I am dating myself here, but back in 1997, I had a Geocities page. Remember Geocities? Anyhow, on one section of that page, I had a brief summary of my thoughts on religion. Mostly, that summary was a justification for why I did not believe in god and why I believed that society did (initially and on an ongoing basis). It was written when I was 18 years old. However, my thoughts on religion have since evolved. While I still wholeheartedly believe much of what I wrote in that summary, my further studies and experiences no longer allow me to ignore how harmful religion is to society and to each individual believer.
I cannot possibly fit all of my thoughts and every topic that I want to discuss about religion in one blog post. I could write hundreds of individual blog posts on this subject, and I probably will. Therefore, I am starting a blog dedicated to religion rather than throwing intermittent posts about religion into my main blog.
Some, but not all, of the topics that I plan to discuss, in no particular order, are:
- Religion’s violent past.
- Religion’s violent preachings.
- Religion as a justification for prejudice and bigotry.
- Religion’s reflection of the views and laws of the people it was created by, thus being applicable at the time of inception but useless, irrelevant, and/or harmful to modern society.
- My default perception of someone who is religious.
- The harm in teaching religion to children.
- Why religion sticks.
- Why it is not better to live as if there is a god when one is unsure.
- The integrity of any of the teachings when even believers pick and choose which to adhere to.
- Morality without religion.
- Religion and sexual repression.
- My own religious past and background.
Stay tuned. I lead a busy life with a career, family, friends, pets, volunteer work, and other interests and responsibilities, but I do intend to make time to update this blog. Because of religion’s ongoing harm, I cannot stay silent to its atrocities.
They say that in order for a blogger to maintain sanity, he or she must ignore all blog comments. I may have to institute that philosophy at some point, but for now, I welcome any and all feedback, including suggestions for topics you would like me to discuss.
Love and enlightenment,
White Nebula
Very articulate! I think you should specify which religions you are going to discuss. Even though organized religion can be negative, there are some good things that come out of it...like people having something to believe in after they die or how (I think) religions try to create general rules to live by so we can all live together. Their purpose is supposed to generally be good, but over time and throughout history, man has corrupted the good by enforcing laws/rules telling people they will go to hell....I can't wait to see these thoughts - since I was there when you wrote the first one.
ReplyDeleteI have a book for you to read to use for your discussion on morality without religion. Bringing it tonight.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys. Charlayne, I tried to keep the intro vague, and although I'll predominantly discuss Christianity because of my own history and massive exposure to it, I'll discuss others as well. Kirsten, thanks! I can't wait.
ReplyDeleteI want more blog posts. Geez White Nebula!
ReplyDeleteI am the biggest slacker!
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you about a personal experience that illustrates how religion can cause tremendous harm. When my daughters were 10 and 12, they were the victims of religious brainwashing and believed that because I didn't attend their church that I was under the influence of Satan and demons. They became so alienated from me that I lost custody of them in a court battle. Many years later, we have reconnected and, thankfully, have a wonderful relationship. However, those years of their childhoods are lost and we will never get them back. We all suffered from fundamentalist Christianity gone awry.
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