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Rants >> Rant 68

:: Today's soundtrack: Genesis "Jesus He Knows Me" ::


 So someone got me thinking about how a lot of people use the excuse "it's against God" to justify not liking/being against something. For example: I don't like abortion because it's against God. I don't like homosexuals because being gay is against God. I don't like the Jews because they go against God. ... and so on and so forth. These are just some examples, not my own personal beliefs.

This is because to just say "it goes against God" is not enough of a reason for me. Unless, of course, you happen to have the big "G" on speed dial or something and you asked him personally (if that's the case, could you ask him how they get the cream in a Twinkie for me?). My point being is that how do you KNOW that whatever you're opposed to is "against God"? Point out the verse in the Holy Bible, please.

And well, even if you DID have chapter and verse, who's to say you're interpreting it correctly? There are so many versions of the Holy Bible out there, and some of them have just one sentence translated differently than the others, and this one sentence alone has sparked controversy, hate, and possibly even wars. If someone translates a word as "brother" and somebody else translates it as "friend", which is right? They can't both be.

It doesn't even come down to the translation in the text sometimes. Some people try to discern the deeper meaning, or what is meant by a particular phrase and don't take it at face value. As in, I've heard many people use their excuse for apartheid to be that when God marked Cain for killing Abel, he gave him black skin. It doesn't actually SAY that in there, that that is what God actually did. It just says that Cain was "marked", but many people take it to mean this in order to justify their own hate. For all we know, God marked him by putting a giant X on his forehead or something. Who's to say?

What I want is to learn ancient Aramaic and get a copy of the Dead Sea Scrolls and I'll translate it myself and have a think. That's my problem: I'll never have a look at the raw data. I have to rely on what other people are telling me to be true, and when so many people are telling me one thing and somebody else another, it gets so confusing. If I were blind and clothing shopping and asked someone for help like "what color is this shirt?" one person could say it looks navy blue, another might say just blue and somebody else may even say black, but I myself can't see it and don't know who to believe. If such a thing could happen over a shirt, just imagine how worse it would be for the same thing to happen concerning something people actually dedicate their LIVES to.

Part of my problem might also be that there are too many people who take religion WAY too seriously. Christianity and what not does have some good ideas on general living. Don't kill people, love your neighbor, these are nice ideas in general. But when people on the street start getting angry at you for doing nothing more than say, going to a different church or not going to church at all, to me that's just taking it too far. "Love thy neighbor" not Love thy church-going-same-religion-as-you neighbor.

I'm not saying religion is bad. In fact, it can work wonders on some people. There are those who were hardened criminals who "find God" and suddenly they're dedicating themselves to helping the needy. That is where religion works; when it helps you find that warmth that was inside you all along. I don't mean just Christianity either, the same goes for every religion. Find the right one for you and for some people it fills a hole that was in their life and enables them not just help others, but finally help themselves. It's just when people take religion and start throwing it around as their excuse for something. Like they're entitled to hate somebody or something just because. I'm sorry but "just because" doesn't cut it. You are entitled to not like something, but I'd like to hear your reasoning. Just spouting off "it's against God" isn't a valid reason and it just makes you sound like a brainwashed monkey. So BESIDES "against God", what is you reason for hating (insert person, place or thing here)? I'd be surprised to get an answer.

William (are you there, God?)