A Curious Girl: If God is the biggest liberal there is...

Ed signed my guestbook thus...

if god is the biggest liberal there is, then who are the christian right currently worshipping? who are you to take their god away from them? your god is perfect because he is constructed around everything that you consider to be morally true--why has he adapted to the supposedly 'universal' moral values of western humanism, when he himself is supposedly universal and should define our morals for us? would you have said that god was ultimately liberal--loving feminists, homosexuals --one hundred years ago? did the 'liberal' christian establishment have it wrong then? in one hundred years time, will you have had it wrong too?

Hmm, I knew I’d provoke a response from someone by saying I think God is a liberal… Making such a claim is, of course, a generalisation. I admit, I was being somewhat flippant in my use of words, but making a serious point! I’m sick of the intolerance and judging on appearances that I see amongst Christians – I don’t think this would be God’s attitude at all. If it was, I don’t see why he hasn’t zapped all the sinners from the world already, or why he bothered to send his Son at all.

God is perfect, and knows the perfect system – but instead of imposing it upon us, allows us freewill, which seems pretty libertarian to me. In the Bible we read that Jesus gave people the choice to follow him rather than forcing them – he came as a servant rather than a ruler. Ultimately, of course, people will have to live up to the choices they made, and this is fair, but eternal life is promised to any who seek it. There is no entrance exam. Christianity is based on forgiveness, not judgement. Jesus was shockingly tolerant, especially for the time in which he was living. He let a prostitute pour perfume all over his feet and spent time teaching ‘sinners’ instead of waiting for them to get over their sins of their own accord before he would associate with them. He was the best of the best but didn’t consider himself too good for anyone. He showed patience and love to the humble – his wrath went out to those who refused to acknowledge their obvious acts of hypocrisy – the sort of people who considered themselves ‘too good’ for the poor and the sinners. Even in death Jesus requested forgiveness for his killers! He valued humility above pompous self-assurance – and had more time for a repentant ‘sinner’ than a hypocrite!

The interesting response above, to the assertion I made two entries ago, has led me to another long entry in which I respond to people’s views! You’ve missed these, haven’t you? Anyway, thank you Ed for signing my guestbook and I hope you get a response that satisfies you.

I'll have to tackle it in bits.

if god is the biggest liberal there is, then who are the christian right currently worshipping? who are you to take their god away from them?

They’re worshipping the same God I am. There is only one God! But I don’t believe they fully understand him – nor do I, for that matter.

I don’t see how I’m taking ‘their god’ away from them. I am merely speculating on what I believe of God, from my own experience and from reading the Bible. I don’t subscribe to the view that ‘god’ is merely an abstract concept, or that he is so incomprehensible we cannot even dare to speculate on his character. As a Christian, I believe that the Bible is true (we can argue over Creationism another time!), at least in its representation of God, and God has granted us the privilege of an insight into his character. God is a person and has a personality – I am not trying to create a personality for God which excludes the worship of the Christian right, I am merely trying to discover God’s true personality – even though parts of God’s personality seem to have not been realised by many, if not all of his followers. I don’t think those people who believe God to be angry and intolerant are not praying to ‘my god’ – I cannot claim ownership or total knowledge of God’s personality, that would be the most arrogant thing I could do. God does not bow to my whims, God is not my creation – I am trying to learn more of him, and in doing so I do not change him, except in my own mind. I don’t think that those people who believe God to be angry and intolerant are praying to an angry and intolerant God, or a God who could theoretically be angry and intolerant or theoretically be gentle and forgiving. God is what he is, not what we decide he is, and no matter what my assertions, I cannot impose them on God. It doesn’t need me to say ‘God is a liberal’ to make God a liberal if he is one.

your god is perfect because he is constructed around everything that you consider to be morally true--why has he adapted to the supposedly 'universal' moral values of western humanism, when he himself is supposedly universal and should define our morals for us?

Eek, you sure know how to get my brain going! It’s a tough question – for example, is love good because God says it is, or is God good because he loves? Can God make two and two equal five? All Biblical evidence aside, I agree that it is more easy to define God as ‘perfect’ than define perfect as ‘God’ – but again, no matter what I believe about God, God will always be the same.

Another pertinent question is, is ‘my god’ a liberal because I am a liberal, or am I a liberal because my God is? To a large extent, my morals are defined by what I believe to be God’s morals. I try to follow the two great commandments – ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind’ and ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. I can’t pretend that I keep them all the time but those are the most important components to my morality!

What can I say? If my assertions about God’s personality prove to be wrong, then I will have to humble accept correction. I don’t know everything – this is just what appears true to me given the evidence (for example, Jesus’s behaviour that I spoke about above).

would you have said that god was ultimately liberal--loving feminists, homosexuals --one hundred years ago? did the 'liberal' christian establishment have it wrong then? in one hundred years time, will you have had it wrong too?

I may not have said it one hundred years ago – but that makes no difference as to whether it is correct or not. If it was correct then, it is correct now, if it was wrong then, it is wrong now and will still be wrong in the future.

I hope that answers your questions! Or at least gave you something to think about :-)

Random word for today: Relativism

<< last entry ... next entry >>
top of page

Give food for free.