XPost: alt.religion.christian, alt.bible   
   From: ibshambat@gmail.com   
      
   There are any number of people who believe that they are serving God. I   
   do not see how such a thing is possible. Why would an omnipotent being   
   need someone to serve him? God is God. God can do whatever God wants to   
   do. Why would such a being want anyone to serve him at all?   
      
   Then there are others who talk about reincarnation and “karmic lessons.”   
   I likewise do not see why that would be necessary. I can understand the   
   experience of other people who are nothing like myself simply by   
   interacting with them and trying to see how things look from their   
   perspective. I do not need to be them in order to do that. As for the   
   wrong things that I have done myself, I likewise do not see why I need   
   to go through a bunch of lifetimes in order to clear them. I can do what   
   the Alcoholics Anonymous says one should do: Make amends to whomever I   
   may have hurt – in this lifetime.   
      
   When I have written about the wrongfulness of ethnic conflicts, one   
   response that I got was “the sins of the fathers are visited upon the   
   sons.” If this is in fact the case, then I do not see why anyone should   
   bring life into the world at all. If this is what we are dealing with,   
   then giving birth is an act of sadism. If the sins of the fathers really   
   are visited upon the sons, then once again I do not see why this should   
   be done by any human force. God will do that himself, and he will not   
   need anyone in order to do that.   
      
   Probably the only religious argument that does make sense to me is that   
   God would want us to act in a particular way. The only thing that God   
   cannot control is our actions. Which means that the only thing that God   
   could want from us is that we act in one way and not in another.   
      
   I have had many spiritual experiences, as have any number of people I   
   know, including distinguished scientists and successful professionals   
   and entrepreneurs. I am not vulnerable to materialist fundamentalism or   
   other similar fallacies. I will however scrutinize anything that is   
   presented to me; and I am doing that with the claims that are made in   
   the name of any given religion.   
      
   When someone claims that he is serving God, this claim should be   
   challenged. God is omnipotent, and He does not need anyone to serve Him.   
   If someone believes in punishing the man of the next tribe because their   
   grandfathers had a dispute, the correct response is, God will do that   
   Himself. With karma and similar attitude, they should likewise be   
   challenged. Once again, I do not see why I would need to experience life   
   as the next man in order to see things from his perspective, nor why I   
   should inflict whatever wrongs I've done in this lifetime on some   
   innocent child down the road.   
      
   With people I have known who were advanced in spirituality, I have seen   
   real wisdom but also things that were obviously mistaken. I do not   
   impugn spirituality or religion; I impugn error. And this is plenty to   
   be found all around, regardless of whether or not you want anything to   
   do with religion or spirituality.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)