Wednesday 25 February 2009

Questions about "Deconstructing criticism | williamlobdell.com"

My questions for William Lobdell and his article "Deconstructing criticism"...

I like his site and this article. Thinking of buying his book too. As you guys know, I’m currently in the process of seriously re-evaluating my beliefs and attempting to answer a LOAD of questions… So I may be heading in his direction. However I don’t quite follow some of what he says there…

“…Christian institutions should behave in a manner morally superior than their secular counterparts.”

Why would this necessarily be the case? One of the questions I asked above was about why it didn’t impact my life “enough”, so I kind of get this. But where does the Bible say that churches WILL be morally superior? Maybe it indicates or says they SHOULD be… but maybe that’s just not the case. Maybe the “success” of Christianity is not measurable by the actions of it’s followers? I don’t know what it is measurable by if not though!

“More likely, if I’m wrong and there is a loving God, I imagine he would look at me and said, 'Son, I know how hard you struggled to believe. I’m very proud of your effort. I love you. Let’s spend eternity together.' What would you do as a loving father?”
Not sure what I think about this. I kind of feel that if God is God and he sets the rules then they’re absolute… follow me & go to heaven - don’t follow me and don’t go to heaven. Is there a good reason to believe in a soft God that’ll go back on his word?

I’m interested in his thoughts and experiences, but it seems quite “me” centred - questioning the experiential truth of it (as if it should noticeably work out for him) rather than questioning the factual truth of it (Did it happen? Does he exist?). If it’s true, then any of the questions you raise above can be answered pretty much by saying “God is God, He makes the rules”.

However, the big question on my mind, and no doubt it has been on his, is: how do you know what is true?

====UPDATE====

As I was pondering these things last night I realised another reason why the above didn't sit right with me. On the one hand he appears to be saying "God can't exist, because the people who try to follow him are not changed enough by him" and on the other hand saying "If God exists, I want him to reward me for my efforts despite not being changed"... don't those 2 kind of contradict each other? It's almost like one rule for himself (Forgive me, I tried hard!) and one for the church (Unforgivable - they're trying but not changing!).

The tenable positions related to this, given that the church isn't living up to expectations, are as follows (in my view):

  • Church isn't good enough, I'm not good enough, but if God exists he should forgive us all
  • Church isn't good enough, I'm not good enough and if God exists he should punish us all
You can't go for a middle ground can you?

Questions about "Turning Agnostic"

(In response to: Turning Agnostic)
What is the difference between tolerating and accepting?
I can see how people can tolerate all religions by not saying that any one of them is completely true to the exclusion of all the others
I can't quite see how you can accept all religions if you mean saying they are ALL true... Doesn't that provide a major contradiction?
I guess this is a pretty common question and people say stuff like "you make your own truth" or "what's true for you isn't true for me"... but that sounds like nonsense to me.

All the questions in the world

I recently was asked to write down a list of all the questions that were going round in my head. Here's what I came up with in the first 20 mins...

Is there a God?
Is it possible to know if there's a God? How sure can you be?
How can you know if there's a God?
How come some very clever atheists don't believe in God?
How come some very clever Christians believe in God?

Does it even matter?
What could life be about if it's not about pursuing God?
Does there have to be a purpose?

Is my belief in right & wrong just a product of my upbringing?
If it is, does that mean it's untrue?
Can I even ask that question without believing in right & wrong?

Is it really the case that Jesus can only be mad, bad or God?

Is it possible to know anything for sure?
How?
How much is enough?
Even if I'm sure, is that enough?
What about people that disagree?

Is it possible to know anything for sure?
If not, is everything based on emotion really rather than thought?
If not, is everything based on faith... and how can I be sure that faith isn't misplaced?

If Christianity is true, why:
- didn't I see my life changing more?
- don't I see more supernatural stuff?

Is believing in God just a convenient way of reassuring yourself that something with more control than you is looking out for you?
Can church be good whilst not being true?
Can it be bad whilst being true?
Is worship enjoyable because it's psychologically good to take the focus off yourself sometimes?
Even if that's true, does it diminish it?

Isn't it a bit convenient that to believe in God you have to have faith? What else is that really true about? Love?

Why could prayer be more than just "believing in the positive and it will come to you"?
What if prayer is actually a way of doing that?
What if they're both ways to help you notice the positives when you get what you want and ignore the negatives when you don't get what you want?
Why would God care what we want?
Why would we be able to change his mind on stuff?
If so, do we somehow control him?
If not, does he control us?
Is prayer a way of trying to get what we want? Like a child nags it's parent (or Lizzy nags her husband)?

Is my process and emotional or intellectual one?
If I understand and know enough - would I believe more?

Are my doubts centred truly around God's existence or more my own self-belief in being able to "do it"?
What if I choose to be a crap Christian and not try hard at anything, but just believe something?
Is that even possible?
Would that really be belief or just fire insurance?
Am I just lazy?

Is it possible to answer these questions?
How?

What if life is just about asking lots of questions and never knowing the answers?
What if that's what the rest of my life will be?
Is that sustainable?
Should Christians be open to alternative views? How open?
Is learning stock answers to questions enough?
Should they let it challenge them to the core or protect themselves with something?

It seems convenient to outsource your conscience.

I think I have too many questions in proportion to answers!