Religion, a debt repaid, no longer needed

I remember a time long ago, when I used to believe fervently in Christianity, that somewhere in this book called the bible, was direction and purpose for my life, a sense of guidance as to what was right, and what was wrong. Now I have found that religion false, betrayed by man, our own ego and hubris leading to one of the most beautiful concepts ever designed to fall to waste. Religion in itself is not necessarily evil, but it is when man decides that he needs to interpret the words of 'God' for others to hear, that the truth of a religion falls to the wayside.

I believe in God, or at least, the concept of one, but I can't believe in any of the religions currently championed by the various peoples of this earth. A god to me, would not be something I'd have to read about, go to a building to worship, or involve intricate ceremonies to earn its favor. God should be deeply personal, something that guides a human being through his path of life, keeping him on the straight and narrow, providing a source of spiritual fulfillment. It is his own personal thing, not one he needs to declare to the world, his own covenant with his deity. What goes on between a man and his God should be private, and religion is the opposite of that. Religion is about sharing and converting those that are too weak to stick to their own beliefs in their own personal God, to rope them in like so many cattle, to raise a banner to your perception of God. In other words, its basically a huge exercise in boosting your already incredibly inflated ego.

I will not say that religion has done nothing for mankind, I personally believe that religion has allowed for the existence of the very society in which we now live. Without the rules,laws and basic tenets of what religion teaches us, a society would never arise from the nomadic tribes that first served as our only forms of human interaction. But in todays day and age, I personally feel that religion has outlived its usefulness. Society will not degrade any further if religion were allowed to vanish, the basic principles of humanity that it preaches would keep society flourishing. It is no longer an alien concept to not commit murder, adultery, lie, cheat or steal, we now have the law and the legal system to uphold that. (The effectiveness and overall abuse of this system will be discussed on another post, lest I get sidetracked)

If man is at all intelligent, surely he can see that the world would be a better place without religion. Wars may have been started over concepts of nationality, or women, or diplomatic FUBAR's, but most are started by religion. When you give the personal beliefs of a man a 'face', you give others a target for them to attack, bring down, and destroy. And while a man may fight bravely for country and loved ones, he will die for his own personal beliefs. Religion divides the world into a small list of 'faces', and we all suffer for it. Religious conflict will always endure, simply because religion by itself, breeds conflict. When your religion declares all others false, by and large you open yourself up to differences of opinion, and when those are inevitably doomed to fail in any forms of peaceful debate, we end up with one of the numerous numbers of wars that have plagued mankind for centuries.

When I was a Christian, I found the concept of different subtypes of Christianity amusing, yet completely and utterly idiotic. When you are at odds with 2/3rds of the Earth's population, having your own little cliques with which to start internally squabbling with each other over minor technicalities and grabs for power... it all seems like the actions of some demented children in a playground. Even some of the most lenient religions in the world, such as Buddhism, preach tolerance, not acceptance. 'Tolerance' is an interesting word, it basically means that, while others beliefs may not be true, and while yours is right, leaving them alone with their ignorance is the right thing to do. The sticking point of religion for me, is the arrogance that permeates most, if not all of them.

Man is the supreme ruler of the planet, given to us by our God

Being reincarnated as a man is one of the highest forms one can attain

Our religion is always right, other people are wrong, and we shall either kill them, convert them, laugh at them, or ignore them, sometimes using a mixture of the aforementioned choices

We are the chosen race among all the others on earth, we are superior to the others of our ilk, because we are the chosen ones

Only those that believe will go to heaven, all others have a space reserved for them in hell.

Religion is so arrogant that never once has it been said that perhaps someone else might have gotten it right! Acceptance is the order of the day, I believe that while my own covenant with god serves my spiritual purpose, others may have gotten it more right than I do, perhaps having a firmer connection spiritually, I accept their own beliefs, never once believing that, even as I write this post, I might be 100% right in what I am doing, after all, I am but human, and we are far from perfect.

At what point in time, did our race fall into such a huge ego trap? Religion works by making you feel special, stroking your ego, making you out to be a part of something special, promising you rewards if you believe, punishment if you don't. If my creator preached love and compassion, but was unmoving in his judgment of people who did not believe, I would spit in his face, upon the moment he decides I should suffer for all eternity in a sadistic realm of his own making. If Christianity is to be believed, God should be crying and feeling awfully sorry for you, even while he condemns your soul to hell. A loving God my ass, no God full of compassion would use the carrot and the stick method, same as no God full of compassion would ever make a world of suffering, then have a thousand and one excuses as to why the world is such.

I believe the world is where it is right now due to religion, for better or for worse, but I also believe that the world no longer needs religion, if we can transcend race, country and politics, can't we also not achieve a greater union by transcending religion? The day when everyone tears down the mosques, the churches, the temples, decides to ignore the lies of the few trying to control the masses, learn for themselves how wrong the very idea concept of religion is, a war-starting, race dividing concept that has shackled down humanity for the ages....

But of course, that day will be long in coming, as the few with clarity of vision are swept aside by the tide of mindless sheep, bleating all the way to the chopping block, their eyes only focused on the promise of endless land of grass, sun and lack of predators awaiting them. It's time for them to wake up from their idealized vision of the world. This is the only shot we get at existence, at life, make the most of it, don't be shackled down by religion, live life the way you want to, live life for the sake of living life, not to earn brownie points for a ticket to heaven, or a harem full of virgins, or to be reborn into one of the higher lifeforms. Thou shalt live life. That is all, the only fucking commandment we need.

Introspection,,, with a Lah!

Its quite strange how things can change in a year, looking back at past choices, past decisions, this time without regret, just a calm knowledge that you're smarter for it. Smarter in choices of friends, choices of actions, choices of attitudes.

Who would guess last year that right now I'd be sitting next to Vong, happily enjoying a game of Catan or D&D? He was the one person I never got along with last year, (I'm man enough to admit the main reason, perhaps the only reason, being that he stood a far better chance of getting together with Xin Yu then I ever did, funny thing is he never did, neither did I, and we can look back on that and laugh) Well, I can, I still don't know him well enough, so I can't say he harbors some grudge, I know I would, and it's quite humbling that he's still willing to be the better man.

Or maybe it just shows how immature I was last year, that my actions were of small note to him, and easily forgiven, perhaps even inconsequential. New friends were made, and instead of playing dota, I play board games, the only constant being that me and Luxian are still fast friends. I don't really know how I would imagine life without him, in a totally non gay way ;). It's just... normalcy, even the kitchen people in IH picked up that we were thick as thieves, yet its funny how I disliked him at the start of last year.

I must admit I do have abit of a inferiority complex towards Luxian and Vong, Luxian because he is everything I want to be, good at sports and talented at music, while being a nice guy, something I have to try very hard to be at times, and Vong is perhaps an improved version of me. A better artist by far, more charismatic than I am, more wise. It's very frightening I suppose, when someone is effortlessly better than you at something you pride yourself at, its sometimes a struggle not to feel threatened by his continued presence, yet our discussions are something I now take great pleasure in. Vong if you do ever read this, (lord knows I hope you don't), just want you to know I do respect you, and hope I have at least reached your level of maturity when I'm that old ;) jokes)

Luxian said something that amused me very greatly the other night, that he had an inferiority complex with me, he said he wished he was as "wise" as I was, haha.... after my actions last year, how could I ever be mistaken for as wise? I can theologise and spout crap out my mouth with the best of them, but wise... heh... my char has wisdom 18! I do admit I feel far more comfortable now though, having moved out of IH has given me the space I need, while still giving me the freedom to go back and socialise, truly the best of both worlds.

On a lighter note, I recently went to see Coheed and Cambria live, they were fucking awesome. So awesome I shall now call them CFC, Coheed Fuckin Cambria. Not only is Claudio's hair the biggest thing I have ever seen on a person's head, he can play the guitar so smoothly :], and it's an awesome experience when you see fans singing along with the band, and the band allowing them to sing key parts for them. The Pink Floyd'esque guitar battle on the Camper Velorium IV, the 7 minute drum solo that followed, then slipping right back into the ending, it was beautiful. Coheed Fuckin Cambria, I'd see you live again, anytime anywhere. Best part about unpopular unknown bands is that concert tickets are so cheap. 50 dollars for good seats as opposed to 150 for nosebleeds at a more popular artistes concert. heh, no contest... anyways, till next time... ciaozor