religion Archives

Hate. Hate for each other;

hate for people you don’t know;

hate for an entire demographic of people.

I just don’t get it.

And nothing upsets me more.

Whether it be homophobes lining the streets

to scream obscenities about life, God, and marriage;

or a woman from a completely radical church

justifying the killing of an innocent nine-year-old girl.

{Tweet from @Dear Shirley, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, explaining why a 9-year-old girl was rightfully gunned down in Saturdays shooting}

I truly do not understand it.

And it makes me terribly sad.

I’ve always been sensitive about these issues.

My mom tells me stories about how when I was a kid

I used to hide during recess

and cry to her when I got home, asking,

“How can all of these kids be so happy

when bad things are happening in the world?”

I agree, I didn’t have a very sheltered childhood full of rainbows;

I had to learn at a very young age that

very bad things happen and there is really no rhyme or reason for it.

More disturbing thatn the recent events in Arizona

{and it was extremely disturbing}

is the fact that hatred is so strong amongst some people

that they would go as far to say that

these people deserved to be killed.

I know that since this came out in the news,
they have decided they will broadcast from a radio program
rather than protest at the funeral,
but I’m still completely disturbed that protesting
would even be an option.

This blows my mind.
I haven’t been able to completely function
these last couple of days
because I am so distraught by the hatred that some people have.

Here I am:
I don’t believe in religion.
I’m not sure if I believe in a god.
But I believe in being kind and living by the golden rule.
I believe in equal rights and equality for all people.
I believe that marriage of all people,
gay or straight,
is a right in this country.

{image}

And I would be seen as someone who is not a good person,
not only by this radical church,
but also by many people I know
who are against equal rights;
and gay marriage;
and who think I’m missing something in my life
because I don’t have god or religion.

But I believe in something stronger than religion.

I believe in being a good person
and acting to others
as I would want them to treat me.

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I’m hoping no one takes offense to this blog post, but I’m guessing someone, somewhere will.

Let me start by saying that I do not judge people based on their own personal belief systems. These are just my thoughts, driven by my personal journey. So while I welcome your comments, please do not preach to me.

That being said…

Yesterday was Easter. This weekend I spent a lot of time with family (both mine and my boyfriends family). And I had some time to reflect on what this means to me and to those around me.

I was raised Roman Catholic, but am not only non-practicing, but I do not believe in any single set of beliefs. I was not always this way. At some point along the way, I realized that it didn’t make sense… at least not for me. Perhaps it was my studies in ancient religions and eastern religions. I studied the Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, and realized that they all believe in the same religious tenants, but in different forms and in different shapes.

Most of my thoughts on Easter this year came from Facebook. Before you sigh and moan, hear me out. So all of my oh-so-holy-and-mighty Catholic friends gave up something of meaning for lent. Let me be clear that I once did this, but looking back, it seems like a giant charade. Give up something. You’re supposed to really think about it. Here’s what they come up with: Soda, Chips, Ice Cream, Coffee, Candy, etc. WOW. Great to see you put a lot of thought into it. It seems like a game they play. No one’s really sure why. Except they did it last year. So they might as well do it again…. right?

I’ve mentioned that I’ve studied many other religions. One thing that I noticed about a few is that they believe is that while they all preach “only god can judge” they also preach that “this, this and that are ALL BAD and god is not cool with it.” For example, homosexuality. I’ve come to the realization that I cannot EVER be part of a religion, or even slightly associate myself, with an organization, that denounces an entire group of the worlds population. And where are they on the “he who casts the first stone”??

It all really pisses me off when I am judged by people who either: a) feel sorry for me and offer their prayers, or b) feel that I am really missing out on something and truly believe I will damned for eternity. Guess what? I’m a pretty good person. I do base my life around certain things. For instance, I believe that good comes back to you and so does the bad. Plus, the kindness of strangers is an amazing thing. I do not need a religion to tell me this. This is something I KNOW. I don’t need to know that someone gave their life for me. I don’t need anyone to do this. I know that I can be a good, or even a GREAT person without the drama that is organized religion.

I also am very unsure of how someone can be SO SURE about Jesus. I mean, what about all of the other great believers? How about Mohammed? He was a pretty stellar dude. Pretty much just like Jesus. And Buddha? Try finding bad things to stay about these people. TRY.

All I’m saying is that this Easter opened my eyes to the final conclusion of my former religious life. I will never again be a believer in organized religion. There comes a point where you open your eyes to all of the good in the world, and realize that all we are doing is segregating ourselves.

WAKE UP WORLD. Smell the karma.

on hate, religion, and recent events: my opinion

Wake up and smell the Karma.