A respected friend of mine brought up one of my 'favorite' topics, religion recently. This friend used the word faith and implied that others should have faith. It started to get clouded after that. Faith is defined as complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Sure, I have faith in myself and some things in my life. Faith is also defined as a strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. (Oh no, the magical word rears it's ugly head- proof.) Personally, I have faith in being a good person and doing what is right. What does that make me? I believe in peace and love. What does that make me? But am I supposed to have faith in a deity? Which one? Which subcategory of religion is the best? Worst? I feel nobody is right and nobody is wrong when it comes to religion.
A little background on my religious experiences. I went to Catholic school for 8 years from grades 1-8 but I was told I was Protestant by my parents. From the highly impressionable ages of 6-13, I really couldn't understand why I couldn't receive the 'Body of Christ'. Why? I still don't really know why! However, on every Sunday, I went to a United Church of Christ in my town which confused me even more as to what I was doing the following day at my Catholic school.
What I got out of these establishments were good morals (except when one of the priests at the Catholic school sexually molested one of the students), discipline (which is why my parents sent me there in the first place), a 'sense' of community (more so from the United Church) and a whole big understanding (or misunderstanding) as to what religion is actually all about.
One great thing about going to that Catholic school was that I got to spend 8 years with the same students. We were our own small town cohort that went through a lot at the school. I mean, shit, I still keep in contact with a great number of them!
Well in 9th grade, I hit public high school and church and religion were the last things I wanted to do. I just glad to not be wearing a uniform at school! I went onto college and still didn't take part in any religious activities. During college, I went to Sevilla, Spain which holds the 3rd largest church building and largest cathedral in the world. Beautiful structure, beautiful architecture, but I still was disinterested in religion at that time. In the Catedral in Sevilla, Christopher Columbus' remains are supposedly buried. I wasn't even that thrilled about that either after taking a fantastic Native American Peoples course in college the previous semester but that's doesn't relate to religion......Oh wait, I believe it still does!? That's a different blog.
Anyway, let's jump to post-college years when I lived and traveled throughout Europe. Man, I saw so many religious structures it made me dizzy! I spent two awesome years in Prague which holds various churches and synagogues. The Czech Republic is known to be the most irreligious country in the world. Wikipedia states that 'Irreligion in the Czech Republic notes that over 60% of Czech citizens can be identified as irreligious. It is estimated that by 2050, at least 90% of the Czech population will be irreligious and Christianity will be a minority religion. The Czech Republic is one of the most irreligious countries in the world.'
Religiously speaking, this seemed like the perfect place to me. Luckily I don't guage where I am going to live due to the religious populations of cities.
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| In God We Trust? What? |
After Prague, I moved to Italy. The seat of the Roman Catholic religion. Ironically, I got a job working as a tour guide that gave tours of the Vatican! Now this is where my eyes really opened up to the actual money that religion can raise. WOW! I can't find a definitive answer to how much the Vatican church is worth but it ranges from $15-100 billion. That much money could help get many countries out of poverty if ya ask me. One can't imagine how extravagant the church is until they walk in there. It's obnoxious.
(You can read some stories I wrote about my European travels here.)
Since Rome, I have only visited to one other religious establishment. It's in southern California. Twas a nice, respectful, non denominational venue and we went on Easter. It seemed just like a Catholic ceremony though.
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| Which one?! |
Wayyyy too many people have died from religion. Wayyyy too many people are still be killed because of religion. I started to research the numbers but I won't share them with you because they are disgusting. If I shared the religious affiliations and how many people they've killed, I might start WWIII! That's not my point of writing this blog. My point in writing this blog is to talk about some things that lots of us don't normally talk about concerning religion. Many of us keep it to ourselves but sometimes some people's language and actions can define their religious beliefs.
My close friend suggested that some people who don't have faith in their lives are naive, I felt a bit taken back. After doing a little bit of research for writing this blog and seeing the death tolls for religion, I tend to feel that many affiliations are naive. Just sayin'!
Religion can sometimes be so narcissistically intolerable. Everyone's religion is better than the other for this reason or that. Who is the supreme boss of all this naivety? Jesus, Jah, Jehovah, Allah, Baha, Hu, Shangdi, Elohim, Braham, Waheguru, Ahura, Yahweh, Clapton......the list goes on and on. Can't people find one thing about all of these 'Gods' to agree upon?
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| Now you're talkin'!! |
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| Morgan as God. |
Clapton or Morgan Freeman?
My humble beliefs:
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| Perry Farrell |
Perry said it best, "My friend says we're like the dinosaurs only we are doing ourselves in much faster than we ever did." At least the dinosaurs were able to live on earth for over 250 million years rather than humans. We are killing each other off and it's only been 200,000 years. Maybe it's all 'God's plan.'
2. I believe in morality and values. Well, in the public education realm, there is a separation between church and state- thankfully! When I taught elementary education, we would make up our own values or beliefs- actually the kids did. They came up with their own "Ten Commandments" but we never called them commandments- it's too commanding. We called them classroom Morals and Values. They were always simple and brilliant! If 2nd graders can do it, let's all do it!
I believe in a power. Is it 'God'? How the hell do I know? I don't call it 'God'. I call it something in our universe that has helped create our earth and all the things on it. I am not a scientist and I can't completely grasp how the universe 'works' but whatever happened- the Big Bang, 'God' creating the earth- not one single human can ever prove any of it. OK, I said it- prove. Proof is a touchy word when talking about religion.
3. I have faith in myself. Silly Not To ® to believe in yourself. I know I am a positive, enlightening individual that doesn't claim any other person or being made me this way. I feel it is irresponsible to claim that my actions are a result of any type of god condemning me or praising me. I don't need faith in something/someone else to define my existence or predict what will happen after I die. I live my life through the lens of altruism, peace and patience.
Maybe I am wrong about all this yet maybe I'm right. I really don't care. I have faith in myself to be a caring, respectful, hard working, individual that cares deeply for our world and all the things on it.
Now my question is- What do YOU believe? Check out the link and have a gander. Where do you lie on the spectrum?
