The Boxing Gloves and Religion

   For a week now I have had this blog half writ, unsure where to go with it; the title was different, so was much of the content.
   I wonder why it is taking me so long to figure out what I want to say. It's a topic that, in the right company I take so much joy in discussing. That's the problem though, I discuss it with people I know who enjoy a good debate, who don't take what I say insultedly. Let's be honest, for a great number of people around the world the second they hear the words 'talk' and 'religion' in the same sentence the gloves come on, they hunker down and lock their jaws. They are tense. And when they are not it is only because they are fully encouraged that it is a great opportunity to convince you theirs is the one and only religion of the universe and then commence in trying to scare you into believing it's true.   This is not fun for the rest of us.
   I will acknowledge at this point that not everyone is the same, even those that share the same sects and denominations, some are as open as others are closed. Not everyone is an exception to the rule either.

So on too some thoughts:

A:   I think one of the best things anyone can to do to understand the levity of their beliefs, other than always question them, is to write them down clearly and without pause. This gives insight into ourselves and allows us to see if we actually agree with all we say and, if not, to amend statements as we see fit.
 
B:   Atheism is a belief of nothing... excuse me? By saying one 'believes', that makes it tangible. You can't have nothingness if there's something tangible in it, about it. A star in the middle of a galaxy that is otherwise bare of particulates still has a thing in it. What I guess I'm trying to say is you can't have something in nothing because then it's not nothing. Think of it like the classic philosophic puzzle: If all zids are zads and some zads and nids, are all nids zids?
Does it make sense? Maybe not so much. I do know, however that blaming religious folk for all the worlds intolerances as they tear into them with science and malice, their own intolerance shines through. That makes them exactly like everyone they're preaching against. Ironic, isn't it?

D.   Who else has realized "Satanism" is really just reverse Christianity? Honestly, it's so obvious it's sad. There can't be a Satan without the Christian god. Period. Because everyone knows that said god created angels and Lucifer was a fallen angel, cast from heaven for the sins of vanity and pride (among other things) against gods creation, the humans and to make a long story short, Hell was born. Our favorite place of fire and brimstone. What I don't understand is why people would want to 'envoke' a creature whose punishment is because of them (I use that loosely)? I don't think, he'd be all to excited to do favors to gods 'favorites'. Think of him like the mentally disturbed-from-sheer-hate middle child. Would you ask him to hold your lollipop?

C:   A history teacher once told me, "The more I learn about history, the more I reject organized religion."
She was not a person who lacked in spirituality but rather someone who understood the scars, emotional and physical, that were rendered upon humanity from one belief or another. But it's not just belief that hurts people. I see it much like crime. A single individual who is 'religious' and fights violently for their cause is like a mugger or other individual crook in the sense that they harm others, but in a very small scale and the likelihood that they'll be caught is high, as it is not socially acceptable. Organized religion shares many parallels with organized crime, which takes in large amounts of money with the use of fear, whether it's five dollars at the service which will help save your soul (this happens more often than even I would hope) or for fear of their physical lives and property. They both lurk, drawing people in, spitting others out who do not fit. They kill millions in what they feel is justifiable and as society grows, they both become more of a legitimate business and have to hide less and less from the public light.

CII:   Wars have been a part of history for as long as mankind has been able to start them, everyone knows this. What we don't recall is that those beginning wars had little to do with religion, as most cultures wouldn't want to share their gods and goddesses with their enemy. Would you want the same war god to bless the opposition too? For your worshiped goddess to make their crops abundant when you are trying so hard to wipe them out? No, these wars started from perceived slights, a craving for each others lands and possessions, for greed and spot as 'top dog'. They slowly changed, although these were/are still driving factors but then religious wars started with advanced polytheistic cultures (Rome, Greece) and then came to a blood-drenched climax with monotheism (Christian and soon to follow Islam) whose main goals were 'spread the word of god until all lives are lost or "saved"'. A great amount, as you all also know, were lost. And they felt justified. A new type of war that one could feel morally smug about.
I bring this up not because it hasn't been said a thousand times by a thousand others but because of Africa. The most depressing history in the making- a continent making up for years of small tribal wars by adding new, missionary brought ones. Three generations ago, Africa suffered from many ailments, but there were no major feuds over belief. Now families are split down the middle between Islam and Christianity. They are fighting each other, their flesh and blood. All because people with 'good intentions' who brought with them 'the good word' helped 'save their souls'; yet they aren't paying any of the consequences or having to explain to the orphaned kids why Jesus would come to them just in time to die fighting Allah.


   So more people get to die. Yay. For your god? For the check person at the bookstores god? For my god (well, I don't actually have a god)? Who knows. But as long as everyone here is secure in their beliefs, does it matter?
...
Yes, yes it does. But there isn't a bloody thing I can think to do about it, without getting violent myself (and we've all seen how that turns out).

Real Life Meets Hollywood Thought

   I keep sitting here, hoping some profound thought will come to me that I can type out and share with the world, so that they might see my 'vast intellect' and ability for pensive ponderances. That's what the bloggisphere is for after all, isn't it?
It's either that or typing out ones day; which systemically includes trying to make life more interesting than it actually is. Mostly because those people with the adventurous lives rarely have time to keep up a journal for they have so many real things happening, they don't need to exaggerate or dramatize. When one stays busy, with events flying by in a stream of motion, what the rest of us consider "big" things become less important as they aren't as isolated an incident.
And since I am not one to dramatisize an event like seeing a car accident on my way to the store- regaling the broken glass on the asphalt and what looked like tears of shock trickling down the victims face, placing myself in the situation as if I was a part of it rather than the actuality of barely seeing it over the thick cement barrier of the highway and it being nothing more than a simple fender bender- I am left with nothing but thoughts and philosophies. That and I do not yet have a life whose day is worth writing about with any sense of exuberance.
   Right now I would say my days have been nothing short of boring...
But I saw this sock and it fell, almost as if in slow motion and careened into a drier sheet, horribly disfiguring it's wrinkles. It fell so ferociously that the poor stripped sock even bent in twain... it was terrible. The shirt unfolded a bit, hanging limply in mourning on the towel. A sad day for laundry everywhere.
   See? Now granted, I could take this further, investigate the possibility of a love triangle which led to suicide or even a murder suicide? Or maybe the sock actually turned out to be fine (although, from it's folded position I highly doubt that). It really doesn't matter, other than possibly making a funny commercial, it's all just 'spinning'.
 
    It's either one or the other in this electronic 'verse: personal conjecture or daily routines. All is writ out for everyone to see in hopes that someone finds it interesting, (and yes, I am leaving out hobbyists, they do not count) so we may validate whatever it is we are to seeking to have validated.
So what is this little blurb about then?
    Nothing.
    And for now, that's how it will stay.

Sincerely,
Dust in the Wind

Take a Walk

   I did, in fact engage in said activity this very day. I suppose I have more of my fathers blood in me than I thought, although I can't recall 'walking' as being a genetic trait, but what do I know?    The reason I say this, is because I did not venture out into the world in hopes to have a good bout of exercise, or to commune with nature (although there might have been a slight hope to see some cute lad or another run by for the sake of eye candy... I'm only human). No, I simply wanted to walk. The nice thing about my area, despite my many objections for it (which are rather shallow in comparison in the global aspect) are the numerous biking trails and tiny scraps of land they built around but still call a 'preserve'. And I must say, it is rather lovely. Wetlands this time of soggy year are filled with fat ground squirrels scampering about and a deluge of mushrooms. Dozens of ancient oaks have split in twain and collapsed into the creek and across the narrow, barely visible paths but, ironically no place else. 
Hearing the birds in between songs but to otherwise drown out the world in music and watch the grass sway and the water flow with the melodies is lovely. There's a time and place for solitude, and there are multiple kinds. I don't always require music or noise other than that around me, but there are times when getting lost in music is just as intrinsic. Besides, I don't turn it high enough to miss the sounds of whatever dangerous critter I might be nearing. I'd rather not have the experience of stepping on a rattlesnakes tail who had warned me ten paces away that I was getting too close. That would be embarrassing.
   The path disappeared in many places and there were several spots along the trail where I couldn't help noticing that every horror movie had the exact same scenery and, should I hear the howl or scream of some humanly thing, I might as well turn around; lest I look like the one chick (it never fails) who goes and takes a shower by herself in the house while everyone else huddles in the creepy, but safe shed. Sure, they might die later, but at least the weren't know as THAT person... you know what I mean?

I enjoyed refinding my path and the idea that I was an effective tracker and felt comfortably alone as I wound my way through the woods... surrounded by suburbs... with a main road a mile ahead of me... and city maintenance men cleaning up the two pieces of trash on the soccer fields slightly visible through the trees to my right... yeah yeah, so 'alone' was more a state of mind at this point.
My reason for regaling this experience is simple. I wanted to do something, so I did. It was a small thing, barely more than an hour, but it was done by me for no other reason than 'because'. This seemingly small indulgence that despite my reasoning, was a healthy activity, made my day a happier one.

Sometimes it's the simple things that count the most.

Sincerely,
Dust in the Wind