I was raised as a Catholic, but in some ways it stuck, and in some ways it never did. I definitely absorbed the "smoke and mirrors" aspect, the pomp and circumstance, the theater of religion; the concepts of sin, guilt, conscience. I kind of dug that Jesus guy, but his story never quite added up, and really, the Jesus saga seemed like a non-squiter side-show to the grand story of the Universe.
But then again, I am attracted to charismatic prophets of all kinds, still, when push comes to shove, I'm not buying that eternal life or eternal damnation thing. I'll go with Love is the Answer.
Why God? Right? Why do we need a creator of the Universe? Why not God Becomes the Universe?
You find your insights where you find them. So in my case it's that long-haired, freaky-charismatic prophet from Oklahoma (see previous post) who led me down this path.
"The belief that God became the Universe is a theological doctrine that has been developed several times historically, and holds that the creator of the universe actually became the universe. Historically, for versions of this theory where God has ceased to exist or to act as a separate and conscious entity, some have used the term pandeism, which combines aspects of pantheism and deism, to refer to such a theology.[1][2][3] A similar concept is panentheism, which has the creator become the universe only in part, but remain in some other part transcendent to it, as well."
And then there's this, I realize I am actually a HINDU!
"To the Hindu, for example, God didn't create the universe, but God became the universe. Then he forgot that he became the universe. Why would God do this? Basically, for entertainment. You create a universe, and that in itself is very exciting. But then what? Should you sit back and watch this universe of yours having all the fun? No, you should have all the fun yourself. To accomplish this, God transformed into the whole universe. God is the Universe, and everything in it. But the universe doesn't know that because that would ruin the suspense. The universe is God's great drama, and God is the stage, the actors, and the audience all at once. The title of this epic drama is "The Great Unknown Outcome". Throw in potent elements like passion, love, hate, good, evil, free will; and who knows what will happen? No one knows, and that is what keeps the universe interesting. But everyone will have a good time. And there is never really any danger, because everyone is really God, and God is really just playing around."
