Creator or Created?

We all live life looking for stability. Even adrenaline junkies who move from place to place and seem anything but stable are in constant pursuit of that. In reaching this safe haven of surety we go about our daily lives looking to make enough money to get by, surround ourselves with people we perceive love us and, above all, have the answers to absolutely everything. This need-to-know complexity is a driving force that determines our passions, life works and who we are. God, like with most other things, tops this list. We just need to know this guy! Egyptians went to a polytheistic approach when contending that over 2000 different gods existed and became apparent to us in the form of animals. Yes, dogs were a lot more than a "man's best friend" back then; they were gods. The Greeks also had a many gods but were clear that Zeus, the "crème de la crème" of their belief system, was above all and hailed in mount Olympus. The Vikings followed up this trend by saying that there were many gods who concerned themselves with different aspects of life, such as war, travel and home. Thor, the god of thunder, is the most popular today and is even depicted in children's cartoons. Yes, our need for answers has driven us in many varying directions concerning God. This raises the question though: How could they all be right and what do they really tell about human nature and, dare I say, God's nature?

The first possibility that comes to mind is God, whoever he or they are, created us in such a way that we would naturally look to him and seek him out. The Bible rather audaciously claims that if we seek we shall find Him. By Him of course I mean the Christian depiction of God. If we peruse this concept without too much consideration it makes perfect sense and fits in well with what God would do. He would undoubtedly want for us to find and love him and, even though he could make us do it, prefers it to be our own choice. So, creating us with a need-to-know concept of life is perfectly reasonable and just makes sense. Unfortunately, a deeper scrutiny of our history depicts a very different story. We live in a world where ideas about God, his origin and characteristics nearly outnumber the number of people even created to inhabit His creation! Of course, this is a mild exaggeration but the point I'm trying to make is that if the one true God did decided to go about winning our hearts, planting this idea in our minds doesn't seem to have worked. In fact, it seems to have been destined to fail. It's created a world torn and divided with wars fought and lives taken in the name of God. I really don't see the "big guy in the sky" electing this route.

I'm current in the process of reading a book by Christian author Donald Miller called "Searching for God knows what". In one of the earlier chapters in the book he cites the workings of Abraham Maslow and, in particular, his compilation of the "Hierarchy of needs". This idea is that we are all looking to reach self-actualization by getting everything we need from life step by step. It is in the form of a pyramid with the more basic things such as sleep, food and water at the bottom and the complexities of life such as friendship, self esteem and morality at the top. Maslow stated that a need for a higher being, someone who looks out for us and protects us, is one of the crucial steps humans have sub-consciously devised to reach self actualization.

The second possibility to explain where this trait of human nature originated lies with Abraham Maslow's theory. We need to be loved. From a very early age we look to be nurtured and taken care of and, even though the precious years of adolescence provide a certain rebellious nature that leads us to break free from this and look for independence, I believe it sticks with us throughout life. So when we're older and can't really rely on mommy and daddy to get us through the daily struggles of the world, we looked to the white bearded man who loves us all equally. No, not Santa. God. When a lack of answers presented itself, particularly in the times of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians when science was merely a speck of dust in comparison to today's advancement, we decided to go ahead and describe what we would like God to be. This, to me, is the far more plausible possibility. It describes why there have been, and still are, so many different ideas of our creator. So many religions dominate our spheres of life today that, if you're on the outside looking in, it's hard to decide which makes sense and easy to conclude that they are all just a reflection of tradition and culture founded in a particular time and place by mere humans who created God how they saw fit.

Another very interesting thing I've discovered while inspecting the different world religions that are apparent today is, although they are exceedingly different in some ways, in others they are terribly consistent. For one, their Gods are all loving in ways we cannot comprehend. They are all powerful, of course, and could whoop any other god's butt if they wanted. I know it goes without saying, but their certain way of believing is right while every other is wrong and an act of evil that will be punished with eternal damnation in hell, yet another thing they have in common. Yes, it is ironic that a God with an abundance of love would condemn his creation with an eternal punishment for eternal sins but, I digress. The last and possibly most interesting point is that most, if not all, depict God as a father figure. What better comparison could there be. I mean, and pardon my possible blasphemous nature here, but couldn't a child describe his father with literally all the things we attribute to God? Maybe.....

To me, it's a very real possibility that we by-passed any form of true searching while looking for God and went straight to what we wanted him to be like. It's definitely far easier and satisfies all of our worldly needs to be loved and taken care of. Who knows, maybe Adam created God in his image and not the other way around.

Argumentum ad Populum

I remember spending a greater part of my childhood wanting to conform. This sub-conscious trait that is embedded in all of us somehow shone through with a particular ferocity in me. Maybe it was because I was an Albanian immigrant from Kosovo attending a predominately white English primary school? Now, I don't want to create a false impression of complete unacceptance by my peers and social class in London, but the voice that uttered the words convincing me I was odd, or a misfit, always spoke to me.

We would go clothes shopping with whatever money we had saved and I would always be the one skimming through the stores looking for apparel that somewhat resembled that of the majority at school. My parents, the ever loving pair that only wanted the best for me, naturally granted my wishes. They knew, of course, the maze I was in but figured it's something everyone goes through at some point or other. It probably is. *fingers crossed*

Where I'm going with this is that, as humans, we build self-esteem and create those feelings of worth by comparing ourselves to others. Even in the most confidant, out-going of individuals, all it takes is a careful look and the trait becomes apparent. We will do anything to climb the social ladder and come ever closer to a goal of ultimate self-love, something that is unfortunately unreachable. We will always want more.

This notion controls the masses like sheep being tended to by a Shepard, or cattle being directed by a farmer. It is ever more obvious in politics, social behaviors and, my personal favorite, religion. "Argumentum ad Populum" is an argument that concludes a certain proposition to be true because many or all believe it to be so. It contends that "if many believe so, it IS so".

If you recall my previous post, this was a very strong reason for my research binge over the past year. I would think to myself, "There must be SOMETHING in this whole thing if some 30% of the world believes in it." I simply couldn't shake the feeling that they had some piece of information I didn't, some formula I had missed out on in school during my years of attempting to fit in or some secret truth I would only discover if I looked hard enough. So, I looked.....

Upon looking I found, as well as a vast expanse of facts and figures, that just because all my friends where wearing the new and trendy soccer shoes on a rainy day, maybe this wasn't the best idea. Maybe a billion people were wrong about something, lets say their idea of God, and only a handful were right. Maybe.

Now, this is NO way led me to believe what I believe. It served no other purpose in my spiritual journey than freeing me from the shackles of social acceptance and conformity. It served as a liberating force detaching me from something that plagued my mind into following my peers much like sardines do theirs.

To indirectly quote Bill Maher, "Eat shit people! 20 million flies do it. Why not!?"

Isn't it Enough!?

I always spent my younger years detached from religion and the idea of "a creator". This wasn't because my parents tried to influence me or protect me; it just never really had any importance in our family home. Jehovah's witnesses would come knocking on our door in London and we'd politely turn them away and say we weren't interested. And that's what I never really understood. Why!? Isn't it enough that YOU already have "the ultimate truth"? Why would you waste time going around pestering people with your ideas of this and that.....

I never really got that till this past year when I decided to begin my semi-spiritual journey. I say that because I approached the matter with much trepidation and a fear of the unknown. This was all very new to me and I confess I was afraid of "missing out" at many times. I still am.

So I started reading. A lot. I guess my main reason for kick starting this endeavor was the abundance of Christian friends and missionaries I had forged relationships with over the past year or two in my high school. I wanted to better understand them and their faith. It is also worth mentioning that I was intrigued by religion, and the Bible in particular, because SO many people considered it Holy and God's word. I mean, if a greater percentage of Earth's population believes something to be true, then surely it has to be? Right?

This period of scrutinizing scripture and popular opinion continued for a few months and slowly I began to create my own perception of what was going on. I finally began talking to people about what I believed. I found compelled to share MY version of "the ultimate truth" with friends and family. Needless to say, with all the theist friends I have, this caused a lot of "heated debates". But it's ironic, I thought those Jehovah's witnesses were crazy and out of place, but I had turned into one of them. I wanted people to hear MY interpretation of things. So, to answer the title, it was not, and never will be, enough for me to know or believe. We all have a voice (or fingers for those of us who are into blogging :D ) and it would be a damn shame if we didn't use it. Diversity is something that has made the human race like no other. To me, thats probably the only good thing religion has done for humans (thats not including all the wars that have been fought in the name of God and all the lives that have been taken because we felt our creator commanded us of this, but, I digress).

To summarize, "In The Image Of" is simply a collection of essay's on topics that I have (and still am) contemplated over this past year. I felt it was time to organize my thoughts and hopefully reach a broader range of audience. For any of you who are wondering what I actually believe; I'm not telling! I'm sure you will be able to decipher my convictions while reading my pieces.

One more thing: I reserve the right to be mistaken. I also reserve the right to make a fool of myself by not believing in something or believing in something else. I will never be closed to a one dimensional realm of belief, much like religion tries to make us do, but will be open to everything. Who knows, in a few months I might be blogging about how foolish I was the past two years and accept Christ as my Saviour. Or Allah. Maybe even Buddha.....