This is an e-mail i sent to a friend lately that I thought summed up some of my thoughts these past few months, hopefully it makes sense without the full context of our conversation...
[Ok, I have inserted this little disclaimer after writing most of this e-mail simply to say that while my writing often sounds very... "final", like this is the "answer" to my thoughts, it is better understood as a point in the process. I don't know the answers, but I am engaged in the struggle. Welcome.]
One topic that has popped up a lot lately in my reading and listening to lectures has been your comment about not feeling "religious", but rather more "spiritual". Once again, I went to the dictionary. I do this because I have had too many conversations that revolve around semantics, rather than the actual issue at hand. Or you end up arguing about two completely different ideas that you both define with the same word.
So anyways, I want you to look at the following definition and (with out looking it up first :) decide whether you would say this is defining "spiritual" or "religious".
1 : relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity
I'm sure you'll probably guess correctly, that it is "religious". But I was amazed after looking at both definitions how similar they are and also completely different from how we often define them in everyday conversation. I feel like the word "religious" has become a four letter word to many in our generation (including myself at times). I know that my first thoughts on the word bring about other words like :
rigid
hierarchical
dogma (which i also have trouble defining :)
human
For me personally, my saving grace was the realization that my God, my Faith, and my religion are completely different things. I have been ready to throw out God, when I realized that it was religion that I really had an issue with. To me, religion is our pitiful human attempt at explaining God. Most people spend all of their time arguing about religion instead of trying to understand God. This had lead to so many awful things that were done in the name of "god", but should be remembered in the name of "religion".
Having said that, I completely understand the need for religion. It can be a very useful tool for relating to and understand who God is. I also believe that much of religion was inspired by God. The problem is that people don't like anything in our lives to be dynamic; everything has to be static. So when we actually come up with a good way of understanding God for our time and place in history, we expect it to always work... throughout history and the future. Take baptism, there are huge and often angry disagreements between Christians about how baptism is to be administered. So much so that most of us don't even really think about what it was meant to signify, and only worry about "how" it is done. Completelely submerged, a cross on the head, at birth, after adulthood, etc. Like so much of being a Christian, it isn't so much about bowing with our bodies, but rather with our hearts. A empty ritual is about as useful as an empty canteen in the middle of the desert.
Ok, bringing it back to focus.... so many of us young adults are struggling with our religion, but mistaking it for our God. And when we don't agree with a dogmatic principle (that no-one actually knows for sure is true) we throw it all out.
OR we can go in the opposite direction and completely throw out religion, but keep God... or at least the parts we like. Then we go down an equally dangerous road of creating our own religion according to what we like and what feels good. God isn't easy or always agreeable and as much as it sucks to think about, is difficult to follow at times.
The post-modern mind has completely lost the idea of truth. We are taught over and over again that everything is relative. Like you said "perspective, perspective, perspective". Most of the time, I completely agree with that statement. We MUST remember that everyone has a different perspective/worldview/
So anyways, I want you to look at the following definition and (with out looking it up first :) decide whether you would say this is defining "spiritual" or "religious".
1 : relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity
I'm sure you'll probably guess correctly, that it is "religious". But I was amazed after looking at both definitions how similar they are and also completely different from how we often define them in everyday conversation. I feel like the word "religious" has become a four letter word to many in our generation (including myself at times). I know that my first thoughts on the word bring about other words like :
rigid
hierarchical
dogma (which i also have trouble defining :)
human
For me personally, my saving grace was the realization that my God, my Faith, and my religion are completely different things. I have been ready to throw out God, when I realized that it was religion that I really had an issue with. To me, religion is our pitiful human attempt at explaining God. Most people spend all of their time arguing about religion instead of trying to understand God. This had lead to so many awful things that were done in the name of "god", but should be remembered in the name of "religion".
Having said that, I completely understand the need for religion. It can be a very useful tool for relating to and understand who God is. I also believe that much of religion was inspired by God. The problem is that people don't like anything in our lives to be dynamic; everything has to be static. So when we actually come up with a good way of understanding God for our time and place in history, we expect it to always work... throughout history and the future. Take baptism, there are huge and often angry disagreements between Christians about how baptism is to be administered. So much so that most of us don't even really think about what it was meant to signify, and only worry about "how" it is done. Completelely submerged, a cross on the head, at birth, after adulthood, etc. Like so much of being a Christian, it isn't so much about bowing with our bodies, but rather with our hearts. A empty ritual is about as useful as an empty canteen in the middle of the desert.
Ok, bringing it back to focus.... so many of us young adults are struggling with our religion, but mistaking it for our God. And when we don't agree with a dogmatic principle (that no-one actually knows for sure is true) we throw it all out.
OR we can go in the opposite direction and completely throw out religion, but keep God... or at least the parts we like. Then we go down an equally dangerous road of creating our own religion according to what we like and what feels good. God isn't easy or always agreeable and as much as it sucks to think about, is difficult to follow at times.
The post-modern mind has completely lost the idea of truth. We are taught over and over again that everything is relative. Like you said "perspective, perspective, perspective". Most of the time, I completely agree with that statement. We MUST remember that everyone has a different perspective/worldview/
I know this sounds really extreme, but if we really think it all the way through, this is where "relativism" takes us. If there is no actual Truth (with a capital 'T'), than who are we to say that anything is really wrong? When it is all about perspective and relative to each human's experience, than everything can be right. If the majority votes it to be permissible, than it must be. Once you cross that line, you can no longer condemn anyone for anything. If the state of Michigan secedes from the union and a bunch of what we would call "assholes" move in, then according to the post-modern view on truth, whatever they as a "society" decide to be right and wrong would pass. Incest, rape, murder... anything they wanted. And here is the kicker - we would have NO RIGHT to judge them. Because if there are no absolutes in the universe, than we don't really have any way of knowing if those things really are wrong.
All of my travels have really made me question whether or not I really, honestly believe my religion to be the one true religion. Or better put, is my God the one true God? Or is there one true God, but different religions to understand that same God? While that sounds really nice, it doesn't really work that well when you look at the teachings of each religion. (Take the trinity, which Judaism and Islam don't believe in, yet they are the closet world religions to Christianity). When it comes down to it, I believe there has to be an "ultimate reality", or absolute truths in the universe. What those are... well, that's the struggle.
Let me pause for a moment to get down from my soapbox....
Thank you.
Ok, first I want to apologize for verbally vomiting the past two months of my "struggle" on to you. Like I said, this is just where I am in trying to understand my God, my Faith, and my religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment