(no subject)
I don't know what it is today. Perhaps I'm over thinking and opinionating too much, it feels like more something I just need to express and get out of my system.
Anyways my thoughts and attitudes towards Christianity are constantly evolving, it seems. If I had my own personal way I'd perhaps set it aside and think of it not at all, but with a son on the way and the overwhelming majority of his family being Christian I cannot avoid it. I do not wish to force my beliefs on my son, but neither do I wish for his family to do so either and I'm afraid they will.
I think my biggest problem with Christianity is that it's so far warped from what seems to be the original teachings of Christ. Instead, it's followers have turned it into more of a manipulative political system in regards to belief, where one is expected to conform rather than to find spiritual truth or true salvation. Salvation instead is a reward for supporting the political system that is Christianity.
Instead of teaching love, compassion,and first and foremost humility one is instead taught the Bible and told to take it word for word as absolute, or else face the dire consequences, much the same as laws. It's been changed over and over again as well to match the politics of whomever was doing the translating, King James version being case and point. Sure, you can find the heart of the original teachings in there but they become warped and stunted by the rest of the Bible and taking that literally as fact instead of trying to find the moral lesson conveyed therein.
I don't have a problem with Jesus and his teachings. I have a problem with what his followers inevitably did with it and turned them into.
I wonder if there's any way to share that with Norm and his family. I don't mind my son being exposed to the teachings of Christ himself, the heart of what he said. What Christ taught is the same as the moral practices I try to strive for in my pursuit of virtue. It's the Bible and the idea that you must do this, must do that that bugs me. Religion and spirituality are personal journeys, one man should never state what a person's beliefs are to be but instead encourage him to find spiritual truth for himself.
However I am aware that if I constantly expect my son's family to indoctrinate him and react accordingly, they invariably will in reaction to my actively preventing them from doing so. I suppose that I must have a measure of faith that everything will work out the way it is supposed to and let it go. It would be better for my son, anyways, in the long run if I didn't subject him to religious conflict by fighting with the rest of his family over his beliefs. I don't do it in my marriage and we co-exist seperate beliefs and all just fine. I don't know why I'm more anxious about my child. Maybe I'm hoping a little too hard to share some measure of myself beyond DNA.
Anyways my thoughts and attitudes towards Christianity are constantly evolving, it seems. If I had my own personal way I'd perhaps set it aside and think of it not at all, but with a son on the way and the overwhelming majority of his family being Christian I cannot avoid it. I do not wish to force my beliefs on my son, but neither do I wish for his family to do so either and I'm afraid they will.
I think my biggest problem with Christianity is that it's so far warped from what seems to be the original teachings of Christ. Instead, it's followers have turned it into more of a manipulative political system in regards to belief, where one is expected to conform rather than to find spiritual truth or true salvation. Salvation instead is a reward for supporting the political system that is Christianity.
Instead of teaching love, compassion,and first and foremost humility one is instead taught the Bible and told to take it word for word as absolute, or else face the dire consequences, much the same as laws. It's been changed over and over again as well to match the politics of whomever was doing the translating, King James version being case and point. Sure, you can find the heart of the original teachings in there but they become warped and stunted by the rest of the Bible and taking that literally as fact instead of trying to find the moral lesson conveyed therein.
I don't have a problem with Jesus and his teachings. I have a problem with what his followers inevitably did with it and turned them into.
I wonder if there's any way to share that with Norm and his family. I don't mind my son being exposed to the teachings of Christ himself, the heart of what he said. What Christ taught is the same as the moral practices I try to strive for in my pursuit of virtue. It's the Bible and the idea that you must do this, must do that that bugs me. Religion and spirituality are personal journeys, one man should never state what a person's beliefs are to be but instead encourage him to find spiritual truth for himself.
However I am aware that if I constantly expect my son's family to indoctrinate him and react accordingly, they invariably will in reaction to my actively preventing them from doing so. I suppose that I must have a measure of faith that everything will work out the way it is supposed to and let it go. It would be better for my son, anyways, in the long run if I didn't subject him to religious conflict by fighting with the rest of his family over his beliefs. I don't do it in my marriage and we co-exist seperate beliefs and all just fine. I don't know why I'm more anxious about my child. Maybe I'm hoping a little too hard to share some measure of myself beyond DNA.