T.O.P. Cat's Pest Strip: Religion and "knowing peace"?
Many of my Facebook friends give Christian "shout-outs", often in conjunction with something good that's happened to them or because they are trying to remain stalwart when life is not going well. These "shout-outs" are, in turn, usually echoed and/or supported by their Christian Facebook friends (and, depending on the sentiment, by non-Christian friends, such as myself).
The thing I'm mystified by, therefore feel a need to address, is this insistence that "knowing" their particular angle on "God" means "knowing peace". The idea of "No God, no peace...Know God, Know peace" is a purely evangelical notion for which I see little or no supporting evidence. I am particularly mystified by my FB friends who insist that they wish they could share with their non-Christian friends (the term "non-Christian" often includes people who consider themselves Christians, just not adherents of a particular Christian sect) on one day while discussing their non-relenting depression and other problems the rest of the week. How is this "peace"? Are they not deluding themselves. Said self-delusion is what eventually led me away from organized religion altogether, though not away from "spirituality" (which, as I define it, is a term having to do with "looking at the bigger picture" where humanity is concerned, thus can include atheists and agnostics).
People "know peace" by hanging out with other human beings of like mind. This works great when people are willing to accept central tenets without looking any further. My big problem with the churches I attended was that I spent a great deal of time studying "scripture" and "authorities" looking for clues as to how to be a better Christian, thus a better person, which lead t questions, which led to people getting upset with me for making them think about things they didn't want to think about, which led to me being "unpeaceful" because I was no longer an accepted member of the group.
People can "know" this kind of "peace" by being a member of any group, as long as it doesn't become contentious and form "splitters" or "factions" - MENSA (though I know some very smart people who joined to feel more secure about themselves and it only made them more insecure and angry), role-playing-games, improvisational theatre - anything.
Unfortunately, members of groups like the KKK and neo-Nazis can also "know" this kind of "peace" and become so assured by their fellows that their tenets are so "right" that they end up murdering doctors, bombing and/or vandalizing churches and killing little girls who haven't lived long enough to do anything to offend anyone else by anything other than their mere existence. So "knowing" that kind of "peace" is not always a good or "right" thing.
I "connect with" God/The Divine/nature via my deist/pagan practices and beliefs and I "know peace" working on a play or film project that I love with people I feel comfortable with, people who "know" the same "joy" and "peace". That "peace" isn't there when I am working on a miserable project with people with whom I am at odds (which is extremely rare), just as I "know" no "peace" when I'm at church. I don't feel the need to analyze the nature of art/theatre/whatever (which usually doesn't happen unless you're working with someone like Jasson Minadakis - which immediately makes me feel like an outsider because then I try too hard to "be profound and insightful" like everyone else and end up sounding like a fool), I don't intellectualize acting, I just do it for the love of it. I am often very intellectual about the *material*, the script, the subject matter, but not the experience of theatre - it's a spiritual experience, thus indefinable.
Being at church is, at best, boring and meaningless for me and, at worst, deeply disturbing because I've explored that avenue to spirituality and it does nothing for me. I have no problem with it being profoundly uplifting for other people. I have a dear friend who regularly attends different churches. Though he is gay he even attends conservative evangelical services where they speak against gay people - somehow he is able to ignore the negativity, let it roll away like water off a duck, and get something wonderful out of it. I don't understand that but I certainly accept it. What I don't understand is why people can't accept whatever makes them feel "peace" (assuming they're not self-deluded) is not transferable or that other people *cannot* be happy without their version of religion, or that if everyone just hears how HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY! and AT PEACE! they are, we'll all "know peace".
Well, yes I do understand it - it comes from not questioning the core tenets of their own faith and not really respecting other people. It comes from the feeling of belonging to the special, "secret knowing" club. Which is just fine as long as your being "at peace" doesn't mean you're not out making other people miserable on its behalf.
Humanity as a whole will never "know peace" until we all really accept and live "The Golden Rule" espoused by almost every human religion/philosophy, as opposed to the KKK, neo-and-classic Nazism, the John Birch Society and every other "us against them" philosophy. In other words: we all need to leave each other to our own definitions of "knowing peace" and simply focus on trying to be decent to one another.
The thing I'm mystified by, therefore feel a need to address, is this insistence that "knowing" their particular angle on "God" means "knowing peace". The idea of "No God, no peace...Know God, Know peace" is a purely evangelical notion for which I see little or no supporting evidence. I am particularly mystified by my FB friends who insist that they wish they could share with their non-Christian friends (the term "non-Christian" often includes people who consider themselves Christians, just not adherents of a particular Christian sect) on one day while discussing their non-relenting depression and other problems the rest of the week. How is this "peace"? Are they not deluding themselves. Said self-delusion is what eventually led me away from organized religion altogether, though not away from "spirituality" (which, as I define it, is a term having to do with "looking at the bigger picture" where humanity is concerned, thus can include atheists and agnostics).
People "know peace" by hanging out with other human beings of like mind. This works great when people are willing to accept central tenets without looking any further. My big problem with the churches I attended was that I spent a great deal of time studying "scripture" and "authorities" looking for clues as to how to be a better Christian, thus a better person, which lead t questions, which led to people getting upset with me for making them think about things they didn't want to think about, which led to me being "unpeaceful" because I was no longer an accepted member of the group.
People can "know" this kind of "peace" by being a member of any group, as long as it doesn't become contentious and form "splitters" or "factions" - MENSA (though I know some very smart people who joined to feel more secure about themselves and it only made them more insecure and angry), role-playing-games, improvisational theatre - anything.
Unfortunately, members of groups like the KKK and neo-Nazis can also "know" this kind of "peace" and become so assured by their fellows that their tenets are so "right" that they end up murdering doctors, bombing and/or vandalizing churches and killing little girls who haven't lived long enough to do anything to offend anyone else by anything other than their mere existence. So "knowing" that kind of "peace" is not always a good or "right" thing.
I "connect with" God/The Divine/nature via my deist/pagan practices and beliefs and I "know peace" working on a play or film project that I love with people I feel comfortable with, people who "know" the same "joy" and "peace". That "peace" isn't there when I am working on a miserable project with people with whom I am at odds (which is extremely rare), just as I "know" no "peace" when I'm at church. I don't feel the need to analyze the nature of art/theatre/whatever (which usually doesn't happen unless you're working with someone like Jasson Minadakis - which immediately makes me feel like an outsider because then I try too hard to "be profound and insightful" like everyone else and end up sounding like a fool), I don't intellectualize acting, I just do it for the love of it. I am often very intellectual about the *material*, the script, the subject matter, but not the experience of theatre - it's a spiritual experience, thus indefinable.
Being at church is, at best, boring and meaningless for me and, at worst, deeply disturbing because I've explored that avenue to spirituality and it does nothing for me. I have no problem with it being profoundly uplifting for other people. I have a dear friend who regularly attends different churches. Though he is gay he even attends conservative evangelical services where they speak against gay people - somehow he is able to ignore the negativity, let it roll away like water off a duck, and get something wonderful out of it. I don't understand that but I certainly accept it. What I don't understand is why people can't accept whatever makes them feel "peace" (assuming they're not self-deluded) is not transferable or that other people *cannot* be happy without their version of religion, or that if everyone just hears how HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY! and AT PEACE! they are, we'll all "know peace".
Well, yes I do understand it - it comes from not questioning the core tenets of their own faith and not really respecting other people. It comes from the feeling of belonging to the special, "secret knowing" club. Which is just fine as long as your being "at peace" doesn't mean you're not out making other people miserable on its behalf.
Humanity as a whole will never "know peace" until we all really accept and live "The Golden Rule" espoused by almost every human religion/philosophy, as opposed to the KKK, neo-and-classic Nazism, the John Birch Society and every other "us against them" philosophy. In other words: we all need to leave each other to our own definitions of "knowing peace" and simply focus on trying to be decent to one another.