The following copy/paste is my reply to an e-mail I received from a friend tonight. It was one of those "Jesus Loves You" chain letters that actually claims to deliver " a miracle in your life soon" if it gets forwarded to 10 people. She is still my friend and always will be, but..... (sigh)
Xxxxxxxx -
I read the message all the way through, but did not pass it on. Not because I was offended or refuse to believe in anything, but because I don't know what to believe in when it comes to the question of God. Maybe there is one and maybe there isn't, but every religion I have experienced, studied, or read about has failed for me personally. The way I describe myself is "agnostic buddhist", which means that most of the tenets of buddhism make sense to me, except for the stories of him walking and talking right after being born, or other supernatural events attributed to his life. Buddha himself may even be a fictitious character created by someone who thought the message would be accepted more widely if people thought there was a "divine being" involved. Doesn't matter to me. ( But I'm getting sidetracked here... )
I was born a Roman Catholic, but have never accepted their version of things because they have never answered the basic question I have had from childhood : If the Roman Catholic Church is the One True Church, why does any other church or religion even exist ? Is it some kind of test God is conducting upon us ? Or what ? Someone might say it is enough JUST TO BELIEVE. To not worry over these things and to just trust God. Well, that's a heck of thing to do in a church whose preists have been molesting children for all these years. It's crazy. And what about the Holocaust ? Was the Christian God punishing the Jews ?
Sorry to get so heavy here. I'm not trying to start an argument or be a smart aleck. I just wanted to give an honest reply to your e-mail. Whoever started this chain put a lot of heart and honest feeling into it and I don't want to make fun of them. Everyone needs to find transcendence in the human experience and I am no exception. Life is an extraordinary journey and who knows what it all ultimately means.
Love,
Dave
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This is about observation - artistic, political, and personal. Some days I laugh. Some days I wonder. And some days I'm ready to paint the ceiling with a pistol. Enjoy the ride. Somebody has to.
whateverhappenedtoallthegoodtimesweusedtohave
2 comments:
"The way I describe myself is 'agnostic buddhist', which means that most of the tenets of buddhism make sense to me, except for the stories of him walking and talking right after being born, or other supernatural events attributed to his life."
The question we must ask of all religious stories, is not whether they are factual, but whether they are true.
With this concept, we can accept there are multiple religions - each telling the truth in their own way.
"The question we must ask of all religious stories, is not whether they are factual, but whether they are true."
I guess I can go along with this to a point. Larger, more generalized truths can be reached if one overlooks certain "facts" like the one I mentioned.
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