There's a God For That

I've recently heard a married woman give an account of how another married man made inappropriate sexual advances at her.

Among the ways he tried to woo her, he stated that God obviously allowed them to meet for a reason. So what's holding her back from sneaking off with him?

God?

That notion appalled the woman most of all.

That's when I realized something. God is what you make of him.

• If you need a little infidelity in your life, there's a god (or allah) for that.
• If you need to be vindictive, then there's a god for that.
• If you need to hate others that are different than you, there's a god for that.
• If you need to feel accepted even though the scripture text of your religion calls your lifestyle an abomination, there's a god for that.
• If you need altruism to exist in the universe, there's a god for that.
• If you need to start up an inquisition, there's a god for that.
• Need to burn some crosses in somebody's yard? There's a god for that.
• Do you need god to be "she" rather than "he"? There's a goddess for that!

There is a god (or goddess) that can fit any need, belief, whim, or hate.

I will admit that some people who believe in god are inspired to love and care for others. People like that usually have a benevolent god in their lives. I think this is because such people happen to already be benevolent for prior reasons.

But even a confidence artist will say that God has caused his victims to cross his path.

Why?

Because that's the kind of god a confidence artist will serve.

God is merely a reflection of his worshipers' hearts-- a projection of the deep recesses found within a worshiper's mind.

In the end, God is what you make of him.

Special Agents

Fundamentalist usually regard their deity as the ultimate authority. All law and morality comes from their god and is handed down to all humankind to obey.

That means you-- regardless of whether you worship that same god as someone else or no god at all.

And if God says "do it", it had better be done or you will find yourself trying to defy the laws of reality.

But this authority that God supposedly has . . . how does humankind receive the instructions?

Usually, through one of God's Special Agents.

Special Agents can be apostles, prophets, angels, priests, saints, or messiahs. Special Agents can also be a pastor, priest, bishop, or a pope.

Even a dumb ass can become one of God's Special Agents-- if the situation is just right.

Psychology studies have shown that people tend to readily obey any person they regard as an authority figure. People will obey even to the point of taking actions which are blatantly erroneous, reckless, and even harmful to life!

People can be unquestioning towards a figure which they regards as an agent of authority.

So what do you get when you mix the authority of God with the authority of one of his Special Agents-- and then add in devoted religious followers and an unscrupulous soul?

You get a confidence artist taking advantage of his or her victims.

The confidence that a theist has in his god's authority often extends to his Special Agent. A confidence artist will happily exploit this dynamic for filthy gain.

All at the total expense of the religious victims, er, I mean, religious followers.

But forget about the confidence artists.

How do you ever know that any person (or dumb ass) is truly a Special Agent of God?

If you need an Agent from God to know what God is saying, when does God make it clear that he has sent an Agent to speak for him? I suppose a talking ass is a fairly clear sign. But who has seen a real, talking ass nowadays.

OK, don't answer that last question . . .

At it's worst, organized religion is a huge confidence scheme.

But even when God's Special Agents are sincere and honest, how can you ever know that their beliefs are harmless? How can you be sure that their instructions won't ever hurt you and truly come down from God above?