re: #152 Nyet

I wonder how true that is. If Mr Arbuckle was faced with life or death because of his faith would he really go the martyr route? Just like the bluster about being a “good guy with a gun” in an active shooter situation. I don’t buy it. Most of the time anyway.

I get why religion exists. The world is scary, people need something larger than themselves to hold on to, otherwise, sometimes it would seem like WTF is the point of it all. It also allows for community and common ground so that good things can flourish. But far too often none of that happens, more like the opposite.

I was raised by Amway right wing evangelicals. I got sent to Bible study groups that used Hal Lindsey books as study guides. And yet, at no time was I asked not to think for myself, scoff at science, or to rely solely on prayer to solve problems. My parents, thank goodness, were smart enough to know I would need to have some critical thinking skills and smarts to get me through life. I had more books than toys. By age 10 I had a collection of shells and various items from nature, all labeled with their latin names. So it’s possible for both religion and reason to exist together, even if they don’t always get along. As I got older, most of the shitty things that happened to me, and later my son, were at the hands of “good Christian people” and I gave up on the traditional idea of church and religious community.

My dad’s mom didn’t like organized religion at all. She said God was all over the place, not in a fancy building on Sundays. God isn’t this thing humans made up, it’s where we are, who we love, how we live. I agree with her, I wish she was still around, except I think she’d be heartbroken at the way things have gone since she died 20 yrs ago. Today in fact. Shit.