Do as thou wilt pt1

Today I want to talk about intolerance and ignorance. There is a great deal of it in the world and it comes from people around the world that follow many different religions. From what I have seen the biggest amount of intolerance comes from Christian and Islamic teachings.  I am not as familiar with Islam. So for now the discussion will primarily revolve around Christianity.

 

During the time that I was a Jehovah’s Witness, and indeed for several years afterwards, I spent many hours reading and cross-referencing passages in the Bible. I have read it from cover to cover and have a better memory of and understanding of it than most people that I have met and talked to.

 

There are Christians, a great many of them in fact, who believe that if you are not following the whole Book down to every last letter and detail that you are not a true follower of God and that you are going to end up in a not so pleasant place after you die. Most of those people have no idea what is in their Bible, at least not anymore than whatever their local preacher tells them on Sunday.

Don’t think that’s true? Click here to read on and see.

What would you do?

As part of my desire to make the world a better place I enjoy spending time finding others that are committed to the same things that I am. I love hearing and in some cases seeing their stories. Being able to imagine and sometimes actually see the impact that they have on others is pretty amazing.

 

Awhile back a friend sent me a link to Upworthy.com which is a website that is full of tons and tons of inspirational videos. I lost a couple of hours today going from video to video, alternatively laughing, crying and simply awed at different points, due to the many different real life stories people shared.

 

This one video showed how even the most open minded and fair among us still tend to be racially and even sexually prejudiced and biased. There was a young white man next to a bicycle that had been locked to a post. This man was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and wearing his ball cap backwards. He had all these different tools like a saw, and bolt cutters and things of that nature. He was very obviously attempting to cut the lock.

What happened during the rest of this social experiment? Click here to read on and see.

Terminology

Religion is somewhat of a touchy subject with many people.  Though I thought it might be good to point out where it is that I stand, especially since I have several posts talking about the personal power within a person to be a god and another about the universe providing.

 

Over the course of my life, I have studied many religions and in nearly every one of them there were good ideas and ideals and also things that I felt were lacking.  Most religion has an organized structure that tells people what is acceptable and what is not. The parts that explain how to be a good person I agree with and I love many of the stories that embody these morals.

 

I do believe that there are higher powers than man. For the most part I do not believe that they seek worship. I do my best to be a good person and to improve the lives of others around me. And that will have to be enough.

 

The main problem that I have with religion in general is, even though it may not be intended, people are taught that they are just victims, that they have no control over their lives. They are taught to forget about the bleakness and sadness of this life and to just soldier on.

Read the rest of my post on terminology here