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Monday, October 6, 2014

Turning Down the God Noise

 





When I became a Christian at age 17 I was looking for clarity in a world of teen age confusion. Most of my friends were just beginning to experiment with alcohol, drugs and sex. They would invite me to join them on the weekends to experience the "worldly" pleasures of sin. I would turn them down because I was afraid of the consequences. Fear of alcohol, drugs and sex led me straight into the arms of God.

God was a safe place for a scared teenager to hideout. Being religious gave me a reason to say no to the temptations in the big bad world. Living a life of faith allowed me to turn down the noise of the outside world and to retreat into the quietness of God. That quietness didn't last long however, in due time it was replaced by another kind of noise. God Noise.

God noise is the result of indoctrination.  Indoctrination is the mission of the church. They call it making disciples. Every action in the church has one purpose, namely to get the God noise in your head. It operates much like an ear worm. An ear worm is a song or part of a song which lodges into your brain. It plays over and over like a loop. At first you think it's really cool because you can remember the words but after awhile the ear worm dominates your thinking and runs interference in your brain.

God noise works just like an ear worm. It gets stuck in your brain. You can't think without the noise running interference. Bible verses and bad theology pop into your head faster than a lighting bolt. You base your decisions on the pre-packaged interpretations of ancient scripture verses and thundering sermons. The God noise becomes a filter, a lens a worldview. You can't get the God song out of your head! God noise takes over until you can't think using your own reason or logic.

Atheism is a way to turn down the God noise in your head. The lack of a belief in god or gods is the volume knob. Make no mistake there's still plenty of God noise in the world. Religions constantly shout their messages from the roof top and turning down the volume will take a concerted effort from the secular world but, when it comes to the God noise in my own head... I am finally in control of the volume knob.



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