Before reading this, please keep in mind that I have no intent to insult anyone's faith in a supreme being. I am an agnostic who believes in the possibility of a supreme being or beings. My thoughts on the nature of said supreme being or beings are theory. For me, the belief in a supreme being or the possibility thereof is removed from adherence to religious dogma.
Religion is a system created by people, ostensibly to honor the supreme being or beings which are the object of worship. Like any other tool, it can be used in either a constructive or destructive manner.
That being said, I have found that religion is used destructively a disproportionate amount of the time, and thus my thoughts towards it tend to be cynical. However, I acknowledge that there are truly good people who utilize religion in a positive way, and I fully support these people and feel that they are positive representatives working on behalf of the deity or deities of their belief system.
I often cite the good people with the Christian organization Faithful America. Please take a moment to see what they are about and to support them.
www.faithfulamerica.com
And now, on to the subject of the post.
A young woman on a Facebook forum was expressing feelings of sadness and doubt regarding her faith in what I refer to at this point in my life as the Church God. Here is what she had to say:
Is okay to be angry with God? It hurts me to see people suffering especially babies and child. When you hear terrible news about the bombings in Syria or the fact that a evil man becomes president and now everyone is frighten for the future. Makes me doubt a divine being even exist. What do I do? Do I keep being angry? Or just accept the fact that I'm losing my faith and accept that the world for the way it is?
The following are the thoughts I had for her.
My personal belief is that there is a higher power or powers but it/they are not what the church taught us. Most religions have their basis in politics rather than spirituality and exist to control people. I think whatever powers there be are not particularly involved with the affairs of humanity. They are more architects of the Universe, one might say. Anyway, that is my thought on it. I was raised Catholic and for many years struggled with the idea on one hand that God was all powerful and all loving and yet allowed horrible atrocities to take place. I understand your feelings about this.
My further thoughts:
I "lost my religion" at eighteen, although I had been questioning for quite some time before that. I probably would not have lost my religion had it not been for the judgmental people I met who accused me of being a "devil worshiper" for being curious about the nature of the Universe, for not being comfortable with the idea that people get condemned to eternal torture for not believing in the existence of the Church God, and for liking that evil, evil rock and roll blasphemy. I was disgusted by the "Satanic Panic" believers who accused innocent people of terrible acts.
Rigid and judgmental attitudes pushed me away from the church. I might not literally burst into flames if I have to step into a church at this point, but I'm not comfortable doing so either.
At this point, I adhere to what Marcus Aurelius so wisely said, and I imagine I will continue to do so for the remainder of this lifetime.
~The Cheese Hath Grated It~
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