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).
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