Religion

My mother is very Catholic.  I feel like a terrible Catholic because although I'm baptised, I don't practice at all.  To be honest, I don't care much for any kind of religion.  To be really good and honest, religion gives me the creeps, and having to talk about it makes me feel just icky all over.  I don't have anything against ultra-religious people, really, but if somebody is going to be really very uber-weird, it's going to be an ultra-religious person.  Also, if someone is going to be really very uber-dangerous, it's also likely going to be an ultra-religious person,  And I'm talking about all religions here-- currently in North America, people are terrified of Muslims, but think about all of the other religions that are just as dangerous.  Throughout history, it was the Catholics that people had good reason to fear (even though, now, I think we're kind of kittens).  And I wouldn't want to be a Palestinian in Israel right now.  And those are the Jews causing violence... the same people who love to always remind everyone that throughout history, they have been persecuted.  What happend to "turn the other cheek" and "love thy neighbour" and "do unto others"?  I guess it's only the Jehovah's Witnesses that believe in peace and not starting wars, but then again, there's something a little strange in that, because Jehovah's Witnesses believe that when the world ends, there will be an army of 500,000 comprised of, you guessed it, Jehovah's Witnesses, so the only way to salvation is to become a Jevoah's Witness in order to ensure your spot in the army of 500,000.  Is it just me or is there something incredibly hypocritical in claiming not to believe in armies in your physical life but to believe in one in your afterlife?  Seems like a very clever draft dodge to me.  But there are much more than 500,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in the world these days, aren't there?  And if this army is to be comprised of all the Jehovah's witnesses who are already deceased, then the number gets ever larger.  So, it seems, merely being a Jehovah's Witness does not ensure you a spot in the army of 500,000 (it actually seems like a spot in that army is going to be extremely competitive) and therefore does not ensure your salvation.  Why would anyone want to go through the trouble of being a J-Dub if they weren't even guaranteed salvation, which they're not since there millions of Jehovah's Witnesses in the world and, apparently, on 500,000 can be saved.  And, by the way, if the world ever did end and there were to be some kind of army (what is the purpose of this army, anyway?), I'm going to want the heathens who have experience fighting in armies already to fight in my afterlife army, not all you wimpy draft-dodging tax-avoiding J-Dubs.  Only the Buddhists seem to be truly peaceful and 100% accepting of other religions.  If I didn't find all religion to be so creepy, and if it didn't make me feel like a mainstream phoney hipster, I might just try out Buddhism.

Christians these days don't practice what the Bible preaches.  Nobody would every give away every last one of his or her possessions and give them to the poor.  Nobody.  But everyone who is a Christian claims to be a good Christian.  I've also met my fair share of Christians who I think are huge hypocrites.  They think that as long as they put in their time Sunday morning, that entitles them to be an asshole for the other six and three quarters days of the week.  And if you point out to them their bad behaviour, they look at you like you're crazy because everyone knows that you are the bad person because you don't believe in God and you don't attend church.  It's unreal.

There is no such thing as intelligent design.  About three or four months ago, I was stopped on the street in Seoul by a couple of uber-Christians (I can only assume they were Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons because they stopped me on the street), and they asked me whether I believed in evolution or whether I believed in intelligent design.  I could tell by the way that they were phrasing their questions that they were trying to trick me into admitting that intelligent design exists.  The problem is that, as you know, I have arthritis in my back, and that particular day, I was experiencing excruciating pain, which means that I was literally hobbling along the sidewalk.  So, I looked at these girls and I said, "It's 100% evolution.  Intelligent design does not exist.  There is no big guy in the sky looking out for me.  Look how much pain I am in.  I'm a good person.  I never did anything to deserve this and any kind of loving or intelligent God would not do this to a good person, so he must not exist.  There is no such thing as intelligent design."  They left me alone after that.  But I really meant every last word I said.

Anyway, I feel like I've let down my mother for not being a practicing Catholic, but I feel like I would let myself down even more if I practiced any kind of religion at all.  I'm definitely with Bertrand Russell and Christopher Hitchens on this one.

Sorry if this post offends anyone.  It's not my goal to offend people who have different beliefs than I do.  It's just that I've decided that with this blog, I will be very honest abut what I'm feeling and thinking, and these are my honest views on religion.

Statue of Virgin Mary at a (Catholic?) Church in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia