More terror in "his" name.

Most of you who know me know where I stand on issues of religion. It's no secret that I am squarely in the agnostic camp. This could change, but as of me writing this post I have seen nothing to make me believe otherwise.

This is why terrorists who kill, rob, and maim in the name of their god -or whatever-terrify me so much. You would think that if one embraces a religious doctrine they would spend their life trying to make sure that they spend eternity in whatever afterlife their religion has to offer. Instead, folks like these fanatics who shot up the beautiful city of Paris today seem to spend their time trying to take out innocent people who do not buy into their religious dogma.

We are now, of course, worried about similar attacks taking place here in America. All it takes is one psycho who spends his days watching as much Isis videos as he does ESPN to decide to go on a killing spree. It's not like we don't have enough crazy mass killers in America as it is. Throw in religion and you have a recipe for disaster.

Speaking of terrorists, the terrorists or terrorist who bombed the NAACP offices in Colorado are still on the loose, and this will not get as much play as it should in the media because no lives were lost.

But it should. Whether you want to terrorize someone because of his religion or the color of his skin, you are still a terrorist, and society should deal with you accordingly.

I won't get into Juan Cole style comparisons between Christians and Muslims when it comes to killing and creating terror, because that is not the point of this post.

If you are going to storm the office of a magazine and kill a bunch of people in there because you don't like what they say about your god, you just might need to reserve some quiet time with said god.

If you are going to try a blow up an office of people who don't look like you because of the color of their skin, you, in my humble opinion, are no different than the animals who killed those poor people in Paris, today.

Whether you attack a satirical magazine because you don't like what they have to say about your god, or you attack an organization because it advances the agenda of people you don't view as equals, you deserve to be given the swift hand of justice.

Some would argue that religion helps to create order in a civilized society, and that because most religions teach us to follow a strict moral code,  it makes us all better people in the long run. They also argue that debating whether there is or isn't a god misses the point, entirely.

I could get into more details and argue why this isn't necessarily so, but I believe that the events over the past few days have made my argument for me. 





     

"faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

I have this theory about religion: It's always easier to come to it, than to grow up with it. Having the dogmas from a particular religion passed down to you by your parents is not cool, and it more often or not leads to a sort of acceptance of religion as nothing more than some sort of ritualistic tradition. It's why us PK's (preacher's kids) tend to be the most spiritually bankrupt at times. And it's why we often struggle with the concept of faith and spirituality.

Which leads me to the "O" man (what am I going to do when you are gone?). The most recent Newsweek Magazine on the news stands, has an entire feature on the "O" man's faith and his religion. The article starts off by talking about the fact that at 20 years old, the "O" man was searching for the meaning of life. Now that should have told folks right then and there that the guy was destined for greatness. (Hell at 20 years old most of us were chasing the opposite sex (or the same sex if you are so inclined and just trying to have a good time.) According to the article, the "O" man was reading folks like Nietzche, Graham Greene, and Saint Augustine, to try and find the meaning of life. Wow!

The "O" man, as a youngster, was confused about religion, and who could blame him. Unlike most Christians who grew up in "traditional" environments when it comes to religion, the "O" man was born of a Christian mother who became secular, and a Muslim father who became an atheist. To me, this made his search for religions enlightenment all that more intriguing.

It's why this whole Trinity Baptist thing looks so suspect to so many people sometimes. Did the "O" man join Trinity only for political reasons and to make the right political connections? Or did he really have a spiritual conversion and felt moved to become a member of that church after some serious soul searching? And If he could take back Rev. Wright baptizing him, would he? (Okay I just threw that question in there)

In the Newsweek interview the "O" man opened up about what he believes about g.. [God], prayer, and about the connection between salvation and personal responsibility. Now I would never question a man's faith, or lack thereof, but these days faith and love of g.. [God] seems to be a central theme in the "O" man's campaign. We can only hope that his faith will lead us in the right direction if he is elected President. And the way the country is going, if he does become POTUS, he is going to need plenty of it, faith.

The "O" man told Newsweek that "he prays everyday in his personal life" and that he prays for forgiveness for all of his "flaws". Now that I like. A man who prays to try and help himself and not for selfish reasons. He said he prayed after he met his wife, and when he decided to run for President of these divided states. Those were both probably the biggest decisions of his life, so if you believe him, you have got to believe that prayer is high on his list of priorities. He said he "travels with his bible" , and he reads it during the evenings. He also said in the interview that it takes him out of the "immediacy" of his day and gives him time to reflect.....Okay, cool with me, as long as he doesn't "reflect" too long. He has a country to run, the "immediacy" is pretty damn important when so much is on the table. That was the frat boy's problem; taking too much damn time to reflect, (Every time I saw the son of a bitch he was either in church or on vacation on that ranch of his) and you see where that got us. I guess g..[God] doesn't like him too much. Maybe it has something to do with all those dead Iraqi children.

Speaking of children; the "O" man says he doesn't impose his faith on his children, and that he tried to let faith tap into what's already there. He, in essence, said that he wants his children to come to religion through their own intellectual curiosity. I suppose kind of like he did. And that's a good thing.

Just think if all the preachers out there had approached parenting on religion like the "O" man. I know one thing, if they did, we wouldn't have all these messed up PK's running around out here. :)

My religion post.

I have a confession to make (although folks who are regulars to this blog probably already know this) I am what Bill O-lie-ly calls a "secular progressive". I don't particularly like religion, and I have never been able to figure out what all the fuss was about.

It just bothers me that people who get up and go to church every Sunday morning to sing, pray, and give ten percent of their pay check to the offering plate, would have a heart attack if their son or daughter brought a mate home from a different race. In spite of what the Constitution says, A-merry-cans have always used their religion to try and regulate the behavior of others, and not for their own personal salvation. I have some fundamental issues with that.

I have, for instance, never been able to figure out how we want to put someone to death for raping a little girl. Yet we treat the leader of a church that turns a blind eye while its priests molests little boys like a fucking rock star. I still can't figure out why some people who claim to be really religious love their guns so much. I guess it's all a part of that eye for an eye thing. Still, it seems a little oxymoronic no? And why is it that the most fucked up neighborhoods here in my hometown has a church on every corner? Is it another case of what came first, the chicken or the egg? I am not so sure. And how can a bunch of wackos fly airplanes into buildings, and kill thousands of innocent people, all because they think that when it's over they can have their pick of virgins in paradise? Now if that's not some twisted shit I don't know what is. But hey, that's religion for you, it can be so complicated.

I say that,---it's complicated, because some good things can come from religion as well. If it wasn't for religion, for instance, we probably wouldn't have had a civil rights movement in this country. Some of our great leaders came out of the church. The church can build character and self confidence. It can be an incubator for really wonderful human beings. Some of our great musicians came out of the church, and some of the great modern philosophers and political scientist based their philosophy on religious principles. In a way I am like an ungrateful child, because if it wasn't for the church my family would not have enjoyed some of the comforts that we did.

So all this leaves me angry and frustrated. Angry because I see all the potentially good things that those who are supposed to be selling us religion are throwing away. Religion is not doing what it is supposed to. In fact, in many cases it is having an opposite effect. And I am frustrated because I have never been able to come to grips with just what the hell makes us tick. What is this religion thing all about? When we die, where will we go?

But at the end of the day all I ask for is tolerance. I am willing to make a pact with the religious among us. I will be tolerant of your beliefs no matter what they are, if you will promise to be tolerant of my non-beliefs; at least until I can figure this thing out.

I just hope it won't be too late :)