Does God Have A Future

Armstrong writes, "Because God represents absolute perfection, there is nothing left for us to do or achieve God had indeed been used in the past to stunt creativity; if he is made a blanket answer to every possible problem and contingency, he can indeed stifle our sense of wonder or achievement" (68). And she is so right. Wuthnow also observes how autonomy "stunts creativity." This God uses his image of perfection to make mankind feel inadequate and as though we can never achieve perfection because God already owns it, as he does everything else. My perception of spirituality lies in a similar plane with beliefs of the God of mystic beliefs. To me, God should not oppress a person by making him or her feel inadequate of not being "perfect enough." Mankind should not be raised to fear God, either, but should feel some sort of happiness, joy, or sense of relief within themselves and their spirituality. And I honestly feel individual belief systems and the acceptance of individuality will strengthen morality among people. In my opinion, individuals who experience more freedom of choice will therefore be inclined to make personal moral and ethical decisions.
             An over-structured and restricted belief system limits individual identity and skews opinions. If a group of people believes in the same focused set of rules, each new member would be forced to accept and abide by these rules. Wuthnow referred to this concept as "customary morality" (695). He defined this term as "doing things the way they have always been done the parental rules that have never been questioned" (695). Traditional religious belief systems often require their members to conform to the institutions" views and severely frown upon those who oppose the traditional views. "doing things the way they have always been done" is not necessarily the best practice for everyone. Why shouldn't all the "rules" be questioned? The idea of "is there a God" has plagued the world for centuries.