So, as some of you might remember, a little while ago I wrote a somewhat erratic note about my perception of religion (for those who have never read it, go to http://www.clonnyserver.com/2010/01/05/thank-god-im-not-religious/). Anyway, I am sat in bed trying to sleep, and again I get to thinking about what my deal is with those who worship.
But before I begin, let me make it abundantly clear I am not hating on religious people. Some of my best friends, people I admire and adore are religious. In most cases this is a choice they made on their own and I am cool with that. I am not someone who discriminates, in fact I am someone who embraces people who live their life their own way. Being individual and true to your beliefs is the most anybody can do, and honesty to one’s self and others is an attribute I value highly.
I suppose the point I am trying to get to is that I still don’t understand the true meaning of religion. My very basic fleshing out of the concept is that it is basically beliefs and truisms that someone lives by. But in a lot of cases it seems that these ways of life don’t relate well to today. A lot of the rules, the ideas and concepts that these religions are based on do not fit in with the modern world, and I think this is a pretty important example of why people seem less and less concerned with faiths. And this goes back to what I wrote in my previous note about religions being formed in a time before science, before the readily available wealth of knowledge and information we have today.
The idea that anybody in the modern age could still live their life by archaic rules and values puzzles me and in some cases annoys the right fuck out of me. The less extreme god-fearing faiths I can tolerate, because at least they make provisions for the fact that we are human, and prone to mistakes and failures. But how some of the more ancient, extreme faiths can still be accepted as readily as they are, and the fact that governments around the world make concessions for these people boggles the mind. Why should socially and culturally advanced civilisations and countries be made to provide exceptions and different rules because of some outdated belief that it is right to kill someone for hurting a cow (yes this is a complete generalisation, I don’t care).
And the same applies the other way around. No person, religious or not, should have any kind of right that allows them to impart their own views and beliefs, in some cases forcibly and violently, upon another person. Yet the powers-that-be conveniently overlook these indiscretions for whatever reasons. Why should anybody, religious or not, have to change the way they live their lives, just because the man in charge favours one god over another?
I still think, and will always think, religion is stupid. As long as parents and elders continue spreading their belief, there is always going to be conflict and war, and we will never really truly advance as a species beyond the self-destructive animals we are now.
