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Elton John has decided that all religion should be banned. Yes, thank you Elton. We were waiting with baited breath for you to chime in. I can't recall how many times I've said Wow, the world is such a crazy place...people hating and not loving. If only Elton John would speak up and tell us what to do...you know, when Mel Gibson, Michael Stipe and Bono run out of ideas.
In all seriousness, plenty of people are ready and willing to tell you which religions are so bad they deserve to be banned. Many Christians have said this of Islam, pointing out that thier secred text says that women are worth less than men. And clearly, that's bad when taken literally. It's also tough talk coming from a christian. I presume I don't need to list examples of things the bible supports but would horrify contemporary peoples. Even sacred texts reflect the times in which they were written, edited, or translated. Duh. That's why you're supposed to do a new one every couple hundred years...and why it sucks that people are so resistive to change. I know plenty of pagans who are outspoken anti-christians, usually becuase of their own negative experiences with pushy family members, or excessive dogma. And of course many atheists think anybody with a religion is a little bit crazy.
In the past, Elton has also come out (so to speak) about "Cafeteria Christians" which purportedly indicates someone who "picks and chooses" what tennants of a religion to follow. According to him and others, this is bad. This could also be called "thinking with your brain." For example, while the Catholic ideology teaches condemnation of gays, it is still possible to have been raised Catholic and not beleive this. Does this make you less of a Catholic? Or does this make Catholicism less applicable to modern society? Or does it mean that you have to change churches whenever you change your mind? I don't really know, as pagans generally just use words like 'solitary' and 'eccelectic' to explain their picky choosy ways. And that's totally cool by me.
Claiming that religion causes violence is just silly. I don't think anyone would argue that the purpose of religion is to give people reasons to hate, or to kill. I've always thought religion is how we answer questions that science has no answers for yet. From the constellations to what happens when we die, religion helps us be less afraid. It helps us feel that there is power greater than ourselves, and that the things we do have meanning in some larger sense. Maybe none of that is true and we just need to beleive it, but in either case, it's not about hate.
Saying that religion is the cause of hate is like saying Jodie Foster is responsible for the Reagan assasination attempt, or that cable TV makes teenagers want to have sex. Just because violent people use violent book passages as excuses for violence, doesn't mean there is any causality. I know plenty of people who love both gays and Jesus, even if Elton John doesn't hasn't met them. I'm sure it's frustrating as hell not to be able to be legally married to your partner. It's ridiculousness of the highest order. Again, just because people are using the christian bible as an excuse to persecute, doesn't mean that Jesus would have approved. I've never met him, but I imagine he'd be pissed to learn that people have been hating and persecuting him his name.
And finally, "religion" does not mean Christian, Judeo-Christian, Western, Eastern or any other branch of religion. It means any religion. So when you say "religion...blah blah blah" you're talking about every kind of organized spirituality. So you may wish to be more inclusive...especially when your point is that "religion" is not inclusive enough.
While I'm talking about Elton, I'll ask why he hasn't put out but one decent song since the 80's (and I dont' mean that Lady Diana claptrap either). Seriously Elton, what up wit dat?!?
Lastly, I'll mention that I broke 21K today in my NaNoWriMo novel. Woot!
In all seriousness, plenty of people are ready and willing to tell you which religions are so bad they deserve to be banned. Many Christians have said this of Islam, pointing out that thier secred text says that women are worth less than men. And clearly, that's bad when taken literally. It's also tough talk coming from a christian. I presume I don't need to list examples of things the bible supports but would horrify contemporary peoples. Even sacred texts reflect the times in which they were written, edited, or translated. Duh. That's why you're supposed to do a new one every couple hundred years...and why it sucks that people are so resistive to change. I know plenty of pagans who are outspoken anti-christians, usually becuase of their own negative experiences with pushy family members, or excessive dogma. And of course many atheists think anybody with a religion is a little bit crazy.
In the past, Elton has also come out (so to speak) about "Cafeteria Christians" which purportedly indicates someone who "picks and chooses" what tennants of a religion to follow. According to him and others, this is bad. This could also be called "thinking with your brain." For example, while the Catholic ideology teaches condemnation of gays, it is still possible to have been raised Catholic and not beleive this. Does this make you less of a Catholic? Or does this make Catholicism less applicable to modern society? Or does it mean that you have to change churches whenever you change your mind? I don't really know, as pagans generally just use words like 'solitary' and 'eccelectic' to explain their picky choosy ways. And that's totally cool by me.
Claiming that religion causes violence is just silly. I don't think anyone would argue that the purpose of religion is to give people reasons to hate, or to kill. I've always thought religion is how we answer questions that science has no answers for yet. From the constellations to what happens when we die, religion helps us be less afraid. It helps us feel that there is power greater than ourselves, and that the things we do have meanning in some larger sense. Maybe none of that is true and we just need to beleive it, but in either case, it's not about hate.
Saying that religion is the cause of hate is like saying Jodie Foster is responsible for the Reagan assasination attempt, or that cable TV makes teenagers want to have sex. Just because violent people use violent book passages as excuses for violence, doesn't mean there is any causality. I know plenty of people who love both gays and Jesus, even if Elton John doesn't hasn't met them. I'm sure it's frustrating as hell not to be able to be legally married to your partner. It's ridiculousness of the highest order. Again, just because people are using the christian bible as an excuse to persecute, doesn't mean that Jesus would have approved. I've never met him, but I imagine he'd be pissed to learn that people have been hating and persecuting him his name.
And finally, "religion" does not mean Christian, Judeo-Christian, Western, Eastern or any other branch of religion. It means any religion. So when you say "religion...blah blah blah" you're talking about every kind of organized spirituality. So you may wish to be more inclusive...especially when your point is that "religion" is not inclusive enough.
While I'm talking about Elton, I'll ask why he hasn't put out but one decent song since the 80's (and I dont' mean that Lady Diana claptrap either). Seriously Elton, what up wit dat?!?
Lastly, I'll mention that I broke 21K today in my NaNoWriMo novel. Woot!
