#practicenotpreach

In religious circles.

Seriously, just do you. Nobody's replacing anyone else as G-d's favorite little minions. Nobody's going to get roasted whole hog over an eternal bonfire because they don't buy the popular Messianic ideology. Nobody's soul is doomed to destruction because they had the audacity to investigate different theological or non-theological information. Chill out. We're all learning. We're all (well, at least most of us) doing the best we can.

I'm mostly thinking of people my age range and older. And I'm going to include my past self here. What a bunch of pompous, self-righteous asses! And in my case, absolutely nothing to be self-righteous about! Geez! But... not to deflect, but to explain... That seemed to have been the example set. Or I guess how we interpreted it. Our main frame of reference. It was about piety and strict adherence to what we were told the bible said.

Then, decades later than I should have, I grew up. And there's still those hollow, holier-than-thou voices trying to manipulate and control through fear, using empty threats of.... Lost! Going to hell! Hey, if that works for some people, rock on. Personally, for my life... I call Bullsh**. I'm grown now. Finally. And I have my own relationship with G-d. My G-d showed me all that hellfire and brimstone stuff is allegory. Consequences through life experiences... Karma, if you will... There's your hellfire and brimstone.

And there's people, children, who have done no wrong...they haven't lived long enough to do anything wrong...who STILL went through a more horrific hell than any bible thumping believer could ever imagine. Religion has yet to adequately explain that, although I have my own unprovable theories. And many still throw around the hell threats.

Allegory people, allegory. I don't care how graphic and detailed the wording is, it's allegory. It was written by certain ancient people with their own ancient people in mind who would know exactly what they meant. The writers had no inkling of an imagination that a foreign people on the other side of the globe, hundreds and thousands of years in the future would get their grubby little hands on their letters, try to read them, interpret them into their own languages, applying their own meaning to them, and creating hundreds of different branches of religion from them. No clue whatsoever.

Yet the majority of the rest of the world has latched onto those writings, claiming them for their very own, insisting their understanding of them is the right one and the only way to achieve salvation. Pretty lofty claims coming mostly from people don't even descend from the people who wrote them. It's ridiculous.

That's why I'm here, by my little ol' lonesome, living the way I understand those writings after learning from those who DO descend from the writers. And even among them there's considerable difference of opinion on some topics. So I listened and learned from a great deal of scholars and experts and I made up my own mind what, out of all of the information and insights makes the most sense, what is most practical for my life and what gives me the most joy while just simply trying to live as a good person and I'm doing that.

I don't have all the answers. My thoughts, understandings, and opinions aren't the only right way. I'm not a scholar or a guru. I'm just me on my own journey, encouraging others to think for themselves and enjoy their own spiritual journey. Don't let religious zealots browbeat you, bully you, manipulate, intimidate, or control you. You do you. If your walk in life isn't met with approval from others, ask yourself this...