Hey guys, a serious entry in Brutally Honest finally. This is a comment I posted in ElvenSarah's blog, unedited for various reasons, which means some of it you may or may not get, but oh well. I recommend checking out the blog for the full discussion about what is discussed below. -Low Emissions.
ElvenSarah - The Great Debate
Oh wow...
It's been awhile since I've been here and it's changed a lot during that period, too. I think I just want to add my two cents about religion, and, although I read almost all of the comments, I think I'd rather not comment on any - except one in particular - because I don't want to get too much into this.
I used to be a Lutheran. For several years I attended church with my family, went through Confirmation, went to church sponsored events, put my petty childhood change in the collection bin, ate the flesh and blood of Jesus... only to realize that I have no grasp as to what Lutheranism even is. I didn't know what I was doing there, and I still don't.
I do however understand, or at least call it an understanding considering some could have different views, that Christianity, Lutheranism, or, simply put, religion in general, is not necessarily about wanting to get into Heaven and believing in a God, gods, or essence, it's about leading life.
What do I mean by that? Well, personally it saddens me to see all these people believing that a single book tells the works of how our world was created by some omnipotent being, but I will credit the Bible, Jesus, and God for at least one thing: making lives better. Or trying to. Families take their children to church to have morals taught to them; to teach them that bad things can and will happen, and that the best thing to realize is that there will be something better down the road. I'm not talking about an afterlife, I'm saying that if you've got a headache today, just think that you won't tomorrow. Not the best example, but an example nonetheless.
I now stand agnostic, which, as far as my understanding can grasp at the moment, means that if God himself comes down from heaven and smacks me in the face and proclaims,
"YOU SHALL BELIEVE!!!"
...then I will. Or better yet, if when I die I somehow realize that my atman has left the shell of my body for another, or better still, for the Brahman that is the 'totality of the universe as it is present outside of' myself and you, the reader, as well, I will become Hindu. :P
I like religion. I think it's interesting stuff, all the myths, beliefs, and actions taken throughout trying to reach a blissful eternity, and I think it's good that it attempts to teach people the good morals in life that all people should have (you know, so we don't run around and kill random people type of thing?), but that doesn't mean I think people should take it literally, either.
Alright, now for my comment on somebody elses statement. I couldn't help but giggle when I read it because we're actually learning about Christianity in my religion class (the second I've taken in my college career). Let me find a quote...
"...Heck, the bible wasn't even formed by then. Think about it. The bible was really even ready for the masses until what the 1500's? The majority of citizens couldn't read, so when does one say that the masses had true access to it, and could understand?Heck, the bible wasn't even formed by then. Think about it. The bible was really even ready for the masses until what the 1500's? The majority of citizens couldn't read, so when does one say that the masses had true access to it, and could understand?..." --Chrysostomos
Alright, I'm not here to argue about it, just state an opinion. You're right, the Bible was first thrown together around 1500, give or take, because Christianity then was not one thing. It was diverse, teaching different things city by city and country by country. The emporer Constantine (whom nobody really knows if he was actually Christian or just wanted to get a majority of people on his side of the election or whatever) decided he wanted *one common practice, one common thing to teach around: The Bible. He put up the funds to make 50 bibles, and told them to make them all the same. What do they say to an Emporer? They didn't say they haven't decided which books are staying and which ones are going, that's for sure. Unfinished and unpopular ones - among others - were left out of the 'final version' of the Bible in order to please an Emporer. But I digress from the point of my story, which is simply...
Did you guys know that the first guy to translate the Bible from - Latin, right? - into English wasn't liked by the church? In fact, they disliked him so much for using a printing press and translation - in other words, making the good book and all it's teachings widely available for all to have an understand in their own way, digressing the power of the clergy and the knowledge they have over the common folk to read, write, and understand the works of the Bible - that they tortured and burned him alive? I do believe that happened around the time that Christians were travelling the countryside, killing all that proclaimed a different religious belief on their way to the 'holy land' that they would eventually burn to the ground. Which is right before they would go wipe out entire civilizations in the name of Christ across the Atlantic. Which was right before they started enslaving natives, working them to death or frying them for the dogs to eat, and *one* man had the balls the speak up and suggest that they enslave Africans instead, because Africans already enslave other Africans that have been captured in 'just' wars. And that was just before thousands upon thousands of Africans were being captured in 'just' wars, leading to a profound sense of regret held by the man who made that suggestion in the first place.
XD
If you guys would like, *please* come by my blog and catch my email address from me. I'll try to remember to come back to see if there are any responses to any of this, but I can't guarantee anything. God hasn't taught me how to remember things beyond five minutes yet. ;)
Kendie - I became an agnostic in middle school during my turbulent hormone-driven anxious emo days. I rethought that decision recently and asked myself why I became so in the first place. My parents had always raised me to be Christian, with the praying over dinner and going to chuch on Sunday bit. My whole family is Christian, except for my aunt who is Jewish. But when I started becoming aware of the world around me, aware of how politics or just normal, average Joes and Janes like you or me abuse religion or exploit it to turn masses of people on to a radical action or idea (especially those that could potentially hurt or kill hundreds of thousands of people), I decided I no longer wanted to globbed together with people like that.
I agree with the point that was made about religion existing for people to have hope in better days. We all know life is NOT a box of chocolates and that hard times could befall us at any moment. When people have nothing else to turn to, they turn to God. Although I never understood why I had to play Jesus Monopoly (which I thought was a tad bit ironic...) in Bible class or sit and listen to a preacher spout of the evils of the world (including homosexuals who would later become members of my family who I love to death...), I followed blindly - I tried to bet he best person I could be simply because I was scared to go to hell. What kind of childhood is that?... I stopped being religious because I was scared into it.
Moving along now, I also find other religions fascinating and I look forward to taking religions class in college because I want to know more about what other people thing beyond this box we call America.
I started reading the Bible again recently just to see what it is inside that have people so out of their minds. I read it first when I was in the fourth grade - the version that's edited for children and has more pictures than text. I realized how cheated I felt, because if THAT was the basis of all the awful things that are happening in the name of God then I reaaally missed the part about homosexuals and killing those of other beliefs... Or the part about killing in the name of God in general. If my family has always been Christian and taught me to be accepting of all types of people, where was that in the Bible? Where does that part play in to our lives here?... the way that things look, it seems the masses of Christians overlooked that part of the Good Book.
Last thing I wanted to add was that I've noticed every year, at least in my family, religion gets less strict. My grandparents went to church all the time. My parents, most of the time. Me? I went all the time until I was four, and then maybe once or twice after that. I've noticed how the morals of a predominantly Christian nation are plumitting. I could turn this into a media debate, but I shall refrain. But we've all seen what sells and that most certainly doesn't go hand in hand with what our country claims to be about. Of course, half naked women can be "overlooked" since this is plainly the "home of the free"... But if half naked women can be "overlooked", why can't gay men and women be "overlooked" as well?.. The hypocrisy that goes along with being Christian these days is maddening. Church is nice to go to in order to gain a sense of peace and order and hope when you're an older person and able to understand what it is you're following. However, I don't think it's necessary to take children there to learn morals and whatnot. My parents rarely took my sisters and I and I would say we've all got a pretty solid set of morals despite that. It all depends on the parents' ability to teach their children what is right and wrong without being biased.
