RESPONSIBLE RELIGION

NOW, I GREW UP IN A CHRISTIAN HOME AND WE BELIEVED IN GOD, JESUS, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.  WE WENT TO CHURCH AND EVERY SUNDAY THE PREACHER WOULD GIVE SERMONS, ON SOME STORY EITHER OUT OF THE BIBLE, OR OUTSIDE THE BIBLE AND TIED IT INTO THE BIBLE.  I REMEMBER TAKING A COUPLE OF HITS OF ACID AND GOING TO CHURCH ONCE, WHEN I GOT OLDER.  I WAS ALREADY IN ART SCHOOL AT THE TIME, AND I REMEMBER, THE SIGNIFICANT FEELING OF THINKING IT WAS BULLSHIT.  THE WHOLE TIME GROWING UP IN CHURCH, I FELT IT WAS BULLSHIT, AND I TRIED, TO FIT THE MOLD AND BE A CHRISTIAN AND GET CLOSE TO GOD.  HOWEVER, EARLY ON, I DIDN'T FEEL ANYTHING.  I FELT ABSENCE, AND GUILT, AND SADNESS.  THIS WAS MY EXPERIENCE WITH CHURCH, AND GOD.  I REMEMBER, THE PREACHER GAVE A SERMON ONCE, ON ATTEMPTING TO GET A HOT TUB, AND GOD BLESSED HIM WITH A HOT TUB.  I SPECIFICALLY TOOK OFFENSE TO THIS, CONSIDERING OUR HOUSE STRUGGLED FINANCIALLY.  AS I GREW OLDER, I CAME TO THE REALIZATION THAT THE EXPERIENCE WASN'T JUST UNIQUE TO ME, AND THAT WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO FELT HUSTLED AND DISENFRANCHISED, BY PREACHERS, THE CHURCH, AND RELIGION ITSELF.

AS A KID, AND EVEN INTO ADULTHOOD, YOU'RE TAUGHT TO BELIEVE IN GOD.  THE BELIEF ASPECT IS THE CORNERSTONE OF THE ENTIRE RELIGION.  IN ORDER FOR A GOD TO EXIST, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE.  IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE STORIES IN THE BIBLE, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE.  IN ORDER TO EXPERIENCE A MIRACLE, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE.  SO, EARLY ON, YOU ARE FED THESE FAR FETCHED STORIES IN THE BIBLE, AND YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE TRUE.  YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE, THAT YOU ARE BASICALLY USELESS ON THIS EARTH, UNLESS YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD SENT HIS SON TO EARTH TO DIE FOR YOUR SINS.  WHICH SEEMS A LITTLE WEIRD TO BE HONEST.  THE MORE I'VE GOTTEN OLDER AND EXPERIENCED LIFE, READ INTERESTING THINGS, AND TAKEN DRUGS, MY MIND HAS EXPANDED.  SO THE ONE TIME SHEEPISH CHILD WHO BELIEVED IN WHAT HE WAS TOLD GROWING UP, SLOWLY BEGAN BACKING AWAY FROM THIS BELIEF, THIS FAITH, AS IT IS OFTEN REFERRED TO.  I HAVE BECOME MORE RATIONAL AND INTROSPECTIVE OVER THE YEARS, AND MY PERSONAL CONCLUSION IS THAT....

RELIGION WAS DEVELOPED AS A WAY TO GOVERN MANKIND, BY GIVING THEM A SET OF RULES TO FOLLOW, AND IN FOLLOWING SAID RULES, YOU GET REWARDED, AND NOT FOLLOWING THESE RULES RESULTED IN NEVER ENDING PAIN.  MAN, ULTIMATELY HAS THE RIGHT TO DO WHATEVER THEY CHOOSE, BECAUSE THEIR MIND AND ACTIONS ARE THEIR OWN.  THE CONSEQUENCE/REWARD ASPECT OF RELIGION, IS A SORT OF UNSPOKEN LAW ENFORCEMENT, TO KEEP PEOPLE IN LINE.  BY REMOVING THE POWER OF THE INDIVIDUAL THEMSELVES TO DO WHAT IS ULTIMATELY RIGHT OR WRONG, AND PUT IT INTO A CONTEXT WHERE THERE ARE TWO IMAGINARY FORCES GUIDING YOUR MIND AND HAND, YOU TURN THEM INTO VESSELS OR PUPPETS RATHER.  THIS MAKES PEOPLE EASIER TO CONTROL.  AS I HAVE STATED BEFORE, THERE IS NO RIGHT AND WRONG IN THE MOST ELEMENTARY STATE OF MANKIND AND THAT RELIGION HAS DEVELOPED THIS FOR US, SO NOW PEOPLE BASICALLY LIVE IN FEAR OR PRETENTIOUSNESS.  THEN, WE BASE IT ALL ON A BOOK, OF STORIES THAT ACT AS A GUIDELINE, FOR LIVING.  ANY RATIONAL ADULT, WILL TELL YOU THESE STORIES ARE RIDICULOUS, BUT, THE LESSON CONTAINED THEREIN IS SOLID.  THE RELIGION, WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE THAT THE STORIES ARE TRUE, NO MATTER HOW OUTRAGEOUS.  WHICH, ULTIMATELY IS WHAT DESTROYS THE WHOLE MOTIVE OF THE RELIGION ITSELF.

I'VE READ MANY STORIES IN THE BIBLE, AND I'VE HEARD MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF THOSE STORIES, ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT, LIKE ANY OTHER BOOK, DIFFERENT PEOPLE GET DIFFERENT THINGS OUT OF IT.  IT IS A BOOK, OF FANTASY AND MYSTICISM, WITH A HEAVY UNDERLYING SUBTEXT, MEANT TO EVOKE A LESSON THAT THE READER GETS OUT OF IT.  IT'S NO DIFFERENT, THAN WATCHING FIGHT CLUB, IN MODERN TIMES.  YES THE MOVIE IS FULL OF TRUTH, AND INSPIRING TO SAY THE VERY LEAST, BUT, ARE YOU REALLY GONNA START A FIGHT CLUB, GIVE UP YOUR WORLDLY POSSESSIONS, AND START COMMITTING TERRORIST ACTS, BASED ON BELIEF?  NO.  SO, WHY IS RELIGION DIFFERENT?  IT ENDS UP BEING THE PSYCHOS, WHO BELIEVE THE FANTASTICAL SHIT IN THE BIBLE, THAT END UP DOING RADICAL THINGS.  IN CHRISTIANITY AND CATHOLICISM, YOU COULD GO DOWN THE LINE OF HISTORICAL ATROCITIES, THAT THIS RELIGION HAS SPAWNED THROUGHOUT HISTORY, AND IT'S JAW DROPPING.  AND THAT'S JUST THOSE TWO RELIGIONS THEMSELVES.  THERE ARE OTHER RELIGIONS THAT HAVE SPAWNED HORRIBLE ACTS COMMITTED BY PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THE RIDICULOUSNESS OF WHAT THEIR PARTICULAR RELIGION IS TELLING THEM.

NOW, AS A RATIONAL MAN WITH AN ELEVATED CONSCIOUSNESS, I UNDERSTAND FAITH AND BELIEF, BUT, I HAVE COME TO SEE THE VALUE IN IT TOWARD THE MAN AND MANKIND ITSELF.  WE HAVE REMOVED OUR POWER AS A SPECIES AND PUT IT INTO THE SKY, AND BELOW OUR FEET, BUT, NOT IN OURSELVES.  WHICH IS WHERE IT BELONGS.  THAT GOOD AND EVIL EXISTS WITHIN YOU, YOU DON'T NEED A HEAVEN AND HELL, TO UNDERSTAND THAT.  YOU ARE A GOD IN YOUR OWN RIGHT, BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DESTROY OR CREATE.  THE BIBLE SAYS, THAT GOD MADE US IN HIS IMAGE....SO ARE WE NOT GODLIKE?  I'M NOT KNOCKING ANYONE'S RELIGION, BUT, I FEEL IT IS RELIGION'S, AND I MEAN ALL RELIGION'S, RESPONSIBILITY, TO REMIND IT'S FOLLOWERS THAT THE BOOKS ARE MEANT AS GUIDELINES TO LIVE AND NOT TO BE TAKE LITERALLY.  THAT IS WHY THE BIBLE HAS AN OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT.  THE OLD LAW WAS MUCH TOO STRICT, AND IT WAS HARD TO LIVE BY.  THE NEW LAW, WAS WAAAY MORE LENIENT.  THE FANTASTICAL STORIES ARE THERE TO CAPTURE THE IMAGINATION, AND GIVE YOU A CENTRAL LESSON ABOUT BEING A BETTER HUMAN BEING.  THIS, IS THE ESSENCE OF ALL RELIGION.  THIS, HAS TO HAPPEN.   -  925