**It is my intention to make as many people as possible uneasy, if not offended, by this writing**
Despite what many/most may believe, I do hold a faith, as warped though it maybe. I busted my sides when a friend stated, “God created man. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor,” but I still accept the necessity of a higher actor at work. Let’s be honest, there’s a little egocentrism involved to think we’re it…I mean we’re kind of a meager it. I do admire the gravitas atheism places/heaves on the present and on humanity. If man is alone in the mire for a short number of decades before oblivion, his inner-will is forced to imprint a difference in hopes others’ memories will curb the black. In this respect, the frailty (not just thy name is woman) and temporality of man found in atheism is incomparably beautiful. We have before emptiness and emptiness after, and what’s called conscientious in the narrow mid.
However, I steadfastly disagree a cease in all existence is particularly essential to drive the betterment of now. The breath of the universe began with a bang or an ooze or words spoken or something else really big and impressive. We’ve grown to acknowledge the unfathomable vastness of the vacuumed pitch and the numbered rocks peppering its insides. But Where is the zero? Everything cannot come from nothing except through something. It’s this popular lack of agreeing on a start which partly withholds me from atheism.
I apologize for what follows, but atheism is in some ways a comp out. Only believing in the present leaves you exempt from endless questions. If God cannot be in the company of sin (refer to Genesis), will we still have free will in heaven or will we be worshiping drones? If God is omniscient, what is the need for prayer? If the Almighty is omnipresent, she is in all things and in all people, why is there a need to accept him into your body and into your life? She was already there. If the soul has a physical presence, when does it develop in the body? If God knows all, would she place a soul in a fetus that will be aborted? We have the ability now, with the help of electrodes, to erase memories and restart a human being. What does the soul remember and is the slate washed clean? Take one line out of a flowery Gospel, “No one comes to the Father, but by me,” and the entire faith changes (even the verse has a few different interpretations). Christianity began as a hippie sect of Judaism. Then Paul, in his infinite wisdom changed everything (it’s important to mention he rarely quotes Christ directly). Jesus mentions another who will help the apostles on their way. I thought it may unfortunately be Paul, Trinity enthusiasts know it to be the Holy Spirit (first established 325 AD), and Muslims make a decent argument for it being Muhammad. If God created all things in Heaven and Earth and nothing known now was known before, then all righteous emotions were conceived by God and of God. Love is the greatest of feelings and Love is God. Magnificent men, the likes of Gandhi were soaked with Pure Adoration and therefore, with God. Does Heaven escape such Godly men? Come on! You know these are questions juicy for thought and debate. Believing only the black, leaves out this incredible inquiry.
Here’s another and it’s good. Laws written in The Bible (mostly Old Testament) and the Quran for man were primarily enacted to protect men from what they could not control, and in their ignorance would lead to dangerous consequences, if they pursued them. Shellfish was banned because the lack of proper preparation could kill an individual. Over thousands of years humanity developed a pinnacle of evolution, which is the practice of boiling a crab or a scallop. And eureka! Gentiles are allowed to host oyster boils and roasts (saltine and a dash of tobasco by the way). Kosher is just another word that falls to the swine’s waist side. Same, but drastically different, is dirty, nasty, unholy love between a man and another man. Sodom and Gomorrah flipped fleshed for salt (non-iodized no less), and it is lumped with winks to a horse and indulging on altar wine. The question isn’t if it was a sin, but rather why? At the time culture restricted debate on the exercise’s ethical legitimacy and natural occurrence to the extent it would only arise in the most promiscuous and unbothered by disgusted faces. It is important to mention not all cultures viewed homosexuality the same as the Hebrews, Muslims, and Paulians. The Roman Army encouraged the act, believing it formed a better bond between the men (haha Pun). Up until Constantine and the indoctrinating of Christianity it worked pretty well.
Man’s mind has expanded his planes of philosophy and science. Years of research and experience and discussion has allowed realms of society. once seen as terrifying and evil, to be accepted and integrated into the people, allowing other troublemakers a caste in their place. Inter-racial marriages are at least tolerated (despite the idea of not mixing livestock breed Levi 19:19), a person hearing voices is more likely to be diagnosed as ill then possessed, if necessary, work is okay on the Sabbath, selling your daughter is in bad taste, along with being illegal, and it’s prudent to treat men and women as equal. The “word” of God is not wrong; it should just be taken in context. The Hebrew man was at the most a child in philosophical and scientific development/expansion. Man was naïve and needed barriers to protect him from what he hadn’t the tools to comprehend. A humanity that is not willing to progress positively will collapse. We are still scared, learning creatures. HIV was originally deemed GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) and harked by radical, religious leaders as punishment from God for “evil” acts… Then science, incredibly low rates in lesbians, and that lousy Ryan White guy had to go spoil the party.
Western society is experiencing a transition. We’re beginning to differentiate between homosexuality and the flamboyance and promiscuity which can tag along, and are also acquiring the intelligence to permit one and prohibit the other. As an act is slowly accepted by society, drastic outbursts of defiance dwindle, and those new citizens are considered partly “normal.” To love another for the sake of loving the other, no matter the sex, is simple and void of evil. The action is no longer viewed as only conducted by goat flirters, Sabbath drunks, and other naughty things. We take the courageous step to decipher the unknown, and over time we move less timid. Science and schools of thought crawl at a faster step than man’s rationale, and laps religious corrections (the Catholic Church is a timeless example). Having a faith grants one the privilege of continually debating the logic of humanity and spiritual ideas.
Humans are a product of their environment. To argue otherwise overlooks all of man’s animalistic tendencies. The beliefs in spirituality one has are morphed the same as those dealing with politics, family, morality, etc. We choose theories and mindsets based on our predisposed opinions. You have a paranoia towards group think and comfort in the individual, you make a scurried snatch for political conservative dogma. You find splendor in communal sharing with everyone on an equal stand and feel big business is profit geared and faceless, you adopt liberal mantras. Normal people aren’t complicated, though they can be difficult. Faith has more variety. There’s a flavor or scoop combination for everyone. You can manipulate, cherry pick, over-emphasize bits of The Bible, Quran, Torah, Bhagavad Gita, once again etc. to justify your secular beliefs and feel comfortable on both steps of existence.
Early Christians were a group of the small exception. Knowing Christ meant a shedding of all wealth and earthly materials for fear of the many sermons against the rich (I see your Job and raise you a camel and a needle). Their new cherishing of God overcame every past belief and purged their minds ‘til they were as near to him as he would allow. They formed communities unreserved about their new “cult’s” teachings; unafraid and even joyful of persecution (refer to Perpetua of North Africa). If anyone could ever be listed as ideal Christians, these communist do-gooders were it. Yet we ignore their victory in faith because it’s not practical in today’s world or is too much of a sacrifice. Our life before believing is too ingrained for us to yank it. The subtle balancing act between the Gospels and daily life most followers perform is quite fascinating.
Love is the greatest of emotions/actions and most holy (as previously stated). Every faith is based around this fact. Now some use it to guilt man to obey God with prayers and sacrifices and a slight sense of fear. Others empower individuals on their own path toward enlightenment with love as the guide. Not unique in any way, I have worn tired and brittle over six years trying to pin one religion as solid and correct. Unfortunately, scoop flavors are too many. Sects are more plenty than the religions themselves. And within one church you can unveil several interpretations (King James, New King James, RSV, NRSV, New Living, New International, English Standard, America Revised, New American Revised, Webster, and the list goes on, with a choice of Apocrypha or no Apocrypha). When you’re splitting hairs, simple differences in translations can matter (something enviable from the Quran is its one language policy for a millennium and a half). As time slides the new changes, man changes, and the beliefs in sects are re-interpreted.
What I do have are ideas on what is Truth in Love. Throughout his teachings Christ preached vulnerable, unarmed, immovable love for the darkest of enemies, the poor, and in effect, relentless prayer for the souls of the wealthy and the wicked. I am usually a dedicated cynic of the term “altruistic acts,” as sacrificing time, money, labor, and a bit of your body fondles your pride and pops a speck of warm glow fuzzies. However, descending to the decrepit floor of man, spending your public life speaking adoration, allowing yourself to be persecuted by those you preach to, sacrificing your life for others, loving those that tortured you, stoned, pierced through bone and hung on a cross, and with your last breath you asking God to forgive them... It is also said he spent three days in Hell, where time is irrelevant, for our sins and rose again clean. I walk the string of heresy, but forget the idea of a Virgin Mary(word for virgin can also be translated as young girl), forget the two daddy drama, even forget his tricks with levitation, booze, fish, the lame, and rousing a dead guy…at least for a moment. It is his words, his teachings, his tender treatment of the most meek which makes him fully man and fully God.
I define myself a Christian because I believe Christ is the greatest in Love, the greatest in holy. Perhaps the real origin of the line about, “No one comes to the Father.” I use his strength in the Gospels when treading in any book after or before and am not afraid to discredit verses/chapters for the necessity of early law and the fallibility of man in his writing and Bible canonization. Love is my foundation, and Christ is my best model. I accept the validity of Judaism, Islam, and Eastern faiths in their own quests. However, the two other links with Abraham place man in a pit of sub-servitude, and the Asian stemmed religions are more impersonal and non-committal.
I have had more hard line Christians press me to change my free wailing position to something a little more uniformed and codified, but with less pizzazz (could of used "flamboyance"). If I yield to lines of religion, I violate the innocence of God/Love/Christ. And from an objective perspective, Christianity will have the appeal of all others. My philosophy is convoluted and belief structure intricately confusing as I drink, smoke, curse, and hold a covet or two, but I feel my logic is sound. Live that self-sacrificing kind of now to where your cares and actions are for the well-being of others and not on temporary comforts of the soul, while always remembering if you lose an understanding of self to the torments of the world, you can do nothing to heal them and glorify the holy. The Kingdom of God is here and the privilege of man is to make it so.
I was told by a friend that I write to empty thoughts from my head and this is true. Faith is the biggest part of a person’s life and a brief summary of mine is here. I end this realizing a thick uneasiness wakes when you place spiritual belief in something as concrete as text. Eh, forget it all, let me start another 6years.
Solvent
Pretty please refer back to my Disclaimer, because I think this one can be entertaining, if you let it. My BFF of Peace Corps Uganda and currently second only to Jeremy, stated he wished someone would write a piece on the redundancy of “Oh it’s part of their culture” as an excuse. Here’s an attempt. The phrase is a whitewash, cure all, killing curiosity, intrigue, and debate on the rationale for dirt floors, not keeping time, corruption, never ending tea times, sub-servitude of women, bride price, whipping children, massive families without the resources to feed them, polygamy, continued use of witch doctors, and vigilant homophobia. Once, “Oh it’s part of their/our culture” is used everything halts, as the “C word” echoes down your side canals. It’s a dirty, nasty move to slide the line diplomatically in the dialogue. To continue with your argument you have to either find a way to evade the issue, utilizing sentences with words like “respect” and “understanding.” Or, or you say the hell with it and push through placing culture on the antagonist’s field and risk showing your Anglo-Saxon, elitist, xenophobic tendencies. Now, I’ve quickly grown tired of option A and have embraced my Western, ethnocentric, superiority (sarcasm) plunging my liberal, hippie head first into the mire. One more “cultural policy” is the acceptance of beating your wife or wives. Some women go so far as to feel their husbands don’t love them, if they don’t beat them regularly. The lesser known Love Side of domestic violence. European and American governments have a horrendous ethics record when dealing with Africa. France stubbornly held on to Algeria, seeding violence for years. Belgium used the Congo as a playground. Britain and yes, America propped up a list of ruthless dictators. All of them dragged their feet in Rwanda. In total, Western institutions killed or exploited 1,000s of natives, spilling into the millions. The one redeeming bit of the West is the citizenry. Since the 80s guilt ridden warm glow jonesing do-gooders have been trying to save the distended bellies of fly eyed African children. Now very unsuccessfully and possibly seething the situations, but still trying none the less. Stay with me now, it’s just getting interesting. The developing world has demanded from the West, and rightfully so, financial investment or just lumps of cash, political and business structures or shadow replicas, medical aid without corresponding education on the economic side effects, shallow aspects like clothing, and any fathomable types of infrastructural advancements. But when it comes to growth that makes elders of long held cultural beliefs feel queasy, the brakes are pounded. As a bleeding heart, leftist praising, liberal, I’m all about “to each their own” when we’re talking about countries. If you want to cane people for spitting on the streets go for it…I’ll just remember not to fly there for stag nights, but whatever you want. Bolivia and Venezuela, you go with your socialist leaders. Chavez has a sexy, Hispanic Dom DeLuise thing going on, and Evo Morales is doing great with the indigenous population. Personally, I think Libya needs to start the procedures to clone Gaddafi. We can’t let that sense of style wither away. However, if we’re going to speak of the world as one great community with different actors, dog catchers, and neighborhood watch groups, we have to agree that there are certain rules to protect the population and ideals to motivate. Sociology produces what are called Universal Truths, Values, and even [Human] Rights. These are instruments vital to soaking through centuries of tradition and cracking the idea of, “Oh, it’s part of their culture.” It doesn’t matter which people you subscribe yourself with, women are equal citizens, so don’t beat them or think they’re a possession because you paid a bride price. Children deserve some level of stability for 18years, so don’t marry 3 women and have 30 kids, especially if you can’t support them. Governments should be accountable to their people, who should throw out corruption. Someone else’s time is just as valuable as yours, so don’t be two hours late…it's just rude. Witch doctors rarely work, and when they do it’s an herbal remedy for a simple illness. Ask a M.D. for a second opinion before you sleep with (rape) a virgin to cure your HIV. Oh, and just because someone does something with a consenting adult behind closed doors that you don’t understand, doesn’t give you the opportunity to beat them in the streets without legal consequence. A man who goes to a malaya (prostitute) and brings disease back to his wife and future children should appall you more than homosexuality. There is validity in using culture to change culture, but let’s not fool ourselves here. Truths in humanity are higher than what man conjures up in reaction to his environment. Now I’m sorry if you think I’ve begun to rant about the frailty of order and beliefs. I blame it on my culture.
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