Thinking Out Loud Redux Episode Two: Religious Beliefs: Why They’re Great For Some, Why They’re Awful for Others, and Why None of that Matters.
Hey every one! Welcome back to the new and improved Thinking Out Loud blog. This one may get a little bit controversial, and for my traditionally religious readers, you may disagree with me quite a bit throughout this particular entry. Hang tight, though, because this could open up a lot of dialogue (both outward and inward) about why some of us choose to follow the tenants of a particular religion to begin with, whether or not our individual faith in a higher power does us and those around us more harm than good or visa versa, and how all of this may or may not begin the trip down the rabbit hole that you so desperately need. I’m not banking on that last one, but who knows?
Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking for a long while about the merits of one’s religious faith and what role each person’s religious beliefs actually play in shaping their morals, influencing the way in which they see the world, and, most importantly, influencing how they interact with the people they encounter throughout their life time.
It’s from this line of thinking that these difficult questions came to mind, and they’re questions that I implore each of you to ask yourselves:
Are various portions (or the whole) of my religious beliefs encouraging my growth as a loving individual, or are they hindering me from loving various individuals both within and outside my faith base?
Are these beliefs blinding me to the reality of the situations I find myself in day in and day out, blinding me to the reality that those around me find themselves in, and blinding me to reality as a whole, or are they helping me face reality through a lens that is honest about the true nature of things?
Are my beliefs helping me face and improve reality on both small and wide scales, or are they simply “improving” my own experience, and the experiences of those like me, by placing me in a mental fantasy that denies the truth in favor of fables and self help practices (both successful and unsuccessful) that I project onto a higher power?
Are my beliefs actually helping the world in tangible, measurable, ways or are they just making feel good and a part of the “in” crowd?
Are the limitations and rules dictated by my particular brand of religion actually working to free me or are they nothing more than holiness codes designed to make me feel “righteous” and “godly”, all the while restricting me from various actions and beliefs that aren’t inherently bad and sometimes vital to my human experience?
Now that’s A LOT to ask yourself, and if you think long enough on these things you may send yourself into an existential crisis (in this case, maybe not such a bad thing, depending on the various beliefs you carry and how they’re affecting you as a person), but I implore you to ask them to yourselves honestly, and to ask the same questions about those around you.
Now let me make this personal for a second, and show you where these questions have lead me. I don’t need your prayers, me and God are as tight as we’ve ever been.
My general beliefs summed up in a few sentences:
I believe in God. I believe that God is like Jesus, recorded in the gospels, and that he’s pretty much the best role model I could ever follow. I think the Bible as a whole is cool to study, that it’s a pretty great examination of both great ideas, awful ideas, beneficial beliefs, incredibly hurtful beliefs, what I hope to be the most accurate depiction of God and what I hope to be some of the most inaccurate depictions of God.
I don’t, however, believe that the Bible is perfect, nor that it all lines up to be this nifty little guide book for 21st Century human beings to follow in order to be right with the divine. I believe that it’s an entirely human book that God is more than capable of speaking through, but often to say “that’s not me, don’t you dare believe that about me, please.” I don’t believe in any post humous reality where those who don’t happen to accept the absurdity of God (and, even as a believer, I can admit that the idea can be quite absurd) in a very specific context, with a very specific name, and adapt a very specific lifestyle end up in a fiery concentration camp or wiped out of existence for all for all of eternity.
I believe in science. I believe that the world is billions of years old, spherical, and that all life on this planet has evolved over billions of years and continues to evolve.
I curse like a sailor in mixed company, love alcohol, smoke a pipe, and think the LGBTQ+ community is the bees knees.
I’m pretty much a mixed bag, but I’m happy and I’m treating myself and others better than I ever did as a textbook Christian. I’m honest with myself for the first time in my life, and it’s great, but it all started with me asking questions just like the ones above.
And that’s just my story! I escaped religion and managed to find God and happiness, but some people don’t leave it at all and manage to be way better of a person than I am. Some people leave religion and God behind altogether and it’s the best thing that ever happened to them. A lot of those people, those who become atheists and agnostics? They’re way more Christ-like than me and countless other religious people will ever be. That’s really freaking cool, and entirely okay. I believe God loves all of these people equally.
I’ve determined that it doesn’t matter what you believe, if you’re happy, are on the path to becoming the best version of yourself that you have ever been, and are out there loving others and yourself honestly and genuinely, then you’re doing it right. You think religion is the bane of the human condition? Great! You think Jesus is the son of God? Awesome! Think the world is flat? Alright! Just go love people, whenever the opportunity to do so presents itself. Doesn’t matter if your motivations are “divine” or “human”, just go do the damn thing and make the world a better place.
That’s why trying to convert people to my specific religious beliefs has become so pointless to me. I don’t care what you believe, I care about how you’re treating people and yourself, and what kind of impact you’re having on the world around you. The world, here and now. Everything that happens after this life is just speculation at best, and any person who claims to be certain of what comes next cannot be taken seriously. We’d like to be certain, we’d like to have finite answers about the life to come, but we don’t. We have theories and speculations. Some likely, some unlikely, some great, some awful, but all of these things cannot be verified in the here and now.
So focus on now, and understand that not everyone’s story is going to be the same as yours. Understand that not everyone has to conform to your version of the religion that you claim in order to be “saved, moral, holy, “Godly”, etc” and that the beliefs of others about the divine, God, Jesus, Allah, etc, could be just as valid (if not more valid) than your own.
Focus on uniting as human beings, not as Christians, Muslims, Atheists, etc, to love people at every turn. Don’t worry about whether these people uphold the same holiness codes that you do, that’s not important at all. Just get out there together and love people in tangible ways. Make people smile. Improve people’s day. Feed the poor, take care of the sick, give out absurd amounts of hugs. Show people you care. Do it for Jesus, do it for the greater good of the human race, do it for yourself, hell, do it for the flying spaghetti monster. Your motivation isn’t important. Your actions and your heart are.
Don’t let beliefs about the spiritual nature of this world and the next divide us.
If your religious beliefs lead you to do all of this, hold tight to them. If they get in the way of you accomplishing all of this? Start cutting them out until they no longer do so, even if that means abandoning your faith all together.
Ask yourself the questions I posed earlier. Every person’s answers will be different, and if your honest with those answers, you’ll be setting yourself on a better path.
Just go out there and love. Be kind at all costs. Abide and such.
But take all of this as you will. I’m just thinking out loud.
