Originally published on Facebook 19 April 2015.
George W. Bush told us that God told him to invade Iraq.
A number of candidates are saying God told them to run for President.
Many leaders have said that God told them to vote for this bill, or vote down that one.
This is my response to that.
John Varley wrote a bunch of stories about symbiont creatures who, attached to human beings, allow those human beings to live more or less unprotected in interplanetary space, round about the orbit of Saturn. Basically the people look like they’re covered with a wrapping of snot. Not the way I would want to live, but for the individuals, it’s ideal.
One of the things that make it so tolerable, given that the folks living in such symbiosis may go years without seeing another human being, is that the symbionts, who have no inherent intelligence themselves, have drilled into their brains and used a little of their processing power to create a secondary personality, as sentient as the human is, and as close to them as any sibling, lover, or child. The altered symbionts and their humans talk to one another, constantly. They never feel alone. They feel loved. Adored, to the point where one story, about a human removed from her symbiont against her will, puts her in a permanent state of mourning.
Varley acknowledges that it’s ambiguous whether the symbionts are really “separate” individuals, as they seem to be, or manifestations of helpful split personalities; either way, it is in the human gray matter that they exist, which is why nobody ever produces a symbiont personality they consider intolerable. It is always a perfect companion, complementing the human perfectly.
Now. Here comes the analogy.
I am perfectly willing to believe that the people who talk to God sometimes hear God talking back. Regardless of whether God exists, or not, I do find it interesting that few people who have such conversations report God saying things that they would oppose to their last breath, even to the point of eternal damnation. I believe that the voice they hear is made up out of their brain matter, and I say so without taking a stand, here, on whether it’s a psychological phenomenon, or an eternal being placing His presence within the skulls of His followers. The God in their heads is, I think, somehow always a God perfectly constructed for their idea of Him, and again, I say so without taking a stand on whether it’s a psychological phenomenon, or a demonstration of His many facets. I do think it’s equally subjective, given either explanation.
So I really do stress: making decisions for your country, based on that internal voice you presume to be God, is really no way to run things for the rest of us.
Comment By: Barbara Weitbrecht
April 19th, 2016 at 11:18 am
https://youtu.be/cAgAvnvXF9U
Comment By: Patrick Sanders
April 19th, 2016 at 1:20 pm
You’ll note that all the Hebrew prophets tried to haggle.
Comment By: Serge Broom
April 19th, 2016 at 1:20 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4qJ1XbkUV8
Comment By: George Peterson
April 19th, 2016 at 1:20 pm
As I like to point out about such claims, God (or the aliens, ghosts, spirits, etc) NEVER says anything actually useful or good. We never get information we could use, such as a cure for cancer, plans for an FTL Drive, the location of buried treasure, new music by Bach or John Lennon. If you’re going to broadcast, send something worth the trouble.
Comment By: Dale McAtee
April 19th, 2016 at 2:20 pm
I first heard the phrase from Jimmy Buffett – here’s a link a song from the Austin Lounge Lizards…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hsj3CYVnXo
Comment By: Tracy J Erickson
April 19th, 2016 at 2:20 pm
God just spoke to me and told me to have another piece of cake.
And who am I to argue with God?
Comment By: Serge Broom
April 19th, 2016 at 2:20 pm
God told me that Kurt Busiek is a great comics writer. Wait. I already knew that.
Comment By: Tracy J Erickson
April 19th, 2016 at 2:20 pm
At least you know you don’t have to argue with God though.
Comment By: Michael A. Burstein
April 19th, 2016 at 2:20 pm
When God spoke to Moshe and said he should lead the people out of Egypt, it was the very last thing Moshe wanted to hear.
Comment By: David Vineyard
April 20th, 2016 at 12:17 am
Funny, in the Bible He told people things they didn’t want to hear whereas today it is only things they already think.
Comment By: Glenn Hauman
April 20th, 2016 at 12:49 am
What God wants, God gets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRWRRBX3TB0