God: Mans Greatest Creation
"There is nothing about man that is not strange to an immortal." This is the viewpoint of Satan in Mark Twain's “Letters from the Earth”. Throughout this piece, Satan writes to Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel about his observations of mankind. Satan watches us contradict ourselves in our ideas of religion. I believe that man created the idea of God as a way to help us understand the world. We created a set of rules that we are required to follow in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven. When we break one of these rules, we expect forgiveness for our sins, and hope to be accepted into the ultimate place of peace.
In the Bible, it lists a set of commandments that we are expected to obey. We believe that if we follow these ten basic rules, we will be accepted into heaven. If we break these rules, then we will automatically be sent to hell, wherein, lies the first contradiction. If forgiveness is given so easily, then hell serves no purpose. We believe that if we do a good deed once in a while, and follow the guidelines set forth in the Bible, that we will be accepted into heaven. If this is true, then how is it decided who goes to hell, and who goes to heaven? Is it simply a question of morals, or is it as easy as buying indulgences?
I believe that we bend the rules of the Bible to our advantage. The irony is that we are the ones who created these rules in the first place. We bend these rules so we don't feel guilty when we do break them. We contradict ourselves again. If we do feel guilty about breaking a rule, then we go to confession, get told how many "Hail Mary’s to say, and go on with the rest of our day. It's as easy as going to a coffee shop to get a latté. "Yes, I'd like a tall decaf and all my sins to be forgiven."
Many people believe that the Bible is dictated directly by God, and take it literally. A lot of them forget that there are many different versions of "His word," and that it has been translated and...
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