On Religion...
I was recently asked, "are you religious?" On the surface, this would seem to be a pretty straightforward, even binary, question. But this is not a surface question, and my answer is nuanced.
The question is two-pronged in my thinking: Do you believe in God? And do you believe in or adhere to an organized religious tradition. The latter question is a little easier: I don't believe in the dogma of any religion in so far as it stipulates that it is the only way to recognize or worship God. To be right in that respect definitionally means all others are wrong, and that just cannot be the case.
Nearly everyone is born into a religious tradition, no matter how loosely or closely held: I was brought up Catholic. I made most of my sacraments, attended mass, baptized my son, own a rosary, and my grandmother's crucifix. That crucifix has hung on the wall of every place I have ever rested my head. I love the ceremony of the Catholic mass (I can recite most of it from memory), the majesty of cathedrals, the music. Midnight mass is my absolute favorite. The fireworks that the Greeks set off at midnight of Easter Sunday to announce, “He is risen!” gives me goosebumps. There is a part of my spirit, soul, or psyche that is deeply touched: I am uplifted, filled with joy, and affected to the point of physical goosebumps.
I don’t believe in a paternalistic, perturbable, jealous God who must be appeased in order to bestow blessings, or metes out punishment to those who fall short. I don’t believe God, if there is one (and I side with yes, there is) in his heaven, gives a flying fuck whether a Jew puts on his yarmulke, whether a Muslim has a drink, whether man lay down with man, or woman with woman. There are nearly 8 billion souls to look after. Some with their finger on the nuclear button. There are bigger fish to fry, so to speak than to punish the Catholic who had a BLT on any given Friday during Lent.
We have a rulebook in the Commandments as described in the old testament. I can’t say I believe they were written by the finger of God onto a stone tablet on Mt. Sinai and given to Moses to bring to the masses. But it IS a rulebook, and we are accountable. I can get behind every one of them except the first: I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no God before me (yep, typed from memory), or the one about false idols. I believe we are accountable to each other in the present more than we are striving for a favorable position in the afterlife.
I do believe humans make questionable moral decisions, most of which are venal and eminently forgivable. Most of those lapses are against our fellow man, not against God per se, so to ask for forgiveness of sin should be both a human humbling, and a spiritual acknowledgment of weakness, with effort put into strengthening. Those egregious acts such as murder, robbery, rape, assault, go well beyond the venal, and we have a penal system for that. I would imagine the hereafter was NOT on the mind of the perpetrator.
I do believe Jesus Christ walked this earth, that his mother’s name was Mary, his father was Joseph, and both men carpenters. I believe there was a group of people that believed he was the fulfillment of prophecy. I believe Jesus had a ministry, and traveled around trying to teach people how to be good to one another, and was somewhat displeased with the religious establishment at that time. I believe he was put to death in part for his religious “heresies” and political beliefs. He was a perceived threat to church AND state.
I do NOT believe that Jesus was Mary’s only child whether or not his conception was virgin notwithstanding. Even if it were, that would mean Yahweh both cuckolded Joseph AND emasculated him. I don’t buy it. I do NOT believe Jesus didn’t take a wife. I do believe Mary Magdeline was said wife.
I have no issue with the basic tenets of the Christian faith. My issue is with how generations upon generations of humans have perverted it to serve their needs of the moment. I have a HUGE problem with the fact that Christians systematically wiped out nearly every single indigenous religion it encountered. It is horrifying to me that anyone has the hubris to come into someone’s land and not only take it and all its resources, but rob inhabitants of their religious practices. I have called Christianity, as practiced in this way, a scourge. A virus. What else invades and conquers like that? Let’s not even mention the crusades. The acts committed in the name of God, in any of his incarnations, are appalling.
I believe that Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, Krishna, and Christ are all names for the same deity. And they all stand for love, peace, joy, sacrifice, honor, kindness, and compassion.
I practiced yoga for a few years. Based largely on Sanskrit/Hindu teachings, the basic tenet is to recognize the divine within, and that there is balance in all things: Masculine and feminine; creation and destruction, and that each of these things resides within us. I believe that you and I are as much a child of God as Christ was. Just as imperfectly perfect. I believe once we understand that that divinity is within us, and not some external force, we can be more compassionate with ourselves, and therefore to others. It is so much more difficult to desecrate another when you recognize that God lives in them, too.
I believe heaven and hell are personal as well as societal constructs. I believe in reincarnation, a recycling of souls. We come back until we get it right. Then hopefully we can in some way assist less enlightened souls to reach that same height.
I do believe in God. I do believe I haven’t yet gotten it right yet so will be back around a few more times. I do believe in feeding my spirit: in breathing deep, in being present for each moment to the best of my ability without reaching for the next or holding on to the last. I believe I am here to be of service in some way, even if it’s simply to walk one person safely across the street. Or steer for a man who fell asleep behind the wheel. We are all walking extensions of God and his angels. And his demons.
The question is two-pronged in my thinking: Do you believe in God? And do you believe in or adhere to an organized religious tradition. The latter question is a little easier: I don't believe in the dogma of any religion in so far as it stipulates that it is the only way to recognize or worship God. To be right in that respect definitionally means all others are wrong, and that just cannot be the case.
Nearly everyone is born into a religious tradition, no matter how loosely or closely held: I was brought up Catholic. I made most of my sacraments, attended mass, baptized my son, own a rosary, and my grandmother's crucifix. That crucifix has hung on the wall of every place I have ever rested my head. I love the ceremony of the Catholic mass (I can recite most of it from memory), the majesty of cathedrals, the music. Midnight mass is my absolute favorite. The fireworks that the Greeks set off at midnight of Easter Sunday to announce, “He is risen!” gives me goosebumps. There is a part of my spirit, soul, or psyche that is deeply touched: I am uplifted, filled with joy, and affected to the point of physical goosebumps.
I don’t believe in a paternalistic, perturbable, jealous God who must be appeased in order to bestow blessings, or metes out punishment to those who fall short. I don’t believe God, if there is one (and I side with yes, there is) in his heaven, gives a flying fuck whether a Jew puts on his yarmulke, whether a Muslim has a drink, whether man lay down with man, or woman with woman. There are nearly 8 billion souls to look after. Some with their finger on the nuclear button. There are bigger fish to fry, so to speak than to punish the Catholic who had a BLT on any given Friday during Lent.
We have a rulebook in the Commandments as described in the old testament. I can’t say I believe they were written by the finger of God onto a stone tablet on Mt. Sinai and given to Moses to bring to the masses. But it IS a rulebook, and we are accountable. I can get behind every one of them except the first: I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no God before me (yep, typed from memory), or the one about false idols. I believe we are accountable to each other in the present more than we are striving for a favorable position in the afterlife.
I do believe humans make questionable moral decisions, most of which are venal and eminently forgivable. Most of those lapses are against our fellow man, not against God per se, so to ask for forgiveness of sin should be both a human humbling, and a spiritual acknowledgment of weakness, with effort put into strengthening. Those egregious acts such as murder, robbery, rape, assault, go well beyond the venal, and we have a penal system for that. I would imagine the hereafter was NOT on the mind of the perpetrator.
I do believe Jesus Christ walked this earth, that his mother’s name was Mary, his father was Joseph, and both men carpenters. I believe there was a group of people that believed he was the fulfillment of prophecy. I believe Jesus had a ministry, and traveled around trying to teach people how to be good to one another, and was somewhat displeased with the religious establishment at that time. I believe he was put to death in part for his religious “heresies” and political beliefs. He was a perceived threat to church AND state.
I do NOT believe that Jesus was Mary’s only child whether or not his conception was virgin notwithstanding. Even if it were, that would mean Yahweh both cuckolded Joseph AND emasculated him. I don’t buy it. I do NOT believe Jesus didn’t take a wife. I do believe Mary Magdeline was said wife.
I have no issue with the basic tenets of the Christian faith. My issue is with how generations upon generations of humans have perverted it to serve their needs of the moment. I have a HUGE problem with the fact that Christians systematically wiped out nearly every single indigenous religion it encountered. It is horrifying to me that anyone has the hubris to come into someone’s land and not only take it and all its resources, but rob inhabitants of their religious practices. I have called Christianity, as practiced in this way, a scourge. A virus. What else invades and conquers like that? Let’s not even mention the crusades. The acts committed in the name of God, in any of his incarnations, are appalling.
I believe that Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, Krishna, and Christ are all names for the same deity. And they all stand for love, peace, joy, sacrifice, honor, kindness, and compassion.
I practiced yoga for a few years. Based largely on Sanskrit/Hindu teachings, the basic tenet is to recognize the divine within, and that there is balance in all things: Masculine and feminine; creation and destruction, and that each of these things resides within us. I believe that you and I are as much a child of God as Christ was. Just as imperfectly perfect. I believe once we understand that that divinity is within us, and not some external force, we can be more compassionate with ourselves, and therefore to others. It is so much more difficult to desecrate another when you recognize that God lives in them, too.
I believe heaven and hell are personal as well as societal constructs. I believe in reincarnation, a recycling of souls. We come back until we get it right. Then hopefully we can in some way assist less enlightened souls to reach that same height.
I do believe in God. I do believe I haven’t yet gotten it right yet so will be back around a few more times. I do believe in feeding my spirit: in breathing deep, in being present for each moment to the best of my ability without reaching for the next or holding on to the last. I believe I am here to be of service in some way, even if it’s simply to walk one person safely across the street. Or steer for a man who fell asleep behind the wheel. We are all walking extensions of God and his angels. And his demons.
