies that I define truth, as opposed to it being some external constant. The idea of truth being relative is logically self-contradicting. Even on an existential level is does not deliver. In search for worth and meaning, can I really ascribe meaning to myself? If we are supposedly thrust into an absurd universe with no inherent worth, and for the sake of having a reason to get up Monday morning, we create a system of values that gives us value, does our value system really then have value?
While we have drives and social influences that push and pull us in various directions, ultimately we are responsible for who we choose to be, and how we choose to live. This naturally produces an existential angst as we have no inherent meaning outside the truth of God, and to arbitrarily ascribe meaning is meaningless. How, as something that has no meaning, infer meaning onto itself, so as to have meaning, and then continue as if there were no flaw in the integrity of this system? This would be akin to writing a check to ourselves from an empty bank account, and then trying to use the credit that the check itself promises as a means to circumvent this deficit.
I suppose in summary, I could say that I wholeheartedly agree that God is too big to fit into a religion, but I would go on to say that He is also too real to fit into anymore than one (and Christianity is both a religion and a relationship).
Its about an experience with god not dogma or doctine cause you can discuss that stuff forever and get nowhere and agree on nothing.
Cant argue experience and that belongs to the individual. in fact i dont have to defend my experience.
Yes, I feel very strongly that there is an experiental aspect that cannot and should not be ignored, but experience can be appropriate or inappropriate like anything else.
If I feel fulfilled by kidnapping and murdering children, it is true that I am feeling whatever I feel, but this is a wrong feeling to have.
If I walk off a cliff side and believe that I am floating while I am falling, this is perceptual experience that is incongruous with reality.
To say that my experience with God is exclusively relative to myself, that is to say I am the standard and measure of all things, than I must be relating to myself and not to God because it is intuitive that God is the standard for all, not man. If I am the standard, than I am god, and as imperfect mortal person like any other, I am fully aware that I am not in fact god.
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