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crysthewolf--I've posted this on Myspace recently for the sake of a friend of mine who's been asking me about my beliefs, but it's basically a repeat of several things I've already said before about religion. If you've already heard those rants, feel free to ignore this post. ;) By the way, all anon comments are screened.--
So I was standing in my shower this morning and I was thinking. To be honest, the shower is where I do quite a lot of my thinking and, to be more honest, I do a lot of my thinking out loud. I think that my neighbors, if they're home during the day when I shower, probably think that I'm quite the schitzophrenic, but there you have it.
While I was thinking in my shower, I got to considering my friend Katie's offer to come watch her sing at the Liederkranz, which is a German club we discovered via our show-choir director when we were in High School. Katie and her sister Sarah and I were in the choir together when we were kids and a couple of Christmases ago we got together to go see Mrs. Chandler at the Liederkranz while her women's choir sang. True to form, Mrs. Chandler asked the three of us to join the choir. Katie and Sarah did. I declined.
I declined for two reasons. For one, I didn't (and don't, really) have reliable transportation, and to me, a choir is a serious responsibility. Hey, I'm an unemployed vocalist. I have to take SOMETHING seriously. ;) I didn't want to commit to Mrs. Chandler's (still can't call her Loesje) choir unless I knew I could get there, and I really didn't.
But that was really only a cover reason. My deep-down reason is that when we were in the high school choirs together, Katie, Sarah, and I were almost ALWAYS at the DEAD CENTER of DRAAAAMA. Hell, most of the time it was between the three of us. There was always a boy, or a music competition, or a worship team, or something. The three of us were in the same Bible study together... and, for lack of a better term, in the same witch-hunting-demon-slaying cult together (oh yes, my sordid past is quite a long and intriguing story. ;) )... which made for that much MORE drama.
I'd been free of that cult for several years and was on my way out of Christianity, and I figured that getting into a choir with the two of them again would probably be bad for my sanity.
So, today, I was thinking about the possibility of seeing Mrs. Chandler again, now, Pagan and Proud. Mrs. Chandler is a good lady, despite being the queen of guilt trips. ;) She's also a Christian lady, and wholeheartedly - at least as far as I know - committed to her church. Now granted, Mrs. Chandler was one of the first people to alert me to the fact that I was IN A CULT when I was in high school (the witch-hunting-demon-slayers. It sounds like a metal band, doesn't it?) But I think that even though she wanted to see me get out of THAT... she would still have liked to have seen me stay in church in GENERAL. As much as I respect Mrs. Chandler, and even nowadays Katie and Sarah, I couldn't bring myself to do that. And while I was in the shower, thinking about Mrs. Chandler's questions and concerns, I got thinking about how I would explain that to her.
I don't have any major beef with Christianity. At least, that is to say, I don't have a lot of major beef with Christianity that I don't have with any other given religion, and frankly not every Christian adheres to the things that I have beef with. So why couldn't I just be a Christian who doesn't adhere to those things? Well, because I've done a lot of reading, a lot of thinking, and a lot of praying, and I don't see any reason to believe in and worship Yahweh and Yeshua above any other creature that's told me through various prophets and sacred texts that it's the one true creator of the universe... and, as I understand it, that's what Christianity is asking for as one of its most basic tenets. And, to be fair, I don't see anything wrong with people DOING that if its what they choose... but being that I've never quite fit well into any given church (I don't do groups well) and that I fit in with and am far more drawn to the rituals and rites of modern Paganism, I didn't see a particular reason to choose it.
I don't have a problem with being ASKED to believe a particular thing that I don't have a definitive reason to believe is true above other things which may be true. I may decline the invitation, but I don't necessarily have a problem with it. I do have a problem with being COMMANDED to do it.
This is where myself and many adherents to the Yahweh-God tend to part ways. I can believe in the possibility of a God. I can also believe in the possibility of a rainbow snake who slithered around the whole world making valleys and mountains and then woke up water-filled frogs to burp into all of the oceans and lakes and rivers (honestly one of my FAVORITE creation myths. ;) Yeah, I know, I'm weird, but who DOESN'T love burping frogs? I mean really??? ) But I can't believe that a Universal Creator who has control of everything but doesn't make an effort to make his story more believable than any other (aside from letting the folks at the Inquisition get ahold of it and do the whole "BELIEVE THIS OR DIE!" thing), can be both loving and exclusivistic. by that I mean that if you're going to say "You have to believe in me, worship me only, and follow a lot of rules that don't always make sense or I'm sending you to Hell/letting you die/throwing you into a lake of fire," you have to give me something a little more substantial than a 1700 year old book written in four dead languages compiled by a politically oriented culture that had a habit of conquering the cultures around it and slaughtering anyone who disagreed with it.
Once again, I don't have a problem with folks believing this, or even with them believing that I'm going to Hell. I mean I think it's a shame that they think that, what with the fact that it probably makes a good number of them sad (although the fact that it makes some of them HAPPY is a little unnerving too)... but I don't take offense at it. *shrug* People believe what they need to believe for whatever reasons they need to believe it. I can't judge that... unless what they believe is that not only is it ok, but PERTINENT that they condemn me for not agreeing with them. Then I'm obligated to dislike them personally.
But I guess thats my thing. If you're going to tell me I'm going to Hell for not believing in you, and then play a big game of cosmic hide-and-seek where the winner gets my soul... I gotta say, I kinda think you're a sadist.
I'm Pagan. When you boil it down, to me, that means I don't "believe" anything. I have stories that I love that may or may not be true. I have rituals that I perform that may or may not affect changes that I want to see in my life, but they're changes in MY life. I put my energy and my belief into those things, but I don't consider them essential. I don't curse people and I don't perform rituals with them in mind without asking them first (although I'll light candles for folks and send a little positive energy their way because to me that's just like passive praying. Good vibes are good vibes, and I'm not going to be particular. ;) ) If a particular God starts getting grabby with me, I tend to walk away from him or her. If a particular group starts getting exclusive, I tend to avoid them. That's just me*. I don't require folks to follow my windey path 'cause it's my windey path and I'm no smarter than they are.
I respect a lot of people and I respect a lot of beliefs. But I tend to think that people are either beautiful people or ugly people dependent upon how they behave toward one another and themselves. I know a lot of beautiful people. Some of them are Christians (Catholic or Protestant). Some of them are Pagan and some of them are Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist.
I guess if I'm going to "do unto others as I would have done unto me"... I can't really be exclusive either. ;)
Love,
Crystal
*Dear Bob I am the Shane** of religions. =O
**"L Word" reference.
So I was standing in my shower this morning and I was thinking. To be honest, the shower is where I do quite a lot of my thinking and, to be more honest, I do a lot of my thinking out loud. I think that my neighbors, if they're home during the day when I shower, probably think that I'm quite the schitzophrenic, but there you have it.
While I was thinking in my shower, I got to considering my friend Katie's offer to come watch her sing at the Liederkranz, which is a German club we discovered via our show-choir director when we were in High School. Katie and her sister Sarah and I were in the choir together when we were kids and a couple of Christmases ago we got together to go see Mrs. Chandler at the Liederkranz while her women's choir sang. True to form, Mrs. Chandler asked the three of us to join the choir. Katie and Sarah did. I declined.
I declined for two reasons. For one, I didn't (and don't, really) have reliable transportation, and to me, a choir is a serious responsibility. Hey, I'm an unemployed vocalist. I have to take SOMETHING seriously. ;) I didn't want to commit to Mrs. Chandler's (still can't call her Loesje) choir unless I knew I could get there, and I really didn't.
But that was really only a cover reason. My deep-down reason is that when we were in the high school choirs together, Katie, Sarah, and I were almost ALWAYS at the DEAD CENTER of DRAAAAMA. Hell, most of the time it was between the three of us. There was always a boy, or a music competition, or a worship team, or something. The three of us were in the same Bible study together... and, for lack of a better term, in the same witch-hunting-demon-slaying cult together (oh yes, my sordid past is quite a long and intriguing story. ;) )... which made for that much MORE drama.
I'd been free of that cult for several years and was on my way out of Christianity, and I figured that getting into a choir with the two of them again would probably be bad for my sanity.
So, today, I was thinking about the possibility of seeing Mrs. Chandler again, now, Pagan and Proud. Mrs. Chandler is a good lady, despite being the queen of guilt trips. ;) She's also a Christian lady, and wholeheartedly - at least as far as I know - committed to her church. Now granted, Mrs. Chandler was one of the first people to alert me to the fact that I was IN A CULT when I was in high school (the witch-hunting-demon-slayers. It sounds like a metal band, doesn't it?) But I think that even though she wanted to see me get out of THAT... she would still have liked to have seen me stay in church in GENERAL. As much as I respect Mrs. Chandler, and even nowadays Katie and Sarah, I couldn't bring myself to do that. And while I was in the shower, thinking about Mrs. Chandler's questions and concerns, I got thinking about how I would explain that to her.
I don't have any major beef with Christianity. At least, that is to say, I don't have a lot of major beef with Christianity that I don't have with any other given religion, and frankly not every Christian adheres to the things that I have beef with. So why couldn't I just be a Christian who doesn't adhere to those things? Well, because I've done a lot of reading, a lot of thinking, and a lot of praying, and I don't see any reason to believe in and worship Yahweh and Yeshua above any other creature that's told me through various prophets and sacred texts that it's the one true creator of the universe... and, as I understand it, that's what Christianity is asking for as one of its most basic tenets. And, to be fair, I don't see anything wrong with people DOING that if its what they choose... but being that I've never quite fit well into any given church (I don't do groups well) and that I fit in with and am far more drawn to the rituals and rites of modern Paganism, I didn't see a particular reason to choose it.
I don't have a problem with being ASKED to believe a particular thing that I don't have a definitive reason to believe is true above other things which may be true. I may decline the invitation, but I don't necessarily have a problem with it. I do have a problem with being COMMANDED to do it.
This is where myself and many adherents to the Yahweh-God tend to part ways. I can believe in the possibility of a God. I can also believe in the possibility of a rainbow snake who slithered around the whole world making valleys and mountains and then woke up water-filled frogs to burp into all of the oceans and lakes and rivers (honestly one of my FAVORITE creation myths. ;) Yeah, I know, I'm weird, but who DOESN'T love burping frogs? I mean really??? ) But I can't believe that a Universal Creator who has control of everything but doesn't make an effort to make his story more believable than any other (aside from letting the folks at the Inquisition get ahold of it and do the whole "BELIEVE THIS OR DIE!" thing), can be both loving and exclusivistic. by that I mean that if you're going to say "You have to believe in me, worship me only, and follow a lot of rules that don't always make sense or I'm sending you to Hell/letting you die/throwing you into a lake of fire," you have to give me something a little more substantial than a 1700 year old book written in four dead languages compiled by a politically oriented culture that had a habit of conquering the cultures around it and slaughtering anyone who disagreed with it.
Once again, I don't have a problem with folks believing this, or even with them believing that I'm going to Hell. I mean I think it's a shame that they think that, what with the fact that it probably makes a good number of them sad (although the fact that it makes some of them HAPPY is a little unnerving too)... but I don't take offense at it. *shrug* People believe what they need to believe for whatever reasons they need to believe it. I can't judge that... unless what they believe is that not only is it ok, but PERTINENT that they condemn me for not agreeing with them. Then I'm obligated to dislike them personally.
But I guess thats my thing. If you're going to tell me I'm going to Hell for not believing in you, and then play a big game of cosmic hide-and-seek where the winner gets my soul... I gotta say, I kinda think you're a sadist.
I'm Pagan. When you boil it down, to me, that means I don't "believe" anything. I have stories that I love that may or may not be true. I have rituals that I perform that may or may not affect changes that I want to see in my life, but they're changes in MY life. I put my energy and my belief into those things, but I don't consider them essential. I don't curse people and I don't perform rituals with them in mind without asking them first (although I'll light candles for folks and send a little positive energy their way because to me that's just like passive praying. Good vibes are good vibes, and I'm not going to be particular. ;) ) If a particular God starts getting grabby with me, I tend to walk away from him or her. If a particular group starts getting exclusive, I tend to avoid them. That's just me*. I don't require folks to follow my windey path 'cause it's my windey path and I'm no smarter than they are.
I respect a lot of people and I respect a lot of beliefs. But I tend to think that people are either beautiful people or ugly people dependent upon how they behave toward one another and themselves. I know a lot of beautiful people. Some of them are Christians (Catholic or Protestant). Some of them are Pagan and some of them are Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist.
I guess if I'm going to "do unto others as I would have done unto me"... I can't really be exclusive either. ;)
Love,
Crystal
*Dear Bob I am the Shane** of religions. =O
**"L Word" reference.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-24 01:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-24 08:20 pm (UTC)And people don't seem to realize that that's judgmental, but it is.