My One Post on Religion
Preface:
I'm only going to write one post on my religious beliefs (at least in depth. I might angrily vent at other times, but I promise this will be my only in depth post) in this blog because I think it's important. No, I'm not a religious freak and no this will not become a praise-Jesus blog, well, mostly because I'm not Christian, but for other reasons as well. So don't worry. You can even skip this post if you want and not worry about missing much. That's the beauty of expand/contract :) (Although, if you are interested in just the angry part, scroll down to the F-Bomb Alert.)
Recently I've had several discussions/heard various diatribes concerning religion and their faiths, and it has riled me up a bit. Now if you have your own personal beliefs, that's awesome. I have mine, too, I just choose not to impose them on others. I have several friends with strong beliefs in a deity, and I have no problem with this. I am not prejudiced against people who believe in something. This is not going to be an attempt to convert anyone or make a disbeliever out of a believer (although I will not be held responsible [okay, you can blame me I guess] for any excommunications, exorcisms, castrations, or chinese water tortures [or Roman candle firing squad incidents]), just an attempt to maybe get someone with baby Jesus swaddling tight over their eyes to maybe lift up a corner and take a peek at what the real world is like.
Okay, so that was like a second preface, but anyways, my problem is this: the vast majority of the population of the world belongs in some way or another to an organized religion (including myself!). Why is this a problem? Because organized religion is a sham. It teaches you weakness and subservience, how to prey on the weak of mind as opposed to helping them to learn, and how to get away with anything you want by using the "God Trump Card," [see Crusades I-IV, Spanish Inquisition]. Sure, it teaches you faith, but aside from "mysticism" and "spirituality," when does faith come in handy? I would rather believe in someone than have faith in them. In my opinion, having faith implies believing in something blindly without any sort of background knowledge to base this belief on, whereas believing in someone implies you have experience with this person and their capabilities. For instance, if it's double-game point and Bobby, one of our best players, has been having a terrible game, I will believe in him to come up in the clutch because I know that he's capable of it. However, if on double-game point, Johnny, a guy who has never played before, cuts deep and I put it up to him, I can't believe that he will catch the disc, because he probably won't. I just have to have faith that maybe the stars and planets will align causing gravity to pull his hands down to the exact altitude of the frisbee and then suddenly have a tiny 90 mph column of wind come from above and below his hand, closing it at just the exact moment and for long enough that he can stop rotation on the disc. As ludicrous and hyperbolic as it may seem, this is pretty much the same type of belief system someone subscribes to when they believe in a "God."
Again, if you believe in a god of sorts, that's wonderful. However, what would be even more wonderful is if you happened to come to this conclusion on your own, outside of what your parents, friends, family, preachers, televangelists, etc. tell you. Some people take what they call the "Bible" (which is actually the Hebrew Torah [known by Christians and others as the "Old Testament"] and some stories written by disciples of Jesus [aka the "New Testament"] combined into one book. We're still waiting on Islam to step up and provide the latest version so we can have a trilogy [aka Bible 3.0].) and adhere to its teachings so strictly that they essentially become zombies. Just because your Mom and Dad pounded the Bible into you does not mean the Bible is factual. The Bible is an idea of a culture and a way of life delineated very intricately over the course of hundreds of pages. In other words, it is a theory of a way of life, providing little more than rules to live by and fables demonstrating the reason these rules should be followed. It's understandably hard to deviate from the teachings drilled into your head since birth, but just because you were taught as such does not make it right. I've given this example to a friend (yep, I have one) who was open-minded enough to have a discussion with me about this. Imagine that you were home-schooled and taught from birth that 1+1=3. Every time you mention this to someone, they think you're crazy because they have their own belief, or that 1+1=2. However, you take it upon yourself to educate the world about 1+1=3ism because you truly believe that you are right. Aside from it being a mathematical example, how is this concept any different from proselytization or missionaries? You're not spreading any sort of cogent empirical facts, you're spreading a belief system you think is right, but others do not, necessarily. Fact is that when I drop my phone from my hand, it will fall in the toilet and cease to function. If, miraculously, the phone continued working after its impromptu baptism, that's called a coincidence not a miracle. Miracles are in books (like the Bible) that are not based on fact.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying the Bible is bad, because it's not. It teaches very good moral, cultural, and societal standards. In fact, much of our legal law is derived from it. "Thou shalt not kill." Good law. "Thou shalt honor thy father and mother." Not a law, but a good moral. Of course there are hundreds upon thousands of others that, at the time they were written, were designed to maintain order in a society. Nowadays, some of these rules don't really apply. For instance, the rules of kashrut (keeping kosher, for all you goyim) were written at the time because people were dying of food poisoning when they ate milk and meat from the same plates and not washing them. Thus, in order to keep a thriving society, they made it against the law to mix them. Today, this isn't really an issue because we don't eat off of wooden plates and we have dishwashing detergent. So why persist?
The answer, of course, is tradition. I am totally cool with tradition. Every family has them, and let's face it, you don't have a choice whether or not you follow them. Every year for Turkey Day I fly home to Columbus, OH only to drive five hours out to Futtbuck, Indiana to have dinner, spend the night in a chintzy hotel (always on the crappy sleeper sofa because my sisters take the bed), and drive home the next morning. We always take the dog, who always pees in the car, who we always have to sneak into the hotel, and who always barks at some odd hour in the morning making us paranoid of getting caught. Will this tradition end? Eventually, but not so long as my mom has family in Indiana. And probably when I'm married with kids, I'll collect them from wherever they are in the country and schlep them out to Futtbuck USA where my wife has relatives. Point being, traditions are good and are part of what colors life.
What is not good, however, is when someone tries to tell me that my beliefs and traditions are wrong (ehh, sorry for using a secular example above). They don't know why exactly my B's 'n T's are wrong, just that they aren't theirs and that their preacher/minister/whatever told them that those who don't believe like they do are heathens/misfits/rabblerousers/evil/etc.
Warning! F-Bomb Alert! Open your fucking eyes!
When was the last time you [not you, reader. The Jesus-freaks, mainly] had an original idea that someone didn't plant in your head? When was the last time you did something because you wanted to and not because it was cool with God? When was the last time you wanted to do something but didn't because you were scared that God would know and punish you? I hate to break it to you, but no one hears your prayers at church/synagogue/mosque/whatever except you and the person kneeling/standing/face on the floor next to you, at least not the God that organized religion has presented you with.
So, El Sabio, you might ask, are you saying that faith and spirituality do not exist? NO! Not at all! If you recall, at the beginning of this ridiculously long and incoherent post I mentioned organized religion as the firebrand. Spirituality comes from, you guessed it, you! It comes from what you personally believe, be it that a Flying Spaghetti Monster is the omnipotent deity controlling the universe to nothing at all, if you believe it, guess what, it's true, and no one can tell you otherwise. On the other hand, maybe there is some sort of all-powerful being, but I will bet the farm that none of the current organized religions are even close to getting it right. I don't actually have a farm.
So the moral of this truly rambling babble is think for yourself; if someone tries to tell you something that they can't prove empirically, that doesn't mean it is true! If you want hero stories, pull your nose out of your Bible and talk to a policeman/fireman/survivor of Hurricane Katrina.
Word of the Day: Mrs. Grundy n: one marked by prudish conventionality in personal conduct.
When I smacked her ass, she slapped me across the face like a crotchety old Mrs. Grundy. What a bitch!
slapped on by Edelman @ 4:21 PM
4 blatherings
4 Unauthorized Ramblings:
Thanks for all the stereotyping and ad hominem attacks guys.
Some of us "born agains" are nice people with nice families who make a real difference in the lives of hurting people around us. Some of us have college degrees and can think for ourselves quite nicely thank you. Enough anyway to finally see past our own bitterness and sort out our youthful angst as thinking adults.
Most of the Christians I know are nothing like what you described. They are, on the whole, the most honest and trustworthy people I've ever known. No hidden agendas. No "blind" faith. In fact most Christians I know are believers in spite of what their hippy parents and atheist teachers taught them.
Instead, they recognize that reality is absolute and relativism is self-refuting. The notion of everyone's own faith being "ok" is just political correctness. You're just afraid to say someone is flat out wrong. And Jenn, how can mutually exclusive philosophical positions both be true in any real sense? In what universe does "whatever you want to believe" just come true like a fairy tale? We would each have to be gods for that to even start to work. But that doesn't work in and of itself; it's just an opiate for those who don't want to do the hard work of finding real answers to tough questions.
You'll probably just blow me off so I'll quit now. But I'd bet if you met some actual Christ-followers instead of just the usual religious folks, you'd reconsider a lot of the things you've said.
Thumper-
Thanks for your comment (seriously) and for reading my blog. First off, this wasn't an attack (directly) on Christianity, but more on organized religion as a concept. Also, you keep referring to "most of the Christians [you] know." Judging by your post, you seem to be an intelligent individual with his head screwed on straight. Normally, your type of personality is not one to associate with the less intelligent, more easily persuaded 80-90% of the population, so your statement doesn't surprise me, and actually furthers my point.
Of course there are "good Christians" who are smart and well-off and good people, etc etc. There are also Muslims, Jews, and people belonging to all religions who are otherwise normal individuals who allow their lives to be run by an organized faith, which in my opinion is a waste of time and resources.
Now that we're on the subject of Christianity, what bugs me the most about their "beliefs" is not just how they believe that they are absolutely right, but how they go about their business just assuming that everyone else in the world is Christian, too. Again, this isn't everyone, but I will ballpark it at 75-80% of the Xians I have personally encountered. Y'all are just so oblivious! Your way is not the right or only way. You may believe so, and that's great, but you don't have to look at me in awe when I tell you that I'm not Christian. "Well, what are you then?" I got the other day from someone. That comes from the proselytical nature of Xianity. It's the closed-mindedness that I can't stand.
About me being afraid to tell someone they're flat out wrong, fear has nothing to do with it. Fear is a tactic Xians use to convert and maintain. I, nor anyone alive for that matter including you, am not authorized to tell someone that his beliefs are wrong. Why? Because NO ONE REALLY KNOWS WHAT IS RIGHT. Not you, not me, not the pope, not that crucifix hanging over your bed, not anyone. I bet you could tell me with a straight face that you have personally talked to God, and maybe even that he talked back to you. That, Thumper, is simply psychotic. And if your answer is, "God just hasn't talked to you because you don't believe in him," I think you need to step back for a second and think secularly do I really believe in this shit? When I say I talk to God, I mean, do I really think that anyone is hearing me?
I know it's comforting to believe in a higher power, and again, I'm not telling you that your beliefs are wrong or trying to convert you, but when you drop that money in that dish they pass around at church every Sunday, do you honestly believe with all your heart and "soul" that that money is being used for the right reasons? Did Jesus say, "Give me money so I can become the third wealthiest entity in the world?" (in reference to the Catholic church, of course). From a secular standpoint, do you really believe in God?
I know this is an easy question for you, because you won't even really think about it. But hopefully maybe someone else will read it and think (yes, think!), "Well, shit. Maybe there are other ways of looking at the world than what my Ma and Pa and Father Paul have been imprinting on me since birth."
And thanks for the good laugh for this line: "In what universe does 'whatever you want to believe' just come true like a fairy tale?" ...you mean, like any religion? How is someone believing the world was created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster any less valid than thinking it was created by some other intangible entity, such as Jesus, the Jewish (Judeo-Christian, if you like) god, or Allah? Because you have really old scripture?
It's ALL a fairy tale, man! Don't you get it?! The real conflict is really over who can make more people believe that their fairy tale is actually true!
I hope you actually read this, because I might get fired for taking this much time out of work to respond.
well-said, jenn...that complements my argument pretty well, actually.
Where to start?
Sorry for not linking to your site from mine. I usually don't if there's offensive language there. But I'll leave it up this time to be fair.
Again, there's no need to stereotype me. No crucifix is hanging over my bed. I don't use fear to control people. I don't "talk" to God or hear voices, though I do pray. I wasn't imprinted by my parents, trapped to believe whatever they believed.
My beliefs are not based on the need for an emotional crutch. I'm not an emotionally needy person at all, in fact I'm quite analytical and open minded. And Jenn, I'm not going off a translation. I took 6 semesters of Koine Greek in college and can read the original texts for myself. They're reliability and harmony is humbling, so don't be dismissive so quickly.
I believe what I believe because of evidence, logic, and reason, not bitterness or political correctness. I've investigated both sides of the argument. I'm going to guess that you can't say the same, Edelman, because the way talk about Xnty shows you don't understand it very well. And Jenn, that goes for you too. Your Episcopal priests must have left out the part where Jesus excluded any and every other path to God but the one that goes thru him. So you either take Xnty by itself or you're forced to leave it out of the mix. That's part of the mutually exclusive issue I referenced earlier.
Edelman, you're right in a way that I support part of your argument. I detest the blind-faith-folks who won't ask questions about what they believe and why. Real Christianity stands up to this scrutiny, but Mormonism, Islam, and others start falling apart when you begin asking questions. So they have to rule by intimidation. Some of the greatest minds in history (Newton, Pasteur, Bacon, Kepler, Pascal, Boyle, Faraday, Kelvin, Carver, et al.) have reasoned thru Xnty and found that it embraces the questioner and provides coherrent answers about reality (some of these guys, like Newton, wrote more on Xnty than they did in their other fields of study). Religious folks (in a bad sense) of all stripes often haven't asked the questions and won't suffer those who do (Crusades, Inquisition, Terrorism, church hierarchies, etc.). But that's NOT the Xnty you find in the Bible. Not even close.
But I'd like to have you consider the issue of arrogance. Anyone who says my way is the only way (just because it's mine), ought to be dragged behind a horse. What arrogance! Bigots usually won't even give a hearing to the other side. They ASSUME they know everything they need to know and dismiss it out of hand.
What arrogance to say, philosphically speaking, that God does NOT exist. To know that empirically would mean that you have searched every corner of this universe and every point in time and have scientifically proven He's not there. Sorry can't be done.
What arrogance to say I've come up with an idea that seems good to me and I'm going to just declare it to be reality. If I say Edelman is actually a 70 year old chinese woman that doesn't make it true even if I sincerely believe it. You are what you are (the truth about you) apart from my opinions and understanding. If a million people try to guess your birthday, only 1 out of 365 (give or take) will actually be right. Not all guesses are equal. Some are categorically wrong, even though they have the same goal and intention.
To recap: my opinion, my sincerity, majority rule or conventional wisdom, whatever my parents believed, etc. does not determine what is actually true. To think otherwise is the height of arrogance.
IF God is real in any sense, then the same is true of him. He is what he is regardless of how many people think otherwise. Even if everyone thought otherwise, it has no impact on the truth.
Edelman, you seem to have defined God as something that does not exist in reality (outside of the minds of people). Can you prove that? Can anyone? Jenn, your understanding has the reality of God determined by the various and conflicting whims of people's thoughts. Does that make sense to you?
Aren't both of those claims things you can't prove logically? To persist in something you can't prove is dogmatism of the worst kind… and arrogant.
Not wanting to be arrogant, I would claim to know nothing (agnostic, no one can really be atheist unless they just have a chip on their shoulder). But that's where the claims of Bible interrupt my otherwise blissful ignorance.
It claims that the creator revealed himself to the creation. Hmmm… yeah right… what's the evidence? Changed lives, changed nations, changed history. Inexplicable wisdom and truth about who and what I am. Ok, test this. Is it logical? Does it hold water? A lot of the time the people don't but the actual words do.
And what if the creation rejected the creator? Seems reasonable, it has happened in my own heart. What if the creator chooses to provide a remedy to rebridge the divide? Now I would be interested in finding out more about that.
Key point: I want to find out more truth about the creator. I'm not going to be satisfied with opinions and conventional wisdom. It's an act of humility to seek the truth regardless of my own feelings and the feelings of others.
Books to read if you're really open minded about this: A Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, an atheist journalist who set out to prove Xnty wrong by investigating the facts. C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, a deep examination of the existence of God and truth of the claims of Jesus.
If you haven't given these a fair reading, you can't say you've been honest in the debate. By the way, I have a copy of On the Origin of Species on the shelf behind me as I type this.
Please feel free to contact me. In fact if you're ever in Kansas City, you're welcome in my home. I like to stay up late and debate stuff.
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