Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The White Hindu

Home
Hindu
Is God Sensitive?

Is God Sensitive?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:32 pm by Ambaa Choate

Is God Sensitive? 2015-03-13T22:32:23-04:00 Ambaa Choate

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The discussion of the movie OMG over at my Facebook page got a bit more heated than it did here. I noticed a trend among people who found the movie distasteful and offensive. People are bothered by a lack of respect to our rituals. Perhaps even a lack of respect to our Gods.

There’s confusion over why God would help and support the character who disrupts tradition, insults the Gods, and takes advantage of people of faith.

It seems to me that some people are very quick to get offended on God’s behalf. I think that is represented in the movie by the main character’s wife and neighbors. They don’t want God to get upset with them, so they distance themselves from someone who is questioning God. But questioning is good. God has never asked us to be sheep. We have a powerful brain and vast consciousness and we have them for a reason.

I think the message of the movie was God wants our friendship more than he wants our offerings.

Is that true? I don’t know. A filmmaker has no more claim on Truth than anyone else.

But it’s a claim that is worth considering.

I do think our rituals have a place. I’m not about to stop going to the temple, throw out my traditions, pack away my murtis. At the same time, I will work on expanding where and how I see God. Because He doesn’t just live in a temple; He is everywhere.

Does God care if we don’t believe in Him? I doubt it. I think, in my worldview, He smiles affectionately and waits for us to find Him. He knows He exists. He doesn’t need us to prove it for Him.

So then why do I show respect to God?

Because He is my friend and I love and respect my friends. Once the main character in the movie realizes that God is his friend, his attitude is different. Even if he doesn’t show respect to a murti, he does show respect to God in person.

It reminds me of a great story I was told as a child…

There is a wise man who cares for a temple in the South. He decides to take a pilgrimage to the mouth of the Ganga to collect water for offering to the temple’s murti. He walks the entire way, days and weeks, collects the water in a pot and continues back towards his temple. While he is walking back he comes upon a donkey dying on the side of the road. It’s hot and dusty and the donkey is clearly in need of water. So the wise man kneels by the donkey and gives him the holy water from the pot. When he returns empty handed to his temple, people question why he did this! His answer was “God was kind enough to meet me half way.”

There’s a tendency for us to get worked up when we think someone isn’t showing proper respect to our rituals or images of God. I think it’s good to defend God’s image, but not to the point of screaming or violence. We show respect to our Gods and we encourage others to do so as well. If they choose not to, that’s their loss.

There are people who use powerful religious imagery to make a point, make a statement, create art that we might not like or agree with. Hindus are not singled out in this. Believe me, there are some shocking things done to the image of Jesus.

And God does have a sense of humor. Stories of young Krishna, for example, are full of playfulness and teasing. He knows how to take a joke, do we?

(Part of a dance to a song called YMCA)

Previous Post

March 19, 2014

Phases of the Convert

Next Post

March 21, 2014 Why Am I Learning Hindi?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Club Hindu Holiday How Am I Being a Hindu This Week? Inside the Life Meet a God Meet a Guru Movie Club Philosophy Corner Resources Scripture Uncategorized Wild Card

Select a Month February 2020 September 2019 May 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Samuel's mother, who prayed for a child at Shiloh?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Rebekah Leah Peninnah Hannah