on religion, faith, and douchebaggery.
this isn't fic.
With my recent #Zissy craze, I was just stalking the NerdHQ and Zach Levi tags on twitter. And I came across a post where someone said they hated Zach because of "the douchebaggery."
Okay. I don't really know the guy that well, and IDK what he has done, but they probably have a good reason. That's fine.
But they didn't just stop there. They went on to say that they hated him because of "the douchebaggery and the religion."
And the religion.
One of the reasons they hate this guy is because he's religious and not afraid to speak out about it.
Hold up - WHAT?!
You hate him because he's a man of faith? Because he believes in a higher being?
What the fucking fuck is wrong with you?
How does his religion, and his faith, affect your life in any way? Are you lumping him with fundamentalists and fanatics? Are you projecting your beliefs about one event onto a whole community?
For me, religion is a very, very, private thing. I go to mosque for the religions lectures, not for doing prayers. I do those at home, in my private space, with my door locked. And I go to mosque only when the lecturer is someone who is well-educated and someone I like. Believe it or not, they don't lecture about anti-western sentiments or any of that shit. The lectures are about lifestyles. About being honest, loyal, and faithful to your family and significant others. They're about the history of our religion and of people who happen to be my ancestors. They're about refraining from hurting others, of saying hurtful things to people and behind their back. They're about giving charity, about moderation and modesty.
But that's not my point.
My point, here, is that I like to keep religion in my heart. It's a personal thing for me. I don't make a big display of it, I don't try to force it onto anyone else. I question things, just like everyone else. And I don't believe that we should force our religious beliefs on other people, or makes laws out of it. That is fucked up and I'll never support it.
But there has been a recent cultural shift where being religious is considered the equivalent of being stupid, illiterate, and a douchebag. Where, as soon as someone mentions how they feel about G-d, people starting rolling their eyes and scoffing.
Hey, what the hell?
That is a very, very hurtful thing to do.
You don't know that person. You might think you do, because you stalked them on social media and every place imaginable, but you don't. You can be friends with someone and still don't know them well enough. You don't know the struggle they've been through, the struggles they go through, mentally and emotionally. You see what they show you.
For some of us, religion is what keeps us going. I saw a Facebook post today about Palestinians whose mosque was blown up. They went back there and prayed.
The whole place is being blown up, yet these people pray.
Because they have faith.
Because that is what prevents them from giving up.
When the so-called humans around them are taking innocent lives, that faith, in a supreme being and someone having their back, is what keeps them going.
It's what keeps me going. It's what has saved me from sinking down into I don't even know what. When I'm feeling like I carry the weight of the whole freaking world on my shoulders, when everything is falling apart and slipping away from me, I consider it lucky that I can step back, take a deep breath, and pray. And believe that as long as I work hard, and do everything I can in my power, everything will work out. That there is a plan for me, that I am on a journey and this is part of my journey. That I have the strength to keep going, that there's someone out there who has my back, always. That it doesn't just fall on me. That there's someone out there to take the wheel, literally.
For some people that person is a friend, a family member, a fellow human being. For me, it's G-d.
THERE.
I SAID IT.
IT'S OUT THERE.
I believe in G-d. He keeps me going. He keeps me fighting.
If I didn't have that faith, I'd be in a really, really fucked up place right now. I don't even know where, and what, because I don't even want to think about it. But when I had reached a real low emotionally, a person whose opinion I really value and look up to really changed my life around. And let me believe that I could get through it, that I'd do some good someday, and that I just need to work as hard as I can, to put everything into getting my goals and just believe. That G-d has a plan for me.
So when you call out me, or anyone else, for being a person of faith, when you try to denounce that--
Well, seriously. Fuck you.
Fuck you for trying to take away the one thing I have that keeps me sane.
Live your life the way you want to, and stop judging other people for how they live their lives.
That's something my religion has taught me.
Have the decency to respect that. Respect that someone has this belief that saved them. Different strokes for different folks, right?
Practice what you preach.
And when you don't have something nice to say, just don't say anything at all.
Yet another thing my religion has taught me.
With my recent #Zissy craze, I was just stalking the NerdHQ and Zach Levi tags on twitter. And I came across a post where someone said they hated Zach because of "the douchebaggery."
Okay. I don't really know the guy that well, and IDK what he has done, but they probably have a good reason. That's fine.
But they didn't just stop there. They went on to say that they hated him because of "the douchebaggery and the religion."
And the religion.
One of the reasons they hate this guy is because he's religious and not afraid to speak out about it.
Hold up - WHAT?!
You hate him because he's a man of faith? Because he believes in a higher being?
What the fucking fuck is wrong with you?
How does his religion, and his faith, affect your life in any way? Are you lumping him with fundamentalists and fanatics? Are you projecting your beliefs about one event onto a whole community?
For me, religion is a very, very, private thing. I go to mosque for the religions lectures, not for doing prayers. I do those at home, in my private space, with my door locked. And I go to mosque only when the lecturer is someone who is well-educated and someone I like. Believe it or not, they don't lecture about anti-western sentiments or any of that shit. The lectures are about lifestyles. About being honest, loyal, and faithful to your family and significant others. They're about the history of our religion and of people who happen to be my ancestors. They're about refraining from hurting others, of saying hurtful things to people and behind their back. They're about giving charity, about moderation and modesty.
But that's not my point.
My point, here, is that I like to keep religion in my heart. It's a personal thing for me. I don't make a big display of it, I don't try to force it onto anyone else. I question things, just like everyone else. And I don't believe that we should force our religious beliefs on other people, or makes laws out of it. That is fucked up and I'll never support it.
But there has been a recent cultural shift where being religious is considered the equivalent of being stupid, illiterate, and a douchebag. Where, as soon as someone mentions how they feel about G-d, people starting rolling their eyes and scoffing.
Hey, what the hell?
That is a very, very hurtful thing to do.
You don't know that person. You might think you do, because you stalked them on social media and every place imaginable, but you don't. You can be friends with someone and still don't know them well enough. You don't know the struggle they've been through, the struggles they go through, mentally and emotionally. You see what they show you.
For some of us, religion is what keeps us going. I saw a Facebook post today about Palestinians whose mosque was blown up. They went back there and prayed.
The whole place is being blown up, yet these people pray.
Because they have faith.
Because that is what prevents them from giving up.
When the so-called humans around them are taking innocent lives, that faith, in a supreme being and someone having their back, is what keeps them going.
It's what keeps me going. It's what has saved me from sinking down into I don't even know what. When I'm feeling like I carry the weight of the whole freaking world on my shoulders, when everything is falling apart and slipping away from me, I consider it lucky that I can step back, take a deep breath, and pray. And believe that as long as I work hard, and do everything I can in my power, everything will work out. That there is a plan for me, that I am on a journey and this is part of my journey. That I have the strength to keep going, that there's someone out there who has my back, always. That it doesn't just fall on me. That there's someone out there to take the wheel, literally.
For some people that person is a friend, a family member, a fellow human being. For me, it's G-d.
THERE.
I SAID IT.
IT'S OUT THERE.
I believe in G-d. He keeps me going. He keeps me fighting.
If I didn't have that faith, I'd be in a really, really fucked up place right now. I don't even know where, and what, because I don't even want to think about it. But when I had reached a real low emotionally, a person whose opinion I really value and look up to really changed my life around. And let me believe that I could get through it, that I'd do some good someday, and that I just need to work as hard as I can, to put everything into getting my goals and just believe. That G-d has a plan for me.
So when you call out me, or anyone else, for being a person of faith, when you try to denounce that--
Well, seriously. Fuck you.
Fuck you for trying to take away the one thing I have that keeps me sane.
Live your life the way you want to, and stop judging other people for how they live their lives.
That's something my religion has taught me.
Have the decency to respect that. Respect that someone has this belief that saved them. Different strokes for different folks, right?
Practice what you preach.
And when you don't have something nice to say, just don't say anything at all.
Yet another thing my religion has taught me.