Where Credit Is Due

I should add a permanent link to Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, as I've been stealing a lot of my link's from him. He tends to have the most interesting tangential posts of all the blogs I follow. Here's one that goes to the heart of what I don't like about religion.

http://www.other6.net/

It's a website where people can add "bubbles" that signify God's presence (or meddling) in their lives. Here's a typical example:

"morning phone calls from mom- even when i'm feeling a little alone and tired...my mom never ceases to call and check in on me...helping me to feel a little better about myself :) god bless her."

I don't understand why God gets the credit for Mom's thoughtful phone calls. Why can't this person just thank his/her mom? Isn't that enough? A mother's love isn't meaningful unless a spiritual entity dialed the number?

Here's another example of misplaced sentiment:

"getting healthy- i've been working on trying to get healthier and i am starting to feel better. thank you god."

Don't thank God. Thank yourself! Or thank the people that gave you support along the way.

It's frustrating that there's all this praise and good will being directed toward an unseen, intangible idea of God. I can't help but think that concentrating that love on ourselves and the people around us would have a more practical impact. People are willing to suspend their disbelief in order to think that God is capable of anything. He can heal the wounded, inspire love and kindness, control the weather, make business meeting go well. But where is the similarly unfailing trust in the abilities of humans? Ok, we can't control the weather, yet... But thanking God for a sunny day is pretty ridiculous, since it implies that he's also responsible for the string of shitty days preceding it.

A final example:

"On Jones Mountain, where its ridgeline cut the sky- Explain God? Can't do it. Experience God? Just open your eyes."

This is a common way to chronicle the existence of God. Co-opt natural beauty as proof of God's presence. The phrase "just open your eyes" is misleading. It should read "just open your eyes where there is a perfect romanticized view of the natural world and no evidence of negative human behavior." Because keeping your eyes open the rest of time might start you wondering why God is putting all of his energy into creating pretty sunsets when there's a lot of suffering going on. It's interesting that none of the bubbles on this site mention anything negative. It's all flowers, sunshine, phone calls from loved ones and comforting sentiments. And that's fine. It's good to focus on the positive. But when everything noble and beautiful is credited to divine providence, then all that's left as a testiment to human responsibility is the shitty stuff. How can we start to forgive ourselves for all the wrong in the world, when all the right gets lumped into His good works?

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