A Few Words

First off... this is just too bizarre to ignore... honestly, it goes beyond crazy to SciFi. *blinks* Strange...

A friend Mary (who blogs privately on LJ) linked to this post. Read it, I'll wait. It's totally worth reading.

Mary said:

I often wonder why religion causes such huge debate, and yes, even hatred among peoples when, in my mind, everyone is really just doing the same thing. Searching for meaning. Searching for truth. Trying to become closer to the divine. In my mind, all religions are ultimately the same, because at their heart they are just alternate ways of finding the same truth. As long as people search and struggle for the divine, why does it matter whether they do it as a jew or a christian or a muslim?

And I don't think I could say it any better. In our individual searches for truth and divinity, what does it matter if we choose to believe in a Goddess or Jesus Christ; a congregation or an individual worship. Everyone always says that we need to not get lost in the details and miss the big picture. But what about the REALLY big picture? In the end, we're all just squabbling over the details. And although it may seem to be a big thing if your deity's embodiment is male or female, or even just an etherial search for divine truth, it really doesn't matter.

This may offend (so if it is, go ahead and send hatemail. I've got a folder for it), but I'm always astounded by the dichotomy of most religions that preach acceptance and brotherly love and tolerance (I have issues with that word, but that will have to wait for another day), but have no problem shunning people, or seeing people not of their religion as somehow less, or when they feel the need to tell other people they're going to hell because they don't pray a certain way. Is it pride that makes human beings so unable to see that perhaps their answer isn't right? Why do we feel that we have to have absolute answers before we can believe in things? When we state our beliefs, why can't we qualify it with "This is how I feel right now, based on my experiences. It very likely may change in the future." Why does our faith have to be universal for everyone? That only leads to division and hatred. It leads to people being ejected from their families and communities. People who could teach us something of value being ostercized from our societies. What happened to "By their fruits ye shall know them." Just because we can't take the time to see the bigger picture that we're all searching for meaning and truth? All the argument seems silly when you see the forest through the trees. Can't we be strong in our faith, and be happy for others being strong in theirs instead of seeing them as a threat?

Just take some time to think about it. It just may change the world.

M