Sometimes it’s not kind to rewind…

Time. A measure of events. When? What hour? Which year? Progress. Moving forward.

Why are some so intent on living in the past? Not only living there but keeping it in the present. Making the past the future. We struggle. We demonstrate. We show the errors of the way of things. Are we bad now that the way of things was bad? Can we separate ourselves from the things?

If it was right and lawful before, why must that change? How can we know in the moment if we are right or wrong if it changes? But what if it does not change? What if what is right and wrong stays constant? Does that change things?

The concept of right and wrong are difficult to pin down. What is right to one set of people may be wrong for a separate set of people. Sometimes this is complete bunk. If your religion decides a person is not a person because of who they are, maybe the religion is what is wrong. If it is tradition to treat women as property and not a person, maybe the tradition is wrong. I know in the era of diversity we need to listen and respect everyone’s culture, religion, and so on. However, we need to be able to point out areas in which basic rights are being infringed upon. But we cannot just look down on foreign traditions and religions.

I was brought up in the Roman Catholic Church. A church deep in traditions and laws, catechisms and saints. They hold the belief that they alone are the Truth, are the voice of almighty God, and could influence whether you got into heaven or not. The Infallibility of the Pope! Yet more than one pope proved quite faultable. Question the holiness of the Church? To do so would be to question God Himself! Boo ga boo!

The more I studied it, the more I could not quite sell myself on it. If God is in charge of the Church, why is it so wealthy when many of its parishioners are so poor? Why does an immortal God need 10% of what you have? Why can only men become priests and why can’t they marry? Why does the majority of Jesus’ teachings get pretty much ignored in favor of laws that support an unfathomably large bureaucracy?

So I went on a journey, leaving behind the mighty Church to the humbler Protestant churches. Surely, they would not succumb to the trappings of the bloated and arrogant Church? Similar problems existed. They were the chosen ones to translate the bible to the masses and tell everyone how to live righteously. Some allowed female pastors. Some allowed them to marry. Some believed in the body and the blood of Christ. Some saw it as a symbol rather than the actual eating of blood and flesh. Some were ok with gay people. Some saw them as an abomination before God. Some said God never makes mistakes, therefore being  gay was your fault, somehow. It was all over the map. But the one thing that they all had in common was that the Golden Rule was to “love thy neighbor as you love yourself.”. Or better yet, “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” If you strip away all the fat and grissle of the Christian religion, you are left with love and compassion, judge not, lest ye be judged. Did we really need a grandiose religion to teach us that we should treat each other right? That to love one another is the truth?

Religion is terrific for building community, bringing people together for a common cause. It has also been the greatest reason for war and atrocities among men. So I find myself without religion. Is there a God? So far there is no definitive proof there isn’t one. There is also no definitive proof there is one either. But I can’t help but think that the human experience is so vast and so full of wonder, that I cannot help but be struck with awe at how wonderful things can be.

The more rules we make, the more rules we break. Why make it so damn hard? To Love is to listen. To understand. To journey together. We’re all going to end up in the same place in the end. What religion you are will by no means answer the question “how good a person are you?”. Actions drown out words every time.