Saturday, September 3, 2011

Born Again Christian God

This is straightforward, literal theism which portrays a god in whose literal image we are made. This type of god is thought of as a powerful, humanoid, supernatural being much like us, but infinitely more powerful in each of our positive attributes and totally lacking our negative attributes. When he does display cruelty, sadism, pettiness, commits genocide, approves of rape, murder, and torture, it is because we have shown improper faith, violated his laws, or it is otherwise for our own good. He is infinitely powerful, intelligent, creative, kind, aware, caring, capable, etc. He takes taking a personal interest in us and all that we do, hears all prayers, and observes each of us 24 hours a day. This god is able to be everywhere present, aware, involved, and in control. As songwriter, Marty Robbins wrote of another minor deity, "He knows if you've been good or bad, so be good for goodness sake".

He is a master supervisor who knows when a sparrow falls. He watches our activities and thoughts with extreme interest. He craves our worship and our prayers. He rewards and punishes like a supernatural parent. The intense faith that god is always there to provide sustenance, support, and strength is one of the strongest selling points for the personal-god philosophy. Practically everyone feels emotionally or physically stranded or isolated from time to time. Having an imaginary friend who is always there can be very uplifting and encouraging in life's worst moments.

The evangelical/fundamentalist version of this goes further - every word of the bible is considered to be literally and factually true. In no way is it considered to be allegorical or metaphorical. When the bible says that mankind was created in god's image, this can be interpreted in exactly one way: we look like him, and by "we" this means that god probably looks a lot like the white, male, members of the local pentecostal congregation. This preference for literalism is not shared by most Christians, and is not required, or even thought to be relevant, by most Christian believers. In fact, it was not until the last few hundred years that the literal factuality of the bible even became a major issue. Some historians of religion trace the emphasis on literal interpretation to the Enlightenment, and see it as a reaction to the hyper-rational non-supernatural forces coming into prominence. As the factual inaccuracy of the bible was pointed out time and again by prominent Enlightenment figures, religious apologists dug in their heels and pulled in exactly the opposite direction, asserting the exact factual correctness of the bible. Prior to that, there was no strong debate on this subject. As biblical stories about Noah's flood, creation of the universe in six days, the virgin birth of Jesus, stopping the sun, parting the Red Sea, and creation of Eve from Adam's rib began to be seen as myths, a school of biblical inerrancy emerged as a counter-reaction.

And of course, in addition to the literal interpretation of the bible, the main thrust of the born again movement is that Jesus Christ, god's only son, is the sole path to god. Only through baptism in Jesus can one achieve salvation and eternal connection to god.

Some Evangelical sects practice a form of prayer that, over a period of months, allows the participants to begin to believe that god is actually present, for example, sitting on a couch with them or at the kitchen table, advising them. After a long path of group and individual prayer sessions focusing on sharpening the imaginary experience, Evangelical members convert what start out as conversations with an imaginary entity into real conversations - sort of an induced cultural schizophrenia. They consult this god on all matters, small and large, from how much salt to put on a salad to career choices. He becomes that person's "best friend".

No comments:

Post a Comment