Disheartening, to say the least...

Isn't it funny how we can have so much respect for someone and then, with just a few words, they can shake us to the very core?

I was, of course, having a deeply philosophical debate with someone that I truly and deeply admire - or at least I did.  I've always considered myself to be open to new ideas and I try to associate with people who think the same.  While participating in a lively chat about the links between modern American politics and the influence of various prominent religions, something was said that shook me to the core.  I've met hardcore conservatives before and had talks with some of the most liberal people as well, but the shocker was that someone I considered to be an intellectual said something that shook the understanding that I thought I had about them to the very core.

One of my favorite topics to discuss is the freedom of religion (or lack thereof) in our overly conservative "modern" society.  When this came up, one of the people that I tend to debate with often (and who usually tends to be on my side due to what I felt was a mutual understanding) made the following observation:  "Of course the Constitution protects the freedom of religion in America.  You are free to be part of any Christian religion that you choose."

This statement stunned me so much at first that I couldn't respond.  It was only after several minutes of silence that I could even get back into the discussion at hand.  Why was this pronouncement so shocking to me?  Was it simply because it exposed my supposedly open-minded friend for the closet conservative that he was?  Maybe it was because I couldn't believe that any truly free-thinking and equality-minded individual could openly profess such a belief.  What was the reason for my loss of focus at a moment when I would normally be the first one to tear down and attack the subtle bigotry inherent in such a declaration?

It is only after nearly a day of trying (unsuccessfully) to think about everything else but that statement and the ensuing discussion that I have come to realize the two major problems that arose in my mind.  First and foremost, I did the wrong thing and simply ignored a statement by a friend (or at least a colleague) in order to preserve my own image of our "likeminded" beliefs in true freedom.  Secondly, I realized that, though I am the first to champion freedom of religion and the first to criticize any overly moral legislation as hampering that very right, I too feel the same way!

I would never profess such a belief and can very easily call to mind each and every reason that such a way of thinking is wrong and even potential harmful en masse, but truthfully I now have just the tiniest understanding of how the jihadists feel.  When you are raised a certain way and you grow up thinking only one thing is right then no amount of education or exploration of other possibilities can break you of the influence that a system of beliefs can have over your innermost thoughts and feelings.

This is a problem that we all feel, I fear.  Those of us who were raised in the church (I do not capitalize here because I refer broadly to any church at all) can not shake the hold of our religion over our deepest emotional responses.  I'm not talking about holiday holiness here people, I'm talking about people who are coached their entire lives to believe that something is true.  That, after all, is the very reason that man created religion to begin with:  in order to ingrain a system of beliefs on groups of people to make it easier to maintain power over societies.

No, I am not an atheist.  I do believe in God, specifically the God of my understanding (catch the reference to AA and NA and then check out Alcoholics Anonymous - Big Book: New Personal Stories for the Year 2008 and Bill W.: The absorbing and deeply moving life story of Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous for some in-depth understanding of what I mean here and some tips that can help in the lives of anyone who is feeling lost).

If there is one thing that the twelve steps taught me in my exploration of self it was that no one religion has it right.  Religion was made by man, after all, and no religious text can deny it.  Even Jesus Himself did not make the Christian religion, as it were, people; He simply set out some basic tenets and left the formation of His church (Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine and The Da Vinci Code, Special Illustrated Edition (Hardcover) are EXCELLENT reads if you want to understand the real story behind the formation of the modern churches and the various offshoot denominations) in the hands of men.  That's right, you die-hard Christians - Jesus let men write down and set all the rules that now make up the dogmas of the various Christian denominations.  Read the Good Book itself and look for the rules that He Himself wrote and then compare them to the things that the churches do in His name.

This brings to mind an interesting quote from Sarah McLachlan:  "Dear God, I don't know if you noticed but your name is on a lot of quotes in this book... and as crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look..." (from the song Dear God available on the album Rarities, B-Sides & Other Stuff pictured at the top of this article).  The entire song is a letter to the God of her understanding talking about the false gods that are being credited as the cause for wars and anger and hatred among mankind.  I think Sarah makes some good points...

Still I find it hard to break away from the training that I was given in my younger days.  I know that I have a relationship with God, with the God of my understanding, and I know that we are close but sometimes the trappings of the old religious dogma still cause me to pause.  Sometimes I catch myself thinking in the closed-minded way that all religions of every type seem to end up teaching as right.  If I myself can fall into this trap then maybe the problem is worse than I thought?  The simple fact is that organized religion is a source of power for a very few fueled by the masses that accept it without hesitation.  The very fact that more and bloodier wars have been fought in the name of religion than for any other reason in the entire expanse of human history proves one thing to me:  the evil of a man is intent on destroying everything good.

"The blight of corruption that lies within the heart of humanity has managed to obscure even the true light of God that shines upon the earth and shades us instead with false hope and man-made dogma..."  That last quote is mine.  Came to me just now... like it or hate it, but no one can deny that it rings true.  Think Jim and Tammy Fae, think Ferdinand and Isabella, think Constantine himself and then wonder where we are headed...

Right and Right-Wing... Really?!?

Here we are in the year 2009 and still suffering from prejudice, hatred, and discrimination. The United States Congress has begun hearings regarding the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA - H.R. 2981) and already the right-wing conservative groups are out in force. Focus on the Family, an advocate of religious rights, recently sent a letter to Congress in opposition to the bill. (for the letter's text see here: 9-2-2009 Letter From Focus on the Family) I think that it might benefit the reader to peruse this document as I fully intend to tear it and its tenets to ribbons.

The right-wingers that drafted and supported this letter had something to say about religious freedom. According to Focus on the Family, because most religious faiths oppose the practice or endorsement of homosexuality or "transgenderism," the ENDA will create workplace conflict among employees because of objections to: "religious articles on employees' desks; water cooler discussions about biblical morality; Bible verses taped to cubicle walls; fliers on company bulletin boards advertising discussions concerning traditional marriage." Where in the hell do these people work? Most places that I know tend to frown on these types of displays and activities as it is. I don't think that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community will be the first to raise objections or dissonance to these types of activities. The first amendment protection of religious freedom extends to ALL religions, even those that DO support (or in the very least, show no opinion on) homosexuality. Do we need to take the right to work away from Catholics or Muslims just because their belief system does not coincide with the Protestants in their workplace? Don't we already have many different peoples of many different doctrines working together in the same companies? How come people from such very different backgrounds can all get along (and are indeed guaranteed equality) but giving equal rights to the LGBT community will suddenly create such a rift? Indeed, I'm sure that there are even atheists and agnostics (both of whose rights to NOT believe are protected by the same legislation that protects the believers' rights TO believe) in the workforce today. Surely the presence of those who don't even BELIEVE in God or religion creates the same form of strife that Mr. Tom Minnery, Senior V.P. of FotF is referring to. Where is the push from the lobbyists to take away THEIR equal rights as well. If Minnery is right, then each workplace should only hire employees who subscribe to the same religious belief and wouldn't THAT be the breeding ground for insight and innovation!

Our founding fathers came here seeking the freedom to believe and worship as they chose. It was for this reason that the hand of Uncle Sam was used to protect religious right, not set religious doctrine. If we allow legislation that only supports the religious right (and indeed it will eventually turn into only CERTAIN religions that are right) then we will be no better than the despotic countries who subscribe to only ONE government-sponsored belief and persecute all non-believers.

I find it humorous that FotF claims that there is no hard evidence to prove employment discrimination against the LGBT community. If discrimination was not seen to be occurring, then why in the hell would Congress be debating a law to prevent it? It's simple logic actually. Many national and international corporations have adopted their own policies on this issue in order to prevent this very thing. Why would Blue Cross, Darden Restaurants, Chase Bank, and Microsoft all have felt the need to write such policies into their employment practices if it wasn't happening? Indeed, discrimination runs rampant. To quote Mr. Minnery, "Moreover, sexual orientation and 'gender identity' should not be equated with race, color, gender or national origin. Homosexuals, bisexuals, and 'transgender' people have never been counted as 3/5 of a person, forced to drink from separate water fountains, made to ride at the back of a bus, or denied the right to vote."

While it is true that widespread discrimination has not yet reached the boiling point that caused our forebears to leave England in the first place and we have not yet hit the rock bottom of the period of slavery, one must wonder: if discrimination is not a problem, why are so many members of the LGBT community attacked, beaten, sodomized, and murdered simply for being who they are? Why would so many legislative bodies have found it necessary to enact hate crime legislation in order to protect a minority group that is not being discriminated against? Obviously, FotF is either denying that this discrimination occurs or advocating in favor of it (I certainly do hope that it is the former). Even women, when they were at their most persecuted, were not MURDERED simply for being women.

We are giving the severely conservative (and disillusioned) groups vindication if we vote down this bill. By allowing government-sponsored (for that's what it will appear to be if the legislation is vetoed) discrimination against a minority group will become acceptable once again in the United States. If we are going to go backwards in time, then why not allow discrimination against ALL minorities? Do we really want to give the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nation, and other supremacy groups of all types license to operate once again within our borders?

You may think that this issue is about simple employment, but look at the larger picture. It is an important precedent to set by the force of legislation that the LGBT deserves equal rights. It will be immensely destructive to the civil rights of minorities as a whole if we allow them to be denied. Our founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they heard the tenets of "religious freedom" and "civil rights" being used to back a movement to ostracize, alienate, and discriminate against an entire group of people with FULL LEGAL AUTHORITY! No one seems to remember why America was founded to begin with. I seem to remember reading something somewhere about 'all men being created equal.' I guess that we have forgotten that in this modern day and age.

I can not believe that any group would lobby AGAINST equal rights and equal employment opportunity for a group of Americans that just want to be productive citizens like everyone else. I sincerely hope that everyone is as outraged as I am and takes a moment to write their senators. If our Congress votes down a bill to protect the employment rights of a portion of the American population, it will definitely be a step in the OPPOSITE direction of equality. How can we continue to be a champion of democracy and a beacon of freedom to the world if we allow prejudice, fear, hatred and bigotry to write our legislation for us? How can America continue to be the land of the free and the home of the brave if large sections of our population are, once again in our history, categorically denied basic civil rights? Voting against ENDA-type policies will send the message that "liberty and justice for all" is no longer available in America! I'm not asking for major changes in life, I'm just asking that our Congress considers the matter and votes on the side of freedom; not freedom for one group, but freedom for all!

Write your Senators... I did... Contact US Senators

Who is this God person anyway?

***DISCLAIMER: If you are incredibly sensitive about religion, God, or matters of faith then the following may or may not offend you. Everyone has the right to believe what they choose and this is just one small part of what I believe about God (as I understand Him).***

So many different opinions exist regarding God. It is a matter of fact that the vastly diverse systems of religious belief in the wide variety of deities worshipped around the world throughout human history has been the single source of disagreements that have resulted in more and bloodier wars than anything else in our society. No mere economic or political conflict can hold a candle to the horrific chaos that results from dogmatic differences when it comes to religious beliefs.

There is an interesting quote that I would like to use as a basis for the diatribe to come. It comes from the song entitled Dear God by Sarah McLachlan and is as follows... "Did you (referring to God) make mankind, after we made you... and the devil, too?"

Before anyone gets their feathers too ruffled, I should explain something very simple. I have no problem with God or a belief in Him. I personally believe and feel that I have a close connection to this supremely spiritual being. There is, however, and important distinction that should be made. God (as you choose to understand Him) is an integral part in every religious belief, but religion is NOT necessary to maintain faith in God. Something that we all tend to forget is that, just as the various civilizations rise in power, prosper for a time, and then crumble into ashes only to be replaced by new social groupings, the various religions of the world, throughout history, do the exact same thing. It is the nature of anything that is created by man that it must only be temporary.

You are now probably just burning with fury at the insinuation that religion was created by man and, therefore, can not be an agent of God. Think on this for a moment - just a few thousand years ago (not terribly long in the grand scheme of history), the known world was ruled by the ancient empires of Rome and, before that, Egypt. In other parts of the world, the dominant cultures were those of the Native Americans (the Maya, Incas, and Aztecs to name a few) and before any of these were ever even thought of the ancient Sumerians and other groups had control. The thing that is most pertinent about the rise and fall of all of these prominent cultures (and the others like them) is that, long before any of our modern beliefs in God (or any derivation thereof) were even conceived of (let alone preached from pulpits to the sheeplike masses) these cultures retained their VERY OWN systems of belief that were all unique and were all entirely unlike the major belief systems as ascribed to today. That means that the religious dogmas of today must have been created long after the creation of man.

There is a point to the history lesson above and that is this - if God made religion then why are all religions NOT the same and why do the "right" religions of our time (for every culture that believes also believes that IT is the only one that has it right) not date back to the beginning of human history? One would infer that, if God had created religion for us, He would have created it when He created us, yet this is not the case.

We can, therefore, deduce that organized religion, in all of its various forms throughout human history, is a product of the minds of men. Furthermore (and here is the kicker) one might draw the conclusion that, as all organized religions are man-made belief systems centering on a variety of different and unique deities (yes there are still some polytheistic cultures in the world) then the particular deities at the center of each individual dogma must also be creations of mankind.

This is not to say that God does not exist. I am actually quite certain that God (of my understanding, for I think that everyone has their own unique relationship with the higher power, spiritual creator, or whatever one might choose to call the supreme being) does, in actual fact, exist. I am also quite convinced that He is NOTHING like what we have made him to be. Man, after all, has the tendency to use organizations and groups as a means of controlling other men. This is simple fact. That is why, therefore, all religions, and indeed all of the different gods (I will no longer capitalize when referring to man-made gods), reflect the characteristics that the leading groups of people responsible for their creations chose for them to reflect. That is the reason that all of the many different gods are simply so very different!

Now that I am quite certain that I have offended all of the religious believers in the world, I might as well go ahead and finish the job with a final declaration: though some of the ideas of the many different belief systems are inherently good, for the most part the creators and leaders of the religions of man are LYING TO YOU! The lies are descendents of those perpetrated generations ago in order to make groups of people succumb to the will of those either in power or who wished to be in power. Religion, as made by man, is a FRAUD!

For those of you who are faithful (I use this term to refer to the very small number of people who have faith in something more without following a man-made dogma like cattle) I hold out hope. I know that, as non-traditional believers who do not subscribe to any religion in particular, we are, therefore the most persecuted of all. We are often called atheists, though that is a different group entirely. As agnostics (those who believe in a higher power but feel that organized religion is unnecessary) we are condemned and slandered by ALL of the other, more powerful groups (including, as it were, the atheists)! There is a shining light at the end of the tunnel though for those of us who are faithful and choose to persevere, knowing that there is something more to believe in than that which was just conceived by the powerful upper echilon. Like all of the other dogmatic beliefs in human history, even those that are currently in power will, eventually, either evolve and change with the times or one day fade away into the dim light of history. Luckily for us, we will still have the God of our understanding even as all of those organized beliefs preached from the various pulpits of the world wither away.