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You may not want to read this if you are religious and easily offended.
What, exactly, is religion? Some people see it as a lifestyle, a set of values that govern their actions and thoughts. I personally think that it's a kind of security blanket, a way for people to feel confident that there is something beyond what they can perceive with their senses. I think people feel safer when they believe in God, in Heaven, in paradise after this life. It helps them deal with the underlying feeling that this is all there is. That's a scary thought, and I can completely understand why religion came to exist: as long as people can focus on building their faith in God or Allah or Yahweh to do what is right for the world, they don't have to worry. Pray every night, abide by the rules, and everything will be all right when you die. I definitely get why some- if not most- people need that kind of reassurance. I don't.
I'm not saying that to be tough or anything, and I'm not trying to put down anyone for their beliefs. A Mormon girl at the last Damento festival, Jenna, told me that she gave up her religion and rebelled against her church for two years, then realized that she felt displaced and tricked and that she really preferred the structure and rules of religion. That displaced, tricked feeling is how I know I would feel if I converted to any religion. I'm not wired like that. I understand that not everyone is like me in this, but I could never completely believe in anything like that. I would always wonder, what if I'm wrong? I couldn't live like that.
And I don't feel lost and alone in the world. I did, for a while, when I relied on other people for validation and happiness. Now I know that what I see as beauty, as pure truth, has nothing to do with prayers or scriptures or teachings. Truth cannot be passed down through generations and remain true, even if it was true at the beginning. What do I believe? I believe in the world. I believe in the butterfly, struggling from the cocoon. I believe in the inherent passion in everyone, that can accomplish great things if we only channel it in the right way. I believe in the "aha!" moment when my brain grasps an abstract concept using nothing more than potassium and sodium, moving across the cell membrane of neurons to stimulate my mind into making me understand. What on earth could be more amazing, more beautiful, more true?
I don't need to look to a higher power for happiness or fulfillment. I have it right here in front of me, around me, inside me. I see it. I hear it. I love it. I am it.
What, exactly, is religion? Some people see it as a lifestyle, a set of values that govern their actions and thoughts. I personally think that it's a kind of security blanket, a way for people to feel confident that there is something beyond what they can perceive with their senses. I think people feel safer when they believe in God, in Heaven, in paradise after this life. It helps them deal with the underlying feeling that this is all there is. That's a scary thought, and I can completely understand why religion came to exist: as long as people can focus on building their faith in God or Allah or Yahweh to do what is right for the world, they don't have to worry. Pray every night, abide by the rules, and everything will be all right when you die. I definitely get why some- if not most- people need that kind of reassurance. I don't.
I'm not saying that to be tough or anything, and I'm not trying to put down anyone for their beliefs. A Mormon girl at the last Damento festival, Jenna, told me that she gave up her religion and rebelled against her church for two years, then realized that she felt displaced and tricked and that she really preferred the structure and rules of religion. That displaced, tricked feeling is how I know I would feel if I converted to any religion. I'm not wired like that. I understand that not everyone is like me in this, but I could never completely believe in anything like that. I would always wonder, what if I'm wrong? I couldn't live like that.
And I don't feel lost and alone in the world. I did, for a while, when I relied on other people for validation and happiness. Now I know that what I see as beauty, as pure truth, has nothing to do with prayers or scriptures or teachings. Truth cannot be passed down through generations and remain true, even if it was true at the beginning. What do I believe? I believe in the world. I believe in the butterfly, struggling from the cocoon. I believe in the inherent passion in everyone, that can accomplish great things if we only channel it in the right way. I believe in the "aha!" moment when my brain grasps an abstract concept using nothing more than potassium and sodium, moving across the cell membrane of neurons to stimulate my mind into making me understand. What on earth could be more amazing, more beautiful, more true?
I don't need to look to a higher power for happiness or fulfillment. I have it right here in front of me, around me, inside me. I see it. I hear it. I love it. I am it.
