Autogod Defined

As of 2/25/12, this blog is open again.   I have some personal issues that I will have to deal with, but I vow to finish this blog for my readers.

I wanted to discuss my concept of an "Autogod". For years, I felt that being a Lutheran was the right religion to follow. Now, it appears to be a movement that generated after the beliefs of a single man. Many Christians have a number of beliefs brought on by other single men: their pastors, ministers, etc. Most people don't take the time to see things for themselves and will follow their minister in all thoughts. After a test of tithing to various religious organizations, I developed several theories as to how God (or the Supreme Being) really works. Some occultists or "New Agers" have a concept that visualization of goals makes things happen by natural laws that work in the universe. This is, in a sense, their God. I have 5 theories that seem to work and fit with some of the results I got from tithing: 1. Some ministers might even believe that God is testing or putting us through trials. Just as God tested Abraham, God may test us today. We aren't given everything we want, but we our faith is tested in life. 2. If you look over the Old Testament of the Bible, you find reward and punishment view. What you sow is what you reap. The Old Testament is filled with stories of God punishing man for his wrongdoing. Cross God and you are out of the blessings for years. 3. A lot of Christians believe that the New Testament means that we are freed from the curses that were upon before. We have to claim ourselves as new creatures in Christ. However, just because you are a new creature doesn't let you off the hook. We can't sin and expect to be new creatures in Christ. We would fall back into the sinful, world full of curses evident in the Old Testament. The New Testament is filled with a number of "if thens" that if followed would result in a number of blessings bestowed in our lives. Cut down on the "if thens" and you cut down on the blessings. This is my concept of Autogod. As we sow we reap more. 4. Much different than most Christians think. God doesn't supply all our wants. Law of attraction doesn't mean we get everything we visualize. The verses go: He supplies all our needs and not wants. He doesn't supply a 50 inch HDTV, luxury car, million dollar home in the best part of town. The only riches to strive for are the riches of heaven. Read the New Testament and you will find that one should mirror Jesus in healing the sick, cast our demons and raise the dead. 5. Last but not least: God could be just chance or random happening. Maybe, there is no miracle at all. I remember reading in one of these televangelist's books about a married couple that kept having miscarriages. They kept trying for a new baby. They kept their faith something like 5 times until they finally had a child. The congregation prayed and the couple was finally successful. After all the medical bills, I can't say it was a miracle. I can only say persistence payed off for the couple. If at first you don't succeed try, try again! You may have your own theory as to how God works. Most churches can't seem to agree on one truth. It makes me feel that the Bible was never meant to figured out. We were all just meant to discuss it openly like discussions on talk shows.

The 11% Solution and Autogod

Updated 12/28/12

When it comes to selling, Christianity has been a religion that has been pushed on people much like door-to-door sales of vacuums in the past.  My family gave me the subtle push to be a Lutheran at an early age. Eventually, I finished confirmation classes necessary to "confirm me". At about the time I was 18 years old, our family then started attending other churches more evangelical in nature.

Let's examine the concept of tithing. By the time I was 22 years old, I would be conducting one of my first religious test. I would be testing the tithing concept. My mom and dad always differed on their views as to whether one should tithe to a church. Mom read her Bible everyday and believed one should always give 10% to the church. Dad would say, "Your mother wants to give everything to the church."    He questioned if giving to the church ever amounted to anything. Which one of my parents was right? Were they both partially right? I would soon test tithing to see if it really worked. This was strictly a tithing test and I wouldn't be doing all those other things like praying, going to church and trying to covert others over to the faith.

I decided to tithe 11% to see if that really changed my life. I had heard one is supposed to tithe 10%, but giving more should bring more blessings. Right?   I was pretty broke working part-time at a fast food restaurant and I needed some good results. Within a short time, 50% of the employees quit. I was moved to team leader. I wouldn't try another tithe test until I was out of college and married the 2nd time around. I was working as a temporary worker for a major corporation. In 3 months, I got hired in with a $3 hour pay increase. In 7 years, I moved to computer operator at $9 an hour and ended up eventually at $13.53 an hour. Unfortunately, I got greedy and used the tithe money for a trip to Las Vegas. Everything fell apart when I returned. I lost my good job. I eventually went to work again for another company as a contractor. Resuming the tithing test, I soon moved up to co-team leader. I was then leader in 1 year. I was a little more stingy with the tithing and the company was bought out!  They started letting us go.  Another job down the drain. More recently I have switched to giving to the Salvation Army to feed the poor instead of the former Christian evangelical TV evangelist organization. I have noticed light bulbs failing right away, cars rusting and falling apart more, more repairs for the house, 2 basement floods in 1 year, leaks in the house, and health troubles have increased since I gave up giving to the church!

So, where am I going with this? I am not endorsing Christianity, but wanted to show you the results of my test. I want you to make up your mind about all those tithing ideas. If God is working he is pretty subtle in his miracles. I used to have a theory about an Auto-god. Is God automatic? If I immediately tithe 11%, 15% or even 30% will God come back with financial blessings? Or if you aren't a Christian or lead a sinful life are you less likely to see anything good coming from God? After all, Moses pissed God off in the end and he had to separate himself from the rest of the Israelites to go live by himself. Maybe God is an old "stick in the mud", furious, stubborn being. My conclusion is that when you tithe someone around you will loose in the workplace and you will reap that person's wages, position or some other work benefit. We will examine the idea of cursings in an upcoming blog posting.