by jimwalton » Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:22 am
> I can't shake the sense that god is power hungry.
Just off the bat I'll let you know He's not, but then I'll address your particular points.
> It looks to me that god wants power over all interpretation
Here's the thing: Since God is truth, it's impossible for anything He says or does to be false. When you say He wants power over all interpretation, you are seeming not to grasp the idea that He is truth, and therefore the proper interpretation is the Godly one and also the true one. He can't NOT be the truth.
> most are complict in the church's arbitrary decisions about valid interpretations on life.
I'm not sure what you mean by this, so some explanation would help.
> There are many contradictions implicit and explicit across the churches and anyone in particular holding the highest truth seems unlikely and dishonest.
Different church perspectives come about because Christians are thinking people, and we use our minds to draw conclusions. Sometimes those vary from each other, just like any other person and any other field. But I'm not sure what you mean by "anyone in particular holding the highest truth seems unlikely and dishonest."
> It seems inevitable a data collecting society would use that information for a form of religious final judgement. It looks that conventional advertising techniques and political outrage machines and social media cascades are working for the church's aims now.
I'm not sure what you mean by this. Wow. Something's going on in your head that's not making its way to the page.
> There is no place left to hold an original thought
There are actually lots of these in Christianity. The number of books published every year with original thoughts is astounding.
> a secret or a valid intepretation that god has not elevated to a powerful position.
I'm not sure what you mean by this.
> I distrust the motives of the religious establishment.
That's obvious, but I can't understand why. Try to express your thoughts again.
> The freedom of eastern nihilism seems more honest than a church with face recognition cameras and secret scandals for the sake of appearing persecuted.
Are you talking about the Roman Catholic Church's sex scandals? Face recognition cameras in church? I'm not sure what you're talking about.
> Is god seeking to control all via power rather than voluntary submission?
No, He's not. Voluntary submission is the only way to God. I'm not sure what you're talking about here.
> It looks to the awake outsider that society has lost its way.
That would be my perspective as well. Society has definitely lost its way. Culture, especially American culture, is in a bad place right now.
> there must be someone else who sees the nature of society at this time, for what it is.
Yep, lots of us do, but I'm not sure what you're seeing that makes you write this. Can we talk more?
> I can't shake the sense that god is power hungry.
Just off the bat I'll let you know He's not, but then I'll address your particular points.
> It looks to me that god wants power over all interpretation
Here's the thing: Since God is truth, it's impossible for anything He says or does to be false. When you say He wants power over all interpretation, you are seeming not to grasp the idea that He is truth, and therefore the proper interpretation is the Godly one and also the true one. He can't NOT be the truth.
> most are complict in the church's arbitrary decisions about valid interpretations on life.
I'm not sure what you mean by this, so some explanation would help.
> There are many contradictions implicit and explicit across the churches and anyone in particular holding the highest truth seems unlikely and dishonest.
Different church perspectives come about because Christians are thinking people, and we use our minds to draw conclusions. Sometimes those vary from each other, just like any other person and any other field. But I'm not sure what you mean by "anyone in particular holding the highest truth seems unlikely and dishonest."
> It seems inevitable a data collecting society would use that information for a form of religious final judgement. It looks that conventional advertising techniques and political outrage machines and social media cascades are working for the church's aims now.
I'm not sure what you mean by this. Wow. Something's going on in your head that's not making its way to the page.
> There is no place left to hold an original thought
There are actually lots of these in Christianity. The number of books published every year with original thoughts is astounding.
> a secret or a valid intepretation that god has not elevated to a powerful position.
I'm not sure what you mean by this.
> I distrust the motives of the religious establishment.
That's obvious, but I can't understand why. Try to express your thoughts again.
> The freedom of eastern nihilism seems more honest than a church with face recognition cameras and secret scandals for the sake of appearing persecuted.
Are you talking about the Roman Catholic Church's sex scandals? Face recognition cameras in church? I'm not sure what you're talking about.
> Is god seeking to control all via power rather than voluntary submission?
No, He's not. Voluntary submission is the only way to God. I'm not sure what you're talking about here.
> It looks to the awake outsider that society has lost its way.
That would be my perspective as well. Society has definitely lost its way. Culture, especially American culture, is in a bad place right now.
> there must be someone else who sees the nature of society at this time, for what it is.
Yep, lots of us do, but I'm not sure what you're seeing that makes you write this. Can we talk more?