So I’m wide awake after having a somewhat interesting <3-to-<3 with a friend of mine interstate (damn that off-your-chest feeling is great…). Meanwhile, I began having a chat about society, relationships and their meanings with a good friend of mine. All of these topics I will attempt to cover later on. After feeling somewhat like the aggressor in the discussion (even though I was trying so hard not to push my views I still felt like I was beating someone down with the ClonnyBabel™), the topic changed to religion… is that alarm bells I hear? Why is everyone heading for the basement? Come back! I promise I’ll play nice!

So I was asked what type of religion I would be. At first I thought this was a bit of a dead-end question, because I don’t do religion. At all. I hate religion. I despise the very idea of living a life by rules now irrelevant to today’s society thought up by someone else a long time ago. My thoughts are my own that I’ve constructed, edited and revised based on my experiences and knowledge gained so far throughout my life. I hate having someone tell me how to do things, I’d much rather learn myself.

So then I got educated about sacraments. Sacraments (for those not in the know) are kind of like life-achievements, or “merits” someone can obtain in their life under the eye of God. It’s a Catholic thing (those wacky Catho’s, always getting up to mischief!). Anyway the literal translation is “a rite in which God is uniquely active”. So I ask, are sacraments an important thing to Catholics? The answer is yes. So this is an example of things that have meaning only to those who’s way of life includes them. So why is it important to me? It isn’t. Keeping in mind this discussion was basically me explaining my dislike of religion. So I asked why then as a non-religious person why I should have to do anything that is under the eye of God. Because I wouldn’t steal a car. Well, I suppose that goes somewhat in the morals in-tray, but I see the point. God-lovers do God-loving things because they believe in it. Cool. Religion is a silly thing. Let’s move on…

Wrong!. Apparently religion is not silly. Why? Because as was pointed out to me by my discussion-partner, the majority of religions in the world reflect onto one another and the foundations and beliefs share common traits and can all basically be translated to one another. Fair argument, but the same reasoning can be used to argue it *IS* silly. My somewhat concise explanation is that almost every system of religion, superstition and other other-worldly thoughts and lifestyles were likely conjured by people in positions of power who were attempting to provide answers to things around them that they simply didn’t understand. Things like why the world exists, what those shiny things are in the sky, why water spins in different directions. Thousands of years ago, we didn’t know there was possibly millions upon billions of trillions of planets out there in the universe. Did God make them all? Did he make the universe? Did he make the big bang, the gases, the protons, the quarks? I don’t think so, and neither to quantum physicists. And there is a reason for that, it’s because WE KNOW THEY EXIST. Ever had those Mormons come around at 9AM on a Sunday and try and tell you that your land belongs to some dude in a beard? The inner free-thinking smart person wants to kick them in the dick. And rightly so. Religion often tries to explain these things, and often fails terribly at doing so. Religion, as I see it, is simply a quick-and-easy way of answering hard questions.

An example of this is, once it was illegal to steal your neighbours goat. Why is this illegal? Because someone said so. Back in the caveman days, to my knowledge there weren’t complex laws (if any). They probably had multiple partners before marriage (LOL CAVEMAN WEDDINGS), raped and took part in what these days would be called underage non-consensual sex. Of course we don’t know this, because it’s a long time ago. And I bet my shoes that they didn’t have religion back then. If religion is all-knowing and all-powerful, why didn’t Fred Flintstone fear God? Was he in Church last Sunday? This is probably the earliest example of free thought. Those cavemen had it good…

And free thought is important too. Religion at best can only provide people with a guide to life. It can certainly tell you what to do, how to think, how to act e.t.c but does anybody really want that? Imagine a society where religion was the only way which people could live. If it isn’t in the book, you aren’t allowed to do it. Again, I ask why? Because I don’t get to go to some arbitrary place which some stoner talked about 2000 years ago? Last I checked, when  you die, your body organs shut down, your nails keep growing but you die. You get mouldy, rot and become great worm food. Why should I care about Heaven and Hell? I’d live a much happier life if I was allowed to do what I wanted, was allowed to make my own decisions and have my own experiences, not sheltered by some arbitrary guidelines in a really old book (which has hundreds of interpretations, versions and revisions… wow, must be pretty accurate!). People are made and mature through their experiences and interactions with everything around them, and this process should not be interfered with by way of religion or superstition. People should not “follow the leader”, but be their own leader.

People are unique. And if they aren’t they should be. People get dumber, less tolerant and more-close minded as the years go on, but thankfully, a lot of people (including the religious) are waking up to the fact that maybe what they were taught in their private school “religious teaching” classes isn’t all it was cracked up to be. So instead of us going around saying “you are wrong”, we should be saying “I know what you’re saying, but here’s what I think”. Religious people need to harden the fuck up and accept a differing opinion, and the competing and/or non-religious need to remember that everyone is entitled to their opinion; no matter how close-minded and over-brimming with wrongness it might be ;)

Another good friend of mine has also written a somewhat-shorter version of his thoughts… read it here.