Does God Exist

Does God Exist.

"This story came to me in an email:

This is one of the best explanations on the
nature of God that I have ever seen..

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair
cut and his beard trimmed. As  the barber began to work, they began to have a good  conversation.
They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: 'I don't believe that God exists.'

'Why do you say that?' asked the customer.
'Well, you just have to go out in the street to
realize that God doesn't exist.
Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children?  

If  God existed, there would be neither
suffering nor pain.
I can't imagine a loving God who would
allow all of these things.'
The customer thought for a moment, but
didn't respond because he didn't want to
start an argument.

The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a
man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard.
He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer
turned back and entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber:
'You know what? Barbers do not exist.'   
'How can you say that?' asked the surprised
barber. 'I am here, and I am a barber. And I    
just worked on you!'

'No!' the customer exclaimed. 'Barbers     don't
exist because if they did, there would be no    
people with dirty long hair and untrimmed    
beards, like that man outside.'

'Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens    
when people do not come to me.'
'Exactly!' affirmed the customer. 'That's the  point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look  to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the  world."

I disagree with the premise of this story which is that people suffer because "god" is not in their lives,  Or because they do not go to "god" for help when they are in trouble. 

I believe in the existence of "god" as the power that lives inside of everything.  The prophet Jesus teaches this very thing in his parable about the Last Judgement. (which can be found in Matt. 26 starting at vs 31) It's really the opposite of this email.  Jesus says that you will be judged on how you treat others.  He says, "You saw me hungry and gave me no food, you saw me thirsty and gave me no drink, I was naked and you did not clothe me, I was away from home and you gave me no welcome.  I was ill or in prison and you did not come to comfort me.  And they will ask the Lord, When did we see you hungry or thirsty or naked or away from home or ill or in prison and not attend to you?  And He will answer them, As often as you neglected these least ones, you neglected to do it to me."
So you see, it's not those people who are sick and poor who do not have "god".  We all have "god".  But Jesus teaches that we should attend the needs of others because of the presence of "god" within them.  Reaching out to them, says that you understand that when you give attendance to your fellow man, it is really "god" living within them who is honored and respected.

This story's moral is just the opposite:  It says,

'That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world.'

At least according to Jesus, there is pain and suffering in the world because we do not see "god" in everyone and everything that exists!  We do not honor the world or the power that exists within it or within ourselves.

What the Tea Party Means

From the season finale of “The Newsroom” (August 26, 2012)

 

Ideological purity

Belief in scriptural literalism

Deny science

Unmoved by facts

Undeterred by new information

Hostile fear of progress

Demonization of Education

Need to control women’s bodies

Severe Xenophobia

Tribal Mentality

Intolerance of decent

Pathological hatred of the United States Government

These things define those who call themselves the Tea Party, and they may call themselves Conservatives.  They can even call themselves Republicans (though Republicans certainly shouldn’t).

But we should call them what they are:  The American Taliban

Which cannot survive if YOU (insert character’s name) are allowed to vote. 

Disclaimer:  This is not the exact wording of the main character but comes as close as I can get listening to the program several times.  This list, however, is correct as spoken by the character and cannot be any clearer as to the nature of those who call themselves the Tea Party.  And I do believe their correct name should be the American Taliban.  Their fear based platform has disrupted our politics and done nothing to improve the working of our government.  They like to think of themselves as Patriots but patriots to what cause is yet to be specified.  I do not like what I am seeing or hearing from their representatives.  We have a choice this fall and we should use our choice to remove them from any and all offices: local, state or national before they can do any more harm to what we have called democracy.  The most disturbing effect that we have been experiencing in almost every state is their determination to prevent people from voting by changing laws that make it easy for people to vote, by requiring identification that many people cannot afford to get or by physically removing people from the voting rolls without any reason other than their gender or race.  We must not only vote this fall, we must make sure that anyone who needs help to get to the polls, gets the help they need.  Are you with me?