sophiaserpentia | twenty questions about god and religion meme

1. Why is there poverty and suffering in the world?
Alright, this is actually two questions, one with a very complex answer (suffice it to say that poverty is basically a form of slow-motion cannibalism) and one with a very simple answer (because we've evolved with the capacity for suffering, and we have lots of opportunity to do so). By combining these issues into one, i can only presume the asker is actually asking, "Why does god allow poverty and suffering to exist," but i don't have an answer for this question.

It is supposed to be some great knock against the idea of god that poverty and suffering exist. But i can very easily imagine a god who is not omni-benevolent, and so have most theists throughout human history. The only reason anyone asks a question like this, is because some hippies allegedly declared a couple of thousand years ago, in an utterly futile rebellion against reality, that god loves all people and wishes nothing but good things for everyone.

2. What is the relationship between science and religion?
They can theoretically work together, if more people were to practice the style of religion that allows for uncertainty.

3. Why are so many people depressed?
Because for so many people, life is awful, and they don't have the power to improve it.

4. What are we all so afraid of?
Death. Pain. Other people.

5. When is war justifiable?
Never. To accept that any war is ever justifiable, is to accept "the end justifies the means" reasoning. Now, when someone is directly attacked they pretty much have no choice but to fight back. But for the most part, war is not simply a game of one nation innocently minding its own business until "wham! attack!" War is a racket. Most commonly, the stage is set for war by people in the upper class of all involved societies; they make a lot of money off of it and don't face most of the risk.

The idea of "just war" would also require us to accept numerous "unspoken" fictions about statehood: the fiction that humans are inherently divided into tribes of "us and them," and the fiction that there are institutions or coalitions that have the authority to impose a monopoly on violence.

6. How would God want us to respond to aggression and terrorism?
How should i know? I've never experienced any communication from any god on these topics.

7. How does one obtain true peace?
"True peace?" Um... well... meditation helps.

8. What does it mean to live in the present moment?
I interpret this as the capacity to be naive, and view the present as it is without filtering it through the lens of our past experiences and our hopes and fears for the future.

9. What is our greatest distraction?
That mean people suck.

10. Is current religion serving its purpose?
As far as i can see, the main purpose for organized religion is to provide the soundtrack for state and institutional oppression, and it serves that role very well. Oh, uh, if you mean that "promoting peace and loving thy neighbor" thing, no, religion is not serving its purpose, not when we are being spectacularly failed by most of our religious leaders in one way or another.

11. What happens to you after you die?
I have no idea. I kinda hope that our awareness persists in some non-unpleasant way.

12. Describe Heaven and how to get there.
I don't believe in any such place. For me the closest thing is an afternoon of snuggling, sweet wine, chocolate, and sex.

13. What is the meaning of life?
According to Steven Spielberg (though i doubt he had in mind the meaning of life), sharks have it down pretty well: swim, eat, and make little sharks.

14. Describe God.
How can i describe that which does not exist? I have said in the past that god's nonexistence is a "meaningful nonexistence," a presence of absense, that which never acts yet leaves nothing undone, etc. But don't quote me on any of that.

15. What is the greatest quality humans possess?
The potential to quickly learn from our mistakes.

16. What is it that prevents people from living to their full potential?
I'm convinced that the biggest limitation on human potential comes from post-traumatic stress disorder.

17. Non-verbally, by motion or gesture only, act out what you believe to be the current condition of the world.
Screaming. Crying. A little bit of laughter. Then more screaming.

18. What is your one wish for the world?
That people would more often choose to act compassionately, and listen more.

19. What is wisdom, and how do we gain it?
It helps to listen.

20. Are we all One?
"One" with a capital-O? Well, yeah, sorta, in that we are all unfoldings of the same holomovement. But this is one of the most unpopular ideas ever. People continue to act as though there is a distinction between spirit and flesh, between mind and body, between us and them (and i'm guilty of this last).