Jesus: A Buffer Between Humanity and a Dickish Overlord

I used to be devout, one of the believers. I was raised by a family who believed the old fire and brimstone teachings. When I was in my teens I began to question. By the time I was out of high school, I could no longer buy any of it.

I went through a period of disgruntled atheism. When I was eighteen, I was one of those acerbic atheists who felt that anyone who had faith was a perfect idiot. By the time I was twenty-five, I had mellowed on that perspective, becoming an agnostic rather than a hardline atheist. I think becoming a parent had something to do with this.

I don't think that we live in a black and white Universe. I think there are a lot of shades of gray. To me, deism has come to make sense. I believe in the possibility of a higher power or powers. I do not believe that they are egotistical enough to require human worship. I think they're pretty well uninvolved. 

At this point I see Jesus the way I see Siddhartha: a teacher who tried to guide people to treat one another better. I do not discount the possibility of reincarnation. The personality is energy. It makes a degree of sense that when energy is displaced it changes form and may find a new home.

Following my exodus from fire and brimstone Christianity, I came to see Jesus as a mediator between humanity and a dickish overlord: the God of the Christian Church. This God sees fit to send "challenges" to people to see if they can "maintain their faith" in the face of awfulness, sometimes such awfulness that no-one could come through it unscathed unless they were a completely soulless sociopath. Jesus is the one who helps people bear up under such onslaughts by their dickish, egotistical God.

I think that true Christianity has little to do with the Overlord of Dickishness. It has to do with treating one another as we would like to be treated. It has to do with extending ourselves a little to help one another so we can all live as well as possible. 

In my view, God (if you will) is not a dickish overlord. It is a distant, remote, uninvolved power. Such is the nature of deism. Jesus now becomes less of a mediator than a healer and teacher.

I like Jesus. I always have. I do not like the brand of Christianity which pervades in the modern world, which postulates judgmental attitudes and servitude to a dickish overlord. I'm done with that brand of Christianity. If Jesus were here today, I'm quite sure he'd be done with it too.

~Petra~

R is for Religion

Religion can be helpful. Having something to believe in can bolster people's resolve to live through tough times. The spiritual aspect can help people cope with the sometimes heartbreaking difficulties that arise in life. Religion can help people become more forgiving of one another's foibles. That is what happens when religion is used in the right way.

Religion can also be a terrible thing. Religious fanatics can come to believe that those who don't see the world as they do are bad people who deserve to suffer. Zealots actually do their belief system a disservice, causing people to close their minds to any aspects of religion and go in the opposite direction, becoming acerbic nihilists.

I have no problem with believers of whatever stripe, or with non-believers, so long as they are not overbearing. I have issues with people who tell me that if I don't believe as they do, I'm a bad person who is condemned to some sort of eternal suffering. Any deity that would do such a thing simply because a person doesn't worship zir seems like an egomaniac, and I have no interest in paying tribute to an egomaniac.

Conversely, I don't care for people who tell me that if I have any spiritual beliefs, or even feel that certain aspects of metaphysical or spiritual speculation are possible, that I'm an ignorant dupe.

I have my own thoughts on the matter, but since nobody knows for sure what the truth is, I keep an open mind.

The reason I'm thinking so much about this is the fact that I find it difficult when I come to overtly religious blogs on the A to Z challenge. I could just leave and say nothing, and that might even be the best thing to do. But I somehow feel rude not even leaving an acknowledgement that I visited. 

I usually do something like remark on the beauty of the picture with their post, or tell them they have a nice family, or congratulate them on an event if they are blogging about such. I leave religion out of my comment and concentrate on basic politeness. Then I cross my fingers and hope that they are of a more liberal spirit, even if they are devout, and won't come nipping at my heels trying to convert me with threats of fire and brimstone. It isn't that I fear them, or their fire and brimstone. The fact is, I don't want to end up being rude, which is what usually happens when people persist in trying to shove unpalatable ideals down my throat.

Religion is like an axe or a knife. It is a tool. It can be used productively or destructively.

~Naila~

Cross-posted to:

Crazy Town in Looney Land

One Love