When Dog Shit Flies

Society is full of such judgement... "you're too fat, too thin, too black, too white, you have too much of an accent, your hair is too short... thin... greasy...nappy."

Je m'en fous!

I know that for me to say I do not judge is hypocritical, but I truly feel there is a difference in what people say and what people feel. I say a lot of shit jokingly, but anyone that truly knows me knows that I would do anything for anyone. And lately I have been trying to keep my jokes to where they do not appear as if I am judging people... because let's be honest - NO ONE has room to judge....

Which brings me to my topic of today.... uh oh.... an actual topic you say?

Yes.

This is a really touchy topic... so if you are easily offended... well... you know the routine.

I actually want to vent about a topic that we are always told, "do not ever discuss this." Well shit.... it's my blog, and I talk about what I want... so I am going to talk about religion.

Before I start... well I guess I have already started so let me rephrase this... now that I have started, let me say that religion is something that fascinates me more than almost any topic in the world.

It has always confused me why we 'don't discuss religion.' I understand that people get all bent out of shape... but why wouldn't we discuss religion? If we never discuss things, how will we ever learn? I think that is the problem with the world right now is that we are afraid to talk about things that may be offensive to someone else.

I would rather talk about something with someone - know where each other stand - move on!

I find it very interesting that people are offended if you TALK about religion; however, they have no problem killing or hating in it's name.

Let's get a few things straight. I have studied and probably practiced almost every religion there is. Remember a few lines earlier I said it fascinates me more than almost any topic in the world... there is a reason for that - been there - done that!

I was raised in a fairly strict Catholic family. When I say fairly strict - I mean it was mostly my grandmother. If there was the slightest crack in that church door that meant they were open and we had to go to mass. All of my great aunts were nuns, and my grandmom once told me that me becoming a priest would make her so happy... good gawd, could you imagine me a priest?

Needless to say that even though I do not follow Catholicism, I still find it enjoyable to go to mass. I mean where else can you get a workout- AND feel blessed at the same time.

Stand.

Kneel.

Sit.

Kneel.

Stand.

Breath.

Repeat.

Walk.

Kneel.

You put your right foot in and you shake it all about.

My issue with religion comes in when we talk about the influence of mankind. There is NO way you can convince me to believe that what we read does NOT have any type of human interference. Every religion that has started, been revised, been made up is just that: the influence of man. We take what we THINK is right... interpret it as "the word" and that is law.

Within Christianity itself - look at ALL the branches there are:

Catholic (and the 50 million branches: Roman, Syiac etc)

Methodist

Lutheran

Episcopalian

Presbyterian

Eastern Orthodox

Baptist

Southern Baptist (trust me... there's a difference)

Anglicanism

Apostolic

Pentecostal

Adventists

Church of God

Mormons

Jehovah Witnesses

and the list goes on

and on

and on.....

And I bet if you ask anyone that goes to they will tell you that THEIR church is THE one.

More than likely they go to that church because it meets what they "feel" is right.

Yeah... I'll say it... we choose religion like we choose clothes, "oh yeah... this looks good on me... Ima go here."

This fact alone tells me that there is not ONE religion that is right-er (if that is a word) than the rest. Simply because it is like clothing. Just because one person wears jeans in the summer, does not mean that everyone else has to wear them.

I guess what I am saying is that religion is made up.

Now once again... don't get your panties all wrapped around your test-tackles... think about what I am saying. THINK. I know this is something that religions rarely ask you to do. They tell you something and we believe it... no questions asked.

Religious leaders/reformers are the oldest form of translators in the world. They see what the 'mother' religion is teaching... ehhhhhh..... I don't like this and that... let's start our own.

Eventually they find enough people that believe that drinking wine is wrong, even though the Bible states that Jesus turned water to wine, and instead serve grape juice...

Eventually this group gets together and decides that THEY are the only ones going to heaven. Sooner or later this group turns into a congregation... and before you know it they are boycotting everything, and publicly judging issues and actions of other people who never asked for their opinion.

Yes- NEVER- ASKED-FOR-THEIR-OPINION.

Opinion.

Look up the word people... there is a difference in fact and opinion.  Facts can be proven.

I digress....

I could get into a pissing contest about this... but I know it would be like arguing with dog shit... I could yell all I wanted, and the shit wouldn't smell any better!

I get it... I really do. We really are damned if we do and even more damned if we don't.

Or are we?

Does religion really have to have us living in fear?

Do this and you will burn in hell... do that and you will live in an eternity of hellfire....

How about this... live your fucking life. The end.

I truly believe that all God, Allah, Ganesha, Buddha, Jesus, Jah, Yahweh, Jehovah (whoever you call god or your teacher)  wants is for you to love life. To LIVE life.

So many people do things because they are told. They end up being miserable and causing other people misery. They end up 'sinning' and instead of just saying 'oh well I fucked up' they decide to beat themselves up the rest of their lives.

What good is there in that?

You live 60, 79, 80, 302 years (hey, it could happen).... or should I say you are around that long.

Think about it... do you live or exist?

I can say that at 34, I have done a lot of things. I have lived my life... and I plan on living the rest of my life. I will love who I want, and do what I want...compassionately. I do not seek to hurt anyone, or anything. I believe that we were born to experience life. Not to fear it.

I think these "rules" were put in line to keep society calm. Trust me, I really think there is a societal NEED for religion. It is one of the largest institutes of sociology and without it I truly think that humankind would manage to kill itself off in a matter of years if there were no "religious" rules to keep us at bay.

I just think it is sad that this is what keeps most people from living sometimes... then again.... it is also what keeps people from murdering too... so maybe it's not THAT bad of a thing sometimes!

I have had people ask me several times what religion I am. My answer pretty much is: yes.

I may 'live' my life under Buddhist principles, but at the end of the day my religion is life.  Period.

I personally choose to live my life under the guiding principles that life's only rule is to live compassionately. Do no harm unto others. Love more than you are loved. Take no more than you need, and accept that the things you have in your life as all that you need so that you need for nothing.

It is ok to make mistakes, but it is not ok to not learn from those mistakes.

Life is a lesson, and I think the only thing that truly pisses (insert deity here) off is that you never learn from your mistakes... actually that you never learn at all.

I have said it multitudes of times: Life is like an all you can eat buffet of knowledge and you are stupid if you starve. Learning is the best thing about life.

Challenge yourself everyday. Even if it's telling yourself to be friendly to those around you before you have your first cup of coffee... I know this in itself is asking some people to perform a miracle because so many are not morning people.....

Which brings me to my side note rant:

WHY the hell are people so miserable in the morning?

I mean... for the love of vegetable fried rice YOU WOKE UP!! Isn't that enough for you, you ungrateful fuck? You were given another day to open your eyes and make a better day than the one before!

Would you have rather opened your eyes and found that you were on the dirt side of the grass? Is that what you want? How difficult is it to say... WOW... I get to see another day. I get to see those that love me at least ONE more time. I get to eat my favourite foods; today if I want, I can go wherever I want. What about YOUR life is so miserable that getting another day sucks?

Is life really that bad?

Is the fact that YOU made the choice to go to bed late everyone else's fault so you have to take it out on them? Or... is it the choice YOU made to have a job that makes you go in earlier than you like to wake up... since when did YOUR choice become my fault?

Did I go interview for you and then say... oh... by the way... YOU have to go in early because during the interview I told them that you are going to go in early. No... I don't think so.

I really don't get it.

I mean I know that I probably am more cheery than most people in the morning... ok... I AM... not "probably".... but my point is this: I am thankful.

I feel (to repeat a phrase I giggle at every time I hear) blessed and highly favored to be able to open my eyes and make the best out of a day because not everyone is given that chance. I am sure there are several people who would love just one more day to open their eyes early... that's it...just open their eyes, let alone have the opportunity to make a great day.

Yes... we MAKE our own great day. We are the drivers of our own life... we can't blame backseat drivers for fucking up our life. We can't say... well... it was (insert deity here)'s will for this to happen and not triumph over obstacles ... like getting up in the morning. I don't believe that... maybe my belief in a karmatic life over rules the Catholic upbringing...

I do not believe that our life is set in stone. So that shit may be set in stone for you.... but just like stone... that shit don't fly with me!!!  Just because you are being a prick and wake up hating life does NOT mean that everyone else has to suffer for you hating YOUR life. I happen to love mine (as complicated as I may make it sometimes)... I still choose to feel that when I am given the opportunity to open my eyes one more time... that I am not going to insult (insert deity here) by taking for granted that opportunity to make (he/she/them) smile.

If you don't want to wake up in the morning... do me (and all other people that appreciate the opportunity at another day) a favor and either shut up and smile... or go the fuck back to sleep.

Damn.

Shit.

Closure.

Ok... where was I?

Whew!

:::sigh:::

Can you tell I do not like it when people take out their misery on other people?

So... back to religion.

Religion.

Do people even know where the word religion comes from?

Latin, "religare / religio." To bind / obligation.

Obligation... a course of action that someone is required to take....like taking a shit.

We are obligated to doing it. We have no choice. It just happens. If we don't do it... the ending is shitty.

So see- we are not given a choice...

This is why I feel so many people hate religion... and why I feel that a majority of "religious" people are hypocrites. In the word alone it states we are obligated... given no choice... yet in religion EVERYTHING is a choice. Do I want to be Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Atheist, Chickenistic (this is a religion of the worship of fried chicken... it has evolved to have two theories of thought: the dark meat and the white meat chapters).

My point is this. We need religion. But we do not need to take it so seriously.

We pick and choose what is right and wrong... basically what fits us.

"Oh... it is cheaper to make cloth of more than one material... so it's no longer a sin to wear clothing woven of 2 kinds of material...."

"It is better for us to breed a horse and a donkey together to get a stronger work animal (mule) and use it to plow a field where we are going to plant beans and corn because it makes since to let the beans grow up the corn stalks, and we can use the nitrogen from the legumes to help replenish the soil when we till it back into the earth."

"Hmm... we decided that we like rare meat... let's eat our steak rare."

What the hell do any of these things have to do with religion you ask? They are all sins according to the Bible... yet we as a society have decided that these weren't really sins. They were just somehow put in there to add extra words to make bigger paragraphs... you know... similar to all of that fluff you used to put into school essays to make a larger paper.... that way it seems like you know what you're talking about.... yeah... exactly.

That is what I mean by we pick and choose.

We decide that the convenience of something overrides that of what (insert deity here) wants us to do... but it is the 'other' religions that are wrong for believing what they believe.

A good enough lawyer can convince a jury that a man guilty of murder is innocent... what makes you think that a religion cannot convince you that others are wrong. It is all about perception.

I once was convinced to go to a church with a coworker who had been begging me to come to church with her. "You will LOVE my church... I promise," she told me.

No words could describe how I felt going there.

The opening sermon started out by a man wearing a too tight leisure suit screaming at the top of his lungs, and I am quoting him word for word.... "The problem with this world is from the influence of niggers, fags and chinks."

This... my friends... is religion.

You can say... "now this is not a TRUE Christian church."

Oh... but it is...

They had a following... and the pews were PACKED!

You can say, this is not what the word of the lord preaches...

Oh... but it is...

Because like everything else in this world... there is a Bible verse for.. and against everything. It is all a matter of how we interpret it.

And as a linguist... let me tell you... anything can be interpreted any way.

I am not saying... stop going to (insert place of worship here).

I am just saying THINK.

Think for yourself.

I know people that go to churches that preach homosexuality is the work of the devil and every homo shall burn in hell... everyone affiliated with homos are no better....

They give 10% of their wages to this church.

They hoop and holler and praise the lord as the preacher preaches...

Yet Friday night comes and they are the biggest fag-hags you have ever seen. They are doing shots and letting the gays grab their boobies.. then making out with em....

Yep.... where's the thinking?

I know people that are married for the second time to someone who is a different religion than them, yet they still go to that place of worship almost every other day....yet they are not "a member" because they were not raised that religion.

THINK PEOPLE!!!

You have people that are following things because they are "supposed" to and the church looks at them as outstanding members of the community (while they are there) but then you have people that are "living the word" and are shunned.

What the hell is happening??

As I once heard someone say: Praise Jesus on Sunday- Forget about it on Monday!

I'm not saying do not be Christian.

Be whatever religion you like. Please... believe something... I think it is important to believe that there is something more powerful than you... it keeps you humble.

But I think religion is like a fart... it is something we all have to do... but it is meant to be kept in private. Even the Bible says that (Matthew 6:6)... well... the private thing... don't look up that scripture expecting to read about farting... you'll be disappointed.....

All religions are beautiful in the boiled down reduced essence of it.

Islam (which is sadly given a terrible image these days), Judaism, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, Voodoo, Wiccan... all of these (and all the others) are all beautiful. The sad thing is people hear another religion and they are freaked out about even learning about it.

Remember what I said earlier about starving at a buffet of knowledge... see what I am saying?

Just because you are Christian, does not mean it is wrong to learn about Islam. And I mean truly learning. I do not mean listen to what you have heard other people say about it.

You might be surprised to learn that the Quran is like a detailed version of the Bible in certain senses. You might be surprised to learn that Western religions really all have the same general rules.

You might be surprised to learn that all religions are is basically a way to keep your greedy ass in check.

So I guess the moral of this post is to say this... LIVE your life. Live it compassionately. And don't be the monkey wrench in my spokes simply because you're an asshole and hate mornings.

"Purity or impurity depends on oneself, No one can purify another." ~Buddha