My Beliefs Are Mine, So Leave Em Alone!

I've been reading a lot lately about this New Apostlolic Reformation, and boy is my head spinning. First of all, I'm trying to figure out how I somehow was transported from the comfort of my 21st century living room to the superstitous Dark Ages without realizing it. Some of the things the folks associated with this movement spout are the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. I realize that, not being a Christian, I just wouldn't understand. However, even when I was a Christian, there is no way I would have swallowed this crap.

They claim that natural disasters are caused because the people in those areas have sinned against their god. Really? Ok, first off, natural disasters are, well, NATURAL. Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcano eruptions...they are like poo, because it happens. Not to mention the fact that there has been lots of nasty weather recently in areas that are decidely Christian. So what is their excuse for that?

One of their members has even claimed that there is a conspiracy afoot in law enforcement departments across this nation to cover up the ritual sacrifice of babies by their cultist parents. Umm, sure. Another ridiculous claim by said gentleman is that Hilter was sent by god to drive the Jews to Palestine, where god wanted them to be. Really? To the tune of over 6 million DEAD? News flash, you crazy right-wing-nut, Hilter wasn't driving the Jews anywhere, except to the grave. Holy crap on a cracker Batman, with a dude like god helping you out, sounds like you don't need any enemies.

Another thing that confuses me is how some people talk about their god being all about love and forgiveness, but in the same breath, can be easily pissed off, acts like a jealous child denied a toy, and then will rain hellfire and brimstone down on you. Either I'm missing something, or god is seriously bi-polar. I guess I just have a very difficult time wrapping my black-and-white mind around the duality of it all. I've never felt that my goddess would punish me if I were gay, or didn't give money to her church, or made an offering to another goddess or god for a particular reason.

With that being said, I think Jesus was an awesome guy, and very possibly an ascended master. It concerns me that some people take all the great things he taught, and have twisted them to fit into their superstitious, narrow-minded world view. And that is truly a shame. Its almost as if those few people have taken the "terminator" of the old testament and tried to morph it with the gentle teachings of love and tolerance of the new. And to my mind, the experiment failed horribly.

What this group believes, as it comes across to me, is that Jesus loves you and everything is beautiful, but if you don't do things the way we say, his daddy is gonna be sooooo mad at you, and he is gonna send terrible weather patterns and Christian militants to straighten your ass up. And they believe this so hard, they want to "infiltrate" the government (our collective government, mind you) and force this entire country to do things their way. WITH COMPLETE DISREGARD TO THE FIRST AMENDMENT. You know, that amendment that not only allows all of us to believe as we choose, or not to as the case may be, but also allows them to believe that their god sends tsunamis, AIDS, and all kinds of suffering because of belief in other goddesses/gods, same-sex marriage and welfare programs. Do I agree with these beliefs? Obviously not. Do I feel they have the right to believe this way? Absolutely.

What I don't believe is that they have any justification or license to demand that I believe the same way they do. Just like I don't feel I have any right to tell them they have to think the way I do.

Another thing I find almost comical is that these folks seem to think that unless you believe the same way they do, there is no possible way you can be a functioning, productive, moral member of society. That is truly laughable. My mama never took me to church when I was growing up. She believed in god, but we never had any deep theological discussion about religion. But she taught me right from wrong. I knew to be kind to people, and help those that needed help, and learned compassion at her knee, through the example she set for me. Never once did she tell me god would cause bad things to happen if I was bad. And guess what? I've never done anything more illegal than break the speed limit. I know that to kill another person is wrong, unless they were trying their hardest to kill me first. That's not immoral, that's self-defense. I know that to steal is wrong. I have taken things back into a store to pay for them if I got outside and realized that something didn't make it out of the cart at the checkout. And I know that honesty is one of the most important virtues a person can have. My mama taught me all these things, which I now try to teach my children, without the threat of some invisible policeman spying on me and ready to send retribution not only to me, but the entire world if I took one mis-step.

I'm not saying Christianity is wrong, all I'm saying is it is not the path for me, and I believe there is a path for everybody. And the thing that concerns me about groups that try to shove what they believe on others (and Christians have not cornered the market on fundamentalism), is that some of them do attempt to "infiltrate" the government, and they can sometimes fly in under the radar and succeed. By then, it is too late too fight for our rights, because they already will have been stripped.

All I can say is, be kind to each other whenever you can, agree to disagree, live and let live, but also be vigilant about losing the rights that our fore-mothers and -fathers fought so hard to win for us. This is their legacy, and to truly honor and pay tribute to their sacrifices, we must keep that legacy alive.



That is all:)

Your Group Persecuted My Group, So Now My Group Is Going To Persecute You Back, and Persecute Some Other Groups....HUH?

I have never understood the desire to "do unto others as you have been done unto".  Ok, maybe I can sort of understand the whole payback thing, you know, you did something mean to me so now I'm going to do something mean to you.  No, that's not right, but I understand that part.  On an individual basis, of course.

So is it just human nature to generalize?  I mean, why do so many people in this world think its the right thing to be hateful to an entire group just because one or two people of that group have done something to them, or their group in the past?

I was reading an article that urges Christians to pray for the safety of other Christians who may be in Muslim-majority areas during the season of Ramadan.  Ok, I can get with the idea of being concerned for other people, I think that's great.  But that got me thinking about a lot of things.

First of all, although I may not personally agree with enforcing religion on people, I have to respect the idea that if I go to a different country where one religion is it, and that country has laws to uphold the observance of that religion, then I should be respectful of their practices, and also understand that if I were to blantantly disregard that country's laws, I would be punished.  No, it's not right, or humane, in my opinion.  That's why I stay right here, where my right to worship as I please is protected, for the time being that is (which will bring me to another point further down).

Point number two:  Many people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs since the beginning of time, whether they are Pagan, Christian, Muslim, Buddist, Jewish, etc.  So if Christians were fed to the Lions by the Romans, Christians burned witches at the stake and perpetrated "Holy Wars" against Muslims, Muslims perpetrate their own "Holy Wars", Jews were annihilated by the millions, and so on and so on, how exactly does it work to keep fighting each other?  I'm totally on board with the idea that we all need to protect ourselves, but at what point do these religious leaders take a minute and use the brains that their respective goddesses/gods gave them?  When do we all stop and say, hey, maybe I don't agree with what you believe in, but all this fighting and bickering for thousands of years has not gotten us anywhere?  Has any side of the religious debate truly been successful?  Do we all believe the same thing?  No, we don't.  And so what?  So why keep doing it?

My third point, how can a group be persecuted, then turn around and do it to other groups?  Its almost as if the mentality is "well since members of my group are being beaten, tortured and murdered, I'm just going to be hateful to other groups".  Where the hell is the logic in that?  Haven't they heard two wrongs don't make a right?  Somebody, somewhere in this world is going to disagree with you.  And you with them.  Not a problem.  But when you start shoving yourself into somebody else's life, that's crossing the line.  As an example, there is a group of people planning to wage "spriritual warfare" during the Samhain season this year, and they seem to think they can infiltrate the government and dictate how people of this country worship.  How is that any different than the way things work in the Middle East?  It's not, except the deity in question has a different name.

I realize that even though we generalize (as humans, we have some weird compulsion to group things and give them labels) not every single person believes exactly the same thing as someone else in the very same group.  And I truly think that's the way it should be.  So enjoy the fellowship with like-minded individuals, and identify with a group if you want.  But don't be a sheep.  Don't blindly follow along with hatred, just because that's what your group or leaders or whatever says that you should do.  Don't think in terms of "that's wrong", but in terms of "that's wrong because it will actually hurt another person".

Is this really so difficult?

That is all:)