A post NOT about Jesus
I didn’t think I was going to have anything religion-related to say today, but then a friend suggested that maybe I should become the religion blog, because I’m not so much religious. Which is true, but I’m pretty sure that it would quickly become the “why I’m not a Christian” blog with brief odes in praise of nature-based and neo-pagan religions.
Maybe I should make it my goal to learn more about all religions so I can mock them all equally. Because that would be both educational and fun. I would love to go to grad school and study religions, sex & sexuality, gender roles and literature. I just haven’t found that program yet.
I was raised in the United Methodist church. My father was the minister (he’s retired now). That was fun! I love my dad so very much and think that if all Christians modeled themselves after him, this world would be a much better (if a lot more isolationist – I’m I’m not the only one in my family with issues) place. My mother, in addition to being a college professor, is a minister’s wife. I think she often took it more seriously than necessary, but I’ve never been a minister’s wife in a town of 100 people in
My mother’s family is made up of the Evangelical Covenant grandparents, the Mormon uncle (the leading black sheep until I grew up! ha! I win with my total rejection of ALL churches!), and various Baptists, Methodists, and the uncle who lives in
My father’s family is a very strange mix. His parents weren’t very religious, and I’ve never heard any of the rest of the family talk about religion, except for the one sister who is a Nazarene. I don’t know much about the Nazarenes, but they do seem a bit more uptight than I am comfortable with.
So – lots of Christianity growing up. But no Catholics…and we all know that Catholics aren’t really Christian, anyway (ha! I jest!), so that’s okay.
After I moved to LA, I tried to be Buddhist for a while, but it didn’t take. I kept falling asleep. I even gave Methodism another shot. Not so much. So, then I was a pagan for a few years. I loved it a lot, but could never really push myself over into the belief department. I had fun at the Sabbats, and loved the rituals and the beliefs and the green and the acceptance, and some of the people, but always felt a bit hypocritical. So, I stopped going. But, if I were going to suddenly find god(dess), I think that’s the direction I would go.
I’m not a true atheist, because I believe there’s something that I just haven’t found yet.
I think we’re all headed to the same destination on different paths.
I believe that loving other people as much as you can, and loving them more when you can’t is a good way to live.
I think that striving to never hurt anyone includes never hurting yourself. And that you should take care of yourself first, because that makes you more able to take care of others.
I think most modern Christians are really Paulists.
I believe that everyone needs to stop worrying so much about what other people are doing and concentrate on bettering themselves.
I think that any church that claims to be associated with Christ and then casts judgments on individuals or groups of people completely misses the point.
I feel more strongly about the institution of the Christian Church and my (perceived/real) problems with it and how it affects everything in this country – the environment, the right for everyone to marry, pro-choice and abortion legislation, the role of women in the home and in business, and how we view people who are different that ourselves – than almost anything else. These feelings are one of the biggest influences in my life and have contributed a great deal to shaping who I am today.
Christianity as a whole disgusts me and makes me angry.
I’ve met very few Christians that I don’t really, really like as people.
