Natural Order

Of course with most people here in the United States and with some across the world, the holiday season has came and went. Whether you celebrated Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or New Years, I'm pretty sure most of us participated in some type of festivities throughout the past month and a half where the most important occasions surrounded religious events.

I was raised Presbyterian but I have a substantial number of relatives on both of my parents sides who are Jehovah's Witnesses. For those who are not familiar with the Jehovah's Witness following, it is a denomination of Christianity that is non-Protestant. They are very strict in their following of the Bible and take it very literally. They have basically the same rules as most Christians with the exception that they do not celebrate holidays besides weddings, anniversaries, and baby showers, and people in their congregation who commit major sins get disfellowshiped (like excommunication in the Catholic church). They consider themselves the one and only true religion/people of God (they refer to themselves as being in "The Truth") and they are encouraged not to associate with "worldly" people. They are not allowed to visit churches and they refer to their place of worship as the Kingdom Hall. They are not allowed to except blood or be blood donors. They are not allowed to vote because they believe that people should not govern other people because only God is the true ruler.

Because my family is divided between the Protestants and the Jehovah's Witnesses, needless to say religion and religious debates are things that arise often in my family. Especially around the holidays.

With that said, I decided that it would be an opportune time to state my own personal beliefs. I have touched base on them before, but I would like to take this time to elaborate.

My Personal Spiritual Doctrine

As I have mentioned in a previous entry, I am non-religious but I am very spiritual. I have a very universal and objective approach to my personal spiritual beliefs. Before I continue this discussion any further, I first would like to clarify the difference between religion and spirituality.

Religion implies that you belong to an organized group of people who have shared spiritual beliefs and interest and who practice certain traditions. Religion emphasizes fellowship. Spirituality, on the other hand, basically implies the recognition of a higher power and an appreciation for religious values. Those who are religious are spiritual but not everyone who is spiritual are religious.

I am a person who is strongly against organized religion. Historically, there has been more blood shed over religion than any thing else including race. It is my opinion that religion is by far the most divisive aspect in life. As stated before, the most volatile countries tend to be the most fanatic about religion. For instance, the UK is majority atheist and they are not deemed as a volatile country. British police officers (or Bobby's as they are called) do not even carry guns. I am not supporting atheism by any means, however, there is striong evidence that suggests religion is just as segregating and violent as race...if not substantially more. Therefore, I just claim myself to be "A Lover of God"...and I do not claim any particular sect of Christianity or any other religion for that matter.

I believe that there is a higher power but that there is a "Natural Order" to everything. All the religious traditions, prophets, and whatnot are what I like to call cultural elements of spiritualism. In the greater scheme of things, they do not matter. Before I continue, I want to re-emphasize that I do believe in God. I am re-emphasizing this because many people assume that if you are not religious then you must be atheist or agnostic. That is so far from the case. If anything, I consider myself to be more spiritual than many of the religious people that I know. I feel a very strong connection to the man upstairs...and I also feel a very strong connection to humanity as a whole (I have God tattooed on my back). Many people may scruntinize me for saying this, but I really believe that the Bible is not a hardcore historical account of anything. I think that the Bible is wrought with "useful fairytales" that, like many great literary works, use symbolism to teach very meaningful lessons. The Bible is a great tool and a great book on how to live life right and create your own happiness but that doesn't mean it should be taknen in its literal sense nor does it mean that everything in it is an actual happening.

To elaborate, I want everyone to think of the game Telephone. The game Telephone teaches us that with a span of less than five minutes, words can get twisted and a completely different message can be delivered to each individual person. Now if that can happen within the span of five minutes and if the majority of people cannont acurately recount what happens day by day, then what makes people think that the Bible should be taken literally where the stories spans over 100s of translations and centuries of storytelling? They do not even have Black history right and that spans not much over three centuries. People often forget that the Bible was inspired by God but it was written by man. Men are not perfect, so nothing that is man-made is perfect.

I forgot where I heard about this or saw this information, but it is my understanding that someone took a Bible verse and read the translation of it in a bunch of different languages. As it turns out, the interpretation of the verse was different in each language. Furthermore, there are many books in the Bible that are unpublished. Why? Who knows. But I must say that even though many countries attempt to separate church and state, in many cases, religion and politics go hand and hand. Back in the day, religion was politics...and political power can be very very corrupt. Because this is a known fact(which much of religion is not), it behooves me as to why people rarely question the validity of religous works. At one point and time, the majority of the world believed in Juno and Zeus. Nowadays, we look at Greek and Roman mythology as entertainment and many of us believe that people who followed mythology were ridiculous. How do we know that we do not look just as foolish? Especially when you think of stories such as Noah's Ark, Joana and the Whale, and the Tower of Babel. How could Noah realistically fit two of every animal in an ark? Why didn't the lions eat the elephants and where the hell did all the animals go to the bathroom for 40 days and 40 nights? Did he put any fish on the boat because I find it hard to believe that the two blue whales would fit anywhere? Is it really feasible and pragmatic to believe that a man was eaten by a whale and survived? Or that people really decided to build a tower to heaven which is thought to be a place out of this world? Back in those days, Mary would have been stoned to death or accused of witchcraft if she went around claiming that she was impregnated by a holy spirit. And I highly doubt that Joseph just automatically accepted the fact that his girlfriend got knocked up by a ghost when he himself never had sex with her.

Once again, I'm not suggesting that people should run out and burn their Bibles. I'm just saying they should read it with objectivity and do not be afraid to question it's validity. The Bible has fables and fables are written to teach valuable lessons. I am using the Bible as an example because I was raised in Christianity. But much of my observations pertaining to the Bible holds true for other religious works. Do not look at the stories as actual historical events. Rather, look to it as a collection of useful symbols that can be applied to everyday life.

I also disagree with the religious notiong that "if you do wrong, you will go to hell and will not receive salvation." I disagree with this because I feel teaching this takes away the emphasis on the actual consequences of your actions. I think that people are less prone to respond to someone who says "Wait to have sex after marriage because it is not pleasing to God and you'll go to Hell." than if they were to preach realistically and say "Wait to have sex after marriage because your dick will fall off since you are taking a greater risk at contracting an STD." It is of my opinion that Hell exists within us. Religious values/rules are set because if we do not follow these rules, we make life harder for ourselves and end up creating and living our own Hell. Not just for ourselves, but for the generations to come. "Hell", "Salvation", are just symbols for "Bad Consequence" and "Happiness". Religion keeps people looking to live for Life after Death, but I feel that God wants us to be happy NOW. Why be concerned with Life after Death when we are living and breathing right now?

I have addressed the religious folk throughout this discussion, now I want to address the atheist and the agnostic. It is hard for me to believe that there is not God at all. Even those who believe in "Big Bang Theory" never address the fact that "Big Bang" could have been an act of God. Furthermore, just thinking the universe just appeared and is as intricate as it is, sounds just as ridiculous as believing that the Bible is a historic account of anything. To me, atheist and the agnostic must not really be observing the world they in...or they really lack appreciation for its intricacies. Everything in life is just too calculated and too precise for there not to be some greater higher force. If the world were tilted just a couple of degrees the wrong way, we all would go spinning into the Sun. If bees did not exist, we would have not flowers because they would have a harder time pollenating. Things like this just don't appear out of nowhere. If life has taught us nothing, it has taught us that to everything there is a creator. Even people themselves are products of their mothers and fathers. As precise and intricate life is, there has to be a creator. Who, what, and how many is a question that probably will never be answered. But there is definitely a creator.

I think people just need to live and practice the true meaning of FAITH. I don't go to church because I have faith that just by following my inner pendulum--my intution--my instinct, I will naturally follow the course that was meant for me. And if I do follow the rules, the likelihood of me makin life harder for myself is very slim. The Bible teaches us that generations do suffer from the sins of those that came before it, so if you are born into a hard life, I hope that you understand that the only way to get out is to follow the rules.

Life is complicated, it is your responsibility to make it work. I just don't think that people should try to make it work by being divisive and participating in things that blind us to seeing the good in each other. Religion gives us a liscense to make judgements, just like race, most of these judgements manifest themselves as pre-judgements. And prejudice is a very, very ugly thing. Prejudice is a symptom of faithlessness. It is a symptom of fear. After all, if someone wants to have sex before they are married, or steals and then gets arrested...what does that have to do with me especially when if I faith in my own convictions? Nothing. So it's just best to keep it movin and let things run their natural course.


Oh yea and just for kicks....

I think that if I ever do decide to hang a picture of Jesus up in my house, it's going to be a picture of a beautiful black man with a big ass afro wearing rags...similiar to a slave...I should have someone draw that.....lol.

Happy Belated New Year!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Belated New Year!

I am back in the Burgh...so if you are around make sure to get at me. I will posting a new entry sometime this week but no later than the weekend. I've been busy, busy, busy so....Stay Tuned!


GO RAVENS!!!