My take on God

Today's musical recommendation -> "Invisible" by Skylar Grey

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December 14/11

I have about 4 or 5 topics floating around and just haven't been able to wrap myself around one with enough passion to post anything about them yet but didn't want to go a week without an entry as I get far more messages asking where the next blog is than I ever thought I would lol

So today will be a hodge podge of stuff to consider......

You know what, ignore that last bit and let’s talk about God.

I know that isn't a topic that most people like to discuss, nor is it one that POF says you should talk about when first getting to know someone but I think that is just plain wrong. If you have a certain belief set wouldn't you want to know if the person whose profile you're interested in has some like beliefs - I know I would.

So here is my position on God and religion - I believe in God.

Pretty simple and so far so good right?

Now here comes the rub, and those of you who follow my postings knew one was coming right?......I probably don't hold the same view of God as you do.

Now many of you might be sitting there wondering what I mean so let me clarify things a little bit for you.

I'm Roman Catholic and go to church, though I'm sure not as often as my parish priest would like, and follow the tenants of the church for the most part.

Where I'm different comes into play when you understand that the church takes the position that God is all knowing and actively involved in our lives on a daily basis and this is where my problem comes up.

The church will tell you that man sins, is punished, and then forgiven. I'm ok with the theory but have a little issue with the application when it comes to certain things going on in life.

If our God is all knowing and active in our daily lives than he needs to explain to me the benefit of babies being born crack addicts, children who are permitted to be in homes where they are abused, drunk drivers getting into accidents that kill people and yet they walk away with nary a scratch, one race or religion waging genocide on another............

My take on God is he puts us here with the ability to decide things for ourselves and the hope that we can make the right choices but the one thing he isn't doing is sitting around to make sure the 7+ billion citizens of this planet are actually doing so. My God is more a hands off God who has moved onto something more important than watching to see if I went 3 miles over the speed limit.

I know my math seems off as there aren't 7+ billion Catholics but I'm one of those people who understand that we all can worship our religious deity of choice and still call him God. My God might be your Allah or your Buddha or anything else you choose to call him and I'm ok with that. I won't try and force my beliefs on you nor accept yours in order just to make you happy.

My mom had me baptized when I was born and then left me to work out my own take on religion. I often wondered why she did it that way and it dawned on me years ago that she wanted me to think for myself and not just follow the dogma as handed down from the pulpit in the Vatican. I respect her for being so understanding and have tried to do the same with my own children.

Both have gone through the Catholic board and I think they've done quite well in learning right from wrong but more importantly they've learned to listen to the gospel and then compare it against what they feel inside before taking a position on something.

My son has been told that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God. Yet his best friend's father is in a same sex relationship and a super dad. When my son asked me about that my response was that no one person or institution is all knowing and all you can do is listen and decide for yourself. Never take what the church says as the final word and always question what you're told. Even question what you mom and I tell you and make your choices based on how you feel. People might not agree with you but you won't be facing them in the mirror every morning...........

So now my question is..............I really don't have one today but rather hope this posting has made you think a little about how you feel about religion and your God.