Comments | karmasoup: Hoping for a Sign

karmasoup

Hoping for a Sign

Feb 10, 2020 16:59

ILLUSIONS

My Mom tells a story about being too discontent one miserably hot Minnesota summer day.*

*You might think it can’t get that hot in Minnesota, but you’d be surprised. I come from Florida, where temps can get up to around 100 - 102°F in the blistering summers, but regularly hover between 97° - 99°F. In over 30 years, I’ve seen the dog ( Read more... )

family, fam-in-law, minion, 2k, misfit manor, kms, lj idol, lji11

Comments 14

static_abyss February 11 2020, 04:18:33 UTC

I was very violently rejected from church when I realized I was gay, and for a very long time, I believed that I was destined for hell. And even then, there was a part of me that did not understand why, because I felt I had not done worse than say, a murderer who is supposed to be able to go to heaven if they repent. And then, when things got really dark, I was ready to walk out from my church and my priest told me there was nothing wrong with me. So I realized, as my mom had been trying to tell me for so long, that the church and religions are just made by people. So they are inherently flawed, just like we are. And we can all pick and choose what we want from what we're supposedly taught, but at the end of the day we're the ones who chose what to do with what we are given and how we interpret that. And I don't know if I believe in God. But I do believe that if Jesus, a person, set out to do good and succeeded, then we really have no excuse.

karmasoup February 13 2020, 01:45:05 UTC

I do certainly agree that people are flawed, and that we can pick and choose what to do, however, that's my point... it should be up to each of us to choose. I don't believe we need an ancient, fundamentally flawed tome to teach us right from wrong. And I certainly don't believe we should be able to expect to hold others accountable to our beliefs. That's why it's so frustrating to me that so may christian conservatives in power believe the idea the founding of this country on the promise of freedom of religion exempts freedom from religion, and gives them the right to impose their particular religion on the nation. We're in a frightening spiral towards theocracy, and I just want to put the brakes on. From my perspective, there's not a lot of difference between rule by christian theocracy and sharia law. Just another book in a different language.

adoptedwriter February 11 2020, 13:13:03 UTC

Religion is so confusing. I believe in the Salad Bar. philosophy A little of this, a little of that. Organized religion is so flawed. Static_Abyss says it best.

karmasoup February 13 2020, 01:45:44 UTC

Yep. That's why so many are leaving it behind.

sunouttomorrow February 11 2020, 17:19:09 UTC

I consider myself Christian and believe that Christianity at the beginning was equated with love and treating our fellow man with such. However, I also believe that over 2,000 years, man has bastardized Christianity (and other religions) to make it what they deemed fit (and are still doing so today). I also believe that my religion is mine alone. I've had my crises of faith, and still do, that have helped me develop my belief. My faith has been built as mine alone, and no one really shares all the intricacies with me. They may share some or others, but none in the unique combination of belief that I hold. I just try to be the best person I can be and be okay with that. Not that I don't make mistakes, but I also don't blame God for that, or rely on His assistance. I'm but a speck in the Universe, and while I believe He cares, I don't believe He pays that close attention.

karmasoup February 13 2020, 02:58:04 UTC

I get that. I feel similarly about my beliefs being my own, as well. I know I've picked apart the teachings I've been handed too much to buy into those anymore, but what I do believe I've never been taught. And I'm learning to be okay with that.

rayaso February 13 2020, 00:07:02 UTC

This is such a thought-provoking essay. You had a lot to say and you said it well.

karmasoup February 13 2020, 01:49:35 UTC

Thank you. I was more sorting through my own thoughts than intentionally causing anyone to think. But in general, I do encourage people to think through everything, rather than just accepting things the same way all the time because it's what they've been taught since birth, and that's the way it's always been. At some point, we all have to own our decisions.

banana_galaxy February 13 2020, 01:07:27 UTC

I've heard it said that abusers see themselves as gods, but I hadn't thought about it in the reverse. I thought you had some very thought-provoking examples there.

karmasoup February 13 2020, 02:55:18 UTC

Thank you. It's hard to miss the similarities sometimes, especially when you hear Christians talking about learning to accept something terrible that's happened in their lives, because,

"It's God's will, he has a plan, he knows what's best,"

or

"I'm sure some day I'll understand better," etc.,

...can sound so similar to the way abuse victims justify their mistreatment.

"I know he loves me, you just don't understand him like I do. He knows what's bestI hear my Mom thinking that she deserved to be made to feel even more uncomfortable than she already was, for the heinous crime of feeling internally grumpy over being too hot. I hear people who believe God always has a plan for everything trying to justify how they must have "deserved" things like getting their house destroyed in a storm, their wife attacked by a mugger, their friend run over by a car, or their child shot school. I certainly don't know how to see the hand of God at play in such horrors, and if I did, I certainly couldn't pay homage for that ( ... )