Faith. Belief. Religion. What a crazy-ass couple of subjects. They cause people to tear the world apart and bring it together in ways indescribable. Human history is the history of things gone wrong and right in the name of beliefs. It drives me wild that intolerance is the reason our world fucking sucks. And I try to define what I believe in, so that when the time comes where someone tries to attack it, I can kick their ass, and know why I'm kicking it.
So what do I believe in? A work in progress, this line of thought is. In the broadest, most general sense, I believe in purpose; there is a reason for "everything;" for existance. In my humble opinion, a purpose must be wrought by something, who knows what the hell it is. But this something did something so that we're here. This something had a purpose as to why the fuck it did it. So, I believe in this higher power, and that it has a why.
More specifically, since I've been raised a Christian, I do indeed follow, very loosely, these teachings. God is the higher power, and He made some cool stuff happen, like Jesus and turning people to salt and shit. I do not believe that He has His fingers in everything, like some jackass busy-body politician. The universe is a machine He put together, for some obscure reason, and he generally tries to simply keep it working. Praying, while it makes me feel better, is generally a waste of time, since most of what I pray for is either health, happiness, or positive things, which He wants for everyone anyway. I don't really believe in the everyday miracle; I chalk it up to purpose, or luck, or simply the insane ingenuity and balls of the human race. I don't say grace, I don't thank God for every day, even though He is indirectly responsible. I truly dislike the notion that only He is responsible for things, which is part of why I don't thank Him. He gave us the power over our own destinies, no thanks necessary. A little appreciation, a little faith, that's all He requires. He is like the parent, the teacher, the mentor, who's only thanks needed is the success of His student, His child, His... mentoree. Whatever.
My belief in a purpose and my belief that somewhere, something is watching me, even if just a little, gives me much comfort. And the more I believe that something else is standing in judgement of me, hoping I do the right things, the more I feel secure, because atleast one thing in this entire shit world is rooting for me. When I'm in a situation that I don't think anyone else can help me with, I know that I have a cheerleader, a guidance counselor, and a vice-principal (all-in-one) standing there with me. Like a fucking huge, deformed, soft, unlovely, good-smelling security blanket.
The greatest gift ever given to us was and is choice. Contradictory as it sounds, we have no choice in the matter that we're part of this machine, but we have all the choice in the world on our function in this machine. The machine is more like a zoo, actually. We're all the little beasties; He's the zookeeper, and all the evil shit in the world is... shit, and disease, and stuff. But we're not like normal zebras or butterflies or snakes, all of which have the instincts to consume, breed, and exhaust resources. We have choice, the choice to shit on the floor, or the choice to knock politely on the cage and say "Excuse me, I need to use the lavatory real quick." He potty trains us, and sends us on our way, exactly like a loving parent. Once we turn 18, that's fuckin it, we're on our own, with varying degrees of guidance. What is our guidance? Our conscience.
Most people are so concerned with other shit that they need someone to tell them what to think. That's religion. Another safety blanket, a comfort layer between us and scary, cold life and death. Oh yeah, good stuff comes of it. Bad shit too. I don't have anything against religion other than I think it's an unnecessary construct. The most religious people don't need to bow to altars, kiss people's hands, or stand on ceremony. Making religion official is a huge mistake in my opinion. Why can't things done in the name of the Almighty Asskicker be done in the name of honesty? or goodness? or love? or, for shit's sake, rage? Why not in the name of humanity? Why does it have to be in the name of anything? Do things for their own sake. Organize a group, and build some shit for poor people, or load up a truck of food and send it down to disaster zones. Do you really need someone to tell you to do it? Humanity is strong, and we should do things because they're right, or we believe in them, not because we think it's expected of us by the Creator. I certainly believe that He does want us to do what I have determined as right, but will He really be like "Nah, fuck you, you didn't do what the Pope said, so you're fucked." No, that's a load of shit. If I am raised by my whoopmaster shaman to think that sucking on rocks crapped out by wild boars is the most holy thing in the world, then I doubt He's gonna say "That's the most retarded thing I've seen *BAM* straight to Hell for you. You sonbitch." Do what you think is right and good and needed, and you'll go through life well. Just remember, right isn't easy, and right isn't clear.
Confusing enough for you?
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
Exactly Andrew. I have been mulling over thoughts like these for years, and I came to several of the conlcusions that you have. I think religion is was a brilliant idea. I think that when man first became aware as people, they invented religion as a way to explain what they could not see. The movements of the sun and such, we know the story.
At this point I must interject. One of the many questions I mull over is the constant conflict between our human emotions and our logical sense. The battle between head and heart if you will. Humans are the dominant species on this planet because of our logical skills, and we interact with other people based almost entirely on our emotions. So humans are a mixture of the two. Now, as time goes on, the human race will inevitably learn more; it's the natural progression: we learn new things and the old ones are gradually rotated out. One such old thing is religion. As humans learned enough to explain all the things they needed religion for, it seems religion would become obsloete.
So in response to your question, why do people need religion? Why can't they just do good things for the sake of doing good things? Because most people don't see that deeply. They don't see that the key to a world that actually doesn't suck depends on something completely illogical: Helping others with no benifit to yourself. Have you ever stopped to wonder why you hold a door for someone? Probably not. When you were little, you learned that it was a nice thing to do from your parents. But if you think about it. All you're doing is taking time out of your day for nothing. It has been instilled in us since we were kids, and we could just as easily have been programmed the other way; to hate other people and care only for ourselves.
But when you start moving into a grander scale, having to give up more on your part to help others with bigger problems then opening a door, that's where it falters.
That's where I think religion comes in. You once had a post about how to keep a society in check. One of your ways was to rule by fear. If people feared something, they would stay in line. But one of the problems I saw with that method was that if you kept the chains too tight, the people would eventually fight back. And if you kept them loose, there really wouldn't any control.
I think I'm getting somewhere with this
So, how do you go about making a system to keep people in line without a flaw? You fix one of the weaknesses. You make a system that can't be rebelled against, and keep the chains as tight as possible. Since nothing corporal is invulnerable, thats out. Why not something incorporal? At this point, I think someone got the bright idea of using religion as a way to keep all the people within its reach in check. This idea caught on in several different places and it was used differently. Look at Christianity, which upholds morals, and Islam, which almost breeds warriors, in that people are taught that dying for the great Allah in battle ensures a happy "afterlife."
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that people need a good reason to be good people. So religion was used. Not everyone can see what you and me realize. That in being selfish, we humans are tearing this world to pieces. We need to be good for the sake of being good. Otherwise, the world is just going to remain a shitty place.
Post a Comment