Am I going to burn?

“Always respect the fire…otherwise, you’re going to get burned.” – National Geographic science editor, Rick Gore. p. 79 Authentic Fakes by David Chidester.

The fire makes for a very interesting parallel to God and respecting his “power.” I don’t believe in God, but I don’t not believe in God. I figure it’s safest this way, especially just in case there really does come a day that I need to turn to God, then hopefully he won’t screw me over because I haven’t been a model Christian. I keep in mind to respect God, despite my enormous reservations in his mere existence. I try to keep my cynical, negative thoughts about holier-than-thou, preachy, hyper-religious people and their conduct to myself and keep the thoughts to a minimum because I hate to feel like I’m judging (but they do drive me CRAZY!). It’s hard not to second guess whether maybe I’m wrong and to look at the high number of devoted religious people and how it all makes sense and seems to work for them. There are countless sets of beliefs and nearly that many followers, but can it be that only one of those sets of beliefs is “correct” and the rest aren’t? I’m pretty black and white most of the time, but it seems like in this case, there is some serious gray matter and unanswered questions, which may not be such a terrible thing.

Just because one doesn’t believe in something doesn’t mean it can’t hurt them. Look at good ole Dubyah—he has chosen to deny the existence Global Warming and its potentially catastrophic effects on the planet, but that doesn’t stop it from occurring—simply because he doesn’t “believe” in it. Even though I have serious doubts about God and organized religion in general, I’m still cognizant of how he could be playing a role in my life without my approval, or awareness for that matter. I’m God-fearing, but I don’t really know if there is even a God to fear…