MINDLESS MUSINGS

In terms of the way we behave and interact with each other, religion cannot be ruled out. It plays a role in almost everyone’s life whether they consider themselves religious or not. In its simplest form it appears to be a three-way split: Religious, Atheist or agnostic, so I suppose I’ll attempt to break it down that way. Starting with religion I’ll have to narrow it down a little more; this looks like it will be an ongoing thread.

So, why does it even matter?

I did touch on it briefly a while back, but that was just an entrée… maybe just an hors d’oeuvre. Keeping it non-specific for the time being, I will expand on that concept: How a person makes sense of the world has a huge impact on how they behave and treat others. We do not need to get into specific religions just yet to explain how influential a person’s ingrained beliefs are on them.

You may say you are not religious, but it is almost certain you were raised to believe in something: a certain religious denomination, pure science, some ancient or new wave spirituality practice, one of the ‘isms’ or the Jedi. It doesn’t matter what it was, the stuff the grown-ups implant when you’re a kid has an effect on your mind. Accept it, reject it or really examine it and choose the bits that work for you; either way it is deep in your psyche.

Santa Clause as most of us are taught is a mythological character who embodies generosity and kindness. The Boogey Man is the bad things that will get you if you go wandering off alone at night. We all swear we don’t ‘believe’ in that shit, but I am betting that if you grew up with it you can vividly remember the feelings: the joy and excitement of Christmas; the fear of things that go bump in the night.

If you grew up with Santa, you certainly feel differently towards the 25^th of December; Jesus or not this is meant to be a time of happiness and giving. You may hate it for that very reason, but it does influence you some way.

It is not the same detached feeling an Anglo might feel during Ramadan or Diwali. If you live in a major city, you will at the very least know it is going on. Most will know people who are observing these acts of worship. You may be interested; you may participate as a guest, but you will never ‘feel’ it the way a person who grew up with it does.

Once again, this person may refuse to participate and tell you they do not believe in that shit, but they cannot be disconnected in the way an outsider is.

Are you religious?

Yeah, I’m Catholic.

Are you a practicing Catholic?

Sort of, I don’t eat meat on Good Friday.

When was the last time you went to church?

My cousins’ wedding.

I’m seeing a pattern here. When was the last time you gave a confessional and partook of the holy bread and wine.

No idea.

So that’s a no. Hardly a true believer here.

Almost all religions have non-practicing types. Almost all these people still adhere to all sorts of dogma without even thinking about it. Others suddenly become pious when the shit hits the fan. Many simply comfort themselves with their faith to absolve themselves of a wrongdoing. “That guy wasn’t Christian or Muslim or whatever faith WE are, so it doesn’t count.”

Your victim is of the same faith? No problem. They’re probably of a different denomination or branch. Shit man, if things keep lining up, just point out the differing nationality or something. “All I’m trying to say is that I would never do such a thing to myself or my loved ones (maybe).”

The whole “our religion will take over the world” concept seems utterly absurd to me. Christianity is split three-ways and then a thousand:

Catholic or Orthodox or God only knows how many Protestant denominations there are. Google Christian religions to see just how many variations on the theme there are. The protestant movement kicked off as a rebellion (or ‘protest’) of the Catholic church’s interpretation and monetisation of the Bible and exploded into innumerable unique versions regarding the ‘real’ message in the Good Book. Especially in the US where individualism really took off!

As an outsider it seems that Islam has less ‘protestant’ type branches outside of Sunni and Shi’a. Probably has something to do with the violent consequences of dissent I would guess. I have no doubt there are still countless disagreements regarding the ‘Truth’ among the faithful.

Add to these discrepancies the fierce ethnic enmity in the Middle East and it is hard to imagine a harmonious amalgamation. That’s before you even start with the African and other Asian Muslims, along with the people who converted from other faiths. Don’t try and tell me there won’t be a pecking order after this world domination is achieved.

Even when we follow the same Holy Text we cannot agree. I suspect that it is a human quirk to tweak all rulesets when it suits our needs. It is also human to deny such a frailty.

I seem to have gone off track again. Sometimes that’s where you find the treasure. Maybe not this time ay?. I’ll certainly be coming back around these parts again soon. I’ll leave with what I was thinking when I started this post, but never got around to mentioning:

Rather than finding out ‘what’ religion a person follows, we may understand more by finding out ‘how religious’ that person is. “How strictly do you adhere to your creed?” There’s another post in the making right there!