"In God We Trust"

Did you realize that "In God We Trust" is the official motto of the United States of America and the Republic of Nicragua (En Dios Confiamos)? The United States had adopted this motto on July 30, 1956 as a replacement or alternative to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum ("Out of many one"), which was adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782 (see Wiki). On July 30, 1956, In God We Trust becomes the nation's official motto.




   











Rebel leader Augusto César Sandino (center) (Wiki)

  An ancient petroglyph on Ometepe Island (Wiki)

 But why trust in God? Who God is this God who you are to trust? Only God godself can give the truest answer. But what source can we find an understandable answer to this question but religion. But why organized religion? Christianity, Islam, or Judaism, each has its own image of God. Mind-boggling. Give faith a change; just trust in God. God will show the way. Huh. 

Again and again, the Bible tells us that we should trust God. For example,

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

There 5 or 6 or 7 or 20 "rock solid reasons" you can trust God.

 So why should we trust in God? Because God gives us rock-solid reasons to trust him. (click https://theblazingcenter.com/2018/12/trust-god.html)

1. God’s word is true
2. God does not lie
3. God never changes in his being
4. God never changes his mind
5. God never changes his plans or purposes
6. God has never failed to fulfill his word
7. God is sovereign over all things
8. God is infinitely wise
9. God is faithful
10. God is infinitely loving
11. God gave his son for us
12. God is completely just
13. God has wonderful plans
14. God will make you like Christ
15. God is infinitely good
16. God is always good to his children
17. God will never leave you
18. God cares for you
19. God will never let you go
20. God is with you

 And all this hullabaloo of piling up "rocks" for God to defend Godself is entirely irrelevant! God is an idea, not practice. God does show us or tell us straight how we can break the chains of poverty, foreign control. oppression, social discrimination and exploitation. God is silent and does not deliver the true causes of war waged today by powerful countries against the small ones. God seems to take side with those who want to establish "One Power" in the world, the Thing of all Things (Cosa di tutti Cosi). Talk of Caltex, Shell, and Aramco, the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO, the war vs. terrorism. This is for one thing: profit and more and more profit for the rape of the earth.  "In God we trust" -- and the elite loves that motto -- because it generally serves the few for that purpose. Where does God stand from here?

Why you don't need God?

Ryan Bell, former pastor turned atheist, says we don't need a divinity to find meaning in life.

This is his-story.

(CNN) It was January 2014 and I was sitting on the beach in Malibu looking out at the seemingly endless Pacific Ocean, ebbing and flowing. I had just begun a personal project of challenging my lifelong assumption that God exists. 

You see, I had been a Seventh-day Adventist pastor for 19 years. I resigned from my pastoral position the year before, but now I stepped away from my faith altogether. It was a gut-wrenching decision but I couldn't see any other way to find peace and clarity. I encountered major theological differences with my denomination and evangelical Christianity in general, including the way it marginalizes women and LGBT people. 

I questioned the problem of evils and God's general silence and inactivity. I sought out more liberal theologies and found them to be the slow death of God. Now I had to face the very real possibility that God does not exist.

Would I discover that God was present and involved, or would I discover that the whole web of theological claims I had embraced and helped develop were false?

I was feeling small against the beautiful and terrifyingly indifferent sea before me. Then I started to feel grateful. "What are the chances that I would be sitting on this beach right now, looking at this remarkable scene of beauty?" I thought. I was struck again by how unlikely my existence is. 

One question I've been repeatedly asked is how my life has any meaning without God. While I had heard dozens of Christian apologists claim that meaning cannot be found without God, I had a curious experience. My appreciation for life and its potential increased when I stepped away from my faith.

Atheists are often accused of being nihilists or absurdists. Absurdism is a school of thought arguing that humanity's effort to find inherent meaning in life is futile. Nihilism goes further and in doing so becomes a mood or a disposition as well as a philosophical frame of mind. Nihilism says that nothing matters at all.

"If there is no God, then man and the universe are doomed. Like prisoners condemned to death, we await our unavoidable execution. There is no God, and there is no immortality. And what is the consequence of this? It means that life itself is absurd. It means that the life we have is without ultimate significance, value, or purpose," writes William Lane Craig, a Christian apologist. 

But my experience is that acknowledging the absence of God has helped me refocus on the wonderful and unlikely life I do have. This realization has increased my appreciation for beauty and given me a sense of immediacy about my life. As I come to terms with the fact that this life is the only one I get, I am more motivated than ever to make it count. 

I want to experience as much happiness and pleasure as I can while helping others to attain their happiness. I construct meaning in my life from many sources, including love, family, friendships, service, learning and so on. 

Popular Christian theology, on the other hand, renders this life less meaningful by anchoring all notions of value and purpose to a paradise somewhere in the future, in a place other than where we are right now. Ironically, my Christian upbringing taught me that ultimately this life doesn't matter, which tends to make believers apathetic about suffering and think that things will only get worse before God suddenly solves everything on the last day. 

Behold, atheists' new Ten Commandments

It struck me this year that nihilism is a disease born of theism. Some people have been taught to expect meaning outside of this world beyond our earthly experiences. When they come upon the many absurdities of life and see that it's "not as advertised," an existential despair can take hold. 

The problem is not solved by inventing a God in which to place all our hopes, but rather, to face life honestly and create beauty from the absurd.

Without dependency on a cosmic savior who is coming to rescue us, we are free to recognize that we are the ones we're waiting for. If we don't make the world a fair and habitable place, no one else is going to do it for us. Our lives matter because our choices affect others and our children's future. 

Life does not need a divine source in order to be meaningful. Anyone who has seen a breathtaking sunset or fallen in love with another human being knows that we make meaning from the experiences of our lives; we construct it the way we construct any social narrative. 

Free from false expectations we are free to create purpose, share love, and enjoy the endless beauty of our world. We are the fortunate ones. There is no need for fear to have the last word.

 oOo