Disgust Against Religion (not faith)
Comments(4) I woke up really early today, simply because, I slept really early because the night before (or the morning before) i wasn’t asleep until 3 in the morning to enjoy the birthday party of my friend as well as to celebrate the last day of my life as a high school sophomore. partytime, partytime, partytime.
And upon my desk there laid a QT book, illuminated by shiny morning sun. I opened up a random page and read the explaining excerpt of Isaiah 10:5-11. (translated from Korean)
The Assyrian Empire was…
What, the Assyrian Empire? Learned that in my ap history class, it was the strongest empire in the pre-classical era thanks to their faster development of iron metallurgy, and the first ‘real empire’ of the world.
The Assyrian Empire was only used as a tool to judge the children of God. The reason Assyria was able to conquer Israel was not because they were strong, but because God let them. However, Assyrians believed that they won because they were strong, and they thought they had overwhelmed the God of the Israeli. They did not know that they just happened to be stronger because it was God’s plan
Like this, God uses his nonbelievers as tools to educate. No matter how they fall in hubris of their own talents, it is only upon permission of God. When nonbelievers cause trouble to you, do not hate them, but reflect on yourself and seek for God’s message within.
I just happened to read this excerpt, is it God’s message to me? I literally threw this book away from my hands at disgust while I was reading about halfway in the first paragraph. I pondered, actually how many people would fall into this piece of religious propaganda? “They did not know that they just happened to be stronger because it was God’s plan” ; the Assyrian empire was ALWAYS strong, not just that moment. This passage is, so vaguely, justifying Israel’s defeat against the Assyrians with God’s name. Why, everything is God’s plan, isn’t it?
More than that, the thing I bothered me was their closed-nationality. Closed nationality is another term for extreme nationalism; thinking that their own nationality and ethnicity is the best over everyone else.
“However, Assyrians believed that they won because they were strong, and they thought they had overwhelmed the God of the Israeli.”; What’s the problem with the word “however”? The passage is carefully worded to deliver that the world is Jewish-Israeli centered and they are the God’s favorite, and ethnicities other than Jewish or Israeli are going to be doomed and are only uses to teach lessons to them by being manipulated by God. How did God think that Assyrians would succumb to Him when they conquered Him? That is out of logic; Mongolians accepted culture of conquered regions but not Assyrians. Had God misread the flow of the trend that time?
Closed nationality is a not a favorable policy to follow in a Global world like today. Cost of inability to control nationalism resulted in, ethnic massacres, Nazism, World War I, division of borders and many guerrilla wars that still go on today in the Balkans and the Middle East. Especially Israel is still struggling to gain their promised land and kick out the Palestine people who lived there for 2,000 years. I mean, how is the Old Testament so different from the Nazi, where one selected race gets salvation and the rest are prosecuted?
Obviously, someone had written that passage and the Bible itself that way to favor its audience, the ancient Jewish. Assyrians had to be depicted badly because they caused the First DIaspora of the Jews, not to mention the Babylonian civilization, one of the earliest organized civilization as well with the famous Code of Hammurabi, was condemned badly although I find concepts of Code of Hammurabi similar to the policies of God in the Old Testament; eye for an eye! The Romans who caused the Second Diaspora wasn’t depicted that badly because at the end, Romans acknowledged Christianity through Edict of Milan, and, the most powerful Christian state, the Vatican City, was established by Charles the Great. It would be delirious for Bible to contain criticisms towards Romans, where the majority of readers became Romans.
To quote Wonbok Rhie, a Korean historian and author of Korea Unmasked, “faith had always existed in human, but it was poured in different vases accordingly to their respective shapes”. Difference of the culture of believers of God had created two Gods; God and Allah. What they believed, what they created. It’s the power and illusion of human psychics. Also ancient Chinese Daoists believed religion was just one of the ways to solve problems and make people act nicer to each other. Whatever, my conclusion is that customs and traditions relating to a certain religion is all artificial and fake. There is God, but he, she, or it does not have a name . That is, what I believe, the basic instinctive faith. Yes, that is Deism. I am often awestruck at the organization of the universe and the galaxy that does not even have one single error, which, a masterpiece, itself is a divine figure. Many people call that masterpiece Science.
In a world today where culture seems to clash every day, a religion that every single people would believe should be introduced. Religion of closed nationalism does not work in globalized world.
Song quote of the day
” Divided by beliefs, differences and religion
Why do we keep missing the point on our mission?
Why do we keep killing each other, what’s the reason?
God made us all equal in his vision
I wish that I could make music as a religion
Then we could harmonise together in this mission”-Union, Black Eyed Peas
Thanks for the information on religion.
We recently wrote an article on religion at Brain Blogger. How do we really view religion? Could it be the very source of belief comes from our brain?
We would like to read your comments on our article. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kelly
I think you address a valid point in noting the audience of this writing. People have to believe that what they are doing is right. Often the history we read in written by those who win the battles. It is interesting what you note regarding how this text is specially crafted for the intended audience. It is alway important to remember the purpose of the author and whom the author intends to read the passage.
i have a big problem with relgious institutions.
1. i don’t believe in heaven vs. hell. when we die, that’s it. we just cease to exist. but i’m not being pessimistc because i think we should live our lives to the fullest despite the lack of heaven because if we do something to brighten the world, we would continue to exist in name and, as awfully cheesy as it sounds, in the hearts of others.
2. i also think it’s unfair how god says unbelievers will go to hell. okaaay. so if a murderer suddenly turns into a christian before his execution, he/she goes to heaven while an atheist who did charity all his/her life goes to hell? it’s terribly illogical.
3. ok. maybe there is god, maybe there isn’t. but honestly, what does it matter? there’s no point of wasting away life, trying to understand god when there’s something more important to do.
4. i don’t like god, or at least the way he’s sometimes depicted in the bible. he expects us to be not human, to be in that state in the garden of eden. but humans should have access to knowledge, should be able to committ mistakes and learn from them. also, i think he himself is quite unreasonable. for instance, when he wipes out the whole human race during Noa’s time. and when he demanded that prophet to sacrfice his own son. it seems like often times god promotes that death = solution.
5. quite frankly, the bible says the universe is about 4,000 years old. people used to believe in that. now, since it’s proven that the universe is much more older than that, christians are saying that bible is metaphorical. ha. what an excuse.
6. religion is also very blurry. for instance, which religion is “true”? buddhism? hinduism? islam? christianity? surely, they can’t all be the “true” worshiper of god/gods. and what happened to the greek/roman gods? no one believes in them anymore. so the roman gods just simply don’t exist anymore? i suspect that religion is something that humans invented to give hope to themseleves, to try to act as if they understand the “unknown”
i agree with you. religion just results in, not peace/love, but often in wars. and that’s just wrong.
wow. this got a lot longer than i expected. i guess what i’m trying to say is, i’m agnostic? perhaps there is a “god” but not the god who makes judgments but just a being/consciousness that looms over us; but there’s no point of us trying to decipher that consicousness–we should just live and love life until the inevitable ending.
I am bewildered at how similar what you write is compared to what I think, although admittedly I teeter on the edge of belief and non-belief. But were I to believe, I am sure that it would be in dismay and anger at the way humans have used any tool available – religion, even – in their endless campaigns to conquer.
I went to a Chinese temple a while ago – I think it was Confucian, but I can’t be sure. It may have been a form of Buddhism. At any rate we burned incense, and pulled little sheets of paper on which were, if I remember correctly, numbers. Then, referring to a larger sheet that had been shoddily laminated and was peeling apart, bit by bit, we interpreted what they meant.
Be good, respect your elders, don’t argue, don’t be too greedy, work diligently… there was nothing particularly distinguishing – merely repetitions of morals and values. I felt at the time that this was ridiculous, and that the entire temple system was a systematic attempt to control people and make them do the “right” things, not because it was right but because divine intervention asked this of you.
I can hardly imagine a worse fate. By the way, have you explored Scientology? While it neither seeks to confirm or deny the existence of a god, it has a lot of concepts that may sound interesting. It’s also very controversial… tell me what you think!
I didn’t mean to make this comment very long either… :-\