A growing personal reality...
It's not hard to see or hear that I have been a bit biased against, and angry at, Christians, Christianity, major religions, the Bible, and most importantly Catholicism.
I was put in my place in the past few days by someone I love dearly and someone I haven't really spoken to in a few years.
It got me to thinking : "Why am I so angry at religion?"
I have always thought, though maybe not always spoken, that at their very core, all religions worth their weight say the exact same two things : Love and Respect.
You can build and expand through examples, teachings, rituals, books, preachers, etc., but when it really comes down to the deep inner meaning of all of them, it's Love and Respect.
So why am I angry? I feel betrayed by a group whose core message is Love and Respect, and yet all I've felt is outcast and heathen.
I don't feel animosity to Christianity or any religion, in and of itself. It's the members of the congregations that harbor emotions so contradictory to those tenants of Love and Respect.
I am quick to defend my position by deeming anyone who doesn't agree with me and 'idiot'. I know that's wrong and probably just as bad as those people I'm angry at. It's difficult for me to separate myself from my passion when it comes to something as important to me as my federal and civil rights.
I can understand, after taking a breath, that some people are just made uncomfortable with how they view gay people. Hell, there's a lot of gay stereotype (that does come to reality) that makes me really uncomfortable too. What I don't get is why that means we have to put the cause of the uncomfortableness in a corner and kick it like a stray dog everytime someone passes it. What happened to Love and Respect?
I feel like the members of popular organized religion have forgotten those core tenants of their religions, in favor of the expansions. Why is that acceptable? Even the highest ranking official of the Catholic faith has opted for disapproval of a particular brand of human just because a book told him so.
I will try to be less callous and dismissive to others who try to counter my arguments, I will try. It would certainly help if I didn't feel like I was treated like less of a person before the argument even started.
I would like to suggest to any religious out there to encourage those around you to 'get back to the basics'.
Start with Love and Respect.
I was put in my place in the past few days by someone I love dearly and someone I haven't really spoken to in a few years.
It got me to thinking : "Why am I so angry at religion?"
I have always thought, though maybe not always spoken, that at their very core, all religions worth their weight say the exact same two things : Love and Respect.
You can build and expand through examples, teachings, rituals, books, preachers, etc., but when it really comes down to the deep inner meaning of all of them, it's Love and Respect.
So why am I angry? I feel betrayed by a group whose core message is Love and Respect, and yet all I've felt is outcast and heathen.
I don't feel animosity to Christianity or any religion, in and of itself. It's the members of the congregations that harbor emotions so contradictory to those tenants of Love and Respect.
I am quick to defend my position by deeming anyone who doesn't agree with me and 'idiot'. I know that's wrong and probably just as bad as those people I'm angry at. It's difficult for me to separate myself from my passion when it comes to something as important to me as my federal and civil rights.
I can understand, after taking a breath, that some people are just made uncomfortable with how they view gay people. Hell, there's a lot of gay stereotype (that does come to reality) that makes me really uncomfortable too. What I don't get is why that means we have to put the cause of the uncomfortableness in a corner and kick it like a stray dog everytime someone passes it. What happened to Love and Respect?
I feel like the members of popular organized religion have forgotten those core tenants of their religions, in favor of the expansions. Why is that acceptable? Even the highest ranking official of the Catholic faith has opted for disapproval of a particular brand of human just because a book told him so.
I will try to be less callous and dismissive to others who try to counter my arguments, I will try. It would certainly help if I didn't feel like I was treated like less of a person before the argument even started.
I would like to suggest to any religious out there to encourage those around you to 'get back to the basics'.
Start with Love and Respect.