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What makes right and wrong? How much of our upbringing stays with us and how much is junked when we take over our own idea making?
My dad was a rabid Christian. He was adamant that I go to church every Sunday and attend private Christian schools. He believed that the public school system was "firmly in the grip of Satan"... Hardcore Jesus Krispie. Mom was much less religious. Dad died when I was 8 and within 2 years I was in public school and we didn't go to church anymore. Looking back, that probably worked out for the best. Dad was a truly good person, kind and loving to everyone I can remember, but I wonder how he would have dealt with my growing up and the way I decided to view the world. Would he have accepted my gay friends? Would he have let me live my life the way I wanted or forced me to his way?
Over the years I have developed a strong dislike of organized religion. I don't hate religion, just churches. While many of them do wonderful things to make the world a better place, it is incredibly easy for them to be twisted to cause harm. George Carlin pointed out that between the Crusades, the Inquisition, Witchhunting and countless holy wars religion is one of the leading causes of death in the world.
remember one day while I was working at CNN the Fred Phelps ministry was demonstrating outside. They had signs saying "Matthew Shepard is burning in hell" and "CNN is fag TV" (my personal favorite). Why were these people so passionately cruel? Because the Bible said so. At the heart of every fanatic is a desire to be better than someone else. The bible has enough obscure lines that any holy roller with a chip on their shoulder can justify sacrificing their neighbor.
"Hey Honey! Bob from next door took our paper without asking, so I crucified him. Thou shalt not steal, after all"
"Um, I said he could take the paper for the Sports section, dear..."
"Well shit. Why didn't you say so? Let's see, Bob drove a red car. I think I can use something in Leviticus to make that a sin..."
Also, the morality that the church (and to an extent the religious background of American culture) projects is somewhere between hypocritical and damaging. Far too many people in this world do things that are "good" because they were told to. Or, they don't do "bad" things because they have always thought they were bad. Even worse, they do the "bad" things anyway and then wander around with a giant GuiltMonkey on their back.
So how do I live my life? My friend Andy says that God put us here to collect good stories, so when we die we can keep him entertained. I like that. But it still doesn't give me a good definition of morality. I've come to the decision that I'm going to have to make this up as I go along. I have no absolute right or wrong. All I can do is make the decisions as I come to them. Hopefully it will all work out in the end. If nothing else, it should make raising a kid interesting...
My dad was a rabid Christian. He was adamant that I go to church every Sunday and attend private Christian schools. He believed that the public school system was "firmly in the grip of Satan"... Hardcore Jesus Krispie. Mom was much less religious. Dad died when I was 8 and within 2 years I was in public school and we didn't go to church anymore. Looking back, that probably worked out for the best. Dad was a truly good person, kind and loving to everyone I can remember, but I wonder how he would have dealt with my growing up and the way I decided to view the world. Would he have accepted my gay friends? Would he have let me live my life the way I wanted or forced me to his way?
Over the years I have developed a strong dislike of organized religion. I don't hate religion, just churches. While many of them do wonderful things to make the world a better place, it is incredibly easy for them to be twisted to cause harm. George Carlin pointed out that between the Crusades, the Inquisition, Witchhunting and countless holy wars religion is one of the leading causes of death in the world.
remember one day while I was working at CNN the Fred Phelps ministry was demonstrating outside. They had signs saying "Matthew Shepard is burning in hell" and "CNN is fag TV" (my personal favorite). Why were these people so passionately cruel? Because the Bible said so. At the heart of every fanatic is a desire to be better than someone else. The bible has enough obscure lines that any holy roller with a chip on their shoulder can justify sacrificing their neighbor.
"Hey Honey! Bob from next door took our paper without asking, so I crucified him. Thou shalt not steal, after all"
"Um, I said he could take the paper for the Sports section, dear..."
"Well shit. Why didn't you say so? Let's see, Bob drove a red car. I think I can use something in Leviticus to make that a sin..."
Also, the morality that the church (and to an extent the religious background of American culture) projects is somewhere between hypocritical and damaging. Far too many people in this world do things that are "good" because they were told to. Or, they don't do "bad" things because they have always thought they were bad. Even worse, they do the "bad" things anyway and then wander around with a giant GuiltMonkey on their back.
So how do I live my life? My friend Andy says that God put us here to collect good stories, so when we die we can keep him entertained. I like that. But it still doesn't give me a good definition of morality. I've come to the decision that I'm going to have to make this up as I go along. I have no absolute right or wrong. All I can do is make the decisions as I come to them. Hopefully it will all work out in the end. If nothing else, it should make raising a kid interesting...
throwing away the bad
I keep cleaning out the closet, but there's always more junk. That's pretty much my mind too.
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Works for my morality. YMMV.