A Pawn of God vs. A God of Pawns

The latter part of the title refers mostly to my fictional characters: I create them, right? And they cannot fathom me unless I will it? - In which case, I'd better have a damn good reason.

I think I've personally broken the record for images in one post. But believe it or not, I was not thinking of "graven images" until after. Of course I'm not taking them down. And now, the reason for this post: a semi-imaginary conversation between myself and a religious nut. I am not attempting to portray any generalization of one group; I merely mean to point out the flaws in certain areas of religious reasoning and logic.

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NUT. Do you believe in God?

ME. Not sure. I don't think there is sufficient evidence.

NUT. He does not live on evidence, but on faith! Who do you think created you??

ME. My...parents?

NUT. Well, who created them?

ME. Their parents? It's a chicken-and-egg question.

NUT. So you just admitted that you don't know!

ME. I did not! There was no need to admit something I wasn't hiding. I don't know if He, or She, or Whatever, exists. At least I don't pretend to.

NUT (taken aback). How dare you! I know He exists, because He visited me in a dream! *1

ME. I suppose, by that line of reasoning, that a three-headed green cow exists?

NUT. Of course not.

ME. But I saw Her in a dream! I could swear up and down until the cows come home, no pun intended, yet still there's no reason for me to believe you.

NUT. Gahh, you will burn in Hell!

ME. If there is such a place, do open the door for me when I join you.

My personal theory is that, while there may be some sort of higher being, perhaps of time or a separate spatial dimension, or even a writer (I couldn't know if I was fictional) - but some of these claims are utter bogus. For example, according to the Law of Conservation of Mass, nothing can simply vanish from all of existence, or be newly created for that matter. There are so many quarks, atoms, etc. in our universe, particles, which at one point - (billions?) of years ago - formed amino acids and eventually led to simple life. I just combined memories from my past two science classes. Hooray for memory! Also, I think that either to explain or comfort, people create myths and such. Explanation includes Zeus of lightning and comfort implies scenes such as a loved one's deathbed. "You'll go to Heaven and see [another loved one]!" - which is a bit more socially acceptable than "You'll be turned to ashes and spread" or "You'll rot in the earth until your cold, unfeeling bones wither away through the centuries." Personally I wouldn't mind that, although I'll probably be cremated. People create deities in terror, pray "just in case" in an emergency but never otherwise, etc.

Again, I have many friends of many religions, so I'm not knocking any beliefs; rather, I am questioning the foundations of faith and knocking those who attempt to push their doctrines down others' throats.

I do believe in doing good things for others, and I don't have to worship anyone/-thing to do so.

*1 - I never had any such dream, but it served its purpose, I hope.

What are you going to do? I'm gonna do the best I can!

For those of you not aware, the above title is a quote between Santa Claus and Oogie Boogie from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - very clever movie. But the post itself is relating to the musical I am currently in. School House Rock Live! is actually rather a dull play, and my friend Ezra (who is more learned than I in the ways of the script) says the script is not very good. I'll have to take his word there. The conflict is not altogether fascinating, just a teacher who doesn't think he/she is prepared to educate - but it's what we have. Would I prefer to be in Dracula? Hell yes! But I cannot change that bit (although I can be in a different Dracula play sometime, I hope), so I will have to make do with what I have. Many of the kids here, particularly some of the younger ones, don't take acting seriously. They legitimately concern me. But this is my first non-school production and sort of a practice run for me. It can be compared to a rough draft in writing, or to a napkin on which to clean up. I'd prefer to make my inevitable mistakes here than to make them in a great work of art.

I consider myself an optimist, and if one does not agree with that statement, one ought to chew on this thought: I say an optimist does not pretend things are better than they are, but acknowledges the pain in the world and makes the best out of it. Otherwise to be a positive person, one would by definition be stupid and ignorant. And I prefer not to be either of those, although there is some debate as to whether ignorance is truly bliss; Olivia had a good post about that a while back.

As they say, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Of course there's the question of sugar and water, but I have to leave soon for a SHRL! rehearsal. Good-day.

Wishing the best to most,

Lewis

Conversation

This occurred to me and I just had to put it down somewhere. Maybe it will be used in one of my writings someday. It occurs between myself and a, well, person. It is imaginary, but I hope to say it sometime. (It was longer in my head, as is the case with many things.)

~

PERSON. Not very inconspicuous, are you?

WINTER. I can be, but I can also be noticeable.

P. Do you crave attention?

W. Not particularly; I can create diversions or draw attention at the appropriate times, but I can also be quite subtle.

P. I've never seen you be subtle.

W. Well then, it worked, did it not?