Posted on by Storytime with John

No God, No Good?

First in the new debate series – here we hear a story from the lovely Linda Bethea (thanks Linda!), and later I discuss religion, morality, and…probably a few other things. Hope you enjoy it. 

Opinions are obviously more than welcome, I expect this issue to be a little bit more controversial than say…the time some leeches attacked me in Nepal, or a Chinese guy looking at me weird in a bathroom – but that’s not a bad thing, it’s healthy to have discussions. I’d love to learn something new. 

If you have a video request you can leave a comment, or send me an email – if it’s a cool/interesting idea then I will get to it as soon as I can!

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40 Replies to “No God, No Good?”

  2. I very much enjoyed your commentary! You even injected some humor which I especially enjoy… Interesting take on it. I definitely believe you should continue. Being a combo Astronomy buff and X – Yo Ho, (JW), I believe it would be small minded to think a God doesn’t exist given the inconceivable vastness of our life probable universe.

    A star moved through the sky and hovered over a stable… To me, that was a space ship moving to its drop off point. I believe that was a visit from someone who came from their home planet to check up on his dropped off offspring, and not all the rubbish and exaggeration man imparts within his rule and regulation setting poop :O)

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  3. You are not against religion-you are against hypocrisy that is a long standing personality trait. On occasion, we are all capable of hypocrisy, being mean spirited, and so on…sin if you will. In my church, we teach that our church is not a palace of holy saints but a hospital of sick puppys. And we are all looking to our God to to doctor us-forgive us when we screw up and heal us so that we become better humans. When looking for God or a religion, look at the God (not the people) if you feel that this God has what you need then you look for a gathering (church, temple, whatever) where the vast majority of folks are actually trying to live most of their lives as that God would have them do. Once you found that church, you look for a circle of friends that are not hypocritical or apathetic…all churches have them. I would have connected with Linda and her Mom but I would have avoided her Dad.

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  4. Years ago, someone told me in all seriousness that without Christ, there was no morality. Really? What about the world before the Jewish carpenter? What about all the other people who follow different religions, or none at all? Only Christians know that lying and stealing and hurting people is wrong? Absolutely ridiculous! I have no patience with such ignorance. Trying to be a nice person is so much harder than following a few rules! People like Linda’s father give religion and humanity a bad name.

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      1. I’m glad, you deserve it! Of course, we all deserve to be happy. The Chinese have a saying; something like “Happiness is the best revenge.”

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Well that’s the thing, being nice is about your character and personal choices…and well lets be honest patience and tolerance too! These are traits that can be found across the board not just with one school of thought. Glad you are happy Linda, that’s what it is all about!

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  6. Wow…John! The dichotomy of the public figure behavior versus the private one! Could be any setting, not just Linda’s father in church and at home. I accept God as my savior! Period! Being nice to others is all part of that! Religion or not, I wonder how you will feel on your deathbed. Seems religion or not, God is always present at war time in every fox hole! Thoughts change over time according to the situation. Peace be with you!!! Christine

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  7. Really enjoyed this. These are a keeper.

    As to hypocrisy, which I agree with others as this seemed to be the main point, I have a small tidbit to offer. I sat through a lesson for women in the church I was attending, in which the whole damn lesson was on not gossiping. I had just visited a woman the day before who was having some real marriage problems, and it was my call (from the church) to visit with her and offer friendship. Her experiences and problems were very personal, and she was very embarrassed when she shared them with me, but she felt she had no one else who would just listen without judgment. Right after the lesson, I am talking not more than 5 minutes, two women in front of me, in the front row, turned to me and asked me what was ‘really going on’ with my friend. I was so pissed! I am not one to hold my tongue if I feel it is very important to voice my opinion or the very obvious. I replied to the women, in a raised voice with some very strong vigor, “Did we not just listen to a lesson on gossiping?” They looked at me questioningly, and said yes, but “…seriously, what is up with her?” I was exasperated and this was the icing on the cake as to my decision to stop attending organized religion meetings. I find much of the time the people who are gossiping, being a jerk in traffic, and other non-Christian behaviors are people who loudly boaist they are Christians. I can’t tell you how many times some jerk who cuts in front of me in traffic (I used to drive a truck, and no one likes to be behind a truck) has the Christian ‘fish’ or some other identification of their beliefs on their bumper. Great video.

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  8. Our dad actually tries to live like a Christian should, unlike the father in the story. He is not perfect of course, nor does he pretend that he is. If Christians take their faith seriously, they would at the very least, apologize for “bad behavior”. They are still human and make many mistakes just like anyone else. Interestingly enough, we cannot find a church to attend yet. We just know a handful of Christians who are actual Christians. Don’t think too much of “going to church”.

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  9. Hey John, can’t believe I just found this! Loved what you did with it. I agree with you 100%. I am a happy a person as you’d ever want to meet. Probably totally warped and totally harmless but completely happy. You did a great job with this. So glad I sent it to you. Couldn’t have expressed my feelings better myself. I know God loves me. That what matters! And don’t worry, if it happens we are both wrong and don’t get in heaven, we’ll both have somebody cool to hang out with. Love you. Till then, come see me at Nutsrok. Linda Bethea. https://nutsrok.wordpress.com/

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  12. Hi there, total atheist here.
    The idea of there being no goodness or morality without some kind of god to guide everyone’s actions is not only demonstrably nonsense, it’s also massively insulting to the intelligence, integrity and compassion of every decent person ever born.

    I think that covers it.

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    1. Well said! Though I’ve only been an atheist the last handful of years (I was raised Lutheran but not baptized), the concept of no morals without God makes no sense to me. And it’s insulting. Having lived both lifestyles, my view point and actions have not changed towards others. The majority of the time, I’m nice and respectful to others. Other times, I’m not. But that’s not driven by anything “Godly” or fear of being judged at the end. It’s driven by the fact that I was raised to be respectful of others and by opinions/experiences gained into adulthood. It’s that simple.

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      1. Bravo. It’s always good to meet somebody who is capable of reasonable debate, especially when they have seen both sides of the equation and no longer need the crutch of religion to maintain goodness and decency in their lives.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Likewise. I’m all for listening to both sides of the story and trying to see other people’s view points but I’ll stick to my guns on certain things. This is one of them.

        Liked by 2 people

  16. This video is very personal to me. My grandfather experienced clinical death during open heart surgery shortly before he passed away, and had a Near Death Experience, and confided that he saw ‘beautiful things.’ Though he was an atheist, he saw neither nothingness or Hell. If what he saw was more than a dying brain, whatever it was took him anyway. My grandfather was not perfect, but he was still a good man. I am not that religious anymore, but that experience has left me open to part of him still existing somewhere.

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  17. I absolutely loved your views in this and what you think a God might want us to do with our lives. In my opinion, you were right on point. I love your open mind and your ability to take stories and make them into more. Thanks for making the most of your talents! 🙂

    Like

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