To
anyone (unfortunate enough) who will read this, I apologize in
advance for the way it’s written. Will I jump from point to point?
Yes. Will I ramble on? I absolutely will. Will I make grammatical
errors? Yes.,; (see). The reason it will probably be less than
perfect is that I am not actually a writer, I am just a guy who is
fed up with our society sometimes and decided to put his thoughts on
paper. Anyway, I need to get to the point... To the topic! (points
finger to the sky), See, I am a terrible writer.
We
live in a world that is ever changing. If we don't keep up with the
change, what do we become? One of the biggest issues our nation (and
the entire world) face today is religion. Who is right and who is
wrong? Is anyone right... is anyone wrong? Let me explain who I am
and why I am writing this today; I'm 29 years old and recently
married. We are very happy and in fact we are going to be parents.
This now means that my eyes are set on the future. No more late
nights with the boys, no more thinking of "right now". I
have to be mindful of the future for my son. "You're having a
boy! That’s wonderful". Well, not necessarily, I have no idea
whether it's a boy or girl, but if we have a girl I might freak out.
Either way I will be happy. I started thinking of what the world
will look like in 10 or 15 years, when my child is most
impressionable. What will the world of tomorrow offer my son or
daughter? Will the world still be in conflict? Will Nations still
battle over resources and land? Sadly I am sure they will. But what
about some of the other cultural staples of today's world, will these
be resolved? Will Justin Bieber still be awful?
Hinduism - It's hard to define when exactly this religion came into existence because there may have been forms of Hinduism that had changed or disappeared as others emerged. Many say it dates back long before the birth of Christianity. Hinduism is known for the terms Dharma and Karma. Dharma being ones duty and Karma being the action and reaction of ones choices, so yet another Religion with righteous beginnings.
Let’s move forward in time to 2012 AD. Christian groups openly protest and in some cases physically protest gay marriage or gay rights, Islamic terrorists murder millions. And Hindu's, well, Hindu's stay quiet and do their own thing. Good on you Hindus. Where in our world’s timeline did religion become a forum for hate? Where in our own nation’s history did Christianity foster Intolerance for people. Yes if we look at the entire history of Christianity then we might find some blood... we try not to think about the dark ages, we try not to talk about the Salem witch trials. But I suppose that's all part of Christianity's history. In the future will our children's children say "we try not to talk about the intolerance of the early 2000's"? I pray for my children, that will not be the case.
We have to talk about the Bible... I know, it won’t be easy, but it must be done. Many people use the writings in the bible as a weapon against their opponents, whether it’s a gay man who wants to marry his boyfriend or a nation that sends its troops into another country for whatever reason (Oil?). This makes me very sad, and I truly believe that it would make the founders of this great religion sad as well. Some argue about politics and religion as an integrated facet of society. That's a very difficult area and I understand why politicians tend to avoid actual answers to those questions. If I were running for office and I knew for a fact that giving a definite answer to one of those hot button topics would lose me a substantial amount of votes... I might think about giving the "gray" answers too. My thoughts on religion and politics together are that it doesn't seem to work in everyone's favor. And at this point you are either all in or you are all out. Currently we have large debates about separation of church and state, the word "God' is pulled out of schools nationwide and they no longer recite the pledge in some schools because of that word. And yet on the topic of gay marriage, we say "well in the constitution it says... yada yada yada. It doesn’t make sense to me. I feel that the fat cats are sitting on their thrones and just making their own opinions and beliefs mandatory for the rest of the country. Maybe I am wrong, but hey, I am entitled to an opinion too right? Laws cannot be passed to only suit “certain” situations.
I don't propose that religion disappears entirely, because I think that it serves a purpose for many Americans. I think that many people in this country need something to believe in, they need their faith to get them through the day. Not to mention that the teachings in most religions help instill those values that I mentioned earlier. But when does it become a problem? Certainly when a radical church protests a funeral for a fallen soldier, Religion gets knocked down a peg. But is it that specific Religion's fault, or just some people? Today the word "Islam" is followed by a scoff or a very racially charged debate. But, those radical few only comprise a small fraction of that religion. We as a nation shouldn't write off the entire religion as terrorists, but many do. I think that what Americans need to do, is remember why our religions were formed in the first place; to bring hope to a people, to help people get through difficult times and to teach tolerance and kindness. These are the values that religion was founded on and that many religious people now are forgetting.
So what happens in fifteen years? Where will society be then? This is a major issue right now that seems to have very passionate people on both sides. History shows that intolerance generally loses, but it’s a bloody battle and victory comes at a price. So, yes I believe that one day the religions of the world will give in, but when will that happen? And how many lives will be lost in the process? The world is changing, do you want to be left behind? Or do you want to adapt and move on with the rest of us?
I am not trying to change minds, I am trying to open them
- Christopher F. Darling
Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.metmuseum.org
How
will religion look in the future? That is my question, that's why I
am writing this. When did religion become about hate and intolerance
for those who are different? I grew up in a Catholic house, the
values my siblings and I were taught came directly from going to
church, and attending CCD each week. My parents instilled the
Christian values of kindness, respect and tolerance. This makes me
wonder how religion came to be in the first place, what was the
intent then? The truth is, religion as an idea or a concept may date
back as far as humans do. This of course means that the point was
basic, it was not as much about faith in "God" as it was
about rituals that tribes may have had surrounding their most well
known means to survive: hunting. But what about religion as a
"thing” what about when man gave religion names and rules to
live by. Let’s look at three of the largest Religions worldwide.
Christianity, Islam and Hinduism are the three largest ranking
religions based on population or "adherents". So let’s
break these down a bit and see how and why they came to
be.
Christianity - Many say that ideas and beliefs that go along with "Christianity" date back hundreds of years before Christ was born. Some will argue that Christianity was born with the coming of Jesus. The true date of Christianity's birth is actually hundreds of years AFTER his death. 311 AD is known to be the year that the Christian religion formed, although it was certainly around before that date, just not recognized as a "real" thing. In fact Jesus; who we claim today to be the man who brought Christianity to the world was never actually trying to form a new religion, he wanted to change his own, he wanted people to start preaching tolerance and kindness to everybody, he told of a wonderful place "after death". Most of the Jews didn't care for what Jesus was saying and actually shunned him for it, thus his followers would end up preaching to "others” these foundations would set up a whole new religion years later. Think for a second about the foundations of this religion, a world of tolerance and kindness, a world that offered an afterlife if you lived by that "golden rule". Christianity was founded on KINDNESS.
Islam - Islam is a Religion that came to be not long after Christianity. Islam was founded by a Prophet Mohammed C.610. The story goes that while Mohammed was in a cave the Angel Gabriel came to him as the voice of god, telling him that he was a messenger of god. Mohammed's war was a war against greed, immorality and idolatry. So once again you have a man who creates a religion purely to gather a people and teach them about tolerance.
Christianity - Many say that ideas and beliefs that go along with "Christianity" date back hundreds of years before Christ was born. Some will argue that Christianity was born with the coming of Jesus. The true date of Christianity's birth is actually hundreds of years AFTER his death. 311 AD is known to be the year that the Christian religion formed, although it was certainly around before that date, just not recognized as a "real" thing. In fact Jesus; who we claim today to be the man who brought Christianity to the world was never actually trying to form a new religion, he wanted to change his own, he wanted people to start preaching tolerance and kindness to everybody, he told of a wonderful place "after death". Most of the Jews didn't care for what Jesus was saying and actually shunned him for it, thus his followers would end up preaching to "others” these foundations would set up a whole new religion years later. Think for a second about the foundations of this religion, a world of tolerance and kindness, a world that offered an afterlife if you lived by that "golden rule". Christianity was founded on KINDNESS.
Islam - Islam is a Religion that came to be not long after Christianity. Islam was founded by a Prophet Mohammed C.610. The story goes that while Mohammed was in a cave the Angel Gabriel came to him as the voice of god, telling him that he was a messenger of god. Mohammed's war was a war against greed, immorality and idolatry. So once again you have a man who creates a religion purely to gather a people and teach them about tolerance.
Hinduism - It's hard to define when exactly this religion came into existence because there may have been forms of Hinduism that had changed or disappeared as others emerged. Many say it dates back long before the birth of Christianity. Hinduism is known for the terms Dharma and Karma. Dharma being ones duty and Karma being the action and reaction of ones choices, so yet another Religion with righteous beginnings.
Let’s move forward in time to 2012 AD. Christian groups openly protest and in some cases physically protest gay marriage or gay rights, Islamic terrorists murder millions. And Hindu's, well, Hindu's stay quiet and do their own thing. Good on you Hindus. Where in our world’s timeline did religion become a forum for hate? Where in our own nation’s history did Christianity foster Intolerance for people. Yes if we look at the entire history of Christianity then we might find some blood... we try not to think about the dark ages, we try not to talk about the Salem witch trials. But I suppose that's all part of Christianity's history. In the future will our children's children say "we try not to talk about the intolerance of the early 2000's"? I pray for my children, that will not be the case.
We have to talk about the Bible... I know, it won’t be easy, but it must be done. Many people use the writings in the bible as a weapon against their opponents, whether it’s a gay man who wants to marry his boyfriend or a nation that sends its troops into another country for whatever reason (Oil?). This makes me very sad, and I truly believe that it would make the founders of this great religion sad as well. Some argue about politics and religion as an integrated facet of society. That's a very difficult area and I understand why politicians tend to avoid actual answers to those questions. If I were running for office and I knew for a fact that giving a definite answer to one of those hot button topics would lose me a substantial amount of votes... I might think about giving the "gray" answers too. My thoughts on religion and politics together are that it doesn't seem to work in everyone's favor. And at this point you are either all in or you are all out. Currently we have large debates about separation of church and state, the word "God' is pulled out of schools nationwide and they no longer recite the pledge in some schools because of that word. And yet on the topic of gay marriage, we say "well in the constitution it says... yada yada yada. It doesn’t make sense to me. I feel that the fat cats are sitting on their thrones and just making their own opinions and beliefs mandatory for the rest of the country. Maybe I am wrong, but hey, I am entitled to an opinion too right? Laws cannot be passed to only suit “certain” situations.
I don't propose that religion disappears entirely, because I think that it serves a purpose for many Americans. I think that many people in this country need something to believe in, they need their faith to get them through the day. Not to mention that the teachings in most religions help instill those values that I mentioned earlier. But when does it become a problem? Certainly when a radical church protests a funeral for a fallen soldier, Religion gets knocked down a peg. But is it that specific Religion's fault, or just some people? Today the word "Islam" is followed by a scoff or a very racially charged debate. But, those radical few only comprise a small fraction of that religion. We as a nation shouldn't write off the entire religion as terrorists, but many do. I think that what Americans need to do, is remember why our religions were formed in the first place; to bring hope to a people, to help people get through difficult times and to teach tolerance and kindness. These are the values that religion was founded on and that many religious people now are forgetting.
So what happens in fifteen years? Where will society be then? This is a major issue right now that seems to have very passionate people on both sides. History shows that intolerance generally loses, but it’s a bloody battle and victory comes at a price. So, yes I believe that one day the religions of the world will give in, but when will that happen? And how many lives will be lost in the process? The world is changing, do you want to be left behind? Or do you want to adapt and move on with the rest of us?
I am not trying to change minds, I am trying to open them
- Christopher F. Darling
Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.metmuseum.org
