on organized religionbabydoshMarch 31 2007, 20:19:05 UTC
Ah, the age old struggle with religion. I wrote an entry about my thoughts a while ago in a different journal, but here's a condensed version:
Maybe it's just me, I don't understand the idea of believing what somebody else believes. I understand the idea of having a sense of belonging and maybe that's what religion gives to people. It gives them a sense of belonging to something greater than themselves. And maybe that's what makes it appealing. Knowing that something is out there taking care of us and watching over us to make sure our lives go well. Often times I'm asked why I don't eat meat even though I don't believe in my religion. It's a sense of belonging. Religion is the one thing that my entire family has in common. We're not all feminists, or cooks or doctors, but we all don't eat meat. And if that's the only thing I can share with them (of course there are others) then I'm willing to do it. I guess that essentially gives me the feeling of religion without the orthodoxy that commonly goes with it. The thing that really gets me though is when we start fighting over religions. I'll admit almost every religion has to have been a part of the fight in one form or another. Every time you go out and preach your religion, you're claiming it as superior. When did religions become superior over each other? I thought they were all about an individual connection to the "supreme being?" When did we go from the connection being less important than the way in which we connect? I guess the more important question here would be why did we do that? These aren't questions I can answer and so I should stop asking them, but seriously. I guess my religious beliefs are more a matter of convenience. It's easier to think that all my imperfections are supposed to be there than think that these imperfections will land me in hell. Or maybe I'm right on. This is where I wish I had grown up loving religion. So that I'd have a strong sense/belief in what happens to me after this existence. Who knows?
Maybe it's just me, I don't understand the idea of believing what somebody else believes. I understand the idea of having a sense of belonging and maybe that's what religion gives to people. It gives them a sense of belonging to something greater than themselves. And maybe that's what makes it appealing. Knowing that something is out there taking care of us and watching over us to make sure our lives go well.
Often times I'm asked why I don't eat meat even though I don't believe in my religion. It's a sense of belonging. Religion is the one thing that my entire family has in common. We're not all feminists, or cooks or doctors, but we all don't eat meat. And if that's the only thing I can share with them (of course there are others) then I'm willing to do it. I guess that essentially gives me the feeling of religion without the orthodoxy that commonly goes with it.
The thing that really gets me though is when we start fighting over religions. I'll admit almost every religion has to have been a part of the fight in one form or another. Every time you go out and preach your religion, you're claiming it as superior. When did religions become superior over each other? I thought they were all about an individual connection to the "supreme being?" When did we go from the connection being less important than the way in which we connect? I guess the more important question here would be why did we do that? These aren't questions I can answer and so I should stop asking them, but seriously.
I guess my religious beliefs are more a matter of convenience. It's easier to think that all my imperfections are supposed to be there than think that these imperfections will land me in hell. Or maybe I'm right on. This is where I wish I had grown up loving religion. So that I'd have a strong sense/belief in what happens to me after this existence. Who knows?
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