Is religion like a penis?
There's a picture going around on (my extremely leftist) Facebook flist that says, "Religion is like a penis. It's fine to have one. It's fine to be proud of it. But please don't whip it out in public and start waving it around. And PLEASE don't try to shove it down my children's throats."
Having been raised as the daughter of a Jew and a disinterested Lutheran, baptised and taught as a Catholic, I have to tell you that I never had religion shoved down my throat. I was *taught* religion, but that's different. You can't make anyone believe something any more than you can make them love something. I suppose with severe psychological torture you could warp someone bad enough to make a lie of that, but casually teaching a child that the Virgin Mary can intercede on your behalf with Jesus to forgive you for hitting your brother if you pray to her enough? That stuff doesn't really stick much longer than the Easter Bunny. At least, not in me. Perhaps other people are more gullible.
But I appreciate that my leftist friends consent that it's considered "fine" to have a religion. I don't know that I'm PROUD of it, but I do enjoy it. (As, I suspect, do most owners of penises.) The thing I think that my friends don't get is that my religion is all mine. I can't share it with anyone else, because it's custom made for me.
I just read an article by Colin Tipping called "Radical Foregiveness: You Can Let Go of the Hurt Once and For All". Part of it said,
Don't try to understand how a painful event is meant to serve your life. Accept that sometimes we don't get these answers. Allow yourself to be open to the possiblity that what happened did not happen TO you, but FOR you and your personal and spiritual growth. Accept that there might be a plan for your life created by God or the universe - whichever fits into your belief system. If you can't find the blind faith necessary to believe that this hidden plan exists for your life, simply remain open to the possibility that such a plan COULD exist - there's no way to prove that it doesn't. Next, allow yourself to act as though this possiblity is the truth, even if you doubt it. There's a wonderful sense of peace that comes with believing that God or the universe has a plan for us. Let this feeling wash over you. Believing will become easier once you experience it.
This is a good description of how I came to my own religious beliefs. I know they are quite possibly - even quite likely - not true. But since I don't actually KNOW which answer is true, I chose the one that gives me the most comfort, the most guidance, the most tools for stubbing out answers to the big stumping questions that could paralyze me if I couldn't put a pin in them for the time being. Religious belief is a handy mental device. It brings peace and joy.
I'm not sure you can say that about a penis.
Having been raised as the daughter of a Jew and a disinterested Lutheran, baptised and taught as a Catholic, I have to tell you that I never had religion shoved down my throat. I was *taught* religion, but that's different. You can't make anyone believe something any more than you can make them love something. I suppose with severe psychological torture you could warp someone bad enough to make a lie of that, but casually teaching a child that the Virgin Mary can intercede on your behalf with Jesus to forgive you for hitting your brother if you pray to her enough? That stuff doesn't really stick much longer than the Easter Bunny. At least, not in me. Perhaps other people are more gullible.
But I appreciate that my leftist friends consent that it's considered "fine" to have a religion. I don't know that I'm PROUD of it, but I do enjoy it. (As, I suspect, do most owners of penises.) The thing I think that my friends don't get is that my religion is all mine. I can't share it with anyone else, because it's custom made for me.
I just read an article by Colin Tipping called "Radical Foregiveness: You Can Let Go of the Hurt Once and For All". Part of it said,
Don't try to understand how a painful event is meant to serve your life. Accept that sometimes we don't get these answers. Allow yourself to be open to the possiblity that what happened did not happen TO you, but FOR you and your personal and spiritual growth. Accept that there might be a plan for your life created by God or the universe - whichever fits into your belief system. If you can't find the blind faith necessary to believe that this hidden plan exists for your life, simply remain open to the possibility that such a plan COULD exist - there's no way to prove that it doesn't. Next, allow yourself to act as though this possiblity is the truth, even if you doubt it. There's a wonderful sense of peace that comes with believing that God or the universe has a plan for us. Let this feeling wash over you. Believing will become easier once you experience it.
This is a good description of how I came to my own religious beliefs. I know they are quite possibly - even quite likely - not true. But since I don't actually KNOW which answer is true, I chose the one that gives me the most comfort, the most guidance, the most tools for stubbing out answers to the big stumping questions that could paralyze me if I couldn't put a pin in them for the time being. Religious belief is a handy mental device. It brings peace and joy.
I'm not sure you can say that about a penis.