An God Brog.
So, a short time ago, the brog section was blessed with yet another piece on religion.
I have long been a harsh critic of Christianity, and many other bandwagon religions with Sheep-like followers, and I don't feel I really need to expound on that any further.
Many of you have asked me what I believe, if not in religion, and I have never given a concise answer. I'm not sure if that was because I didn't care to, or it felt too personal, or I just felt like being angry, so in this short blog, I will attempt to clarify what my beliefs are, and why I have such a problem with modern Organized Religion.
I grew up in a household that called itself a certain religion, but never practiced that religion in the home. We were supposed to be proud of being that religion, but I was never taught why.
Few of my friends growing up were the same religion as I was.
As I got older, I drifted further and further from that religion. When I left home, I started meeting people involved in other religions. Because of my detachment from my religion of origin, it was fairly easy to look at these other religions as very similar in many ways, not different. But I DID notice that the people I was meeting who PRACTICED these religions were extraordinarily closed-minded concerning other peoples' religious beliefs. If they did not share the exact same tenets and philosophies, they were wrong. Of course, these judgmental religious people were always far too civilized and God-Like to ever actually SAY anything to the people they disagreed with, concerning religion. So the argument existed only on one side, frothing and causing resentment against the Infidel outsiders who dared to believe something that they themselves did not.
In college, I was introduced to an Eastern religion that , at the time, I thought was rather silly and pointless, and I avoided it to the best of my ability.
In the ensuing years since I left college, I have lived all over the country, working in various fields, and always keeping my Spiritual beliefs to myself. As a consequence, I have formed deep relationships with many people from literally all over the religious spectrum.
The one thing that most (But certainly NOT all) of them have in common is that they believe their belief is the only relevant belief.
I am now a bit older, and for reasons I choose not to get into, at least in this blog, I have recently found myself on a spiritual path for the first time in my life. For the past few years, I felt like I was missing something, and, upon talking to friends of various faiths, they all seemed to agree on one thing- It was God that I was missing. Unfortunately, they could not agree on which God that was.
I did quite a bit of reading, and while it was interesting to learn of other religions, it did nothing to serve the purpose I was striving for- to Find God.
Several years ago, it occurred to me (As it has to countless other people, I'm sure) that if there really WAS a God, who was responsible for the universe and everything contained therein, then who the Hell was I to decide what His name was, or what He looked like, or any of that ?
So I began my Spiritual Journey. And what I have come to believe is that there IS, indeed, something out there that is a Power Greater than Myself. But That's about all I know, and all I NEED to know.
Do I believe that He (or She, for that matter...) needs me to give money to a church? Absolutely not, because that goes against everything I believe.
Very simply, I believe that the God I believe in wants me to know Right from Wrong, and base my actions on that knowledge.
Really, it's no different from any other major religion, except that I don't get involved in telling other people what they should believe, *Unless they start preaching to me, or doing what I PERCEIVE as preaching.
As far as the Eastern Religion I briefly studied in school- I do not practice it, but it had a lot to do with my current Spiritual Beliefs.
The reason I'm not getting specific about any of the religions I discuss in this blog is because they're actually irrelevant to the discussion. If I said I was raised Catholic, Jewish, or Protestant, I would automatically have half the people reading it lose interest because of their preconceptions of those religions.
As far as the Eastern one that I took a late interest in, that, too, is irrelevant, except to me. And that's kind of the whole point of this blog:
Don't be a sheep. Find what REALLY works for you, not what other people say Will WORK FOR YOU.
I have long been a harsh critic of Christianity, and many other bandwagon religions with Sheep-like followers, and I don't feel I really need to expound on that any further.
Many of you have asked me what I believe, if not in religion, and I have never given a concise answer. I'm not sure if that was because I didn't care to, or it felt too personal, or I just felt like being angry, so in this short blog, I will attempt to clarify what my beliefs are, and why I have such a problem with modern Organized Religion.
I grew up in a household that called itself a certain religion, but never practiced that religion in the home. We were supposed to be proud of being that religion, but I was never taught why.
Few of my friends growing up were the same religion as I was.
As I got older, I drifted further and further from that religion. When I left home, I started meeting people involved in other religions. Because of my detachment from my religion of origin, it was fairly easy to look at these other religions as very similar in many ways, not different. But I DID notice that the people I was meeting who PRACTICED these religions were extraordinarily closed-minded concerning other peoples' religious beliefs. If they did not share the exact same tenets and philosophies, they were wrong. Of course, these judgmental religious people were always far too civilized and God-Like to ever actually SAY anything to the people they disagreed with, concerning religion. So the argument existed only on one side, frothing and causing resentment against the Infidel outsiders who dared to believe something that they themselves did not.
In college, I was introduced to an Eastern religion that , at the time, I thought was rather silly and pointless, and I avoided it to the best of my ability.
In the ensuing years since I left college, I have lived all over the country, working in various fields, and always keeping my Spiritual beliefs to myself. As a consequence, I have formed deep relationships with many people from literally all over the religious spectrum.
The one thing that most (But certainly NOT all) of them have in common is that they believe their belief is the only relevant belief.
I am now a bit older, and for reasons I choose not to get into, at least in this blog, I have recently found myself on a spiritual path for the first time in my life. For the past few years, I felt like I was missing something, and, upon talking to friends of various faiths, they all seemed to agree on one thing- It was God that I was missing. Unfortunately, they could not agree on which God that was.
I did quite a bit of reading, and while it was interesting to learn of other religions, it did nothing to serve the purpose I was striving for- to Find God.
Several years ago, it occurred to me (As it has to countless other people, I'm sure) that if there really WAS a God, who was responsible for the universe and everything contained therein, then who the Hell was I to decide what His name was, or what He looked like, or any of that ?
So I began my Spiritual Journey. And what I have come to believe is that there IS, indeed, something out there that is a Power Greater than Myself. But That's about all I know, and all I NEED to know.
Do I believe that He (or She, for that matter...) needs me to give money to a church? Absolutely not, because that goes against everything I believe.
Very simply, I believe that the God I believe in wants me to know Right from Wrong, and base my actions on that knowledge.
Really, it's no different from any other major religion, except that I don't get involved in telling other people what they should believe, *Unless they start preaching to me, or doing what I PERCEIVE as preaching.
As far as the Eastern Religion I briefly studied in school- I do not practice it, but it had a lot to do with my current Spiritual Beliefs.
The reason I'm not getting specific about any of the religions I discuss in this blog is because they're actually irrelevant to the discussion. If I said I was raised Catholic, Jewish, or Protestant, I would automatically have half the people reading it lose interest because of their preconceptions of those religions.
As far as the Eastern one that I took a late interest in, that, too, is irrelevant, except to me. And that's kind of the whole point of this blog:
Don't be a sheep. Find what REALLY works for you, not what other people say Will WORK FOR YOU.
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