Is God Naked?

A lot of people sure are interested in religion these days. Are you a Christian? Jew? Muslim? It doesn't end there, though. Are you a Catholic or Protestant? Baptist or Presbyterian? Southern Baptist, Primitive Baptist, or Independent? One can't even profess a lack of religion. Are you a pagan, agnostic, or athiest?

Well, I hate to disappoint, but I don't intend to answer any of those questions here, at least not tonight. I do intend to put forth a few thoughts related to the subject, though, and if you can figure out what religion I am, then I suppose you're probably one step ahead of me.

I was watching television one night. I don't remember what show, but whatever it was, they showed God. It was the classical image of God, the one that looks like the one in pictures and paintings I've seen since I was little: the wise old bearded God in long flowing robes. For some reason, my mind lingered on this image for a few minutes. I find it hard to believe that God actually looks like that. Didn't some old painter just make it up based on some fundamental images associated with characteristics typically used to describe God? God has been around since before time, so he probably looks something like men in those really old paintings; you know, the old Greek art. Yeah, definitely in a toga.

But that can't be right. After all, we're just mortals, and surely God doesn't have to conform to our image of these characteristics, and surely the images associated with these characteristics have changed throughout history. I have another idea. You know, the Bible says that God created man in his own image. We're all born naked. Heck, even Adam and Eve were created naked, and only developed a fashion sense after getting a sinful case of the munchies. Logically, wouldn't it follow that God is naked, too? It sounds juvenile and facetious, but I'm thinking that it has to be right, doesn't it? I suppose so, and even though that means that there must be nothing wrong with being naked, I can't help but giggle at the thought of God roaming around heaven in the buff for all to see. At the risk of offending, do you think that our male relatives who have gone to heaven secretly compare themselves to the "Big Guy?"

On a little bit of a more serious note, it does raise some interesting religious questions. If we should strive to be closer to God, wouldn't it follow that going around in our birthday suits should be thought of a pious thing to do instead of generally condemned by law? Why is it that Adam and Eve were ashamed when they realized that they were naked? Wouldn't it make more sense that they should be ashamed for not being naked? In our supposedly civilized society, we think of uncivilized tribespeople romping around without any clothes on as primitives that someone should train to be more decent. Aren't they the ones with the right idea, not us?

I don't know, but next time I'm flipping channels and catch some nature show with gorillas getting it on, I just don't think I'll ever be able to laugh at them again, and part of me thinks that that is the real shame.

Oh well, until next time, have fun!

Well, It's a Start...

Just what the Web needs, another person who think he's got the answer to everything. Well, it had to happen sooner or later, so here goes.

I suppose my first post should just be a test of the system, so here it is. Is it working? Yeah? Good.

Let's see, how does one start a blog, anyway? I suppose with what I'm doing and thinking right now is a good enough way.

I'm a shift manager at a datacenter, overseeing a bunch of computers and the technicians who make sure they (the computers) are comfortable and happy. Right this second, it's almost midnight, and I have six hours to go before I can go home. As you can imagine, on a Friday night, all is quiet. So here I sit, playing with a blog, and listening to Sheryl Crow on my mp3 player (don't panic, RIAA and/or Sheryl, I own the CD). Kind of funny, she's singing to me that a change would do me good, and right this second, I couldn't agree more.

I'm thinking about how nice it would be to work so-called normal hours again, the kind where you actually get to see (instead of merely pass unconsciously though) daylight, where people actually have a good idea when you're working and when you're off and ask you to go out and do things with them. Not that they don't now, but I have to turn them down most of the time because of my schedule or plain old fatigue. (Now she's singing that this is home, and considering where I am, that's a little depressing.)

Of course, I can't complain too much, because I do have a job, a situation that is better than several people I know who can't claim that. And it is more or less a good one, not too stressful, other than the stress of the weird hours. My boss is nice, I don't think I'm in any imminent danger of being let go, and I get paid okay for what I do. All in all, it's not a bad deal. Except when I'm here and all I really want is to be at home sleeping. Now she's singing "If it makes you happy, then why the hell are you so sad?"...

Well, I guess that's good enough for an initial entry. I promise that things will get more interesting as I go along.

For now, I'll leave with some thoughts of things I think are kind of funny and strange. First of all, I've been reading that Bobby Fischer, the famous chess player, has been caught in Japan, and is facing extradition back to the U. S. Extradition. I was blissfully ignorant of the fact that he was even in trouble! Turns out that he played chess in Yugoslavia back in the days when we were bombing them, and that violated our sanctions. Playing chess in Yugoslavia was illegal? Oh well, in my reading, I discovered he is a raving anti-Semite. The things I don't know never cease to amaze me. Here's the story on CNN.

Also, I was listening to NPR on my way to work this evening, and they had a segment on how the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, has had a line deleted from the manual from the Department of Health and Human Services that said, "Obesity itself cannot be considered an illness," which opens up the possibility of weight treatments being covered. That's great, but he was cracking me up. Some of his quotes were things like, "When you look at the figures in America today... We have a huge problem in America." If you're interested, you can listen to the whole segment on NPR's site.

Last, but not least, I ran across this political cartoon from the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Web site, which I think is hilarious. Enjoy!

Gotta run, so until next time, have fun!