Tuesday, January 13, 2026

One Big, Vague God For All of Us

I have read a bunch about the different religions and moral philosophies that have served as spiritual guideposts for people over the millennia.  My Great Discovery! has been that at their core they all basically say the same thing.  I haven't found any written instructions on how to be a selfish dick or to use violence to get what I want.  No commandments along those lines that I've been able to uncover.  "If your neighbor has some shit that you want thou shalt go steal that shit and make it your own."  Nowhere to be found.  "Honor thy father and thy mother unless thou does not want to."  Etc. Etc. Etc.    

My conclusion is that there is one Big God floating around up there or over this way or inside us or something.  Maybe God is like a 60s tribute band: he plays a little of that and a little of this, nothing too outrageous, everything kind of pleasantly pleasing, nobody can remember exactly what was played but everyone leaves feeling pretty good.   A good riff is a good riff.  It's comforting to me to think that those of us who are seeking a spiritual presence all end up in the same place, praying to the same presence or force or being.  It's as if God changes outfits to please the intended audience but it's still God underneath the clothing.  Your God has an elephant head and six arms and mine wears robes and has a long, white beard and that guy is a fat dude sitting in the Lotus position with a goofy smile on his face.   It's all God!  It's all the same thing!  Can you imagine Jesus and Buddha and Ganesh and Mohammed getting into a violent argument about some picayune procedural minutia?  "Your God has the head of an elephant!?  Fucking ridiculous!  Believe in my God - he can walk on water and raise people from the dead or he lives in rocks or he doesn't really have any form at all.  THAT makes sense!" 

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