Feelings on Religion . . . Chistianity, specifically.
. . . andmyspacebarkeyis sticking again. *snorts*
*reads last line* Damn it.
Anyway . . . I've grown up Christian, Lutheran, actually. Never had much problem with it as a kid: everybody loves God, right? Now, not so much. Okay, maybe now the title's misleading, 'cause this is about to turn into a list. I'm not going to apologise for it . . . I just need to get it out there. Essentially - why I don't agree with Christianity any more. I haven't for a while.
01. I do not believe there is a One True Religion.
02. I do not believe in bashing another religion or ethnic group as part of one's religion. (Really, what's wrong with Phillistines? Or Gentiles? Or witches?)
03. I do not believe there can be just one god, or one with just three aspects . . . or just male deity alone. It takes two.
04. I completely disagree and ABHOR the New Testament's position against gays.
05. On that same note, Ialso dislike the idea that women shouldn't dress up and try to look pretty, because to do so is amoral.
06. I really, really don't like a lot of the Christians . . . Some of them, a lot of them, a nice people. But I don't like the closed-mindedness.
07. The Pity-me attitude. Oh, that got me in trouble SO much in Sunday School and Confirmation classes . . . 'But, Pastor, nobody is ever mean to me because I'm a Christian, and I don't know anyone that hides that they love Jesus. Besides, aren't we a majority in most Western countries?' HINT: that sort of talk goes over BADLY. I don't like it. I can hardly stand it.
08. The constant, ever-lovin' eternal need to CONVERT every other person on the planet - even away from denomination of Christianity they're following! This grates on me. I have a great aunt that told my Aunt Tammy she had to stop dating my Uncle Ron because he 'wasn't a real Christian' - why? Because he's Catholic. Insert eyeroll here. Now. And some sense in my great aunt's brain . . . Hey - you're Chistian, he's Christian, and Big Joe and his boyfried Bobby down the block are too! Get over it! Hey, the Patels aren't, but they're perfectly happy as Hindus. The Smiths enjoy following the god and goddess in Wicca. The Rosenburgs are fiercely proud of their Jewish heritage. The Raukis family? They like being Atheist, because hey, science is proven, and they are happier with that than the fluidity of theology. And you know what? NONE OF THEM NEED OR WANT TO CHANGE THAT. They'll find Christianity if they want to: it's not that flipping hard to learn about.
09. The bashing of birth control and abortion in the Church today seriously pisses me off. I'm pro-birth control, and pro-choice. WHy? Because a woman is the one that gives birth, that carries a kid for nine freaking months, and if she doesn't want to do that, it is HER body, and HER choice. I personally could never go through with an abortion, myself: I couldn't live with myself if I had one. But at the same time . . . what if a woman is pregnant because of rape? Or having an abusive partner's baby? Or having the kid will literally kill her? Or, what if she knows she won't be able to handle being a mother, and doesn't want to subject a child to foster care? I'm all for the sanctity of life . . . but there's a choice in there, one that people need to respect. Abortion's happened since humanity bgan. If it's made illegal, that'll just lead to people taking desperate measures, and why should we EVER deal with that when we can have it done SAFELY?
10. I disagree with the male-dominated role in most denominations of Christianity. Men and women believe in Christ. They should be equally able to lead others in their faith.
11. I do not believe that a person has only one shot at life: there are too many lessons to be learned, to many experiences to be shared, for someone to only have one chance to be a good person.
12. I do not believe in eternal punishment.
13. I do not believe in eternal salvation. What deems a person 'good enough'?
14. I do not believe that a child, completely innocent and unmarked by the world, should be damned because they weren't beptised.
15. I do not believe that someone feeling so terrible, so alone and unhappy that they commit suicide to just make it all STOP should be damned. Life was bad enough for them: why are they punished for it for all time afterward? Or at ALL?
I can list more. But frankly, I don't WANT to. I don't agree with Christianity, and I haven't since . . . very shortly AFTER I was Confirmed. *snorts* That's another one. How can a twelve-year-old know what they want to believe for the rest of their life? Especially when they are sent to classes once a week every week at least where they are made to feel like questioning anything outside one faith is terrible? They CAN'T. Hey, maybe a twelve year old is perfectly capable of deciding what they believe, and what they will always believe. But it is sure a lot harder when they don't feel safe questioning their beliefs to find answers that they feel safe with.
As for religion in general? I think it's a great thing. It gives people hope, a feeling of safety. Organised or not, officially recognised by the local government or not, faith is faith, and whether you have it or not is your business. Personally, I could care less who you worship, so long as you don't force other people to do the same. THAT I hate.
- Erika.
*reads last line* Damn it.
Anyway . . . I've grown up Christian, Lutheran, actually. Never had much problem with it as a kid: everybody loves God, right? Now, not so much. Okay, maybe now the title's misleading, 'cause this is about to turn into a list. I'm not going to apologise for it . . . I just need to get it out there. Essentially - why I don't agree with Christianity any more. I haven't for a while.
01. I do not believe there is a One True Religion.
02. I do not believe in bashing another religion or ethnic group as part of one's religion. (Really, what's wrong with Phillistines? Or Gentiles? Or witches?)
03. I do not believe there can be just one god, or one with just three aspects . . . or just male deity alone. It takes two.
04. I completely disagree and ABHOR the New Testament's position against gays.
05. On that same note, Ialso dislike the idea that women shouldn't dress up and try to look pretty, because to do so is amoral.
06. I really, really don't like a lot of the Christians . . . Some of them, a lot of them, a nice people. But I don't like the closed-mindedness.
07. The Pity-me attitude. Oh, that got me in trouble SO much in Sunday School and Confirmation classes . . . 'But, Pastor, nobody is ever mean to me because I'm a Christian, and I don't know anyone that hides that they love Jesus. Besides, aren't we a majority in most Western countries?' HINT: that sort of talk goes over BADLY. I don't like it. I can hardly stand it.
08. The constant, ever-lovin' eternal need to CONVERT every other person on the planet - even away from denomination of Christianity they're following! This grates on me. I have a great aunt that told my Aunt Tammy she had to stop dating my Uncle Ron because he 'wasn't a real Christian' - why? Because he's Catholic. Insert eyeroll here. Now. And some sense in my great aunt's brain . . . Hey - you're Chistian, he's Christian, and Big Joe and his boyfried Bobby down the block are too! Get over it! Hey, the Patels aren't, but they're perfectly happy as Hindus. The Smiths enjoy following the god and goddess in Wicca. The Rosenburgs are fiercely proud of their Jewish heritage. The Raukis family? They like being Atheist, because hey, science is proven, and they are happier with that than the fluidity of theology. And you know what? NONE OF THEM NEED OR WANT TO CHANGE THAT. They'll find Christianity if they want to: it's not that flipping hard to learn about.
09. The bashing of birth control and abortion in the Church today seriously pisses me off. I'm pro-birth control, and pro-choice. WHy? Because a woman is the one that gives birth, that carries a kid for nine freaking months, and if she doesn't want to do that, it is HER body, and HER choice. I personally could never go through with an abortion, myself: I couldn't live with myself if I had one. But at the same time . . . what if a woman is pregnant because of rape? Or having an abusive partner's baby? Or having the kid will literally kill her? Or, what if she knows she won't be able to handle being a mother, and doesn't want to subject a child to foster care? I'm all for the sanctity of life . . . but there's a choice in there, one that people need to respect. Abortion's happened since humanity bgan. If it's made illegal, that'll just lead to people taking desperate measures, and why should we EVER deal with that when we can have it done SAFELY?
10. I disagree with the male-dominated role in most denominations of Christianity. Men and women believe in Christ. They should be equally able to lead others in their faith.
11. I do not believe that a person has only one shot at life: there are too many lessons to be learned, to many experiences to be shared, for someone to only have one chance to be a good person.
12. I do not believe in eternal punishment.
13. I do not believe in eternal salvation. What deems a person 'good enough'?
14. I do not believe that a child, completely innocent and unmarked by the world, should be damned because they weren't beptised.
15. I do not believe that someone feeling so terrible, so alone and unhappy that they commit suicide to just make it all STOP should be damned. Life was bad enough for them: why are they punished for it for all time afterward? Or at ALL?
I can list more. But frankly, I don't WANT to. I don't agree with Christianity, and I haven't since . . . very shortly AFTER I was Confirmed. *snorts* That's another one. How can a twelve-year-old know what they want to believe for the rest of their life? Especially when they are sent to classes once a week every week at least where they are made to feel like questioning anything outside one faith is terrible? They CAN'T. Hey, maybe a twelve year old is perfectly capable of deciding what they believe, and what they will always believe. But it is sure a lot harder when they don't feel safe questioning their beliefs to find answers that they feel safe with.
As for religion in general? I think it's a great thing. It gives people hope, a feeling of safety. Organised or not, officially recognised by the local government or not, faith is faith, and whether you have it or not is your business. Personally, I could care less who you worship, so long as you don't force other people to do the same. THAT I hate.
- Erika.