Here's a hot topic for you: Religion. It's one that a lot of people get upset over and influences a lot of other hot topics like abortion or gay rights. It is very important to some people and not so much to others. For many though, it is a sensitive subject.
I've been thinking about religion these past couple of days. I'm not sure what really got me going, probably the several religious posts on Facebook I see everyday. So I've been meaning to do a post on my thoughts about religion. If you aren't interested in my honest opinions then stop reading now. This post isn't meant to offend anyone, just my honest thoughts.
I come from a very religious family. I have a large Irish Catholic family on my mom's side and the majority of my family members attended or are attending Catholic schools, especially when I was little. Most of my family lives in the St. Louis area and when I was growing up, my immediate family was the only one outside of that area as I grew up in Colorado. We went to church when I was growing up. I did Sunday school, went to several confessions and did first communion as a child. It wasn't as important in my life as my extended family's lives but it was there when I was growing up. I just never remember it really sinking in. Religion was more of this idea more than a power in my life. The Bible was just a collection of stories that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me rather than a holy book. I remember doing confession and just being extremely uncomfortable and unsure of what to do in that situation. Church was always something I had to do, not something I was invested in. Honestly I think I went without complaint, most of the time, because there were donuts afterward and that was the only time ever that I got to have donuts. See, bribery works. At least to get your kids to physically do something.
As I got older, I started thinking about what I was being told in church. I realized that I wasn't a believer; I was just going through the motions because that is what you did. By the time I was in high school I had done my own hard thinking about religion and decided that it was not for me. In fact, I was often times offended by the Church and didn't want to participate anymore. It was a point of contention between my mom and I. She wanted me to continue with it and get confirmed. Confirmation was the last thing I wanted to do because I didn't want to participate in the Church anymore. Pettily enough, I was also mad that the Confirmation retreat for our church would take place over my 16th birthday and that was not the party I had envisioned. Finally I struck a deal with my mom that I would go through with Confirmation without complaint but from then on out religion was my choice and I would be free to make that choice. So I got confirmed. Then I worked on really thinking about what my beliefs were.
Over many years, here is my thoughts on religion.
I don't believe in God. I think the concept of a God is too unknowable and too big of a stretch for the human mind. If there is a God, there is no way for me to comprehend it. So, I consider myself Agnostic rather than Atheist Because I can't say either way what created the universe or mankind or whatever. I am just one tiny dot in the middle of it and I can't see beyond my own limitations and that's okay with me.
I don't believe in organized religion. There are times when I've felt spiritual and moved and it is those moments that keep the possibility of something larger at work alive to me. However, I don't believe that some organization that was made up hundreds upon hundreds of years ago should dictate to me how I should feel spiritual in my life. I feel that organized religions are more about control and exclusion of those who are "other" rather than acceptance and worship. The ideas that drive the large religions are outdated for the world we live in and often offensive. I will not take part in a religion that is based on making a certain type of person feel powerful and loved because they worship the right way. If there is a God or greater being out there, I don't think He/it cares if I cross myself a certain way. What is more important is that I am a good moral person. Yes religion can teach you that. But you can also learn to be a good moral person without religion.
I have decided not to attend mass anymore. In my family, it is expected that you go to mass when we all get together. Especially on Christmas. For the longest time I went because it was the respectful thing to do. Now however, I feel that it is rather disrespectful for me to go into someone's place of worship, a place that is holy and very important to them, and sit there being bored out of my mind. I find that is disrespectful of me to treat someone else's choice of worship that way. So I will be staying home because I don't want to participate in something that means nothing to me or that I outright disagree with. It cheapens it for the people that do believe and I don't want to do that.
I think that everyone has the right to believe what they want as long as they are not hurting others. So that means I have the right to not attend mass and you have the right to attend mass. Win win. I have a problem when people sit in judgement of others because their beliefs tell them that they are right and the other person is wrong. I could start a religion worshiping an inanimate object and that may be just as real to me as someone who goes to a church or synagogue or mosque. As long as I am not hurting anyone then I don't see the problem.
Religion is an expression of something people feel deeply. Everyone is different so we should have different expressions. One expression does not necessarily have merit over another. However, organized religion has been the root of a lot of evil in this world. Those who believe in something so strongly that they are unable to see past it or are willing to do a lot of harm in its name are dangerous, regardless of what that belief is. I get sick of hearing people get pissed off because that person believes something different. When we get too focused on exclusion things get dangerous. Or when people focus too much on taking religious texts so literal they forget that it was written hundreds and hundreds of years ago and perhaps society has chanced a little since then which means so should beliefs.
So yes, I myself don't believe in any organized religion or God. But I do believe that everyone has the right to choose for themselves. That right does not come with judgement of other people because they don't agree. At some point, you have to agree to disagree and be okay with that.
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