Thoughts from church

Occasionally I go to church with my grandparents, just to keep them happy. Here are some (often random) thoughts I had this morning. Some of them come from things that were said, some of them just popped into my head.

The Christian Elite
Apparently Christianity (along with most other faiths) is some kind of elite club. Something the "unbeliever" can't comprehend. Apparently you have to have Jesus to have any kind of deep connection with each other. Why? Why can't the human connection be good enough? No. Why can't the existence connection be good enough? Why can't we have such deep connections with all beings--human, non-human animal and plant alike? Ok, I'll stick with people for now. We don't need some kind of invisible being to draw us together. We have a rich history of struggle, diversity, power, unity, disunity, pain, triumph. There is such diversity in the world. Why are we wasting time sitting in the same pew every week talking about the same book our European fathers (and yes, I mean fathers--male) have been talking about for two millennia? Why aren't we reaching out across the globe to hear the voices of those from other faiths and those from non-faiths?

Most people spend their lives searching for some sort of truth or purpose. Not just people of faith. That's not exclusive. So that's a connection we all have. Use it. Let's examine all cultures, reject what is harmful and promote what is good.

Heaven Addicts
All this heaven talk is like escapism. People can't get over the bad in this world so they spend their lives looking forward to what might be next. What a sad life. Enjoy what you have! Sometimes it really really really sucks (for some more than others), but look for good! Most people sitting in those pews are not suffering like some in the world, so I *know* that most of them are capable. And when we have difficulties, escaping them by imagining some other world is not the healthy way to deal with them.

I can love too!
Sympathy and empathy are also not exclusively Christian, in case you were confused. Family is not exclusively a faith thing. Granted, I don't know much about evolution, but I'd guess family is an evolutionary development. Family helps us survive. It's natural to love. It just flows. It's not necessarily natural to love *everyone*, but some kind of compassion, sympathy, empathy, etc. IS natural. Not something you have to pray for. We can want to help people without having God in our lives. We DO want to help people without having God in our lives. In fact, if we're more worried about what's happening here and now rather than what eternity might look like, we're probably more likely to help people here and now. Atheist #WIN.

God does not make you good. You make you good. You choose to be good. This morning the preacher said "not a single one of us has anything to give to God that is of value." He went on like that for a bit and I had to fight the urge to stand and shout "NO! YOU ARE PRECIOUS! YOU HAVE SUCH GREAT VALUE!" That idea is certainly biblical--it's in the psalms, Paul says things like that, etc., but so is your value. So I don't mean to say Xianity is completely cruel in that respect, but this idea is perpetuated far too often in religious communities. It's perfect, really, because it keeps people in. If you always think you're worthless, you're always going to cling to that one thing that makes you good--God. Fundies like to keep us all in a perpetual state of failure. But, in case you were wondering, there are plenty of us out here who are great without God. We are all capable of great things.

Give us a break!
Why can't atheists have something too? Christians are freaking out about billboards, ads, TV programs, etc. Hello! Christians have billboards, politicians, TV programming, radio stations everywhere! And you're going nuts over a few billboards?! What the hell??