X Marks the God

My last 2 posts have been about religion so I might as well throw out what I think about the whole Man in the Sky. I take religion like Boy Toy takes politics, a little from here, a little from there, until I have something that works for me.

My dad dragged me to church when I was young but I never understood why. I never grasped why this was important and he didn’t do the best job of explaining it. To him, I think I was just supposed to get it. My mom was never especially religious but was bothered to hear that I don’t consider myself Christian.

I am spiritual but not religious. I think most religions have a grain of truth and something worthwhile to contribute but I don’t believe any of them has it 100% right.

I always gravitated toward was the Wiccan/Pagan tradition. It predates Christianity by thousands of years and was so common that early Christians borrowed some of their rituals to garner favor for their new religion. From what I’ve seen, they’re far more accepting than Christians and the idea of respecting the house you’re in (the Earth) is a good one.

Part of me suspects the boss God and angels working in the field (the Earth) isn’t total bupkis either. With a universe as vast and beautiful as ours, it’s hard to believe that we’re the only Sims the boss deity has in the game. Like any parent, God has other things to do than stare at us all day.

Certain aspects of Eastern religions also intrigue me. I read the Tao Te Ching in high school and have read it here and there in the last few years. I also like the idea of meditation and yoga, although I’m not sure I’m the best personality to practice it. Being in tune to your body, turning off your mind, finding your center and inner peace are all good things. If we are the result of intelligent design, we should appreciate the architect.

My idea of who is running the universe is like a puzzle. I’m still making all the pieces fit but I’ve got the edges together. As for any offspring, if I marry a religious man, he can take them to church. I will tag along on occasion but I will also make sure my kids know there are other options for belief. I feel an informed choice on faith is better than blind obedience.

Music: Heartbreak Warfare by John Mayer

PS - I genuinely want to revisit what Jesus has to say one of these days. But the Bible is a collection of stories with different writers, from different times, from different places, and translated a ridiculous number of times. Any bilingual person will tell you how often movie subtitles screw it up. You’re telling me we’ve done everything perfectly with every translation of this particular work ever? Be realistic. If humans are anything it’s mistake oriented.

The Bible was also edited by committee. A group of church elders sat down and decided what was going in and what was staying out. For about a thousand years the church was incredibly political so the agenda behind some of these books may not be as divine as you want to believe.

2,500 years ago, polytheism was the thing to believe. Now it’s the Judeo-Christian monotheistic tradition. Who’s to say that 3,000 years from now people won’t look at Christianity the same way we look Egyptian, Greek, or Norse gods? If religion is a big picture thing, we can’t look at it with small minds.