Another random thought (make that ramble)

[bktheirregular]

How does someone become part of a religion? I mean not in the sense of being told that's what you are by your parents, or being indoctrinated in the religion starting before you even know what it's all about, but really becoming part of it?

The thing is, I'm not part of any religion. My folks didn't raise me in a church, and taught me to be skeptical of a lot of things. Perhaps I was indoctrinated in the scientific method?

Anyway, my belief system, such as it is, allows for the existence of a God, but but at a level of existence that the human brain doesn't have the circuitry to comprehend. I don't believe in a divine power intervening directly in human affairs; I don't believe that there is A Great Grand Master Plan for the Universe.

On the other hand, I believe that human beings have much more power than any religion will give them credit for; I believe that a lot of things for which people give credit to God are things they've accomplished themselves - it's scary, sometimes, the amount of power people can have.

And that power has to be used responsibly. Like the Oath of Hippocrates says, first, do no harm. You have to take responsibility for your own actions, not pass them off as something outside yourself.

Luck exists, I think; it can't be counted on, though. (When I was in my bad car accident, people commented on what they considered my miraculous escape; I'd been hit broadside by a large SUV at 35 miles an hour, my car had been demolished, and I'd been bounced around the passenger compartment like a dried pea in a maraca, but I didn't even break a single bone. One person commented that "Jesus was in the car with you"; honestly, I didn't see it. I did one stupid thing that I almost never do - I unsnapped my seat belt while the car was still in motion, anticipating having to hop out quickly to go aid someone - and that threw me clear of the impact zone where I would otherwise probably have been broken in half. That was luck, pure and simple. And something I don't dare chance ever again.)

One thing that scares me, actually ... the fact that I'm not part of a religion, nor of a form of belief easily categorized, may be held against me someday. Because there's no check-box in the census for "I got no frelling clue what religion I am".

And that's also why I truly fear this country turning into a theocracy. I believed in the legend of the Pilgrims - escaping to the New World to flee persecution. And I hated the Puritans - running away from persecution only to visit on their community the same narrow-minded intolerance that had driven them out of England in the first place.

I wish I'd known in grade school that the original Pledge of Allegiance said "one nation, indivisble". I would have said that. If I'd led the Pledge of Allegiance, I would have said "one nation, indivisible", not "one nation, under God, indivisible". Probably would have gotten in trouble for it too.

I like to think I respect religions, though; I'll honor their customs. I'm just not a part of any - because I haven't got the first clue which way is the right way. Like the song goes, "there's two men saying the're Jesus; one of them must be wrong!"

I don't know which religion is the One True Way (I strongly doubt that any of them can make that claim, but that's beside the point I'm trying to make). Every religion claims to be the One True Way, and there are no points in common among all the religions of the world throughout history; you can't even follow something that everyone agrees on.

And if the price for making the wrong choice is the Eternal Mesquite Barbecue? I'm not gonna play the game.

I'm just going to live my life, doing right by others as best I can.

And if the day comes and I get called to final account? I'm gonna say this:

"I've seen so much misery caused by religion that it scared me. And I never had a clue which religion was the right one, if any of them were. All I could do is treat others the way I'd want to be treated; all I could do is do my best for other people, to live a good life as best I knew how and hope I would be judged on that. But I was honest about it. I never tried to pass myself off as part of a religion I didn't believe in. I never took the route of hypocrisy.

"If that condemns me to hellfire, if my only way to get into Heaven would be to falsely proclaim a belief that I couldn't feel in my heart ... I will have no part of a Heaven that requires an act of hypocrisy to get in."

*sigh* Maybe I better pack a bottle of Worcestershire just in case.

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*applause*