Another random thought (make that ramble)
Apr. 2nd, 2004 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bktheirregularHow 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.
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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no subject
Date: 2004-04-02 01:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-02 01:46 pm (UTC)I think your arguement comes down to a division between religion and faith. Religion, in a very anthropological sense, is about the making of a closed community, a tribe. It's a way of making an "us" verses "them." The more people you can get on your team, the more right your religion is, right? But there always has to be an "other" to fear.
My dad had a lousy history with organized religion, and my mother is a Catholic who lapses back and forth as the need takes her. They deliberately raised me to be very spiritual without trying to impress upon me a specific religious doctrine. Subliminally through that was given the impression that someone who was part of a "group" was somehow faintly foolish. Faith was intensly private. Being someone who wore their religion on their sleeve was like they were a mildly retarded child absently pulling their pants down; it was inappropriate, but the child didn't know any better.
All this explains why I'm a Wiccan-Pagan-go-to-Catholic-Church-when-I-go-to-a-Christian-Church-at-all person. Given the opportunity to pick what I wanted to be, I selected "all of the above."
no subject
Date: 2004-04-02 02:06 pm (UTC)The passage in the Bible that sticks with me the most is Matthew 7:
1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
In other words, anyone who says they and they alone know what God wants is full of dren.
I'm Lutheran. But I have studied many different faiths and practices. I don't always agree with what my church says. But, it fits me. (We're big on the singing of old bar songs and not pushing people to be "saved".)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-02 02:07 pm (UTC)You're not by any means alone, you know. (Says the Religious Studies MA. ;)
Not all religions claim to be The One True Way, although the modern monotheistic Western religions (Islam/Christianity/Judism) are (in)famous for it, and that's most of what Americans are exposed to.
Fewer still claim you will burn in Hell if you disbelieve. And most have some essential variant of "do no harm" in the formal teachings (if not always in the practice).
I was raised much as you were. (Although, frankly more so... to the point where I call it Fundamentalist Atheism/Science -- i.e. "if it can't be demonstrably proven by scientific method, then it can't possibly exist". Which -- like any Fundamentalist religious extreme -- combines rigid adherance to a very narrow interpretation, with intolerance of everyone else to the point that it completely warps the spirit of the original teaching.)
And I ended up Pagan -- a path that emphasizes the "a different path for each person" and the "and it harm none, do as you will" approaches (with equal emphasis on both halves of that conditional). It also has an emphasis on the validity of the non-scientifically-provable which counters my Fundamentalist background nicely -- ironically bringining me more in line with the "true teaching" of the scientific method (which says only that the [currently] unprovable is [currently] unknowable, but acknowledges that [by reference to historical precident] much more must be out there than we currently know about, and that life is essentially about looking for it.)
My, see how she can babble when you hit one of her topics. ;-)
To sum up: Many are confused. Those most often considered the wisest across religious boundaries continually suggest that those who are not are simply not thinking about it enough. You are not alone. *hug*
no subject
Date: 2004-04-02 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-03 08:44 am (UTC)Lizbet's distinction of religion vs. faith hits the nail on the head as far as I'm concerned. Faith is what you believe, religion is what you call it. And personally, I believe quite firmly that no God/dess worth believing in is going to do any of that hellfire stuff just because the people s/he created to be able to think for themselves, do so. As long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process, that being my real sticking point for when a religion crosses the line from harmless/helpful to dangerous.