I used to go to church. A lot. Like "every Sunday and Wednesday" a lot. My parents have been extremely active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints my whole life. Since I can remember, church has always been priority one for them. Its very important to them. It makes them happy and brings them comfort. I get it. I think its great, actually. Well, when they aren't trying to guilt trip me into going back to church, at least.
Now, some people may be thinking "but I thought you said your parents' activity in the Mormon church was great.. Why do you seem to hate the church at the same time?"
Well here's the answer: I don't. In fact, if any one religion comes even close to being the most correct, I believe it would be the Mormon faith. I just don't care. Plain and simple. I've adopted a new philosophy on life: if you're good to your neighbor, empathetic, and compassionate- you have nothing to worry about whatever it is that happens after this life. My favorite part about living life by this code is that you'll be a good person and you don't have to care whether or not Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three separate beings or a whole host of other topics of heated debate between religions. Most of which, if not all, being arbitrary and not related to the real core message.
Honestly, if you look at all of the major religions, what are the differences in the core message? There really are none. They all boil down to love, empathy, and compassion. So why not simply follow those principles? I'm ok with that.
But I understand that many people aren't.
There are many people who need a sense of a grand scheme that helps them make sense out of their existence. Most of them turn to religion for that, and that is a-ok by me. I think John Lennon said it best:
"Whatever gets you through the night. S'alright. S'alright."
Some people may take this as me attacking their faith or refuting the existence of Jesus Christ. That is not my intent. I'm not saying that religion is a farce. I'm merely saying we could choose to dwell on whether or not the Messiah has even come yet, whether or not you are born into the world free of sin or carrying the transgression of Adam with you, how easy/hard it is to be damned for all eternity, etc... OR we can just choose to focus our lives on the real message that we all know to be true: love, empathy, and compassion.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
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7 comments:
HEATHEN!
aw, Christian- you put a "th" where the "v" is supposed to be. Thats alright, though. Common mistake. I know what you were trying to say at least. haha
I know exactly how you feel. Though I think that I would classify myself as a purple man in a red state. (Moderatly mix a little red with a little blue and blam purple). Heck I should even be in church right now lol. I always thought that song said its alright. Well I was wrong.
Absolutely agree!
...You're a little more lenient towards religious groups than I tend to be, but then my experience with religion is severe (Extremely religious parents robbed me of a childhood, scarred for life, blah, blah, blah, you know the story...)
In any case, I fully agree with the above.
Amen.
Case Closed.
No further inqueries necessary.
I really liked this because you're not just saying why you don't go to church anymore, but you're showing you still believe in something. And, yes, those are three principles everyone should follow. I was also wondering, why do you think your parents are so involved in the church? Do they just really enjoy helping out? Wasn't your mom originally Lutheran? Just wondering.
I respect your thoughts and Decisions Matt. I doubt that I need to tell you what my feelings are on the Subject but I do know that I follow A Religion because I Personally have found it to be true and even if i want to deny it i can't... When it all comes down to it we just have to find out for ourselves.
Luv ya!
Tyson - I appreciate you reading the blog! And I also thought it was "it's alright" but upon a more recent listen AND looking up the lyrics on multiple sites, I found that I was wrong too. No real difference between the two, though. haha
Pedro - Yeah.. I understand at least partially where you're coming from. I say "partially" because I know there are things that I don't know about. But yeah, I have a few scarring experiences as well.
Chris - Both my parents converted by the 80s. My dad was born and raised Lutheran and my mom was born and raised Catholic. Neither of them were getting anything out of their perspective religions and one day the missionaries showed up and something just clicked for them. As to why they're so active.. well for one, its not uncommon for the average Mormon to be EXTREMELY involved at church. But, with my parents, they have a past that is a total mystery to me. And from the little I've gathered, their pasts don't seem to be the happiest. So that probably contributes. However, a lot of it is probably that they just believe in it that strongly that they just want to be involved in whatever way they can. I admire that. (although I think I've told you about times where their church duties would come before family...still not cool)
Brian - Thanks, man. I want you to know that I still respect that about you. And I admire that you devoted two years of your live for something you believe in.
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