¡We can no longer be a bunch of empty minds living in critical times refusing to recognize real lies!

Sunday, 23 November 2008

RELIGIOUSLY STUCK


IS BEING GOOD MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEING HAPPY? IS RELIGION THE DOORWAY TO A LIFE OF HAPPINESS WITH GOD & HIS ANGELS? & IF SO, ARE THERE CERTAIN STANDARDS THAT WE MUST MEET IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS? For all of us, life is full of uncertainties AND difficulties, and it ends in death; and EVERY religion claims to be the ONE that can provide certain rewards to us for being good. As a child I used to wonder why we do church RELIGIOUS every Sunday? I mean we go non-stop to achieve what? It seems that OUR GREATEST FEAR is that if we don’t participate in this ritual that somehow we would end in place that is NOT friendly OR good (talk about allowing hope to override the intellect). It is a SAFE bet to say that I am NOT religious NOR do I participate in ORGANIZE RELIGION. GUESS YOU CAN SAY THAT I AM HEATHEN…one of those persons that isn’t a follower. However, being who I am, I realized that criticizing religion isn’t enough. I needed to understand why religion becomes an integral part of a person's life and it doesn't cease to be so when it can cause HATRED, IGNORANCE and MISUNDERSTANDINGS. It is a known FACT that NO religion ACCEPTS us as the person we know ourselves to be. Rather, we are told that we are INADEQUATE, UNSATISFACTORY and HELPLESS. It is MY feeling that those who feel this way also construct a fantasy about how they are SUPERIOR to those who do NOT share this view. I thank God that I am NOT one those persons that is living life without really being present. HOW COULD I DO MYSELF SUCH AN INJUSTICE? The crazy thing is that they KNOW the TRUTH yet they act as if they are somewhat caught up in a trans. The other day I was chatting with this GAY pastor (go figure…right?), and he told me that he feels so betrayed on both end of the spectrum when does the ANTI-GAY sermon because he knows that he does NOT fully believe what he is saying. In return he told me that it almost seem as if the congregation is waiting for him to hit this topic with vigor AND disgust that it seems to me that we have a situation of ignorance feeding ignorance. This CLEARLY a situation where society has become SO use to the words used that they are NOT hearing them anymore. I guess it is TOO much to listen with innocence AND ask questions when it is SO obvious that something is rotten within the confines of the church…SO CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHEN IS THE DAY GONNA COME WHEN WE STOP CONSULTING THE GREAT BOOK OF FAIRY TALES (the bible) & DO AWAY WITH RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY? IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THEY ARE EASILY MISSING THE FUTURE BECAUSE THEY ARE TOO BUSY BEING STUCK…SO HOW CAN WE CHANGE THIS? BETTER YET IS IT POSSIBLE? I THINK SO & I BELIEVE THAT THE FIRST STEP IS TO PRAY WITH (NOT FOR) EACH OTHER. THIS WILL GET THOSE THAT ARE HURTING RELIGIOUSLY TO FACE THE CHALLENGES FAR GREATER THAN THEMSELVES…WE NEED TO LOVE & TRULY TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER. AFTER ALL WE ARE ALL CHILDREN OF GOD: CREATED BY LOVE, IN LOVE, WITH LOVE & FOR LOVE…SO UNTIL WE SEE OURSELVES WITHOUT SELF-PITY, WE WON’T HAVE A FEELING THAT WE ARE @ A PLACE WHERE GOD TRULY EXISTS…& THAT’S A FACT!

7 comments:

  1. You open w/ a profound question, & it really has me pondering.
    I think essentially, being *good* requires some kind of sacrifice on our parts. Doing the right thing doesn't always preclude to our own personal happiness.

    I know many people who have lived & died doing only what made them happy. Sometimes, I've been envious of those people, because they lived their lives in COLOR, and damn the consequences. I wrote all about them in my novel Manhood, The Longest Moan.

    But on the real, since no one is all good all the time & no one is happy 24/7, I think we all have to make certain trade offs in life. So I'd personally settle for being fair, and living with contentment.

    Thanks for this episode in ponderation.

    One.

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  2. I agree with Moanerplity. I want to say so much on this subject but can't because I am by far a scholar of the Bible. I know there are some positive things in the Bible but it saddens me that all you hear about are the negative behaviors. What about the people during that time that were not exceptionally good and the one not exceptionally bad. It all seems subjective to me and that God is the only one that can say what is good and what is bad.

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  3. 'Is being good more important than being happy?' Why can't you be both good and happy, my gayte-keeper? Who said it was not possible?

    What do I think on the overal subject?

    1. It is a person's relationship with GOD that counts but whether you belong to a certain religion or not, I believe that everyone of us, and in this instance guided by our conscience, instinctively know what is wrong and what is right. This is universal. We all know, for e.g., that it is wrong to kill or lie, it doesn't matter whether you are Jewish, Muslim or Christian, or non of these. It doesn't matter that you have actually never opened the bible to read the Ten Commandments. You know because your conscience speaks to you. And GOD is your conscience.

    2. Going to church in itself is not what it's about, not that you shouldn't go to church. Developing a relationship with GOD is what it's all about. Not participating in organised religion does not necessarily make you a heathen. Instead a lot of people who belong to a variety of religions are the worst heathens of all. They go to church alright, but what they do in the cover of darkness is something else.

    3. The Bible. My belief is that it takes wisdom and knowledge to understand it, for some of the things found in the bible only relate to people of those times. I think you need a 'spiritual ear' to understand the bible otherwise it is easy to misunderstand it.

    4. I totally agree with you that we need to love and care for each other. If you find yourself judging and condemning and hating others, and you call yourself a child of GOD, then there's definitely something not right with the person within you.

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  4. You posed a question: 'Is religion the doorway to a life of happiness with GOD..?'

    I found this question difficult, but nonetheless I think that it would be your deeds and the kind of person that you are and not necessarily whether you are part of organised religion that would make GOD more happy.

    In other words religion in itself or by itself is not a passport to GOD's good books.

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  5. You touched on a lot of great points. Religion its really my focus at this point. Growing up in Church I have always felt a big contradition from the way the Bible is taught. I feel now it is about my relationship with God 1-on-1. The Church can't get to me Heaven. Just my personal opinion.

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  6. What do you then think of this: Religion is sometimes a necessary evil.

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  7. Religion today, sad to say is more about rituals and tradition than the true tenets of love and kindness.We get so caught up in these rituals and in the show and exhibition that we lose sight of the relationship that God wants us to have with each other and with him.
    I am of the opinion that what is important is the personal relationship that one has with God and with his fellowmen and not the bells and whistles that have come to characterize organized religion.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOICE...

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