I admire and respect those with opinions which defer from my own.
That said, there is one particular crowd of people which, more than anything, perplex me. Those who once believed in God, and who now, for various "tragic" reasons, deny His existence yet hate Him all the same. That's very oxymoronic.
Allow me to truly lament for a moment, by recounting a few of the more eventful moments of my life over the past two years:
1. My then-twelve year old sister contracted an auto-immune disease called "juvenile bacterial arthritis" which caused her to lose most of her hair and grow a type of fungus on her skin as her muscles deteriorated and she was reduced to being pushed in a wheelchair. My family was turned into the state by a doctor for "child abuse", though the doctor knew the circumstances behind my sister's brittle appearance. I almost lost my younger siblings; luckily we could prove there was no abuse going on. We took my sister to specialists in a large hospital who declared "there is no cure." My mom refused to believe it, and took her far away from people who constantly talked about my sister's "impending death." For one year my sister struggled to survive. One day, a light came on and she realized she wanted to live. Pleading with God, she fought to make it through, and now my sister looks as though she was never ill for a second. She runs around, boundless energy coursing through her healthy bones. There are no remains of scars from the fungus, and her hair has grown back as lush and thick as before.
2. With the economy's struggles, my dad was laid off work. His van was repossessed by the bank.
3. My car's transmission just died; I had no warranty, and so the money must come from my own pocket. I still don't have the means to pay it.
4. This last December my parents' home burned to the ground. My family lost everything within it, and several precious pets died in its intense flames. Something told my parents to leave my younger brother with me, rather than alone in their home. He was spared from death.
I don't hate God. Tragedy isn't a good enough reason for that. We can't blame someone else for life's surprises--we certainly don't hate God when something good happens.
You may choose not to believe in God. That is your right. Personally I choose to believe in a divine power. I don't go around attacking other people simply because they have different beliefs from my own. I would appreciate the same courtesy from those around me.
Life is too short to spend it pointing fingers and attacking others. Try kindness. When it comes back to you, it's not so bad as other repercussions might be
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
2.16.2009
Lament #0013 - The Almighty Football!
Religion -noun
1. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices
2. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience
A lot of people are religious, even if they don't attend church. I'm also very aware that there are many people who aren't at all religious in the traditional sense--but, like it or not, most are religious. No, really.
May I suggest that there is a religion that has recently become apparent, even though its many, many practitioners aren't aware of such? It's actually an organization which has been around for decades, in point of fact, and most people, despite their vocal religious affiliation, are actually devote followers of this new faith more readily and zealously than they ever were of any prior faiths?
Sports.
Le gasp! How dare I mock the sacred event called sports? (May I point out that if any of you are offended that I mock this, it only further proves my point.)
In my own religion, despite its definite appointment that Sunday is a holy day where one should rest from worldly cares and focus on the Savior, most men (and women too) make Super Bowl Sunday a special "exception", justifying it easily. Never mind it can be recorded and watched the following evening.
Granted, my religion also supports choice. Heaven (literally) forbid agency be taken away. We are taught certain Godly laws and principles, and then are given the choice whether to obey or not. It is a much-debated point whether the Super Bowl is actually not within keeping the Sabbath holy, although it really oughtn't be such a point for debate, if people were truly honest with themselves.
Even outside of organized religion, how many people that you know (perhaps yourself included) take time out of life's essential matters (family, for instance), to watch that important [insert sports name here] event.
Is there something wrong with enjoying sports? Certainly not. But once again it comes down to how much time is spent pursuing the sporting world rather than our own lives, families, jobs, or religions? What responsibilities are shirked in the name of the Almighty Football?
Life is about moderation. We should pursue hobbies which we enjoy--there isn't anything wrong with that. But balance is essential for a healthy, happy life. If sports is causing a conflict with your other priorities; if sports is causing a rift between you and your significant other; something is wrong. Now is a good time to step back and examine how much time you spend pursuing your own hobbies, versus those of someone else, or versus the other goals and responsibilities you have in your life.
Any hobby which can cause harm to your family relationships or career should not become a central point in your life. On the other hand, if sports is helping bring your family closer, by all means, pursue it, so long as the purpose is a happy family, not a worshiped football.
Balance, balance, balance.
1. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices
2. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience
A lot of people are religious, even if they don't attend church. I'm also very aware that there are many people who aren't at all religious in the traditional sense--but, like it or not, most are religious. No, really.
May I suggest that there is a religion that has recently become apparent, even though its many, many practitioners aren't aware of such? It's actually an organization which has been around for decades, in point of fact, and most people, despite their vocal religious affiliation, are actually devote followers of this new faith more readily and zealously than they ever were of any prior faiths?
Sports.
Le gasp! How dare I mock the sacred event called sports? (May I point out that if any of you are offended that I mock this, it only further proves my point.)
In my own religion, despite its definite appointment that Sunday is a holy day where one should rest from worldly cares and focus on the Savior, most men (and women too) make Super Bowl Sunday a special "exception", justifying it easily. Never mind it can be recorded and watched the following evening.
Granted, my religion also supports choice. Heaven (literally) forbid agency be taken away. We are taught certain Godly laws and principles, and then are given the choice whether to obey or not. It is a much-debated point whether the Super Bowl is actually not within keeping the Sabbath holy, although it really oughtn't be such a point for debate, if people were truly honest with themselves.
Even outside of organized religion, how many people that you know (perhaps yourself included) take time out of life's essential matters (family, for instance), to watch that important [insert sports name here] event.
Is there something wrong with enjoying sports? Certainly not. But once again it comes down to how much time is spent pursuing the sporting world rather than our own lives, families, jobs, or religions? What responsibilities are shirked in the name of the Almighty Football?
Life is about moderation. We should pursue hobbies which we enjoy--there isn't anything wrong with that. But balance is essential for a healthy, happy life. If sports is causing a conflict with your other priorities; if sports is causing a rift between you and your significant other; something is wrong. Now is a good time to step back and examine how much time you spend pursuing your own hobbies, versus those of someone else, or versus the other goals and responsibilities you have in your life.
Any hobby which can cause harm to your family relationships or career should not become a central point in your life. On the other hand, if sports is helping bring your family closer, by all means, pursue it, so long as the purpose is a happy family, not a worshiped football.
Balance, balance, balance.
1.22.2009
Lament #0010 - How gullible ARE we?
There are moments when I really wonder about our mental state of mind. I'm not saying I don't believe in people, insofar as their ability to overcome and improve themselves. My issue is with those who don't and won't.
Take this for example:
Pretty severe sounding, right? Yeah, well. Di hydrogen Monoxide is only water. But there are thousands of people who don't know this, and who merely agree to sign a boy's petition without knowing the facts, because "it must be good to ban this, because a 14 year old boy asked me to!" Sorry. That's not a good enough reason to sign anything.
There's my issue. Humorous as the situation with DHMO is, I'm not amused by the consistent gullibility of the masses. How much effort would it take to type "Di hydrogen Monoxide" into Google, or to look it up in an encyclopedia to discover that, yes, water can kill you, and no, the odds aren't in favor of that. Assuming one has the sense to spell Di hydrogen Monoxide (but that's an issue for another lament).
And gullibility isn't always so harmless as signing a petition to stop water usage. Sometimes it has much more adverse effects.
Take, for example, the voting of Barack Obama into office. I'm not referring to his political standing, but rather those who voted for him for, say, a single act he promised to pass. My brother recently visited a neighbor who was among those who voted in favor of Obama, but now, mere hours after his official inauguration, they express the horror of voting without knowing all the facts. Or, in their own words, "We used to like Obama. Not so much now."
Oh, great. I feel so reassured that those who voted really knew where they stood.
Yes, I'm being sarcastic.
With the mentality of people like that, people who think they hear a good idea, and so jump at it, it's a wonder we have a person in office at all. They may as well have voted for those 300 roosters on Fox News, instead of Obama. It would have been just as consistent.
Whatever a person's political, religious, or other views, they ought to "look before they leap", think before they talk, watch before they stand. Unlike a computer art program, where we can simply "undo" our mistakes, the world at large doesn't in reality revolve around us (sorry, no, it doesn't) and life goes on after we've made our blunder. Whoops. Too late now.
In short, know where you stand now.
Yes, I know. Twenty-twenty hindsight. Easier said than done. But that's my point. If we know the facts, all the facts, before the issue, how much easier is it to know where you stand, what to say, how to vote? I've made decisions early in my life which still affect me today, whether adversely or not.
I believe in people, as they can be if they only take the time to try. I believe we have what it takes to make or break the world by acting on our convictions, rather than standing by, or signing our names on the dotted line because a young boy asked us to. Learn, evaluate, know yourself. At least then, when the smoke has cleared and you see the results of your actions, you can know for yourself that you did what you knew was best. There are less regrets that way. I can't see anything wrong with that. Can you?
Take this for example:
Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student, gathered petitions to ban "DHMO" as the basis of his science project, titled "How Gullible Are We?"In order to understand how this has any bearing, I will further demonstrate by referring you to an website which explains DHMO. Coalition to Ban Di hydrogen Monoxide. (Another informative website, more up-to-date, is found at DHMO.org, although the first link provides a concise example of what I wish to illustrate.)
Pretty severe sounding, right? Yeah, well. Di hydrogen Monoxide is only water. But there are thousands of people who don't know this, and who merely agree to sign a boy's petition without knowing the facts, because "it must be good to ban this, because a 14 year old boy asked me to!" Sorry. That's not a good enough reason to sign anything.
There's my issue. Humorous as the situation with DHMO is, I'm not amused by the consistent gullibility of the masses. How much effort would it take to type "Di hydrogen Monoxide" into Google, or to look it up in an encyclopedia to discover that, yes, water can kill you, and no, the odds aren't in favor of that. Assuming one has the sense to spell Di hydrogen Monoxide (but that's an issue for another lament).
And gullibility isn't always so harmless as signing a petition to stop water usage. Sometimes it has much more adverse effects.
Take, for example, the voting of Barack Obama into office. I'm not referring to his political standing, but rather those who voted for him for, say, a single act he promised to pass. My brother recently visited a neighbor who was among those who voted in favor of Obama, but now, mere hours after his official inauguration, they express the horror of voting without knowing all the facts. Or, in their own words, "We used to like Obama. Not so much now."
Oh, great. I feel so reassured that those who voted really knew where they stood.
Yes, I'm being sarcastic.
With the mentality of people like that, people who think they hear a good idea, and so jump at it, it's a wonder we have a person in office at all. They may as well have voted for those 300 roosters on Fox News, instead of Obama. It would have been just as consistent.
Whatever a person's political, religious, or other views, they ought to "look before they leap", think before they talk, watch before they stand. Unlike a computer art program, where we can simply "undo" our mistakes, the world at large doesn't in reality revolve around us (sorry, no, it doesn't) and life goes on after we've made our blunder. Whoops. Too late now.
In short, know where you stand now.
Yes, I know. Twenty-twenty hindsight. Easier said than done. But that's my point. If we know the facts, all the facts, before the issue, how much easier is it to know where you stand, what to say, how to vote? I've made decisions early in my life which still affect me today, whether adversely or not.
I believe in people, as they can be if they only take the time to try. I believe we have what it takes to make or break the world by acting on our convictions, rather than standing by, or signing our names on the dotted line because a young boy asked us to. Learn, evaluate, know yourself. At least then, when the smoke has cleared and you see the results of your actions, you can know for yourself that you did what you knew was best. There are less regrets that way. I can't see anything wrong with that. Can you?
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