Religion Rant
I want to start off by saying that this entry is completely unrelated to either stitching or my weight loss journey. This is a complete rant about organized religion. So, if you feel a rant about religion might offend you, then I suggest you not read any further and come back tomorrow when I will return to my regular blogging conent.
[rant]
I completely understand that the vast majority of people in the United States, and North America as a whole, believe in the christian God, but not everyone else in the world shares that belief. It simply irritates me to NO end that so many people think their God is the “one true and living God” and, thusly, everyone else in the world who happens to believe something else is clearly wrong. 
I was raised in an extremely conservative fundamental christian home in the south. Not only did they believe the christian God was the only true God, they also happened to believe their particular denomination was the ONLY true church and anyone not a part of their denomination was doomed to eternal hell. My whole church experience as a child and young adult was more about doing things out of a fear of hell than it ever was about doing something for a love for God.
I did not happen to share the belief of my parents regarding the belief that the denomination they attended was the “only true church”. After I became an adult, I attended a christian university run by the denomination in which I was raised. While there, I spent a great deal of time studying the Bible. Unfortunately, I also spent a lot of time partying and lost my scholarship due to poor grades. Ooops! 
At the same time, I also ventured out and attended the services of other denominations. I studied other world religions. Naturally, all of this spiritual exploration resulted in many heated discussions with my parents about religion. Their usual argument was the church I grew up attending was the “right” church! My usual argument was that if they had been born anywhere else in the world other than the US, they would believe the prevailing religion of that area was the only true faith. Each “brand” of faith (i.e. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc.), for the most part, all tend to believe theirs is the one that is correct.
Quite frankly, this belief that one faith is “right” and another is “wrong” is what drove me away from organized religion. It just seems to me that if God is so loving, then why does religion and belief in one deity over another, especially when the traits of the deity are so similar, drive people apart? This is even to the extreme of death in some religions if one chooses to leave the group.
Sorry, but this subject just drives me batty! Why can’t people just coexist and get along without insisting everyone else in the world must believe exactly as they do?! 
[/rant]
Ahhh, I feel better now. 
March 13th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I can never understand why people get so uptight about other people’s religions. What does it matter what other people believe if it works for them and gives them comfort? I can’t imagine that any “supreme being” could really get behind the idea of “one true religion” to the point of intolerance.
March 14th, 2008 at 3:43 am
I agree completely Melissa. It’s a crazy world we live in!
March 14th, 2008 at 6:32 am
A belief which leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a superstition.
—Jose Bergamin
March 14th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Alrighty then!
March 14th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
And that’s a big part of why I switched from the Baptist to the Methodist denomination. Yes, I’m a Christian, but I believe that a big part of my beliefs come from how I was raised and my own personal experiences. I often wonder what I would believe if I’d grown up somewhere else where the common beliefs were different. I think, really, that each person’s spiritual journey is their own. Who am I to say that someone else’s personal experiences and faith are less valid than mine? I have a real problem with the idea of a specific religion or belief, whatever it might be, being forced upon anyone.
March 15th, 2008 at 9:53 am
For all that I’m a somewhat practicing Catholic, my personal belief is that the Divine is too immense for humans to comprehend fully, and that each religion has a piece of the Truth, but not the whole Truth.
That’s when I believe that there is anything out there at all. I have many, many moments of unbelief and questioning.
Good post!
March 18th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Though God is loving, I’m sure He would rather people believe in how He truly is than believing in someone completely unlike Him. When you read the next paragraphs, remember I’m not saying who has a completely true picture of God, I’m just arguing that if there is a God, He’s Someone and not Anyone.
It would be like if you had a child, and you overheard your child telling his friend, “Gosh, I sure do love my mom. She is just great! I’m always so thankful for the way she makes my bed every morning. And I really love her beautiful blonde hair, and her blue eyes just sparkle. Maybe I’ll make her some pound cake as a thank-you!”
This would really warm your heart…unless you were a brown-eyed brunette. In that case, you might think, “Gee, I’m glad my kid is grateful for the things I do for him, but it’s like he doesn’t even know me! And I hate pound cake!” :lol Hence, unless we have a picture of who God really is, the things we do “for Him” won’t be as pleasing if they’re things He doesn’t actually like! (I think we can all agree that serial murderers who use the excuse “God told me to do it” aren’t doing God’s will, though they may *believe* they are with all their hearts. And no…I’m not implying that someone who doesn’t worship a particular god is the same as a serial murderer.) I’m just saying if you believe in God, you should do everything in your power to discover exactly Who He is!
OK, down off the soapbox now.
And, BTW, there actually aren’t a lot of religions aside from Christianity that say they are the “only” way to go. Hinduism certainly doesn’t. (Any polytheistic religion inherently embraces the idea of multiple gods.) Muslims say that they worship the same God as Christians, though we might argue on the basis of my blonde/brunette example above that they don’t “look” like they’re the same God. But that’s another argument for another time. 
I’m with Kris on God being too big for us to completely comprehend! But you should never stop seeking more information about Him. And if it doesn’t fit with what you know about Him, throw it out!
