God's Will

Updated: 11/11/04

GOD'S WILL

We come now to the subject of God's will as taught by most of the religions and the Holy Bible. The Clear Thinker cringes at this barbaric concept fostered upon man by religion and the church. "God's Will" has been applied to every conceivable tragedy known to mankind. From explaining births to explaining deaths, the church has described "God's Will" to us. There are lightning strikes, wars, mine cave ins, ships lost at sea, children who wander into traffic and are killed, civilians killed in bombing attacks, heart attacks and you name it, it is God's will.

The difference in the "Will of God" and the "Wrath of God" has to do with, upon whom the evil falls. If the tragedy falls on the enemies of the church, it is the WRATH of God. If the tragedy falls on the members of the church, or upon those favored by the church, it is the WILL of God.

No one knows how many families have been told by priest, rabbi, minister or well-meaning friends, "Your baby (husband, wife or kin) died because it was the Will of God." This one phrase alone should drive all thinking men and women out of the grasp of the religions.

Who would wish to worship a god who, without reason or rhyme, took our loved ones from us? Who could excuse a god for selecting a particular person's loved one in order for that god to make up his quota for the month? No one in his right mind!

The church tells us, God does NOT act arbitrarily. God always acts or allows acts to happen in order to teach the living certain lessons. They tell us, many times God acts as he does in order to save a person from some future evil or trial. They also tell us, God acts as he does in order to bring our attention to the fact we are committing some terrible sin, or we are not doing something, which he wants us to do. In other words, God causes or allows, bad things to happen to innocent people (them) in order to gain the attention of the guilty (us). This makes about as much sense as a father whipping the good child in order to make the bad child correct his evil ways. Honest thinking people simply cannot accept such an explanation.

Certainly, innumerable innocent men, women and children have suffered every indignity, every hurt, every torture and every deprivation known to mankind. In the last two thousand years the vast majority of these injustices have been performed by the religious against both the religious and the non-religious. Today, the leaders of the church condemn and look upon those past atrocities of their church as mistakes, errors, and yes, even as sin. Many of the leaders of the church today, openly condemn the past burning of heretics, witch burnings, tortures, wars and many of the other pastimes and entertainments of the earlier Middle Ages and even the modern church. In fact, new trials have recently been held by the Catholic Church to vindicate famous men who were condemned, tortured and killed by earlier holy men who were following the revealed "Will of God".

Have you thought about this? The theological doctrines sanctioned by the churches of today, are the same heretical doctrines against which the earlier church fought. Fighting these heretical doctrines caused the early church to murder, steal, torture and jail those who held these heretical doctrines. However, yesterday's heretical views are today's standard and accepted doctrines. Was it God's will that the church of the past did what it did to the world? Back then, it WAS God's will. Today it is looked upon as NOT being God's will. The secret one needs to learn is (to believers), the present is always God's will. That probably means God is NOT the same yesterday, today and forever. He seems to change his mind quite often. Or else, no God has anything to do with the whole affair. Which is right?

When a believer finds himself on the receiving end of "God's Will", say his child is run over, look how the church comforts it's own. The church says, "God took your child." (That is called in theology, God's definitive will.) Sometimes the church says, "God in his wisdom, let it happen." (That is called in theology, God's permissive will.) Regardless of whether God MADE it happen, or LET it happen, the church calls it God's will.

The will of God makes no sense at all. The child died because he was not properly supervised or properly taught the hazards of the road, or because some driver was not careful enough. The Clear Thinking philosophy teaches that everyone is responsible for his own mistakes. That is one of the hazards of this philosophy. But the religious person can BLAME God and use "God's Will" as an emotional crutch. The Honest Clear Thinker must take his own blame and pay the social and personal price.

What happens, psychologically, to the believer when a tragedy of God's will strikes? The parent knows in his mind, the child would not have run into the street if certain parental precautions had been taken. Since the parent is a believer, a whole raft of questions flood the mind. Is God punishing me for something I did wrong? What was it? Is God trying to get me to do something that I have not been doing? If so, what? Did God take my child because I am not worthy of raising him/her? Did he take my child because of that sin I committed a few years ago? Did God take my child because I have been neglecting to go to church? Why did I let my little child play outside unattended? Why didn't I lock the gate? Why me? Why my little child? What great sin have I committed?

"What have I done to deserve this?" is the cry of those who have been taught by their religion that, "Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people." Is this a fact, or is this a fiction?

What happens is, the believer knows for certain that he IS responsible. He forces that guilt into the subconscious where it continues to be a source of emotional upheaval. The conscious mind accepts, or tries to accept, the irrational explanation of the "Will of God." The believer is therefore, weakened by this mental turmoil and made prey for continued false claims from his religion. The believer then seeks additional emotional crutches, all of which are furnished in any size or shape by his religion.

Believers, as a result to these kind of harmful teachings, become mental slaves and emotional cripples, dependent upon the crutches of salvation, forgiveness of sin and God's will. Believers must lean upon the braces of prayer and penance to counteract the religiously imposed guilt and mental weakness, which they have been taught to believe by the church and the Bible.

The Honest Clear Thinker must face his guilt alone, as must everyone including the believers. The difference is the Clear Thinker knows he must take full responsibility for his actions, or lack of them. Since he knows this, he is far more likely not to let his child be hit by a car, if he can help it. He knows God is NOT a dependable baby sitter. He knows God cannot be trusted to watch over his child. Neither is God a dependable sailor, pilot, miner or driver. The Clear Thinker thinks his responsibilities through carefully. If he wishes to escape the responsibility, he has no reservation about moving, divorce or quitting a job and such. The Honest Clear Thinker is a FREE person, but he must pay the price of being free. He cannot blame God for his failures or bad luck.

When tragedy strikes, the Clear Thinker has the same emotional upheaval as anyone. But he assumes his guilt, knows what it has cost him, knows why it happened, adjusts to the new situation and continues life. He doesn't have to wrestle with meaningless questions. He doesn't look for a crutch because he knows none exists for him except his friends and his own will. He accepts comfort from friends and family and appreciates it. Then he moves on. He will be more determined than ever to make wise decisions and take prudent precautions with his responsibilities.

Do not make the mistake of telling the Clear Thinker the tragedy was God's will. If there were a God, he knows a good God would not work in such a cruel fashion. He knows if there were a God, God would not enter the arena of life on such a random and unjust basis. The Clear Thinker has a higher more moral opinion of a God than do those who say they believe in a God. He knows if the airplane crashes, there was a natural material reason. If the boat sinks, the earth quakes, the bridge falls, the spouse dies, there are natural reasons for it all. The Clear Thinker does not see any supernatural interference into the normal workings of the natural processes of nature or life.

The "Will of God" is the flip side of the coin called prayer. If one sincerely believes in prayer, he also believes God randomly dabbles in the daily lives and events of men. The more sincere the believer the more sure he is God has singled him out for some special attention. In the case of something good, then it is God's answer to prayer. In the case of something bad, it is God's will.

Belief in prayer is an illusion the religious leaders use to place their believers on an ego trip. "I have influence with the Almighty God up in his high heaven. God has taken time out from his busy schedule to hear and answer my prayer (or punish me, as the case may be)." Think of the audacity of such thoughts. "God and I are partners." Believers are taught they may have a familiarity with the Unknowable Almighty God which they could never hope to have even with a good friend, much less with a boss or leader. God is at the believers "beck and call." It is almost as though the believer could carry his God around with him in his pocket. Of course, the religious say they carry their God around with them "in their hearts." (For heart, read head.) (For head, read belief.) (For belief, read illusion.) (For illusion, read - what?)

The Clear Thinker could better understand the concept of God's will if the religious called the evil happenings, "The will of Satan" or "The wrath of Satan." To attribute bad and evil happenings to God is the Church's way of placing FEAR and GUILT into the minds of their gullible sheep. "God's will" and "God's wrath" is seen to be harsh, unjust and arbitrary. So the church makes use of this artificial fear to keep the faithful anxious about the present and future state of their eternal souls. (The eternal soul, as described by holy books, is another unproven creation of the religious. Be sure and read Chapter 30 of The Honest Man's Philosophy.) God's will becomes the whip with which the church thrashes the believer into line.

If Satan were guilty of causing the tragedies, then God's importance would become subordinate to that of Satan. Therefore, the evil happenings MUST be credited to God so he may appear to be stronger than Satan and therefore, in control of the earth. Thus, the believers must fear God because he causes the good AND the bad to happen.

The result of this artificial fear and guilt being placed in the mind of the believer is obedience to the authority of the church. In case of a tragedy in the life of the believer, this fear and obedience becomes a tool in the hands of the church.

Let me say here, the church does show great concern for those upon whom tragedy has fallen. Much of this concern is genuine and I do not wish to belittle any honest attempt at comfort and aid to those suffering a tragedy. So I will refrain from speaking about motives. I do, however, wish to comment on the end results of this concern by the church for the victims of God's will.

First of all, the church had better rush to the aid and comfort of its suffering believers. If they did not do so, the believer might, in his hurt and loss, begin to ask himself some logical and honest questions which could ultimately open his eyes to the falseness of "God's will" not to mention prayer and miracles. He might begin to THINK!

Second, the result of the churches' aid and comfort is to remain in control of the life and beliefs of the victims. The explanation of God's will is gently or forcefully explained to the victim several times. Often, they even add a worse horror. The victim is told this tragedy will all turn out for the best. "God knows what he is doing." They say, "We don't understand, but God in his wisdom will do only the right and best things for his true children." The church knows at such times it must spread its doctrines on thickly and quickly in order to keep the victim from feeling hatred for God and disappointment in the church.

The third result of the churches' aid and concern is, the victim feels indebted to the church for its concern. It is at times like these when wills are remade in favor of the church. In times like these, memorial legacies, large checks and contributions are made to the church. In fact, several ministers and priests have confided to me that times of tragedy in wealthy families have often produced enough income to run their churches for three months or more on that single family's contributions.

"God's Will" is just another illogical religious presentation, claim and explanation to those who will believe anything. The church and its theologians think they must be able to answer all questions however large or small. The religious believe their religion has all knowledge and all answers. Some of the answers which they bring forth, not only are illogical, but the answers do not even conform to the doctrines of their own churches, nor to the teachings of the Bible. Certainly, the answers do not conform to the known facts of science, physics, history or archeology and never do they conform to common sense and logic. Often, they do not even conform to good sound and acceptable morality.

There is no place in the Bible where all of the happenings, good and bad, are attributed to God. However, when the church tells its believers God is in control of everything, it naturally follows God must have a hand in the bad, which happens to its faithful. The Bible tells its believers that Satan is the ruler of this world and of this age. If there were a god or devil, I could understand such a concept. The reason I could understand is because I read the newspapers, look at television and study history. The evils, horrors, wars, tragedies, lack of justice, ignorance and discomfort of the world's people would suggest some evil force is at work in the world.

When I study these things closer, I find the obvious is incorrect. So by looking closer, I find that many of the evils happen as a result of the religious philosophies, which the masses of people accept as being right and true. When each religious philosophy thinks only its position and doctrines are right and all of the other religious and political philosophies are simply superstitions or wrong, then the stage is set for more wars, injustices and persecutions. These religious leaders believe all the other philosophies and religions are wrong. The word "compromise" is a sinful word to believers. Believers believe their particular religion has the divine right and holy responsibility to subjugate, or eliminate, the rest of the superstitious, misinformed peoples and religions of the world. This concept is called EVANGELISM. It is also called POLITICAL ACTIVISM.

I would guess those are the same thoughts all dictators have had and used as their battle cry down through the ages. These religious believers think all who do not believe as they do are second or third class citizens at best, and therefore, those "others" are not deserving of justice or civil consideration. This is not just a world view. It is the view held by religious individuals who see this as an excuse for bigotry, racism, robbery and injustices of all kinds in their own hometown and on their own street. Justice and civil consideration is only for those who share their particular belief, like Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, or who share the same color or origin of birth.

The gullible believers actually believe the tragedies that happen to the others are God's punishment on them. I have known many cases in which the religious believers applauded the stealing of Native American lands, the bombing of black churches or black homes, the famines in China and Russia, the massacre of black South Africans, the assassination of President Kennedy, the assassination of medical doctors, the bombing of hospitals, the bombing of Muslim people by the Israelis, or the bombing of Israelis by the Muslims. And I could fill several pages with India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Cuba, South America - on and on. All of these war like tragedies have been the result of political beliefs or religious beliefs, and have been called the Will or Wrath of God.

The point is the leaders stir their people up for wars and other injustices by appealing to their political and religious beliefs and their obedience to their religion. The world has known enough senseless religious slaughter. It is time for the HONEST MAN'S PHILOSOPHY. It is time for Clear Thinking. Clear Thinking is not a killer or destroyer. It is a healer and builder.

The egocentricity (self conceit) of the religious believers is a great and dreadful evil just waiting to fall upon the enemies of their particular God. "I am right and you are wrong" causes the horrors and tragedies to keep falling on group after group. The Muslims have a terrorist organization called, "The Wrath of God". Someone told me the Israelis have a commando unit called, "The Vengeance of the Lord", but I do not know this for a fact. Even in the USA there are militant groups who call themselves, "The Sword of the Lord", "The Army of God" and such names.

Those who believe that fundamental religious people will not resort to violent means to accomplish their goals and beliefs had better rethink their position. Fundamentalism IS violence dressed in lambskins. Fundamentalists of the Muslim faith or of the Christian faith, will resort to mob action, violence, stealing of votes and even murder to gain their ends. Such means are required by their God in the Bible and Koran. Their religious leaders approve it from the pulpit. Those who believe the Fundamentalists will conduct themselves in a civil manner will shortly find that they have miscalculated the bigotry, prejudice and determination of these people to do the "Will of God." And they will also do their dirty deeds in politics.

If these believers actually trusted their God, they would wait and let him deal with his enemies as he saw fit. Instead, they feel their God is so weak and impotent, they must give him all of the help with which they are capable. Thus, every evangelist, priest and minister seeks to take advantage of whatever evil or tragedy occurs, in order to make more believers for their cause and more soldiers of ill will to send out into the world. These "soldiers of righteousness" try to convert the "others." Failing that, they seek to conquer and reduce to servitude those who do not believe the same fables, which they do. Once they have conquered the weak minded and taught them sin and salvation, they then teach them "God's Will."

GOD'S WILL, A SECOND LOOK

God's will has another facet. Christian theologians have repeatedly made the claim that good is determined by God's will. That is, whatever God does is good. Also, whatever God asks us to do is good. Many burdensome books have been written on this subject and to read them is like driving a boat through a heavy fog without any lights or navigational aids - at night.

The question, of Christian ethics and morals, hinges upon the concept of God's will. The Christians say God's will is the final judge on what is good and what is not. Such a position brings up some questions. Does God make some action good by commanding it to be done? Or does God see some action as good, and therefore, commands it because it is good? Is good arbitrary? Does God cause an action to become good by his decree? Or, is an action good simply because it is good within and by itself? Is it true that, "GOOD stands on its own bottom." (As my mother use to say?) Or, must it be propped up by divine decree?

Every language has a gradation of "good." In English it is "good, better and best." By rights of Standard English, it should be "good, gooder and goodest". The good we are talking about is the "best" or the "goodest," but will be written simply as "good" for the rest of this chapter.

With the first questions still ringing in our heads we come to a second set of questions. Is God the only one who knows the "good?" Is the "good" the personal property of God and only he can identify and recognize the "good?"

There are those who say, without God there can be no morals or ethics worthy of the name. These theologians say, without God there is no incentive toward the "good", no reason to govern our lives according to the "good". In fact, some say, there is no way to even know the "good" without God's direction and revelation. Honest Clear Thinkers doubt such statements can be true.

If God is the sole judge of the "good" of an action, either by decree, or by fore knowledge of the outcome of that action, then mere man is at a loss to know "good" unless God reveals it to him. But, on the other hand, if the "good" can be arrived at by observation, experimentation and logical thought, then man is capable of making moral decisions on his own. He can build a set of "good" ethics and morals on the basis of his own observations and reasoning.

The Bible tells us, mankind was cast out of the Garden of Eden when he became as the Gods knowing "good" and evil. To know "good" and evil is a great SIN in the Bible. According to the Bible, this ability to know "good" and evil was never taken away from man. Therefore, according to the Bible, man can and does know "good" and is consequently capable of building ethical and moral codes based on the same "good" which God knows. (The Bible says so.)

This same ability in man destroys the arguments of those theologians who say "good" is what God says it is. If God were to say some bad or evil action was "good," God would be a liar. If man himself can know "good," then it is not arbitrary, neither is it decreed. "Good" is "good" within and of itself. "Good" DOES stand on its own bottom!

In the Bible, God endorses, regulates and advocates slavery. God tells man, when he makes slaves, do it like this. He tells the slaves to obey their masters even if the master is unjust and beats him. This then can only be accepted as God's will. By the thinking of Christians they must say slavery is moral, ethical and "good" because God has regulated and recommended it to them in the Bible. For hundreds of years this is exactly what fundamentalist Christians said. Yet, any logical thinking human will conclude, slavery is not "good" as declared in the Bible. God is wrong (or the writers who wrote the Bible were wrong.)

This leaves Clear Thinkers four alternatives. First, slavery is "good" and logical thinkers are wrong to conclude slavery is evil. Second, God himself does not know "good" from evil. Third, God is a liar about slavery, or fourth, someone wrote lies in the Bible and claimed God dictated those lies.

Let's look at each alternative. First, if slavery is indeed "good," those who believe should be just as blessed of God by being slaves as by being masters. Who among you will volunteer to receive the blessings of God by being a slave to another man or person? (Submit your application.) Hardly anyone actually believes slavery is "good." Most thinking people know slavery is an evil and an unbearable burden. It is demeaning and devoid of any "good" what so ever. The whole world concludes slavery is evil, especially if they are the slaves. Thinking people must reject this alternative.

Second, we look at the position that God does not know "good" from evil. Believers and Clear Thinkers alike must reject this because, if there were a God, by definition he must know "good" from evil.

We move on to the third alternative that God is a liar. Even if God were a liar there could be no reason to tell such hurtful and harmful lies to his people. This must be rejected for the same reason we rejected God not knowing "good" from evil. If God were a liar he wouldn't be a God, but rather, would be a devil or demon.

We are left with little choice. Either God lied about what is "good." or these Bible writers lied about what God said when they wrote that God approved and regulated slavery.

So we come to our fourth and final alternative. Holy men wrote that slavery was "good" and the writers said God himself told them to write it. If there is a GOOD God, he never told anyone to write that the evils of slavery were to be classified as "good." An all wise and just God never said it was his will that people make slaves of each other. Many writers of the Old and New Testament wrote that it was God's Will that the slave obey his master, even if the master unjustly beat him. THEY SIMPLY LIED. God never advised the Hebrews to make war in order to obtain slaves. God never told anyone to bore a hole in the ear of his slave and put a ring in it to show that the slave belonged to the master for the lifetime of the slave. A Just God never told anyone how to sell his own family into slavery. A large bunch of Old and New Testament writers lied. God did not and could not advocate slavery as a "good." Holy men simply lied about that in the Bible.

According to Christian theologians there are two ways to know God's will and therefore to know "good." The first and best way is to know what God says in his holy word (the Bible). The second way is to wait upon God to give one a personal revelation of what is "good."

As for the Bible, it is obvious; many of the writers lied about God endorsing slavery. Is it not also likely, other statements attributed to God about what is "good" and what is God's will, were lied about too? The very fact God and/or the Bible is wrong about slavery means the REST of the Bible must be judged by man in light of what man knows to be wrong or evil, and what he knows to be good and wholesome.

If man is actually to be the judge of the Bible, as he must be, what is the use of the Bible as a yardstick for what is "good" and what is bad? It becomes useful in the same manner as any other written work of man. The only admonitions we can follow from the Bible are those things that we ALREADY know to be "good." The other "good" in the Bible, which we know to be false or evil, we must reject as we reject other erroneous works of man. In addition to being told slavery is "good," we are also told we should stone our children for eating too much, for talking back to their parents, for rejecting the "gospel" and many other items of equal importance.

We are told by God in the Bible to kill those who worship other Gods. We are told to stone prostitutes to death. We are told to leave the dead (disbelievers) to bury their own dead. We are told to forget and leave our responsibilities for our spouses, parents and children and to go preach God's Will to the world. We are told many other things contrary to what we humans know to be "good." A thinking person must reject God's will and the Bible as being a divine revealer of "good."

As to personal revelation, please read the preceding article that deals with this subject in some depth. (Or, for more detail read the Honest Man's Philosophy, chapter 21).

The greatest standard for determining the "good" is known in all religions, societies, nations and peoples. That is, the concept of, not doing to others what you would not want done to you. This should be the standard for judging individual action as well as collective social action.

But there are special social or group situations to consider that must temper our decisions. In the over all view of the survival of human kind, there comes times when group survival may be pitted against individual survival. Society has therefore, formulated certain rules to protect itself from over ambitious, diseased or insane individuals. The unfortunate who contract certain diseases are isolated from society to protect the rest of the individuals from being infected. This decision is based upon the rules of both social and individual rights to survive.

A society or government, which doesn't protect its citizens from deadly diseases and which doesn't isolate those unfortunate individuals who contract such deadly diseases, loses the respect of its citizens. It also loses its authority in the eyes of its citizens. The next thing that the society or government loses is its moral right to power. Then it loses its power.

Those who commit murder and atrocities upon others in society are themselves isolated or eliminated from society for the survival of both individuals and society as a whole. Sometimes one group or society attempts to eliminate, or control, or make political slave of another group or society. War and political chaos results. "Good" often becomes very confused when the survival of one group (Germans) is pitted against the survival of another group (Jews). And let's not forget the blacks and whites, or the gays and the believers. We could add dozens more examples, but you see the point.

Having children (a good) becomes a confusing situation when the parents are retarded or cannot feed and support the children. Having children becomes even more confused when whole nations and lands become grossly over populated, and when famine and disorder and war occur. Many evil events can result from too much of a "good" thing.

It is "good" to protect a group or society from other warlike groups or societies. But when the "good" (the protection) becomes so over-powering that its use (nuclear bombs, biological or chemical warfare) would destroy all civilization and perhaps all life, the "good" becomes evil.

It becomes very clear; a "good" in one situation may well be an evil in another situation. The reverse can also be true at times. Thus, man is faced not with a divine "good", or a permanent "good." Rather, man is faced with a fluctuating "good." That is to say, a "good" in one situation may equally be an evil in another situation.

So man must think. Indeed, he is forced to think. He must also think collectively. That is, he must set up courts of judgments to consider the situation involved in the questioned actions. He must decide, before hand if possible, so everyone knows before the act is committed that it is considered wrong and hurtful by society. Thus, man has established laws and rules and courts of justice to prevent wrong and evil actions, or to punish them after they have been committed, whether they be classified as God's will - or not.

The wisdom of man discards the "good" in the Bible, which we know to be evil. We disregard the rules and regulations of "God's Will" as found in the Bible. Man has judged the Bible's notion of God's Will and the religious notion of "good" and found them lacking in justice and rejected them as a basis for administering justice and "good" to society. The reason for rejection is not rebellion against God. The reason is because God's Will, as presented in the Bible, is NOT always "good." The Bible is not always just or "good" in many of its pronouncements and rules for life and society. God did not (and could not) write nor ordain these evils to be classified as good.

Clear Thinkers can never accept that God's Will is arbitrary, harsh and unjust as proclaimed by the Believers. Holy men lied about the "good" and about God's Will in the Bible. God's Will could only be JUSTICE for ALL mankind, even as a true God could only be JUST in ALL of his activities.

THE NATURAL PHYSICAL ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE IS GOD'S JUST WILL.

"GOD'S WILL" IN THE BIBLE IS ANOTHER RELIGIOUS LIE.

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