On Matters Of Religiousity

I am so deeply saddened by all the hatred that swarms around the world. There are a lot of things to blame, but seriously, how can anyone have such hatred against someone else. There are people out there right now that violently hate me because I value my faith - they've never met me, they probably never will. But because of something this person has committed their emotional believing to, they know that they hate me and my beliefs.

I saw a bumper sticker that said "Destroy Religion - Only Love". I wondered if they realized how silly it seemed to me that this person used such a violent word like 'destroy' to profess how urgently she wants there to be nothing more than love. I saw an ad for vegetarian t-shirts that gave the 'definition' of a vegetarian as someone who wants to stop the unnecessary killing of criminals, who promotes clean air, land, water and life, and only wants peace. I didn't agree. I know some vegetarians who are violent folks, who hurt other people's livelihoods and businesses because they don't agree with them. This seems to be as equally hypocritical to me as the guy who goes to church every Sunday and then 'sins' during the week.

There are always going to be people who do terrible things - that will never change. You can't blame God or the Universe or the government for the stupid choices people make. Someone hurt you who claimed to be a Christian? And that's grounds for violent hatred? That was a stupid choice they made - it's not God's fault. Get over it and make a choice of your own - to move on with your life and your search for meaning. Remember, Thomas Edison found several hundred ways NOT to make a light bulb before he found the ONE way. Faith is like that - there a several hundred million ways NOT to follow God. Find the ONE way that is true.

I am not excusing the way Christians behave. I admit - we are totally absurd folks sometimes. My favorite example is how the Christian church reacts whenever there is a 'threat' - especially the 'controversy' revolving around the Harry Potter books, the Da Vinci Code (which was a terrible piece of writing - who the heck cared about the anti-Catholic theme?) and don't get me started on how Christians act towards sex. My goodness Christians choose to believe in unnecessary bondage!!  But I believe there is a right way to live, and a wrong way to live. There are rules to live by. Personally, I find 'sin' to be defined as anything that promotes a selfish act. Otherwise, I think we 'Christian' folk can shut up and get on with our lives and let everyone else make their own choices. It is NOT our place to judge or make up the rules and doctrines. God will take care of changing hearts, minds and lives.

That's my sermon for the day.