(no subject)
Here's the thing about religion: How do you know? How do you know that me not taking Jesus Christ as my personal savior is going to land me a one-way ticket to the fiery depths of Hell? How do you know that living my life WITH God as opposed to FOR God is such a bad idea? How do you know that God isn't sitting back in his big, comfy reclining chair (because you know he has one) and nodding and smiling to himself because guess what?
He knows. Only he knows. Or she. God knows the truth. Not the Christian God. Not the Muslim God. Not any one specific God. Just God. God knows, and he'll decide for himself (or herself), thank you very much. My belief system is my own, my beliefs are my own and private and I keep them pure, simple, because I don't need complicated things to keep me guessing and questioning. There are already too many questions to answer in my life. I don't want to question the one thing that just is.
So am I a Christian? No, certainly not. I don't identify with a specific religion - too many questions. I see Jesus as one of the men who saved the world once. Whether he was divine, we'll never know, will we? I see Jesus like I see Martin Luther King, Jr. Like I see Janis Joplin. Like I see Gandhi. Like I see Florence Knightengale. Like I see Steven Tyler and Jimmy Hendrix and Bob Marley and Robert Plant. Like I see Dante Alighieri. Like I see any one person who single-handedly changed the world, even just a piece of it, for the better. And that's just me. And I'm allowed that right, and nobody can tell me I'm not.
And I refuse to put any stake into a God who would exclude a good and righteous person from paradise just because they didn't believe in something so insignificant in the universal scheme of things. I won't. I will not let myself believe that that is Heaven, that it's like some exclusive club.
It's not up to anybody to tell me where I'm going when I die. It's not up for me to know. But I can believe, and what I believe is that we're all going to end up in the same place, anyway, just better, and man, won't everybody feel stupid then.
But I won't say, "I told you so." No, don't worry. I'll be too busy playing on the Slip n' Slide with Ulysses S. Grant. You guys are welcomed to play, too.
He knows. Only he knows. Or she. God knows the truth. Not the Christian God. Not the Muslim God. Not any one specific God. Just God. God knows, and he'll decide for himself (or herself), thank you very much. My belief system is my own, my beliefs are my own and private and I keep them pure, simple, because I don't need complicated things to keep me guessing and questioning. There are already too many questions to answer in my life. I don't want to question the one thing that just is.
So am I a Christian? No, certainly not. I don't identify with a specific religion - too many questions. I see Jesus as one of the men who saved the world once. Whether he was divine, we'll never know, will we? I see Jesus like I see Martin Luther King, Jr. Like I see Janis Joplin. Like I see Gandhi. Like I see Florence Knightengale. Like I see Steven Tyler and Jimmy Hendrix and Bob Marley and Robert Plant. Like I see Dante Alighieri. Like I see any one person who single-handedly changed the world, even just a piece of it, for the better. And that's just me. And I'm allowed that right, and nobody can tell me I'm not.
And I refuse to put any stake into a God who would exclude a good and righteous person from paradise just because they didn't believe in something so insignificant in the universal scheme of things. I won't. I will not let myself believe that that is Heaven, that it's like some exclusive club.
It's not up to anybody to tell me where I'm going when I die. It's not up for me to know. But I can believe, and what I believe is that we're all going to end up in the same place, anyway, just better, and man, won't everybody feel stupid then.
But I won't say, "I told you so." No, don't worry. I'll be too busy playing on the Slip n' Slide with Ulysses S. Grant. You guys are welcomed to play, too.