Hello God? Hello? Hello! ..hmm..must be in the tub

Ok. Here's my 'me and god' post. First, let's talk about my tattoo, since it really all stems from that.

So, there it is for those of you that haven't seen it. It's my third tattoo (and so far final). Why did I get it? Well, about a year after I moved to Austin everything was going well and I was planning on my second tattoo - a panda on my upper right arm. As I was thinking about getting it, this idea just kind of popped into my head - an open window. It's based on the phrase 'When God closes a door, He opens a window.' from The Sound of Music. I'm sure it's other places as well, but that movie is where I heard it and it's always kind of stuck with me. Moving to Austin was a big change for me and I really just took a shot in making a new life. It's all worked out well and I'm glad I quit consulting and moved to Austin. The tattoo is all about opportunity, realizing there's always options, and knowing that you can change your life. Every time I look at my tattoo I feel happy and secure. It can also be taken as 'always have an escape route' which I kinda like too. As long as you are breathing, aware, and mobile - you can do whatever you want to do.

So, now on to 'God'. Since the tattoo is fairly visible and is pretty odd for a tattoo, many people have asked me about it. I say "It's from that saying 'when God closes a door he opens a window.'" And then for some reason, I feel I have to qualify that with "but I'm not very religious." Why do I feel the need to add that last part? I think it's because having a 'religious' tattoo kinda makes it seem like I'm really into God. Also, the whole phrase makes God sound very active in my life - closing doors and opening windows, and quite honestly, I don't believe that God does that. So, that's when I really started pondering my views on God, Jesus, and religion.

So here goes. I'll apologize upfront if I offend anyone. I know religion is a very touchy subject. I just wanted to hash out my thoughts. I think a lot of my angst with religion is caused from being raised Catholic. These questions and my viewpoints are based in Christianity. I have not studied other religions and have no specific comments on those (Judisim, Islam, etc). Some of my comments are broad statements and I know are not true for all religions. I apologize if my writing is a little mish-mash. It's been awhile since I've had to write a paper and I think my skills have gone downhill.

1a. Do I believe in God? I don't believe in God as a white-haired old man carrying a walking stick. I do believe in a 'higher power' energy that is on a different plane from us and can watch over us. I also don't believe in Satan as a specific entity. Evil will always be around because some people are just assholes, and some are more creative than others in how they express that.

1b. Do I believe God is active in my life? I kind of think of God as our cheerleader. Hoping we make the right choices, supporting us when we make the wrong choices. I do not believe He is actively changing things in our world to make them better or worse. I do not believe that if I pray to God about a choice to make, that He will tell me what to do. I don't believe that if I win the lottery it's because God wanted me to win the lottery. I don't believe that if my house catches fire that God is punishing me. Good things and bad things happen to everyone in life. That's what life is. I love the phrase 'God helps those who help themselves'. You know what that means? To me it's 'Get off your ass and live your life. God isn't going to do it for you.'

When I hear people say 'God wants me to do this' or 'God caused that flood because those people were sinners' - those types of things make me upset. Are these people saying they know what God is thinking? That just seems incredibly presumptuous, sanctimonious and self-important.

2. Do I believe in Jesus Christ as our savior, son of God, etc? No. I do believe that Jesus existed - as a man that was very charismatic and rallied people to him. I do not believe he was the son of God.

3. Do I believe God created us in his image - Adam & Eve, etc? No. I believe in evolution and survival of the fittest.

4. Do I believe in the (Christian) Bible? First let me say I have never read the Bible. Now, I do believe the Bible has some interesting stories, but I do not think I should base how I live my life on a 2000 year old book. It's a little out of date. Why should I do what this book tells me to do? I feel I am a moral person. I give to charity, I donate my time to the community, I am polite, respectful, and willing to help when asked. I do not feel that just because 'the bible says so' that I should feel a certain way.

My main problem with this is the take on homosexuality being evil. People spend so much time and energy saying gays are going to hell, god hates homosexuals, etc. Who cares? Who cares that 2000 years ago a couple of guys wrote that homosexuality was bad? Are these people maybe still thinking of homosexuals as pedophiles (a belief pretty common 50 years ago)? Take a look around. It's 2005 and it's a different world out there. As long as people aren't hurting other people or animals, I say let them do what they want. How about if all these protestors spend their energy on child molestation and child abuse? That's something where people are really getting hurt. But, they'd rather focus on what a couple of consenting adults do in their own bedrooms. I could go on and on about this, but I'll just stop here.

5. Do I believe in organized religion? I feel that organized religion is great when it's used in a positive way - charities, shelters, food banks, etc. Some people really need to have that feeling of community and belonging. If that makes them feel secure in their life, then that's great. But, when organized religion is used in a negative way, I just get fed up with the whole thing. Basically, when religions go against each other, saying one is better than the other, when anyone who thinks differently from them is going to hell or are evil and deserve to die. It's just sad when people use God as an excuse to kill other people. I also have major issues with the Pope - mainly birth control and abortion. Why must people do what he says? Can't they think for themselves? Your wife has given birth to 12 kids and really can't have another? Well, put a damn condom on!

6. Do I believe that one religion is the true faith and everyone else is wrong? No. I love the South Park episode about how only Mormons are in Heaven because 'Mormonism' was the right religion. Everyone else, no matter how they lived their lives, went to Hell. That was a great episode. It's just another example of how religion breeds distrust and hatred of others. Even though it's all 'love thy neighbor' blah blah, but if they don't believe in your religion, well then you can call them as many names as you want, disrespect them, hurt/kill them, and God will be happy with you. How does this make sense to people? It just seems odd that there's been hundreds of religions created throughout the years and people believe only one of them is right? Why can't it be everyone has their own opinions and you don't have to hate/hurt those who don't share that? Why does religion have to be so aggressive?

7. Do I believe in Heaven and Hell? No. I do believe in an afterlife, that when we die our energy does go somewhere. Do I believe there will be fluffy clouds and harps for the good people and flames and torture for the bad people? No. I don't believe that. I think a lot of that comes from my hatred of 'Confession' in the Catholic religion. No matter how bad a person you are, just confess, say a couple of prayers, and all is forgiven! Are you kidding me? Doesn't that make their actions meaningless? Sure, he killed 20 people, but he confessed, now he's forgiven, say hello to Heaven! I just don't believe there's a system like that.

Ok, I think that basically summed it up. Did I miss any major points?