I was recently taken aback by a Facebook post quoting some Bible dictum that we should not love the world. I was completely outraged and day after day realise how religions of all sorts superimpose nonsense on us, or rather we interpret what is written in a nonsensical manner, might be more to the point. Here is my response to a Christian apologist on this point that we should not love this world and should keep focused on what happens after we leave this world.
I was born a Roman Catholic and have read not only the Bible but other Gnostic gospels such as the Apocrypha. On top of that I have studied many other philosophies including Taoism, Buddhism, Kashmir Shaivism, Hinduism, atheism, humanism, and lots of other isms. I’m also very much an avid free thinker and reformist who believes the human race needs to evolve and can’t do so when philosophies like this dominate the culture with fear rather than love. Let’s not forget that the world was still flat according to the Vatican until 1965. Earlier, several centuries ago when Galileo wanted to show the church the truth that the earth revolved around the sun he was excommunicated. Be clear on what the truth means first before espousing a religion which has actually suppressed the truth for centuries. But back to the topic, who said I don’t believe in God just because I choose to have a broad-based view of truth? That’s an assumption on your part. Perhaps I don’t particularly like the term God, that label that has caused so much dissent throughout history, even now, so much death and intolerance.
But here’s the sad thing and that is that I see people, kids, adults, police…all Church going citizens, people who like to be seen as righteous by others, unconsciously throwing trash – paper, cigarette butts, food wrappers on sidewalks after going to Church. They hear the news of global warming, children and media talk about it all the time and the fact that this world is dying environmentally still doesn’t matter because they actually couldn’t give a shit. The planet is dying and these morons, all who robotically visit their churches across the globe to bolster their religious fervour every Sunday, are completely unaware of the world in which they live, the world of which they are a part of, of which they have been born out of matters not and should not be loved. This is probably the case because to a large extent they are conditioned through religious ideology NOT to love the world as in statements and quotes like the one above. Why would anyone of this mind-set even care about the environment, the world, if brainwashed into believing they shouldn’t love it? Think!! Use your God-given reasoning when studying these so-called ancient religious excerpts.
Again, these same people still love to sit down three times a day and eat sumptuous food which is a product of this world, use mobile phones and technology just like what we’re doing here, watch TV, purchase dresses and make up, earn well and buy big houses and fast cars, go to the cinema and restaurants and let’s not forget shopping at the mall. WE all LOVE this world!! That’s why we do all this stuff. The fact that most Christians I see are overweight, many obese, shows that they are either incapable of living these verses or don’t care to include that in their list of easy Christian laws. Obesity is basically gluttony but I guess part of the religious framework has been to push people down and make them feel sinful and unworthy so I can understand burying these feelings of inadequacy and shame with food.
There is a Roman Catholic priest who lives just near me in the neighbourhood and he drives a BMW. This is a rural area and most of the people here are peasants who can barely put rice on the table but he still squeezes a couple of pesos out of them every week to pay for his lifestyle WHILE THEY DONT HAVE RUNNING WATER!! IT’S ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS!!!!! There you go, a perfect example of how NOT to love the world which includes these peasants, correct? He’s obviously living this verse from the Bible to the letter no doubt as revealed by his despicable actions. And this is a guy that preaches this stuff from the pulpit’s every week.
You see, there are people who profess a love of the Bible and God and heaven and the afterlife pretending that the afterlife is more important than this life but betray that for example when they cry if someone they love dies, someone of this world, when they know full well that that person is supposedly going to a better place and in the company of God himself. We must look at our attitudes and actions to see exactly where our loyalties lay. You see, the priest above preaches that very same verse that we should not love the world but himself loves the world, like most people who profess the same religious views. I don’t know too many people in this part of the rural country where poverty is the norm who drive a BMW i. Hypocrisy with a capital H.
Yet there are also very good rich people like the billionaire Warren Buffett who give away 99% of all his billions to the poor. He loves the world and obviously the people in it. He still drives a beat up old pickup and lives in the same four bedroom bungalow for the past 40 years. Here is a man of the world who loves the world who has his desires, but still contributes something rather than just sitting ( or preaching) on the pews in the church every Sunday listening to all of the dribble that has been regurgitated for the last 2000 years without any consciousness of what they can do to IMPROVE the world, a world which they say is unlovable and should not be loved.
So, the context I’m talking about is the other verse of the Bible which says you can still be in the world even though not of it and don’t forget, PEOPLE ARE THE WORLD TOO, and religion teaches we should love each other. Are you going to ignore the fact that human beings are part of the world too? How do you filter out what parts of the world are lovable and what parts aren’t? How about a sunset? Isn’t that part of the world? How about music which acknowledges the beauty in nature and art works in museums that expresses the inner joy and happiness of human existence here in this world? Will we eliminate that like ISIS heathens right now in the Middle East who are destroying amazing and priceless historic art pieces because these things are as you say “of this world”? When you start to look at what makes up the world, I doubt very much that anyone I know, even hard-core churchgoers who get there in their cars, in their beautiful dresses, all made up to look pretty for their God ‘LOVE’ the world from what I observe.
How about this for a complete and opposite philosophy, let’s all try an experiment. Imagine if all of us instead LOVE the world AS IF IT IS GOD! What would happen? Would we kill each other, would we pollute the very environment, the natural beauty of where we live and breathe, kill creatures, helpless animals simply for our carnal appetites, to eat something even though there is a commandment also which says Thou shall not kill? Would loving the world as if it is God be any worse than what the history of our human race has been with all that religious indoctrination? Could be worth a try I’d say. Think about it. If you did the exact opposite of the verse mentioned and loved absolutely everyone, everything, every moment as if it was the Supreme God himself how could you possibly go wrong?
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