16 April 2006
♥ A Musing for the Masses
For the record, I hate musing. It drives me crazy. It reminds me of the insignificance of my existance, the meaninglessness of my everyday activities, and so on. But here's a musing that makes me feel a little less snivelly about myself.
I went to my first war protest in the seventh grade. That was also about the time I became interested in what was going on - I started reading the newspaper, reading politically-minded books, and watching BBC News, CNN, and C-SPAN. (Um, about the C-SPAN... it's a nerd thing.) And the people I started interacting with were pretty negative about organized religion in general.
But then I got to musing. (Damn ye musing!) And I mused, and here's what I realized: I don't have a problem with God. Or Jesus. Or any other prominent religious figure. Because you know something? God and Jesus sound pretty groovy. I mean, unconditional redemption and self-sacrifice for the good of others sound excellent to me!
I have a problem with the people who so narrow-mindedly worship them. Not all of these people, mind you. Because Christians have done some really amazing things, and I know that. But I do have a problem with the Westboro Baptist Church, which condemns homosexuality as the ultimate sin and protests at the funerals of gays as well as soldiers who have died in action protecting a "fag country." I have a problem with people who try to ban gay marriage, saying that it harms the institution of marriage. I have a problem with George Bush, who bombs innocent civilians and lies to the nation which, I might add, he was not rightfully elected to lead. (Agh! He's such a hypocrite. I'm thinking that when Jesus said to love your enemies, bombing the crap out of them probably wasn't what he had in mind, right?) I have a problem with fundamentalists who look down on everyone else because they think they know all the answers.
What I'm getting at, I guess, is that I think it's important to be spiritual. I mean, you have to have faith in something, right? Because I really admire people who are so strong in their convictions that they would be willing to die for what they believe in. I admire people who believe so strongly in something that they're willing to base their entire life upon it. But I think it's important to remember that we all have something to learn. Maybe one person's interpretation of something is different than another's, but that doesn't mean one of them is wrong. Not everything is a matter of black or white; sometimes there's a gray area.
So where does that leave me? I'm not a Christian, that's for sure. But I'm certainly not an atheist, either. I'm not sure I'm ready to believe in a God that lets little children get leukemia and has giant hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast and allows people like George Bush rule the free world. But I look at the world around me, and I find it hard to believe that someone didn't coax it along. I want to have faith in something, but I guess I don't really know what.
I went to my first war protest in the seventh grade. That was also about the time I became interested in what was going on - I started reading the newspaper, reading politically-minded books, and watching BBC News, CNN, and C-SPAN. (Um, about the C-SPAN... it's a nerd thing.) And the people I started interacting with were pretty negative about organized religion in general.
But then I got to musing. (Damn ye musing!) And I mused, and here's what I realized: I don't have a problem with God. Or Jesus. Or any other prominent religious figure. Because you know something? God and Jesus sound pretty groovy. I mean, unconditional redemption and self-sacrifice for the good of others sound excellent to me!
I have a problem with the people who so narrow-mindedly worship them. Not all of these people, mind you. Because Christians have done some really amazing things, and I know that. But I do have a problem with the Westboro Baptist Church, which condemns homosexuality as the ultimate sin and protests at the funerals of gays as well as soldiers who have died in action protecting a "fag country." I have a problem with people who try to ban gay marriage, saying that it harms the institution of marriage. I have a problem with George Bush, who bombs innocent civilians and lies to the nation which, I might add, he was not rightfully elected to lead. (Agh! He's such a hypocrite. I'm thinking that when Jesus said to love your enemies, bombing the crap out of them probably wasn't what he had in mind, right?) I have a problem with fundamentalists who look down on everyone else because they think they know all the answers.
What I'm getting at, I guess, is that I think it's important to be spiritual. I mean, you have to have faith in something, right? Because I really admire people who are so strong in their convictions that they would be willing to die for what they believe in. I admire people who believe so strongly in something that they're willing to base their entire life upon it. But I think it's important to remember that we all have something to learn. Maybe one person's interpretation of something is different than another's, but that doesn't mean one of them is wrong. Not everything is a matter of black or white; sometimes there's a gray area.
So where does that leave me? I'm not a Christian, that's for sure. But I'm certainly not an atheist, either. I'm not sure I'm ready to believe in a God that lets little children get leukemia and has giant hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast and allows people like George Bush rule the free world. But I look at the world around me, and I find it hard to believe that someone didn't coax it along. I want to have faith in something, but I guess I don't really know what.
4/16/2006
