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)