Logically Illogical

On occasion I find myself in a long drawn out conversation over a facebook post.  I’m sure we’ve all been there.  One of the most recent ones revolved around the recently leaked documents about the top leaders of the Mormon church receiving a pay increase.  This got drawn out way too long in my opinion, and I feel as though my point was lost with all the nonsense that was being said. 

During our conversation we undoubtedly veered off track and began to go back and forth about God in general.  The last thing that was asked of me on the facebook post was, "what would make you believe and convert"?  This person continued to ask, "do you need to see God"?  And finally said many people saw God (the Jews) and they still did not believe.   His point I guess to this line was, is seeing God even good enough?  That we still should be relying on faith to even confirm God to our hearts.

I answered this question by basically saying I don't know.  I say to anyone who asks me this question, that if their God is omnipotent, then he should know what it would take to convert me.  Growing up Mormon, we believed God was all knowing.  We believed God knew us perfectly from the very creation of our spirit bodies in the Pre-Existence (Mormons believe God and his wives physically begat our spirt bodies though some method of reproduction in the Pre-Existence).  As such, any all knowing God such as this would know what evidence I would accept or reject.

One user, I’ll call her Susie, was quick to respond in saying, "Agency... God lets you choose for yourself. I see little things all over the place, and, because I'm OPEN to them, see them as proof of a God. It's a mind set. If you were open to it, you would probably see it, too."

This of course doesn't solve the issue.  God still knows my mind set, and knows what I'll accept or reject.  I responded to her saying I'm open to God, but I'm not going to accept unsupported evidence.  I actually would love for their to be a life after death.  I've seen some pretty cool afterlife's out there in the world of TV and movies.  It would be a very welcome discovery in my mind.  Then we could just get around to figuring out which God.  

So I then simply asked Susie what it would take for her to believe in Allah.  She said she wouldn't because she’s pretty set.  Come on, Seriously?!  How are you going to give me that bull shit answer, but if I said that, I’d be accused of not being honest with myself.  What a double standard this is.  How do you expect somebody else to open their hearts to your God, but you won’t open yours to theirs?  Hence why I withhold belief in all of them.

Susie continued to tell me she has seen, felt, and heard spirits, and that's been enough for her. Also, she didn't want those experiences, which is probably why she got them. She added God gives more miracles to those who aren't looking, than to those seeking such, for their own protection.  This was an absolute ridiculous statement to make.  At some point an omnipotent God must be held accountable for his actions and decisions.  Too many times God is praised for good, but not blamed for bad.  So when someone doesn’t get better from a deadly illness, they don’t blame God.  Instead they say it’s all part of his plan, or just bad things happen sometimes.  

If there is a God, and this God is all knowing and all good, then how can it be reconciled to not provide sufficient evidence for his existence?  Knowing what I will accept or reject, yet refusing to give that which I will accept is not loving behavior, and either your God is immoral, or your God simply does not exist.  Saying God has given sufficient evidence, but I’m just not open to receive it, is ignoring the logical conundrum.  This doesn’t even scrape the surface of the logical arguments against a God’s existence.

At the end of the day, it’s not my problem.  I am not out there making any claims that a particular God exists.  Instead, I simply withhold my belief in any Gods due to a lack of supporting evidence for such.  The same can be said for other paranormal type of belief.  I happily follow the evidence, and at this time, it just simply has not amounted to anything worthy of my belief or devotion.  As for Susie, she has admitted to some paranormal personal experience.  She has also admitted to me she takes medication for depression among other things.  This of course makes it easier for me to simply dismiss her experiences as that of mind tricks, but that may very well be a fallacy in and of itself.

She has also said numerous times to me that if it weren’t for her belief in God, particularly Mormonism, she probably would have killed herself a while ago.  This is a real shame.   It’s a shame because she’s not giving herself any credit.  Instead she’s giving all credit to some God, in which there’s no evidence he even exists.  So she, without even knowing it, thinks very low of herself, and that is so dangerous.  She’s stronger than she thinks, because it’s been her the entire time, winning the battle.  Not some invisible deity, but her.  Her strength, and her willpower.  One of the most damaging things the Mormon church (probably most churches) does to it’s believers, is make them feel powerless without their faith.  It makes people feel they must believe, attend, pay, pray, serve, devote and give their lives over to the church so they, as helpless beings, can be happy and overcome adversity.  

I know how it feels, because I was there once upon a time.  I felt this way in my life.  Not only was I a spokesperson, but I was also a member.  Little did I know, the power to be happy, fulfilled and worthwhile was in me the entire time.  It only took shaking off dogmatic beliefs and ancient superstitions to discover it.  I didn't find peace with Jesus.  I found it without him.