When religious leaders endorse political candidates, there is an implied underlying assumption that they are ‘merely’ announcing the will of God to the people. And underlying that assumption is the unstated premise that these leaders are true recipients of divine revelation, hence, they appoint themselves as “Messengers of God”.
Although I have already quoted it before, I guess it doesn’t hurt to revisit what the deists have to say about ‘revelation’:
Revelation: The act of revealing or of making known. In the religious sense, revelation usually means divine revelation. This is meaningless, since revelation can only be revelation in the first instance. For example, if God revealed something to me, that would be a divine revelation to me. If I then told someone else what God told me it would be mere hearsay to the person I tell. If that person believed what I said, they would not be putting their trust in God, but in me, believing what I told them was actually true.
Unfortunately, a lot of people do not seem to appreciate this. They take their leaders’ words in good faith – as the true word of God – because who would dare use the name of God in vain?
Now I can’t help but wonder what would happen if the candidate a certain minister is endorsing does not win. Will this undermine the will of God – or just the preacher’s status as recipient of divine revelation?
Possibly neither. Just as the Problem of Evil never really succeeded in sowing skepticism in the minds of people who believe in an all-powerful and loving God, unfulfilled prophecies will probably do little damage to these evangelists’ credibility – at least among their followers. If they were able to come up with sophisticated theodicies whose logical fallacies escape even the supposedly smart people, it doesn’t seem like a leap of faith to imagine that they are already crafting “divine answers” in case their endorsements do not fare well on election day.
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DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in this article represent the views of the author ‘innerminds‘ and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of www.filipino-freethinkers-22d5b3.ingress-earth.easywp.com.
i have the suspicion god may be suffering from multiple-personalty syndrome… he's already got this 3 person-in-one thing going, then he plays bad-cop-good-cop all throughout the bible… now he's endorsing different candidates :0
therapy is in order
Saying that it is the 'Will of God' doesn't say it is determined. We humans have liberty that allows us to take the wrong turn. So if men proposed the right to people but still wasn't followed, it doesn't imply that there is no God.
If God has to reveal something to me, and also appoints me to preach it, then He will show signs and very rare coincidences and unbelievable phenomena which would be considered miracles support the Revelation.
So you're saying that the will of God is undermined by man's liberty? That what God wills to happen doesn't necessarily happen because man's will overpowers God's will?
I agree that God would show clear signs if he revealed something to you or to any other preacher. Now can I see some of these miracles and unbelievable phenomena?
oh maybe you studied in states..
no wonder you're a US democrat.
Yes, the will of God is undermined by man's liberty. Because if it is not so, then He created either animals or machines, with natural instinct or programming to automatically work for good. But that doesn't make any sense to Him. By our liberty, He exalted us. Shouldn't we thank Him for that? Liberty is a gift. But its perfection is by submission to authority.
I agree Mr. Suelo, it is the people who make there life so God gave us freedom it is our right to go in the right way rather than the wrong way.. Hate to say it but it's like many people are much interested to go the wrong way for own interests rather than the right way
If the will of God is undermined by man's liberty, doesn't that undermine God's omnipotence as well?
//By our liberty, He exalted us. Shouldn’t we thank Him for that?//
Hitler used the same God-given liberty to murder 6 million Jews. Should we thank God for Hitler's liberty?
What i'm saying is that men were given liberty and made superior to other animals. That made us think and decide on our own. If we weren't granted liberty, then we were created animals. Then were part of the reality and nature and body of laws in this world. Then who's our audience? We know that every law must have an interpreter. The Philippine Constitution is interpreted by the Supreme Court. If we do not have liberty and free thinking, then were part of the first party that is the body of laws. That makes no sense in our being and creation. Please take note of this: We only 'interprete' nature, not give meaning to them. Man is NEVER the measure of all things. The world can survive without men. A tree can grow anywhere without men's guidance. That alone proves the existence of God, Who supervises it. To men, God only proposes what is good and right. It's up to men if they want to follow it. If not, then they deserve punishment, may not now, but soon. Still, God is omnipotent.
Questions about the existence of God is an affair of the common sense.
It's easy to prove it, and once proven, one must willingly submit to Him, because He is God. That's common sense.
//A tree can grow anywhere without men’s guidance. That alone proves the existence of God, Who supervises it.//
Huh?
//Questions about the existence of God is an affair of the common sense.It’s easy to prove it//
Okay then, prove it. 🙂
Also, you did not answer my question whether we should be thankful to God for Hitler's liberty.
It's already proven. Wasn't my explanations clear? Then i suggest that you look around you and wonder who's making the winds blow, the waters flow, and the Earth revolve.
We thank God in giving us liberty, not in letting us exercise it the wrong way, like what Hitler did. God wishes us only goodness, so we thank Him when we do good, but if we do the other way, then blame ourselves. Do we blame our parents when we do bad if actually they're telling us to do good? Of course not. Let's thank God for giving Hitler liberty, but blame Hitler for exercising the liberty in an unacceptable manner. And thank God again for Hitler's demise when he died miserably.
I'd say that we should be very thankful to God, and even though something terrible happened in our lives, we couldn't or shouldn't blame God for what happened 'cause everything that happens God has His reasons..
//It’s already proven. Wasn’t my explanations clear? Then i suggest that you look around you and wonder who’s making the winds blow, the waters flow, and the Earth revolve.//
If I tell you it's the Flying Spaghetti Monster, can you prove otherwise?
to be more pointed, @suelo's "proof" may be attributed not only to the christian god, but also to allah, to krishna, or even the holy magical pink unicorn of power… take any fictional invisible, undetectable character with magic powers and you could say that it made everything around us
This reminds me of Thomas Paine's opening messages in Age of Reason. The message is still as relevant today.
It will be interesting to see the kinds of rationalizations we'll hear from these messengers once the results are in. But more often than not, they remain silent. Which is what they should have done in the first place.
Why don't they just keep those revelations to themselves. It's practically irrelevant and of no use to other people.
And claiming it from god is the lamest excuse to get attention!
well said. kudos to ya brodie 🙂
Did it ever occur to religious followers that there might be a miscommunication between God and their leaders if the religious leader of another camp announced an exact opposite revelation, and declared it as true?
It's not just in these elections that this is happening I'm afraid – people have gone to war, and have exterminated entire nations for this sort of stupidity 🙁