Saturday, June 5, 2010
Utopia
Who's to say who is right and who is wrong? Who made the rules? And how do we know those rules are right? Who created morals? These are just some of the questions that I ask myself more often that I would like to admit. Throughout the day I witness things that make these questions resurface. Watching the news about wars due to religious diffences makes me wonder who are the bad guys? Going on facebook I read posts that I do not agree with but I'm not sure why I don't agree. There are some people that believe that being gay is wrong. They believe this because of their religion. Who am I to say that what they think is wrong? While I believe that everyone has a right to live their life whichever way they want, does it mean that I'm wrong in that religion's eyes? I remember watching a Jodie Foster movie called "Contact". The basic premise was that we had made contact with another life form outside of earth. An invitation was sent from these aliens to have a human visit them to teach them what human beings were all about. So a panel was created to determine who would be the best representative of human beings. Jodie Foster portrayed a scientist who was nominated to be that representative. When being interviewed a question was asked of her, "Do you believe in God?" She responded by saying that being a woman of science she did not believe that there was or is a God because there wasn't any irrefutable evidence to believe so. The panel determined that because 99% of the human population believed in some form of higher being, Jodie Foster's character, even though the most knowledgeable about the earth, would not be an ideal representative for our planet. That scene always reminds me of why it is difficult for me to be "religious". Almost everybody in the world believes in some form of God. Some religions state that if you do not follow their ways, then you are going to some form of hell. Since there is more than one religion that believes this, that means that everyone is going to some form of hell. How does this make sense? At the same time, how can we not believe in God? Quite a conundrum we are all faced with. What does that say about me if I'm not religious but I believe in God? Being brought up Catholic, I am aware of what I need to do to go to heaven. But for non-Catholics, what's in store for them? What if I want to go where the non-Catholics go? Is that wrong? Questions, questions, questions. Who knows the answers? Who gets to say if a picture is insensitive or not. Who knows? My head hurts.
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You got me thinking bro and I started writing to sort it out in my head.
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There are some people in this world who are brought up with no parents, surrounded by crime and violence, no positive role models to speak of, no education and no religion. And some of these people will still figure out on their own what the difference between good and bad is, and they choose on their own to be a good person and to do the right thing. Even though they had no positive examples to follow, they had plenty of negative examples of how not to be. In many ways, they raised themselves and taught themselves what it meant to be a good person.
This is, of course, the exception to the rule. The huge majority of people need to be taught and raised to be good people and to make good decisions. We rely on our parents, our teachers, our governments, and our religions to guide us while we are growing up. The flock of sheep relies on its shepherd to guide them and protect them. So what happens when we grow up? We realize the shepherd was just another sheep, like us, following what someone else was telling them. We then start to question everything we were taught, but then our head hurts and we give up, so we go back to being sheep. The problem with all of this and perhaps the existential statement I am trying to make? Human beings aren't sheep. We have free will and are self-aware. We are built with an intellect that questions everything, that can follow directions but can also question the reasoning behind the directions. All our teachers and shepherds along the way most likely mean well. They are guiding and protecting us with lessons and rules. However, rules are only useful if they are enforced. There must be a negative consequence for those that do not follow the rules, otherwise they won't be followed. The consequences for breaking the rules as we grow up: getting grounded, a spanking, a time-out, detention, fines, jail, hard labor, death, hell. These rules are meant to guide us and protect us, and their punishments are meant to make sure we follow them. Our teachers and shepherds mean well and maybe that gets lost when we focus on all the rules and the punishments. We forget that we are being guided and kept together for our own protection. However, we eventually come back to the real issue: human beings aren't sheep.
Don't just try to figure things out for yourself. Set out to do it. Question everything. Know that your teachers are and will always be imperfect and the rules they make are imperfect. Know also that though they mean well in trying to guide and protect you, it is inevitably up to you to figure it out for yourself.
-Ray Mandap
hmmm, perhaps you can consider the perspective of traditional religion vs. free-form spirituality. in both cases, there is a belief in God or some form of higher power. both long for a relationship or connection with that higher power. a person can be both religious and spiritual. a person can be just deeply spritual, and MANY, many people are religious but not spiritual. in searching for answers to your questions,remember that institutionalized religion is mad-made. the rules and rituals are man-made. the bible was put together by men of the early church trying to figure out what is the divine word, and it has been interpreted in so many ways. so many dichotomies and contradictions. a true follower of their religion believes that there is only one path to ultimate salvation. universalism believes that through spirituality there are MANY different acceptable paths all leading to God. for some, it's about rituals, worship, and fear of God. for others, it's only about loving God, respecting God, and acknowledging His existence. but what is man-made and what is divine? or hey, maybe hollywood got it right for once, and as Avatar depicts, it's all about being interconnected with the earth and all living things! healthy religion does give people guidance, something more tangible to understand and follow, and the church gives a sense of community. religion can provide hope and comfort to people, but it also divides people. it has torn people apart. spirituality unites and brings people together. but the power of faith, is well, powerful. as a fellow Lost geek, i loved all the debates about faith vs logic and science, or free will vs. fate. ok, all this is just my own random rambling, and who knows if it makes any sense at all. what do i know? i'm just a girl that believes in some cases, there is no gray area, and i have the right to say yes, a picture IS insensitive. ;P
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