Such a nice picture. Although I consider myself an Agnostic now, I still acknowledge the fact that pictures like this one give people a sense of comfort. After all, believing in God or a higher power of some sort is very reassuring. The idea that God is watching over you, and that He is there to answer your prayers, is a very comforting thought.
Unfortunately, though, there is the possibility that whatever comfort is received from believing in God or a higher power may be coming from a false sense of security - because although there are a lot of Christians in the world, as well as many other religions who have a belief in a higher power, that doesn't mean that what they believe is absolutely true.
And with those thoughts in mind, I wrote this hymn parody.
I AM A CHILD OF GOD
I am a child of God,
Or so the Christians say.
But I don’t know if God exists,
They say I’ve gone astray.
Or so the Christians say.
But I don’t know if God exists,
They say I’ve gone astray.
(Chorus)
Reasoning has got me thinking,
Questioning it all.
Blindly just accepting it,
For that, I will not fall.
Questioning it all.
Blindly just accepting it,
For that, I will not fall.
Am I a child of God?
The query gives me pause.
There’s nothing wrong with questioning
Religion and its flaws.
The query gives me pause.
There’s nothing wrong with questioning
Religion and its flaws.
(Chorus)
Reasoning, not just accepting
Everything that’s said.
Going down the garden path,
I’ll use my brain instead.
Everything that’s said.
Going down the garden path,
I’ll use my brain instead.
So if there’s not a God,
No higher power there.
Would knowing that destroy your life
And fill you with despair?
No higher power there.
Would knowing that destroy your life
And fill you with despair?
(Chorus)
Reasoning and analyzing,
Thinking on my own.
Not believing what I’m told,
I will not be a clone.
I am a woman first,
On me I can rely.
So whether there’s a God or not,
Myself I can’t deny.
Thinking on my own.
Not believing what I’m told,
I will not be a clone.
I am a woman first,
On me I can rely.
So whether there’s a God or not,
Myself I can’t deny.
(Chorus)
Reasoning, no blind acceptance,
Not belief by force.
Using my free agency,
The best and safest course.
Not belief by force.
Using my free agency,
The best and safest course.
© Diane Tingen, 7/8/2011
4 comments:
Wow. Such a sad post. I'm sorry you have lost the faith of that simple child's hymn. You are a child of God!!
Interesting comment by "Anonymous" on my blog - "Wow. Such a sad post. I'm sorry you have lost the faith of that simple child's hymn. You are a child of God!!" Sorry, I just don't see it as a "sad post." I see what I posted as acknowledging that there are other possibilities. And just because someone tells me that I'm a child of God, doesn't mean I actually am. How anyone can state with certainty that God exists and that all of us are indeed his children is beyond me. I parroted the Mormon Party line for 52 years of my life, and then I finally began to think for myself. I simply don't know if God exists, but if he does, I have a lot of questions for him... such as why does he allow all the suffering in the world like the starvation in Africa? When the tsunami and earthquake hit Japan, why did he supposedly save all of the LDS missionaries but not almost 20,000 Japanese people? And truly, why would God guarantee eternal salvation in the Celestial Kingdom to worthy Mormons who make up such a small percentage of the world population... and say that "other good people" of the world will go to the Terrestial Kingdom because they did not accept Mormonism? So many questions. Mormons think they have all the answers, but they don't.
This child's hymn disturbs me on a number of levels. First of all...my biological father abandoned his wife and children. She found out she was pregnant with me, and decided to give me up for adoption. She just didn't want another of his kids. The couple who adopted me were TBM's to the core. But they were also deeply mentally ill, and they abused me in every way a parent could possibly abuse a child. Dad molested me from the time I was a tot until I began to tell mommy what he was doing. He switched tactics, and started beating me instead. Mom? She blamed me for what her husband had been doing, like as if a toddler has the ability to sexually seduce an adult man. I became the family scapegoat, and was blamed for everything that went wrong. If my older brother (their only biological child...aka...The Only Begotten Son) broke something, he blamed me and she believed him. He enjoyed standing in the doorway and smirking at me while she was whipping my bare buttocks, legs and back with dad's thick leather belt, so he started making up stuff to blame me for. My childhood was a living hell. The very people I should have been able to look to and trust for love, and support, and nurturing were the very people I feared the most. I remember standing with the other Primary children singing 'I am a Child of God' and very nearly passing out with stress and nausea. Where was God? Could he see what they were doing to me? If he did...why didn't he put a stop to it? The fairy tales speak of God sending guardian angels to protect and defend the little children. They were lies. He clearly didn't lift a finger to defend or protect me. I remember one Mothers Day, having had a particularly vicious whipping the day before, with my underwear and scratchy lacy dress irritating the oozing welts which lay against my skin...as we began to sing 'Mother Dear I Love You So...Your Happy Smiling Face...Is Such a Joy to Look At...It Makes Home A Lovely Place'...all I could picture in my minds eye was the look of purple faced rage and bared teeth as she wielded that thick leather belt. I ran from the stand, out the door, through the foyer and barely made it to the restroom to throw up. My mother followed me, not because she was worried or concerned...but because she was enraged that I had embarrassed her. Can anyone guess what happened when we got home?
Amen! I love this version much better than the LDS version. It is so much more realistic.
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