The Wee Democracy

let's piss people off today

in the past i've more or less avoided any talk about religion, except for maybe back in february when i dissected my admittedly temporary amazement of the passion of the christ. once is enough for that violent-ass movie. (incidently, did you know kevin smith is planning on calling his clerks sequel "the passion of the clerks"? does anyone else find this to be a monumentally bad idea? speak up). and i know it seems odd that one day after i threaten what seems to be the vast majority of dallas public with bodily harm, i'd be talking about religion, but such is life.

i guess it began at the end of a train of thought while i was on the way to work yesterday. i live in a particularly spiritual and church-laden part of town, where people dress fashionably to go to church, pageworn bibles in tow, and will NOT be late or absent for just about any reason, even acts of god himself. again, i must point out the irony of the fact that there is a church on just about every block, and that i'd conservatively estimate about a 80% attendance rate among the folks around here at at least one of those churches, and yet, this is probably a comparable criminal element as well. it seems some folks want to have their cake and eat it to.

but this is all beside the point. i was going to explain a few of my particular beliefs, not as a method of conversion for all you heathens out there (and you know who you are) but more just so you can get to know what kind of things i believe in besides batman and civil rights for everybody.

first of all, i don't think christianity is the "right" religion. i believe salma hayek was right in 'dogma' when she said "no denomination's nailed it yet". but it's the one i've been exposed to more than others, so i'll admit a bias in my thinking, and that alot of my beliefe structure involves a reaction to what i've been taught.

i think jesus was a real person who had real passion and lived his life according to said passion, but i can't say for sure that he was the son of god. what i can say is that if half the stuff written about the way he lived his life is true, then he's the kind of person i'd like to emulate, yet would be kidding myself if i said i was even playing the same sport, let alone in the same league as that dude. infinite patience, love and understanding. sounds pretty good to me.

i have a friend, bryan, who is very christian-minded (sometimes) and believes that if you do not accept jesus as your savior, you're going to hell. he says that's in the bible somewhere, but the bible's been so translated and changed and retranslated and edited and restranslated again that i simply cannot believe that the wording of some of the "laws" are the original words, so there's that. but my primary argument against this rather harsh consequence for what can sometimes amount to being confused or just not entirely convinced rather than seriously immoral, is that it just doesn't seem like god's style.

i mean, you look at the old testament. he's all fire and brimstone and vengeance and "i am the law" judge dredd style. then at the new testament, he's all "i bring you love, you are the sheep, yada yada yada". and the way i look at it, the old testament was so far removed from what god is actually like and is so steeped in typical human beliefs (superiority, impatience, intolerance, vengeance, wrath) that it just seems that they anthropomorphized god to a ludicrous degree and said "well, you have to believe us, it's the word of GOD!!" and when they said god, someone shook a thunder sheet somewhere behind the altar and people cowered, cause they weren't too smart back then.

the new testament concerns that emotion that is probably the least understood human emotion, which is to say love, and in that respect is further away from humans and is more divine. and it is that difference that leads me to believe that hell is just the boogeyman that people never stop believing in. i remember when i saw 'wolf' with jack nicholson, and he goes to see that creepy indian knowitall, who wants jack to bite him. jack says "you'd rather be damned than die" and the indian guy says "damnation is not a part of my system of beliefs" and i remember thinking, right on. yeah, it's not a part of my system of beliefs.

hell is like the spiritual death penalty. it serves no purpose but retribution. you'll never get out, so you can't say you learned a lesson, because learning a lesson implies the chance to exercise the practice of that lesson. otherwise its just mindless punishment, and that is not the god i believe in (see "infinite love" above) retribution is a human construct, and i think god has better things to do than damning 2/3 of the world's population simply because of the way they were raised.

jeez, josh, you don't believe in hell, you question the bible, what do you believe in?

simply put, moral living. kindness and love and compassion, all of which are pretty damn hard to live by 100% of the time. wrath and vengeance and all that old testament crap are, on the other end completely, fairly easy to live by (hint hint, bush) . its hard to be patient with the people who test yours so consummately. it's hard to have compassion for everyone, regardless of their actions. it's hard to have a fundamental love for everyone, even if you've never met them. that's why i think this is the path that best suits me. it's not particularly easy, and it doesn't offer alot of easy answers.

not like that stupid bible.



feeling: alright - up early, sunny day
thinking of: cutting the shag
song of the day (really of sunday, but you know): lawrence, ks - josh ritter
preacher says that when the master calls us, he's gonna give us wings to fly. but my wings are made from hay and corn husks, so i can't leave this world behind