Spirit Messengers

There is no way to know for certain what God is like, what God wants, or what happens to us after death.  You can be married to a person for 30 years, raise a child from raw unshielded personhood to adulthood, and they still can fool you.  Do you feel we might not be fooled by a spirit being who sprung at us in light and power, and gave a message for 30 seconds?  Maintain objectiveness in the face of a message which separates us out as unique possessor of secret spiritual knowledge, or elevates us to status of God's messenger to the world?

If all the spirit beings who have approached man gave the same message, we might give them some credence.  But instead the spirit beings all provide rules and rituals to measure subjective superiority over other humans.  And each spirit being’s message conflicts with the previous, which leads to strife among man.  Strife within mankind is what I believe to be a distinguishing mark of evil, not of good.

Indeed, individually, all the spirit beings provide rules and rituals which do not merely lead to strife between other religions, but the 'prophet's' own culture as well.  "If you and even those of your culture who do not believe in me/god do not follow these rules and rituals, god will not bless your nation with riches and power above other cultures."  Therefore everyone, even those who don’t believe in that spirit, are forced to follow random rules based not on caring, but coercion and condemnation.

However every child, of all eras and areas, seems born with an innate understanding of fairness.  Even children raised in a secular culture express understanding of a spirit world guided by unchangable morals of goodness.  Every child then seems born knowing that for happiness both personal and universal, we must love God and neighbor.  Which puts us all, those born to Pagan parents or Christian, wealthy or poor, on equal footing before a God who loves all equally.  Ensures all who have ever lived have equal access to the Laws of Life, instead of restricted to those born to a particular nation or the means to pursue education in a particular establishment clique.

Therefore I expect that every single spirit being that has ever declared itself to be spirit when it appeared to man with a message, is evil. 

(Well, perhaps any message other than "Hey, you!  Don't forget: love God/neighbor!  See ya!”)

The Hope

The hope I have in life then is, is simply trusting that God is good. The hope is that the never ending struggle for wealth and dominance isn’t the real game. I don’t know what God is, I couldn’t know what God is, but I can trust that good wins.

Faith that non-violence, caring, beauty, is what is truly real.

My hope is I don’t need to focus on the anger, the hustle, the fight, the competition with all my neighbors for amassing goods they will be envious of, or cringe at the muscleman with the better car at the stoplight.  Instead I can focus on what I believe truly are the Real Rules.  Non-violence, caring, and beauty.

And my hope is that if my mind is focused on the non-violence, the caring, the beauty, that at the end of what would itself have been a more profoundly rewarding physical existence than if I'd pursued power and position, that a TopGod who cares about non-violence, caring, and beauty, will ask that I be a part of their Life.

Cosmogony

Since the human mind seems uncomfortable with uncertainty: the story I have imagined (whether the story is real or not is irrelevant), is that an all-good, all-powerful TopGod created this Universe: Earth, humans, animals and all. Then, like any combatant who knows they can win with a word is able to: allowed evil gods to temporarily believe they prevailed against that TopGod and take control of Human Society.  Providing an opportunity for that TopGod to bestow the honor of free-will upon human souls: freedom for any individual to search for Truth, and then to demonstrate by their actions which ideology they consider most pre-eminent and valuable.  Such that the TopGod could know which human souls would be worth spending eternity with.

And I have no idea, can have no idea, if this story is correct or by how much.  But it allows me to live by the rules I hope are true, and face losing right now, while trusting goodness wins in end.  It answers the age-old spiritual question of how can a good god can allow evil.  And it answers the age-old philosophical question of which is good or evil: society or humans, while allowing me to believe in goodness in myself and my compatriots in the face of evil all around us.

Cosmogony 2

I received a reply to the above ‘Cosmogony,’ which included: ' ...If the TopGod were ... actively using evil as a tool, [It] wouldn't be all-good, but would be all-powerful.'

Since this individual went on to posit TopGod acts on a pendulum, swinging from good to evil and back: I expect they align with an idea similar to Yin and Yang.  That TopGod includes both good and evil.  I dislike this theory.  I consider it to be invented to excuse evil behavior while still considering self close to God.

The Abrahamic God is similar.  In the story as presented, YHWH demanded it's followers kill particular humans and take their land.  YHWH produced a system of laws which created a hierarchal class, and commanded that priesthood to examine the laity for strict adherance.  I consider these characteristics to be sales tools for potential converts (1), or thrilling permission to those already established in the hierarchy (2), because they allow mean and nasty behavior to be excused as acceptable to God, even holy. (3)

There are some who react against presentations of God as mean and nasty by then rejecting the concept of Higher Power entirely.  I feel this is too hasty a decision.  Simply because the common presentation of God is mean and nasty does not mean a TopGod which might actually exist would necessarily be mean and nasty.  Instead of asking: 'what is good?' and answering it with: ‘whatever our God says,’ how about we ask: 'what might God be like?' and answering it with: 'whatever provides every being on Earth with equal access to happiness and fulfillment (4).'

It could well be the true TopGod includes evil: I ain't ever met It.  However, my own target is complete lack of meanness.  In me, or around me.  That is what I hope to find eventually, so that is what I aim for now (4).

Becoming Gods

The Mormons say, after enough good lifetimes of our souls: humans can become gods.  

This gives the rest of the Abrahamic religions conniptions as the ultimate in heresy. I am not really quite sure why it would, since a defining characteristic of the Abrahamics seems to be acting like they are God right now...

Now, as I have explained, there is no way we can know any specifics about the gods or TopGod, or what any afterlife is like.  Therefore, the more details about such things any self proclaimed prophet provides the less likely I am to even consider anything they say at all.  However, I do think there is decent logical basis for considering that the Mormons may be correct on this doctrine.  This is because humans seem to so desperately want exactly those characteristics and abilities due only to gods.  Power over other's actions or circumstances, be those others humans or animals or Earth.  Worship from other humans: specifically in thinking us wise, worthy of more material goods, charismatic acceptance of the crowds.  Immunity to accountability.  And humans want to tell other humans what moral codes to follow, and what punishment should be meted out for infractions.  The desire to be God is inherent to our nature, therefore I think it may perhaps (5) be a goal inserted into our instincts.  

The problem is, we don't seem to pursue, we don't hold up for veneration those humans who act like, characterizations of the good God.  We want to beat on other humans, animals, Earth.  Force them to provide us with excess material goods and praise, and thumbscrew them into following our morals.  We seem to want to be the bad one. (6)

Myself, I think that the TopGod truly is a loving, kind, caring and supportive Entity.  And positive sum, even multiplicative sum, Rules are the Real Rules.  And if I say we may perhaps become gods eventually, I don't mean TopGod. I mean gods like Apollo, Athena.  Mid level gods.  

I consider even Zeus to be a mid-level god.  He is a nasty one, that is for certain.  Raping, shooting with lightning bolts, going to war against and killing his father for power before he earned it.  That POS ain't any good.  The story is that Zeus is in charge of Earth at the moment, but don't ever overlook the fact that prophesy said his son will kill him.  Zeus may have thought he took care of it, but the story of Oedipus says the Fates cannot be circumvented, and the Fates long preceded and preempt Zeus.  We seem to all expect Good to win in the end, and only bullies could consider Zeus to be a decent sort of chap (plus we know he loses!), so consider whether aligning yourself with the Zeus-ites is the team you want to be on when this all shakes down in the end. (7)

1: This is only one sales tool, another is a Bait and Switch of a cosmic level.  'Our God is one of love and compassion' missionaries say, but once amidst the social group, the caring individual attracted by this particular pitch is told to examine their neighbor for wrong behaviors, in order to ensure some do not sully the sacraments. For example within the religion of Christianity it is Saul is continually quoted, with the implication or even declaration that these are actually Yahshua's words.  

2: Which part of "…narrow is the way and few there be who find it" does the world's largest religion feel they are exempt from?   

3: This is the same reason why Hollywood has ‘good guys’ use weapons.

4: I am not implying I (or any other human) gets to declare what TopGod is like.  I am saying I will choose what God is worthy of my honor and deference, and pursuit.

5:  I said perhaps!  Altho I really don't care if any human thinks I am a heretic.  I have one Judge and one Judge only.

6: At least we seem eager to put those types into power above us, that they'll go attack other people groups in our stead, for our home-team benefit.

7: And the way this world is going, you might not have a whole lot much longer to demonstrate that decision.