Michelle My Belle Lives On Penny Lane

Reli-(jarg/gi)on.

Well, this is going to keep rattling in my brain until I write it down. This is day #2 of my 13 days of Spring Break and I still haven’t changed out of my pj’s (it’s 6pm).  I plan on devoting a lot of this break to painting, exercising new photoshop skills, yoga and reading things that I want to read for me.  I do still have a Lit Review to write for my thesis though.  Next, you will read a short story…

There once was a very observant and thoughtful but timid little girl.  Timid because her views were not appreciated at home (at least not by the dominant, authoritative person in the household).  Attending school was fun to her because she really enjoyed learning and it was also an escape from tension and restraint she felt at home.  The only kind of school that she particularly found unpleasant was….  SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

This place.  This homely, little Episcopal church.  Wow!  Boy, was it absurdly confusing to her.  Not only did her parents not make her go every Sunday (so she wasn’t a part of the Sunday School clique) but both parents also didn’t attend.  One parent (the dominant figure) also bluntly expressed their oppositional feelings toward the church.  Now, this little girl never understood what the F the Sunday school teacher was talking about.  Being the only girl in the class that would innocently and very curiously ask questions about how something could exist that they couldn’t see, the other snobby kids looked down their noses at her.  She most certainly felt out of place but this was because the other kids said in not so friendly ways that she “just didn’t understand”.  They were right.  “She just didn’t understand.”  She just didn’t understand how you could say things at night to someone before bed who was invisible and they would “magically” respond to you but you would never see them.  Of course, she always wanted to believe in magic but her concrete senses told her differently.  She hated going to Sunday School and thought about how she never wanted to be like those kids who were mean for reasons such as “not understanding”.  Each time upon entering this dreadful place, she thought about how the hallways looked like great places to have relay races which would surely be more exciting than listening to something that didn’t make any sense to her — nor could anyone ever fully explain to her.  She sat in class, bored, and only took interest and delight when it was time to color.  Actually, she got in trouble on more than one occasion for coloring in Bibles.  “What’s the big deal?!” she thought to herself.  Bored again, she wanted to entertain herself and thought other people too would enjoy the drawings she left in these books; especially other boys and girls that might feel like she did.  People again didn’t respond warmly to this act, to say the least.  She often got in trouble and sat alone in her uncomfortable dress clothes that she didn’t want to be wearing anyway. 

She remembered; specifically, on holidays that more people came to church.  This was strange because everyone acted much happier for no apparent reason.  She enjoyed the holidays too, but really, what was the big deal about Christmas (besides presents) and Easter (except for Scavenger hunts)?!  She just liked all of the additional treats that were offered in the Community Room.  Anyway, after Elementary school her parents stopped making her go which was nice of them she thought. 

Now that I’ve shared that I’m sure you all have suspected that defiant, little girl might have been me.  WRONG.  Just kidding.  You’re right, that was definitely me.  You might be wondering why the hell I chose to write that.  I’m kind of wondering too.  It’s time for me to remind myself why (this is going to sit uneasily with a lot of my friends who are religious, I’m aware of this but I love y’all anyway):

1.  Religion is poisonous.

2.  What purposes does religion serve and is it harmful to societies?

3.  Will we ever rid religions?

4.  Why the F have I chosen to be in serious relationships with all religious guys?

Okay, let’s begin.  Shall we? 

1.  On a tame level, I like to think of religions as being synonymous to different cooking recipes for the same dish.  They might all be made up of different ingredients but they’re still trying to achieve the same dish.  No one’s recipe is the “right” recipe.  Often times, your preference to a particular recipe might be culturally related or what you grew up with.  No one’s recipe or RELIGION is any better than anyone else’s.  So go fuck yourself if you think differently.  haha, KIDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING (kind of).  Now, what they’re ultimately trying to achieve is a perfection and ignorant BUT we’ll get to that in a few minutes.

2. and 3. wil interchangeably be referenced here.  Okay, let’s think about the pros and cons of religion. 

Pros:

-This is a stress-reducer for people (unless you’re Catholic, haha).  Less stress inevitably means less health issues.  I’m hesitant to mention this because I don’t know how quickly I can access these articles BUT there have been studies that show that GENERALLY speaking people who have a strong religious belief system live longer than those who do not.  This does make sense.  This is because of how they view challenges and/or issues.  They look at these issues, externally.  This means, in general, they do not think “Oh man, I didn’t get the job because there is something wrong with me.” or something to that extent.  Most would think, “hey, God.  I didn’t get that job but that’s okay because I know you’ll supply me with something better.”  The problem isn’t internalized.  It’s briefly addressed and that’s it.  I am familiar with this style of thinking because of guys I’ve dated and friends I’ve had who think like this.  It’s kind of amazing to watch!

-Um, I can’t really think of any other pros except for a false sense of security.  Does the fact that it’s false really matter on a health level?  It’s almost like a placebo.  Even if it isn’t real, they think it’s real, and this it has power and their body responds physiologically to this.

This really gets down to what we think the meaning of human life is.  Is to stay alive as long as we can?  Science is incredible.  It’s what keeps us going.  It’s what will continue to keep us going.  I keep thinking about all of the progress we’ve made with cloning and with artificial intelligence.  I think much more has been created than the average person knows about.  I wonder why it’s being kept under wraps?  I wonder how many religious people there are in the world?  I wonder how many of them will be receptive to our new discoveries and inventions?  I wonder where the balance and/or conflict will be.

Cons of religion:

-a judgment system

-faulty in nature (if people truly believe in this irrationality that a God exists, what other kinds of irrational things will they believe in)?

Now, I’d like to address my recent revelation that every guy that I’ve seriously dated has been religious.  Thinking about it now, I can’t believe I put myself in certain situations.  Things obviously didn’t work out with myself and these guys for a number of reasons.  I think I just wanted so badly to understand something I didn’t innately believe in.  I kept hoping one of them could prove it to me, even though my core belief was that no one could.  I try to understand all theories (not accept them as my own) but at least understand everyone’s point of view.  I have to do this for my profession.  I also think it is a good life-skill to adapt.  So yes, I felt so uncomfortable when I went to church with them though.  Something never felt right; consequently, I never really saw “eye-to-eye” with these guys.  A lot of these said guys are probably reading this now (HEY, GUYS!).  

I think I know why I chose to date these guys though.  They supplied a certain comfort for me that I needed; that I depended on.  Guess what?!  I don’t give a shit about that anymore.  haha.  I mean, I do to an extent but I am so comfortable with myself on that level now, I could just kind of care less about the rest.  I see why that stuff was important to me at those times though.  Lessons learned.  I also always very stereotypically thought that atheists were some of the most depressed people I knew.  Immature thinking on my part.  What’s wrong with there not being a God-like plan for people?  Does that put too much pressure on you?  Do you feel incredibly personally responsible for your actions now?  Good.  You should.  Well, except for the part that may be biologically determined.  haha.

I apologize if this is a little scattered.  Anyway, I want you thinking about this stuff.

“Bring da ruckus” aka feel free to share your thoughts.

UNCOMFORTABLY LONG HUGS,

Michelle