Can you believe in God and Santa Muerte?
I have never actually had anyone ask me this question. However I have come across some people who are locked in a struggle between their faith and their believe in Santa Muerte. Occasionally, I have seen comments online about this being wrong, or "Jesus loves you," or "Find God," or "Only God exists," or "God first," or some variation of that. I can sympathize with those that may have grown up in a religious household. This kind of environments could contributed to a foreboding scene of anxiety around anything that is considered unholy and could contribute to black and white thinking. I too grew up in a household where we believed in an almighty creator that made all. However, other than that my parent's never really pushed any other kind of religious beliefs on me, though that doesn't mean that they didn't instill a healthy dose of moral fiber.
So why is it that I don't have this need to go around policing people's behavior, their values, or their way of life? I'm not sure but maybe it's because I'm secure in my beliefs. Maybe it's because what other people believe is none of my business. However, let me share a belief I have in common with others of these groups. People say that God is all good, is all knowing, all powerful and ever present. Personally I believe that God is in the everything. The trees, the rocks, the sky, the rain and of course you and I. Nothing is separate from God, everything is God and was made by God and that's why God is described as a creator or architect. It sounds a lot like God is everything doesn't it?
That being said, if God is good, is everything and everywhere and made everything, how could anything be evil? God made you me and this world and beyond. All things in this world were made directly by them or made by something that God made. With that logic, God made everything including the things they did not directly make. Everything related back to God. Everything. God made the sun, the moon, the stars. God gave us life, God gave us a way to sustain life and let us do what we would like with our lives. God gave us the materials we needed to generate more for ourselves and create abundance for ourselves. However in that same logic, God gave us war, God gave us disease, God gave us famine, God made sin. God is responsible for everything in this world considered evil, including death, according to the beliefs of some.
Well what does that mean? It could mean one of the following: Either God is both evil as well as being good, or God is neither good nor evil. In either case it contradicts the idea of God's absolute benevolence doesn't it? If God is both or neither it would make more logical sense that God being all and only good. Because if God is all good yet all powerful how could he allow anything evil to remain? Some people might say that it's the work of the devil or demons. However we already discussed that God is omnipotent and omnipresent. So you can't blame the devil without blaming God. If God made everything then God made the devil, demons, the source of all evil, and everything else. God is either directly responsible or by extension responsible for everything evil.
Alright then so let's go with God is neither good nor evil. If that is true why would death be evil? Why would death be wrong? God gave us life, doesn't that mean that God gave us death? As stated before with the concept of the devil, if you think that death is evil then by virtue you consider God as evil. Furthermore, wouldn't this logic would lend itself as to why any one person or any culture worshipped not only death but anything, the sun, the moon, the sky, the rain? It's a way to worship God, or creations of God. If you respect and revere the sun, the earth, or even Santa Muerte then doesn't that mean that you respect and revere the almighty? Wouldn't that be like appreciating the artist or the artwork?
I hope this makes sense to you as to why some people not only worship Santa Muerte, the earth or anything else that is not "God" but also why you don't have to live in this world of black and white. Many people who worship Santa Muerte also believe in God or other things. Some people use to believe in other things and decided to switch over to Santa Muerte because their beliefs weren't serving them or worse causing them pain. Some people also believe in nothing and still revere and respect Santa Muerte since the only thing certain in this world is death and taxes. There are many people from many different backgrounds that somehow, someway made their way to Santa Muerte. If that's not an example of divine intervention I don't know what is. But what do you think? Is it contradictory to believe in God and Santa Muerte? Let me know down in the comments.
Comments
Post a Comment