Religulous

What's a good blog without a little controversy?

I don't know how many of you know the dynamic of my belief system. When I was young and before I had a say or a thought in my head, I went to Catholic school. My Mom's Mom is true blue Catholic and has been her whole life. My Mom's Dad, Baptist. My Dad's parents, Baptist.

My parents always seemed to "believe" in the God concept but, other than the occasional holiday church service or the four years of Catholic brainwashing, it was never necessarily forced down my throat. There were no prayers around the table before dinner. Never any church gospel music playing while we cleaned house. I had a very "neutral" upbringing listening to Beatles and eating at TV trays.

Granted, as I grew up, I did attend church and ended up in a youth group at my SDad's Mom's United Church of Christ. Everything was fine, I was finding boyfriends and cutting church for a quick McD's lunch, until they ended up letting go the minister who was a good friend of the family's. Just because they had sent him on a sabbatical and, when he returned, he had a hard time reconnecting with his life and ended up separating from his wife. The hypocrisy in the church was the first...and probably final...straw for me. I didn't go because I felt like I had to or "God" would punish me. I went to see my friends. It was a social gathering. A status marker.

One of my favorite subjects in school was science. My parents can probably remember now all of the science fair projects I (and Dad) would work on together. They always tended to focus on the planets, space, the universe. As time progressed and my knowledge increased, I began questioning religion. God. I did take a religion class in college and was amused by the similarities and differences between all of the religions around the world and was curious as to why everyone thought THEIR'S was the correct one.

I will skip to the recent past. About four years ago or so I had come to the conclusion that I was agnostic. "An agnostic thinks it is impossible to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life which Christianity and other religions are concerned. Or, if not impossible, at least impossible at the present time." - http://arts.cuhk.edu.hk/humftp/Etext/Russell/agnostic.htm.

After all of the science that I had learned and watched, after all of the Universe episodes with true scientists with TRUE facts, the christian theories and rhetoric just didn't hold a candle to the truth of how the earth, galaxy and universe was created. I am supposed to believe that, some "man" or being of sorts...but an actual BEING, not an energy source or black hole...a BEING created the infinite universe. And, if I do believe that, how could I not believe that there is life on other planets in other galaxies well off into our universe? How can I believe that the Christian's God has a "plan" for me (I hear this a lot from T's family)? For me? Out of all of the other infinite miles and lightyears of universe, "he" has a plan for me? It started to really add up in my head. Here's my theory.

I believe that organized religion - Christianity, Judaism, Muslim, Buddhism, etc. - all developed by an early civilization in order to create order among the masses. A little fear of the unknown, the punishment of a not-so-pleasant afterlife, the hope of some everlasting life to strive for...all of this to control the actions of the commoners. What better way to create a CIVIL civilization than to put rules on the land. But, rules coming from kings, prime ministers, leaders of countries aren't taken quite as seriously. Especially if the society is fairly new. There has to be a higher order. A larger threat. A one great "being" that can strike you dead when "it is your time" or when you do something to stray from that "beings" word. Just as jail is a deterrant to some, hell is the ultimate deterrant. Who wants to burn infinitely? Certainly not me.

But I probably will. At least in the minds of the religious people. I have come to realize that I am starting to teeter off of agnostic and becoming more aetheist as time moves on and more scientific evidence (and lack thereof) surfaces. Aetheist has such a negative connotation and makes most people think you are a "devil worshiper." When, in fact, I worship something much more scientific, more known (yet still unknown), something that is MUCH greater than myself or any of us, and much more powerful than a being or a god could ever be - the universe. I know the debate is - well, who created the universe? I believe it is more "what" created the universe. The universe, according to scientific data, expands and contracts continuously throughout its "life". It is in the process of contracting now. It is a true energy source. Not an energy source like a bright light that is supposedly god. A true energy source made up of electrons, protons and neutrons. Just as we are...we, too, are energy sources. So maybe the universe is our god and we are created in its likeness.

I will begin to step down off of my soap box. I, by no means, cast any judgement on those who "believe." Religion, God, heaven - these are very important security blankets for most people. I know I wanted desperately to believe that there was a "heaven", an "afterlife," when my SDad's Mom passed away. And I am sure I will desperately want that "comfort blanket" when anyone else close to me passes away. It is people's way of healing grief to hope for a time when they can "reconnect" with those from this life. Saying that, I don't tote around that blanket. I would be a hypocrit to do so when my true belief is that our energy is absorbed into the air, the ground or...nowhere. When our body dies, a chemical reaction occurs because of our energy source. It is all very scientific. My miscarriage? It was not God's "plan" and it wasn't God's "will", it was a natural scientific process that occured.

To end this debate (or to begin it, I might say), Todd and I watched a remarkable documentary last night - Religulous. It is a Bill Maher production. Yes, I am a Bill Maher fan - I agree with his politics, his religion and his interview style. No matter if you like him or not, the documentary is very interesting and well worth the 2 hours. You can take it as a way to come up with your own debate in favor of religion, you can use it as an eye opener, you can let down your guard and be open to other ideas, or you can simply bash Bill Maher for being Bill Maher. Whatever you do, I think it is a very interesting documentary that proves that most people put on blinders to anything other than the religion they know because "it has always been that way." You will be SHOCKED the research and the facts that come out of this movie.

Finally, although I don't believe the same as the majority of the country and half of the world, I also don't pass judgement on those who do. That's what makes me different from most Christians and other religions. "Believers" seem to cast the first stone at those who don't believe the same. I am not that person. I will bow my head if I am at someone's house who feels the need to pray before dinner. I don't agree with it and I don't get it, but I do it out of respect. I can only hope that I am able to be respected for my beliefs as well.

So, if your god is real and I meet him upon my death, I will argue that "he" is the one that gave me this brain to think and formulate my own opinions/thoughts. But really though...you know what I think...