The really great thing about not needing a god is that I get to make my own philosophies. It's too easy to just grab someone else's ideals and run with them. Most people just don't have that creativity or the time to come up with their own beliefs. Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, these are all the spiritual equivalent of McDonalds, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. They're quick; they're easy and damn near everybody's heard of them. The problem is that they all started out as an idea in someone else's head and now they're just a bunch of franchises. "Can I get a Big Mac and side of Jesus-on-a-cross and a large orange drink?"...did you want fries with that?
I'm really not trying to bash the people who believe in these things. I know a lot of people that would be dead in the ground if the hadn't "Found God". If you can't rely on self motivation maybe the idea of something all-powerful watching over your shoulder is exactly what the doctor ordered. I used to be completely against the church. I thought it was all a big brainwash and anybody who fell for it was a moron. I would try and talk people out of their beliefs. I reallized though that these people were just trying to help me in the only way that they knew. I would condemn them for trying to push their 'hokey' views on me. I had no right and more importantly, I reallized that I was doing the same thing that I accused them of doing. Now days, I can sit and talk with just about anyone (except the really fanatical ones) about their god. We may not always agree but unless what they're doing is actually hurting me or someone else why should I try and turn them from what gives they're life purpose. And who knows, maybe I might learn something new.
The ideas themselves are good but I think over the years they've been warped and twisted to meet the needs of some schmoe who wanted to try and control people and just couldn't come up with an original thought on his own. If you read the teachings, they all pretty much tell you the same thing, be good. Most people get so caught up in who's right and who's wrong that they miss the point completely. It's about being a good and decent human being. I don't need someone to tell me that if I give up this habit or that conviction that I'll be a better person, that's not how I work. It's useful of course, how could I possible understand how it feels for someone else to be starving or heartbroken without at least tasting what the pain feels like first hand. And by that same token, how could I hope to understand another person's joy's and triumphs without having a few of my own.
I'm stepping down from my soapbox now.
I'm really not trying to bash the people who believe in these things. I know a lot of people that would be dead in the ground if the hadn't "Found God". If you can't rely on self motivation maybe the idea of something all-powerful watching over your shoulder is exactly what the doctor ordered. I used to be completely against the church. I thought it was all a big brainwash and anybody who fell for it was a moron. I would try and talk people out of their beliefs. I reallized though that these people were just trying to help me in the only way that they knew. I would condemn them for trying to push their 'hokey' views on me. I had no right and more importantly, I reallized that I was doing the same thing that I accused them of doing. Now days, I can sit and talk with just about anyone (except the really fanatical ones) about their god. We may not always agree but unless what they're doing is actually hurting me or someone else why should I try and turn them from what gives they're life purpose. And who knows, maybe I might learn something new.
The ideas themselves are good but I think over the years they've been warped and twisted to meet the needs of some schmoe who wanted to try and control people and just couldn't come up with an original thought on his own. If you read the teachings, they all pretty much tell you the same thing, be good. Most people get so caught up in who's right and who's wrong that they miss the point completely. It's about being a good and decent human being. I don't need someone to tell me that if I give up this habit or that conviction that I'll be a better person, that's not how I work. It's useful of course, how could I possible understand how it feels for someone else to be starving or heartbroken without at least tasting what the pain feels like first hand. And by that same token, how could I hope to understand another person's joy's and triumphs without having a few of my own.
I'm stepping down from my soapbox now.
i tell that joke all the time!
no one thinks it's as funny as i do, tho.