Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Non-Religious Christianity
Religion, denomination, the Bible, and Jesus Christ are all very important and extremely divisive issues to literally billions of people all over the planet. What you are about to read is me very carefully dismantling this issue and, in all likelihood, angering the extremely low number of you that take the time to read it.
I consider myself to be a Christian but I often find that my political and moral views conflict with what are supposed to be my religious views. This is a large cause of anxiety for me because I sincerely want to believe and I do believe but I feel as though I'm excluded from the community and culture that comes with Christianity because I can't 100% commit myself to it.
By "it" I don't mean "God" by any means. I'm referring to the community and I believe that having those friends and family members that share that culture with you is important. I can never just dive in and let go in that culture because I feel like I can't be the right kind of person for it. I believe that God will accept me for what I am and who I am... it's religious people that I fear the judgment of. Maybe that's wrong of me... or maybe I do need to change but as of right now here is who I am:
I cuss more than I'd care to admit, particularly when I'm stressed out or tired. I drink, not excessively, but on occasion. I am extremely liberal in my beliefs. I believe in evolution. I am pro-choice. I am against the death penalty. I'm anti war. I think that the health care in the country is appalling. I believe that homosexuals are born the way that they are and God loves them as they are. I believe that marriage is a legal institution that grants civil rights to individuals and refusing that right to people based on their sexual preference is abhorrent. I believe that forcing your religion onto other people is wrong and that everyone has the right to believe what they want. I believe that if God is as just and loving as I believe he is then entrance to heaven is granted based on the life the person led, NOT what they chose to believe or how many rosaries hung from their rear-view mirror.
If you are are one of those people who are comfortable in a Christian community, then you probably disagree with one, if not all of those view points and can probably understand what I'm trying to say. I do want to find that community that I can feel like I'm not sticking out like a sore thumb... I do. I want to feel at home among other people that believe in God... I've just lost hope that it will ever happen.
I consider myself to be a Christian but I often find that my political and moral views conflict with what are supposed to be my religious views. This is a large cause of anxiety for me because I sincerely want to believe and I do believe but I feel as though I'm excluded from the community and culture that comes with Christianity because I can't 100% commit myself to it.
By "it" I don't mean "God" by any means. I'm referring to the community and I believe that having those friends and family members that share that culture with you is important. I can never just dive in and let go in that culture because I feel like I can't be the right kind of person for it. I believe that God will accept me for what I am and who I am... it's religious people that I fear the judgment of. Maybe that's wrong of me... or maybe I do need to change but as of right now here is who I am:
I cuss more than I'd care to admit, particularly when I'm stressed out or tired. I drink, not excessively, but on occasion. I am extremely liberal in my beliefs. I believe in evolution. I am pro-choice. I am against the death penalty. I'm anti war. I think that the health care in the country is appalling. I believe that homosexuals are born the way that they are and God loves them as they are. I believe that marriage is a legal institution that grants civil rights to individuals and refusing that right to people based on their sexual preference is abhorrent. I believe that forcing your religion onto other people is wrong and that everyone has the right to believe what they want. I believe that if God is as just and loving as I believe he is then entrance to heaven is granted based on the life the person led, NOT what they chose to believe or how many rosaries hung from their rear-view mirror.
If you are are one of those people who are comfortable in a Christian community, then you probably disagree with one, if not all of those view points and can probably understand what I'm trying to say. I do want to find that community that I can feel like I'm not sticking out like a sore thumb... I do. I want to feel at home among other people that believe in God... I've just lost hope that it will ever happen.
National Autism Awareness Day
Today is National Autism Awareness Day. Autism is literally one of the only "causes" on earth that I care about so I'm posting this. If you don't know about or understand it, read. If you have money donate to:
http://www.autismeducation.net/
P.S Michael Savage is a fuck head and I hope terrible terrible things happen to him. Google it if you don't know what I'm talking about.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Why Twilight Is NOT Hurting Anyone: ADENDUM
I'm writing this post because a new anti-Twilight argument has come to my attention.
The Argument: Twilight fans are physically harming people who profess a distaste for Twilight. Apparently an incident occurred (though I can find no actual news report of it, only blogs) where a girl tried to shoot another girl with a flare gun for not liking Twilight.
Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon because he believed that The Catcher in the Rye told him to. Was this, in ANY WAY, the fault of the book or it's author? Or was it the fault of an already mentally ill PERSON?
There is nothing different about Twilight than any of a thousand fantasy books marketed toward teens apart from the fact that a large number of people like it. When a large number of people like something, this by sheer mathematics, increases the odds that some mentally ill people are going to like it.
Making this argument is no different that saying that heavy metal music causes violence. It is, quite simply, ridiculous.
The Argument: Twilight fans are physically harming people who profess a distaste for Twilight. Apparently an incident occurred (though I can find no actual news report of it, only blogs) where a girl tried to shoot another girl with a flare gun for not liking Twilight.
Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon because he believed that The Catcher in the Rye told him to. Was this, in ANY WAY, the fault of the book or it's author? Or was it the fault of an already mentally ill PERSON?
There is nothing different about Twilight than any of a thousand fantasy books marketed toward teens apart from the fact that a large number of people like it. When a large number of people like something, this by sheer mathematics, increases the odds that some mentally ill people are going to like it.
Making this argument is no different that saying that heavy metal music causes violence. It is, quite simply, ridiculous.
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