I Just Don’t Do Religion
Posted by Deutlich on June 4th, 2009 | Filed under: UncategorizedI can understand why so many people are religious. Some are born into it, some choose it and overall there’s just a whole lot of people that are into it.
I’m not.
I have never been. Even since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I just didn’t “get it.” My brain is wired to receive facts. Cold hard facts. Things I can see, touch and hear with my own eyes, hands and ears. I lean towards the scientific approach to life, even when dealing with the little things and science is solidly impacted by mathematics. That’s probably why I did so well in both topics.
I could go on for years about why I don’t believe in religion and God but that’s not really what this is about.
I really admire the conviction of those dedicated to Jesus or Allah or whomever their deity is. I may not agree with it, just as much as they wouldn’t necessarily agree with my Atheism, but I have a lot of respect for it.
I guess to me it’s just a novel idea. And because it’s an idea shared by SO very many, it’s a bit of a touchy topic. I remember the days when people would wish me a “blessed day” or just say “God bless you” after a harty sneeze and I’d cringe in response. Somewhere between then and now, I realized that to them? That’s a big honkin’ deal. Their idea of God is what they have based their life around. To them, it’s the reason for being alive which stems from an underlying principle that God is behind everything in some fashion or another.
And if they’re wishing me such things, then to them it’s the ultimate compliment. It’s they’re way of letting me know that they really care.
It’s sweet, in all actuality. Even if it’s not my schtick.
It’s also why I can listen to quite a bit of Gospel and Christian music without falling over in shock. Sometimes it’s just nice to listen to people who have such incredibly strong principles.
I just wish that the lines weren’t constantly blurred and religious text wasn’t so skewed by humans. Frankly, I’d bet a whole lot of money that a whole lot of wars and mass slaughters would have been avoided that way. But then I always wonder how life would be today without the world’s history being as it is. I guess I believe the Butterfly Effect to have some truths to it. You can’t go fiddling with the past without the future turning out utterly different than it has.
But I still wish all the carnage could have been avoided. It especially sucks that it still happens to date.
June 4th, 2009 at 4:28 am
I am a ’spiritual’ person who believes in a higher power and the supernatural, but I really HATE religious fundamentalists and their constant need to shove their religion down everyone’s throat and convert the world.
Believe what you want, but don’t force your ideas on others. (Especially since so many religious nuts have such offensive and misguided beliefs on gays, abortion and evolution. Grrr!)
I like to steer clear of hating fundamentalists for how they feel. It can get annoying being preached to, but I have the novelty (if you will) of living in a country where I can just walk away from that line of conversation and move on about my business. And I find it curious how strongly each side can react to the other. I’ve had my fair share of rants about this or that. So I totally get it.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:13 am
For me, my faith in God came after a long, terrible struggle with depression. At first I didn’t want anything to do with God because I was under the impression that God was a judgemental right-winged extremist that hated everyone. But when I read the Bible for myself I found out that God is really full of grace and mercy, and that I didn’t have to jump through any proverbial hoops to make Him happy.
Although I don’t really like to go around preaching to people. I mean, I talk about my faith a lot in my blog, so I guess that could be my way of “evangelizing.” But I’m not the kind of guy that would force some one to convert. I just live my life as a representation of Christ the best way I can.
And yanno? That’s awesome that this is how religion has touched you.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Even though I don’t believe in anything, I believe religion is good for those who truly believe in it. I think it gives people hope, and even if I think it’s false hope, there’s nothing wrong with that.
I’m right there with you.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:26 am
I am an atheist and I don’t think anyone could change my mind, nor would I try to convince someone else to stop believing.
Ditto.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I only do God in country music.
I LOVE me some countray music.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:51 am
I grew up in the church. But then I outgrew the church. It wasn’t about facts or holy ghosts or tithes or sins…
It was the realization that I don’t believe that human life is just a wrinkle in time; that it’s just an audition for a later spiritual life such that my steps should be ordered to avoid one eternal place and aim to rest in another.
Overall, I like life, just as it is. It’s important unto itself and it shouldn’t be reduced to a mere stepping stone to something I don’t believe is guaranteed anyway. I don’t know what heaven or hell are. But I know what today is. It’s Thursday. And there are things to be done, today, right here on Earth.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. No, really. I couldn’t.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:54 am
I don’t think anyone would call me religious,since I don’t really go to church,read the bible,or pray all that much.But I do believe some sort of power is responsible for the way the world and universe is.There’s just too many things that happen,every day,to people all over the world,that can’t even be explained by science or math,and those are the things that make me wonder about this ‘higher’ force.But the bible is to me more of a story book,because it was written by man,so I wouldn’t take it all too literally,like a lot of ‘religious’ people do.
I think a lot of folks out there can relate to you
June 4th, 2009 at 7:05 am
Being raised roman catholic has pretty much soured me on all forms of religion. I just don’t buy it. To me it’s a lot of made up shit to allow people to hide from themselves and who they really are.
Yeah, I have some pretty fierce convictions about it too.
June 4th, 2009 at 7:09 am
I’m a pretty religious person myself. Always have been. But at the same time I respect other people’s beliefs and don’t assert/force mine onto others (I would hope they would do the same with me).
The way I look at it is religion is something that can be used for individual spiritual growth, comfort, or what have you. Or, humans can use it to manipulate others, be extremists and kill in the name of God.
It’s not religion per say that can do harm, it’s some people who use it to twist things around and do harm.
This is very true. And what my limited knowledge of the origins of most religions are is that they began as a tool to “control”. Back then, church and state were practically synonymous.
June 4th, 2009 at 7:11 am
i think if everyone respected everyone else and their religions the world could be a different place.
if people think i’m going to hell because my beliefs are different than theirs, then that’s what they believe. but don’t tell me how to live my effin’ life.
it’s amazing how people get sooooooo angry at others who don’t share their beliefs.
I agree WHOLEheartedly.
June 4th, 2009 at 7:55 am
I think if believing in God gives someone courage or comfort to get through their life then awesome. Me, I’m an atheist and I doubt much could change that now.
I AM envious of God’s set up though. I mean if something great happens, God gets the credit. If some awful tragedy happens, it isn’t God’s fault. In fact God’s with the victims and looking out for the families.
I want to know where I can get this kind of reputation.
I think my real problem with religion is its being used as an excuse for war and hate when it’s supposed to be about the opposite.
June 4th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I definitely grew up with my faith and can’t imagine my life without it. Not to say that I’ve never questioned it, but I’ve always come back. But, that said, I love learning about other religions and other perspectives of faith in general.
And, just to touch on the wars, etc. that have been blamed on religion, I can’t say that religion is innocent, but people are highly flawed. And I generally feel that if it wasn’t religion, they would have found some other excuse to carry out those deeds.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I’m with Penny in that there’s too much that happens “for a reason” for me to completely write off a higher force, orchestrating power or whatever you want to call it – but I don’t know what I think that universal force is. And honestly, I don’t like not knowing what I think about it…but being raised Southern Baptist has kind of left me gun-shy (God-shy?) and I can’t even think about it right now.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Its nice when you can talk about religion with someone without offending them… but that RARELY happens.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Great post.
I considered becoming an agnostic (which is different than atheism) after I realized that a church my family and I had spent many years in was really an occult.
But, the older I get, the more I see how key my faith is to my identity. I desperately wanted to grasp that all the wonderful things that have been created have no “greater purpose”, but I never did find that to be true. I saw too much evidence (even scientific –that I learned in college) that points back to God. And even through the fog of the faulty of man-driven religion I could still see the love of God. And that’s not something that I want to live without anymore.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I think it’s kinda sweet, the ocassional “god bless you” or “my prayers are with you” whether you’re religious or not. I just take it like they care about me.
It’s the overly preaching, constantly thanking god and quoting verses that I cant stand. Kinda like what Jeidi Montag do on twitter. Yikes.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:34 am
I don’t do religion either. I go to a church that accepts atheists and I am not even certain THAT works for me. Faith is scary to me. Really, really scary.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:04 am
i hear ya. i think you’ve read/know where i stand on this.. but i appreciate those little gestures from religious people even though it’s not my cup of tea. to step in their shoes and realize this is how they relate to life, people, and truly believe in all love and kindness is a compliment towards me.. or anyone they direct it to! i just try to practice tolerance in that way. i don’t think god can be proved NOR disproved.. so i will remain agnostic.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Love how you put this, especially the part about people saying “bless you” etc. and how they probably mean it as a compliment or nice gesture. I wonder how many awkward “religion” conversations might be fun instead of frustrating if we approached them this way?
Nicely done
June 4th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
i find “faith” and “religion” to be two very different things. i think faith can be a wonderful thing for a lot of people, that give them structure and meaning and an appreciation of the world and their lives.
i think religion often fosters a sense of other people being “outsiders” – and thus wrong – and can have the ability to rally people into doing some truly heinous things. i’m not so cool with the organized religion side of things.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I was raised Jewish and have always been, as I try to explain to people, more interested in “the morals of the story” that Judaism teaches than in believing that the stories truly happened. It feels, to me, like a religion that just teaches you to be a good person, and I’m down with that – reminders to be good to others, to myself, to the world. I don’t know what I believe truly exists in the beyond, or whatever, but I still call myself a Jew because I love the culture & appreciate the lessons. I don’t know if that makes me religious or spiritual or an engaged listener or what. But it’s working.
June 4th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
i’m down with G-O-D.
(yeah, you know me)
June 5th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I really, genuinely respect what you have to say. It seems christians are always getting slammed on by atheists, we get called dumb, and naive. It is amazing to have some respect, because I used to be an atheist. Actually, a year ago I was.
So, basically I just wanted to say thank you.
June 6th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I’m so with you on that one. I’m an atheist since I was born. It’s all what your family or environment imposes on you. There is no god. Nobody saw one, but they always talk how much they know about him/her/it. If so, let him reveal himself, I’m waiting. ‘God’ never says believe in me, it’s people who force other people to belive either in god, yahwe, allah, shiva, xulu, thousands of african and asian dieties… And it’s always connected to money and power and control. A world without religion would be a better one. Why live in delusions if you can live based on facts.