recently I saw a banner relating to religion and specifically Christians that lead to godwho that lead to the following thoughts (expanded from the original comment I left at that diary):

though I do not know enough to understand the full concept of your new diary (or the banner that lead me here) and I have no idea who you are and don't have time for research to find out enough if such info is available today, I find myself thinking the following thought after reading your banner and words...

I sense you can substitute "Control Freaks" (or a less harsh term perhaps) for Christians as the word is used in your banner for as I read it, you refer to the zealot activity of some individuals to reach beyond one's own spiritual journey in an attempt to change, interfere, effect, control, or even condemn other people's lives and that, I believe, is what is fundamentally wrong with religion as it is today... but then, here I am suggesting that religious zealots are wrong and should change the way they live their lives, so am I any less wrong?...

ah, the beauty of an open mind is the laughter it can find even in the most serious of thoughts...

yes, I would be just as wrong to tell anyone how to think, feel, or what to believe as they are in telling you or me... judgment of others, in and of itself, may be where the true conflicts and errors begin... when combined with attempts to control others, conflicts occur... on a global scale we call it war... so I let those who think differently from me be as long as they let me be... and I hope for you, godwho, that your apparent self-flagellation and guilt trip doesn't last too long as there is not all that much time in corporeal life to enjoy yourself and I hope you enjoy your life free of negativity and complications as much as possible because I think you and everyone deserve that :)

and for understanding's sake, now some might read that with more tongue in my cheek than I meant there to be, but if it comes off flippant or sarcastic, it wasn't meant to be... and pondering the subject of religion, from my personal views to my observations from my perspective, the rest of this entry was born...

I personally do not feel a need for an external belief system that identifies and personifies a being that takes responsibility for everything because I believe I am responsible for my choices... I believe that I am the only one who can fix my mistakes or save me, ethereally, from anything and don't look to put that responsibility in anyone else's hands... however that is an individual choice and I reluctantly accept that the vast majority of this world do not choose as I do... this leaves me quite isolated at time, hence my reluctance, but I am not going to pretend to need what I do not need just to form bonds with others because bonds based on pretense are meaningless... so I am lonely for minds that think and people who feel and act as I do...

I do not categorize myself in any of the religious categories, including agnostic or atheist, simply because I do not need to define for myself any more than I have above what I do not need... though since most people seem to want that, I accept their label of agnostic because labels seem to make people more comfortable and I am happy to help people feel more comfortable when I can... the history boom tells me that people have worshipped hundreds of different Gods and most of the time, if not every time they used their belief not to make peace, but to make war... there have been angry gods, spiteful gods, gods with every human quality, positive and negative... and gods are based on popularity, on collective belief, so currently most of the hundreds of god are not considered powerful...

but even the ones who remain powerful in the collective human consciousness are simultaneously portrayed as loving and vengeful, as one to be loved and feared, and as justification for such inequality, abuse, and cruelty that if it were not so politically incorrect, many who believe would be diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders... at the very least a religious zealot borders on sociopathic thinking in that they believe they can take actions that have harmful consequences to others and feel they are right to do so... a sociopath can detached from their conscience and hurt others with little or no remorse (and how many have cheered soldiers on as they kill people?)...

I believe that in many ways, religion creates sociopaths and even psychopaths in our society... religious leaders, like politicians or anyone who seeks leadership roles, may convince themselves that they have altruistic intentions, but in so many cases they are more interested in attaining power and controlling others than in helping people find peace and freeing hearts to love one another... as I see them, most religions, in practice, appear more about condemnation and justification for all manner of actions, from peer pressure to social isolation to taking property to taking lives...

I am often told that I see things too simplified, that my perspectives are na�ve... I know a peaceful clarity that comes from eliminating most of the fear from the thought process... beyond the egocentric fun I have with words and getting past the loneliness that leads to begging for attention, at my bottom line I am not concerned with whether I fit in, whether people like what I think, with whether I have a lot or a little, with how I might be judged, or even with death... I am concerned with the moment, the sharing, the people and things around me, with the freedoms of self-expression and the right to choose how to be, with the good feeling we can share, with helping each other find those good feelings, and with communicating effectively...

but how do you explain the world to a mind occupied and complicated by fear?... how do you explain a perspective that is not based on fear to one who's perspective is based on fear?... fear seems to be an addiction, an epidemic... it distorts perspective, clouds minds, and creates an atmosphere not conducive to learning or change or growth... an atmosphere that is the antithesis of life... and in the human panic to escape from or quell fear, all manner of atrocities have occurred...

it was fear that prompted Hitler to exterminate millions of people he believed to be a danger to his ideals... and from Socrates to Jesus to Copernicus and Galileo, from Kings to paupers, from saints to witches, it was fear that drive people to imprison and even kill their own leaders or anyone who was different many times throughout history... and it continues in modern history... it was fear that assassinated Lincoln, Kennedy, King, and many others in the USA, the grand ideal of a nation called the land of the free... it is fear that leads people to fly planes into buildings, fear that demands blame and retribution, fear that has troops in Iraq as I write this, fear that motivates a President and a nation to return to a cold war mentality, and fear that justifies invading and occupying another nation for how many years now, four?...

and it is all done in the name of God...

I mean, just look at your dollar bill...

I wonder how can one engage in any sane conversation with such a mindset?... how does one suggest to anyone that they may be wrong when they base their decisions on a belief that is the foundation of almost everyone's the collective consciousness?... and when leaders convince people that they are going to war in order to save their immortal souls and people buy it, how do you question or oppose such a decision or action?...

it has gone on since the beginning, leaders using fear of death, fear of judgment after death, fear of differences and fear of the unknown to control people... religion too often silences dissent and tosses logic out the window... time and time again corruption followed such absolute power that comes from invoking the name of God... and have we learned nothing from these times?... do we turn a blind eye on history today?...

I fear we do...

. o O ( NOTES ARE THE NEW HAPPY PILL ) O o .
(just let me know you were here)