Over The Top

To be honest, I don’t know what the threshold is to be over the top with something, but I have been told my views on religion can be considered over the top. Maybe I’m oblivious, but I feel like my views are pretty realistic. Live and let live, no human is better than the next, virgins don’t have kids and God isn’t a jacked, bearded, White man…or even a human for that matter. Those may be some of my most controversial takes on Christianity honestly. They’re only controversial because the sensationalized stuff is what truly separates Christianity from say Egyptian mythology or Greek mythology. Take away the super far-fetched stuff, (wine from water, multiplying food, walking on water, God’s biological son) and his life story would still be cool. Not “give me 10% of your gross pay” cool, but commendable for certain. 

Praying?

When I was talking with my buddy about all of the meditation and how I got lost in it a couple times, he described that as nirvana. I never thought of it that way because in my conscious mind, I imagine nirvana to be like being high on mushrooms. I can’t say that based on experience, but I’ve seen enough videos of the 70’s to have a good idea. What I felt was nothing…just calm, and that feeling wasn’t registered until I was no longer in that meditative state. When I participated in prayer groups, I always wondered how humbly asking for stuff built up a relationship with God. I never felt “closer” to God with my head bowed and a guy saying “Heavenly Father” after every wish list item. Concluding with “we humbly ask these things in the name of your son Jesus Christ”. 

Working the Options

For quite some time I thought I was closer to Buddhism than anything…this may actually be true still, though I don’t claim that either. Before I was set to deploy to Kyrgyzstan I needed to get new dog tags and they ask your religion. I told them Buddhist, and the guy laughed and gave me my tags with Christian on there. I didn’t have the time or desire to complain though. I always said Buddhism because it seemed like the least religious religion at the time. Sure they prayed and did all of that, but it was usually quietly. Not a lot of hoopla, and I could relate to the philosophical aspects. However, if I take the story of Siddhartha literally, with him leaving his wife and kid to study in the forest…I can’t co-sign that. He was a legit deadbeat dad for a couple years in favor of his soul searching. As a parent, I’m not doing that at all. At the end of the day though, he was human…fully human and fully flawed. I rock with the enlightenment, but I’m not placing anyone above me or below me regardless of how enlightened or ignorant that person may be.

I found no common ground or interest in Islam, Judaism or any of the newer groups such as the Latter-Day Saints, Jehova’s Witnesses or Scientologists. When I read the works by Thomas Paine I thought “maybe I’m a Deist” I believe there is a God, some of the stories are far-fetched but that’s just the work of men. Then I took some time to truly consider what I believe God to be and settled on it doesn’t really matter. Whatever God is, God will be regardless of what I believe, but I certainly know what God isn’t…and that’s dependent on my dollars as a means of showing love and commitment to “him” and the church. My bad, that was probably over the top too. 

Boy, You Going to Hell

At the end of the day, I believe every religion serves as a divider of humanity. This reminds me of the story about the Tower of Babel. The story in the Bible (and other texts to be fair) makes account for the different languages across the earth, but I see the belief system as the most important language people had at the time. They say God somehow became upset that this tower was being built by humans to escape the flood so “he” destroyed it and confused the tongues of all these people, so they’d never be able to work together again. So there was peace, cooperation, and unity on Earth…and God was salty about that? Maybe I’m too kind a spirit, but that doesn’t sound like the trait of God or any entity with singular authority over all of existence. Sounds like some shit on par with what an abusive spouse would do because their wife makes more money than them. 

Let’s just pretend that the story is true for these next two sentences. Casting confusion and a lack of unity has always been associated with the devil…who I also don’t believe in at all for the record. Any entity that seeks to destroy you out of jealousy, is certainly not also worthy of praise and admiration. To be fair, I don’t believe these stories, because in the vastness of the universe, I don’t believe God is that concerned with the affairs on Earth. The truth of the matter is, more wars are fought based on religious disagreements than language barriers. So if the story is to be believed by anyone, it should be clear that the men who wrote it, promoted themselves to God in an effort to control you. That simple act of belief is the key ingredient to our earthly dysfunction. Now look at your neighbor and say “God is good”, now look at your other neighbor and say “all the time”…and please believe that while passing the collection plate for the Lord, amen. Ok, when I read it all back, my views may be over the top just a little.