philosophy Blog and Journals

Lately Denny and I have been talking alot about religion and I have a few things on my mind I want to write down in an attempt to find clarity and get it out of my head. First off, let me start by saying that I don't wish to offend anyone with this and of course I believe everyone should be free to practice any religion of their choice, as long as it doesn't allow you or require you to harm others of course. With that said here are a few things that have really been bugging me about religion.

Why is it that people feel they can just shove their religion in my face? Especially the popular religions like Christianity. For example, why do some people feel the need to send holiday cards that are all about religion? "May God Bless you and your family on the holidays." I don't believe in god and you know it, so what are you trying to prove with that card? I find it so frustrating that as an Athiest/Agnostic (I say both because these days I'm leaning more towards atheism but I wouldn't be so arragont as to say I know for sure) I'm not really aloud to say exactly how I feel without everyone getting all offended like I'm trying to take something away from them, but they can just talk and talk about god as if everyone should know his existence is somehow certain. If your belief in god is so strong, I should be able to say that I don't think that god exists without you being offended. I mean, I'm not offended when you say you believe in god, I just get offended when you try to shove it down my throat and act like I'm somehow lesser than you because of my beliefs or preach to me about how I need to find god in order to reach some eternal happiness. Why can't they just say "we are thinking of you during the holidays and we love and miss you", or something to that affect. Why doesn it have to be about god? Go ahead and believe in god if you want to, but you know I don't, so please just keep it to yourself. Imagine if I sent a christmas card saying, "well I know god wasn't actually born on this day because he doesn't exist, but the holidays are a great excuse to just tell family and friends you love them and are thinking of them. So Happy Holidays." They, for good reason, would be offended. So why am I not afforded the same courtesy? 

I find it soooo frustrating and backwards that religion has somehow been used as a way to find fault in others and judge them, even though most religions clearly state it is only for god to judge others. For example, alot of religious people look down on people who have sex before marriage despite the fact that marriage is a very new concept but sex, on the other hand, has been around forever. It is a human instinct to have sex. Marriage however, is just some idea that society came up with. So apparently, until the invention of marriage, lots of humans were all living in sin. Wow there must be alot of people who never even heard of marriage that are now in hell. Sucks for them. Another example is how most religions condemn gay people despite the fact that homosexuality is something you are born with. And make no mistake, that is not questionable or debatable! You are born gay, straight, or bisexual, there is no choice! (As a sidenote, I can't wait till the day that scientist can prove that you are born with your sexuality and that it is not a choice.)  So why is it that people feel they can judge homosexuals? If there is a god, he/she made them that way so you should just love them as one of god's children, accept them, and leave it to god to do the judging. I have found people who are open minded about religon or are not relgious to be the most accepting and least judmental. How ironic. Don't ya think? 

As Denny said, "I have found when you are speaking philisophically with someone about religion and they say they believe that jesus christ was the son of god and died for our sins, it's just their way of saying 'I don't really want to talk about this.'" Which leads me to the point, you can't debate with most religious people. Whenever someone can fall back on, "well it is the word of god" or "because the bible says so", there is no room for debate. You simply can't argue with something someone has determined to be "the truth", as if there has ever been any one truth in the world. I find it extremely redundant to discuss religion with most religious people because they always have "the" answer. Now, debating with someone who believes in god and loosely follows religion, that can actually go somewhere. There are lots of people that are religious that I enjoy debating with because they don't claim to have the answers, just ideas. No one has the answer, why don't people understand that? No one knows for certain whether or not there is a god. I don't care what book you read or what priest you talk to, no one can possibly know that. I find people who are willing to accept that to be much more open minded and easy to talk to. As they say in Dogma, "it is better to have an idea about religion than it is to have a belief, because beliefs are almost impossible to change."

I once heard a person say that athiests have no morals. Wow. Where do I start with that sentence? Hopefully not many people actually believe this, but the fact that even one person believes it is disturbing. Ok, so lets disect that sentence. So he was saying that because athiests don't have the bible and priests telling them what is right and wrong, they couldn't possibly figure it out for themselves. So by saying that, it leads me to believe that without the bible and priests telling him what is right and wrong, he, by himself, wouldn't figure it out. Right? So basically that leads me to conclude the opposite. If he thinks that religion dictates our morals that actually means that people who are not religious are more moral because they figure out what is right and wrong all on their own, they don't need some religion spelling it out for them. And therefore, he, void of his religion, would have no morals. What utter nonsense. Obviously, I don't believe that you can conclude someones morals based on religious beliefs, only actions can really determine that. 

I find it so funny that people have actually tried to tell me that I am brainwashed. Me? The Anostic? So, basically, the fact that I say I have no idea what happens after death and I have no idea if god truely exists, somehow makes me brainwashed. I had no idea the definition of being brainwashed meant having a lack of certainty in a belief. Interesting. My parents never forced us to practice any religion and in fact, wouldn't even tell us their religion until we were 18 because they wanted us to make up our own minds. My sister is Christian, my brother is Athiest I believe, and I am Agnostic leaning towards Athiesm. So then I guess my parents really suck at brainwashing. It's the kettle calling the pot black. 

As you can tell, I have alot of issues with religion, my list could go on forever. Some people who have the same issues as me, such as Bill Maher, would go so far as to say that we should get rid of religion and the world would be a better place without it. I totally disagree. Yes, there are some religious people who have twisted religion and used it for hate rather than for understanding, love, or a sense of belonging. But that is not all religious people. I think that if religion makes you truely happy and brings joy to your life, good for you. How hypocritical would I be if I tried to deny you of that happiness? All I ask is that you don't judge others who believe differently, don't treat others as though you are better than them, don't tell other people what to believe, and just remember that your bible says to let god judge. Religion can be a light for people who feel they live in darkness. (Corny I know, but it's true) It gives people hope that even though the world may sometimes overlook us or mistreat us, our goodness is not going un-noticed. It gives people hope that maybe there is some purpose to life and maybe we aren't here all alone, just another sheep in the heard. And who doesn't want to feel that way? Who doesn't want to feel like there is some greater power beyond ourselves that is looking out for us all? Most of the time, I hope there is a god. Not the bibles version of god, but a god who sees people for who they are and sees their intentions and looks out for them and rewards them for their good nature. But the god I imagine won't judge me for being bisexual, won't judge me for having sex before marriage, won't care that I've smoked weed and broken the law. The god I imagine would just love me for being kind hearted and caring for others. He would know I am not perfect and I don't always make the right decision but he would love me for the goodness in my heart. That kind of god I can, not believe in, but hope for.