Showing posts with label Beliefs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beliefs. Show all posts
I don't believe in Hell
A few days ago, I had an interesting but short conversation in school. One of my few friends, and even fewer male friends is a leftie who, like me, is Agnostic, although I lean more towards Unitarian Universalism. Somehow, the devil came up in a conversation between him and one of his friends when they were at the same table as me, and he said he doesn't believe in the devil because he is Agnostic. I said something like, "Why do we need a devil, with the human nature as it is?" And really, why would we need Hell, or even Heaven? The worst hell is life on Earth, and incredible happiness can be gained from life on Earth as well. I think life after death somehow exists, but not in any particular place. My views on life after death are similar to Buddhism: people are reincarnated, possibly as something else, but they are not alwyas reincarnated. This is where I become unsure. Do our souls just end? Do we become ghosts? Do we become something else entirely? Or do we go to Heaven? I don't believe in Hell, but as for Heaven, I don't know.
Thinking about beliefs
Well...I don't know. That's why I consider myself Agnostic. What I do know is a mix of too many belief systems to be sure of. I agree with most of Buddhism and Unitarian Universalism, but I see wisdom in Wicca and Christianity as well. I believe there is one god who rules over our existance, although I do not say for sure that there are not other universes, with other gods ruling over them.
I do believe that this Supreme Being, Great Spirit, whatever, takes on various forms. There is Fate, which determines how the threads of the tapestry can possibly be woven. There is what Catholics call the Holy Spirit, who gives us what we need to get through life. There is what Catholics call the Father, who created the universe in such perfect symmetry and perfection that it can work out in the end.
I do not know if there is a purpose to life. Could it be that God created us for amusement? That would be a sick joke to many theoligians.
But think about it. There are games like The Sims where virtual people are created, and are at the mercy of the person playing the game. There are movies like the Matrix (which I never got to see the end of) in which our world is an illusion. There are books like the Ender series, in which there is a being that is of no species that might just be God. There is an episode of The Simpsons in which Lisa accidentally creates a tiny civilization in a petri dish, who worship her as God and believe Bart to be the devil. She ends up "debiggified" and is in the petri dish, which is in Bart's possesion, by the way. What if there are many gods, most creating at least one universe? What if our planet is akin to a cell in an incredibly huge human being? It would explain why things are going wrong lately, almost like a dying cell. After all, some cells live longer than others. Or our planet could be like an organelle. Now that would be scary.
It's things like the above ranting that are the reason I'm Agnostic.
I do believe that this Supreme Being, Great Spirit, whatever, takes on various forms. There is Fate, which determines how the threads of the tapestry can possibly be woven. There is what Catholics call the Holy Spirit, who gives us what we need to get through life. There is what Catholics call the Father, who created the universe in such perfect symmetry and perfection that it can work out in the end.
I do not know if there is a purpose to life. Could it be that God created us for amusement? That would be a sick joke to many theoligians.
But think about it. There are games like The Sims where virtual people are created, and are at the mercy of the person playing the game. There are movies like the Matrix (which I never got to see the end of) in which our world is an illusion. There are books like the Ender series, in which there is a being that is of no species that might just be God. There is an episode of The Simpsons in which Lisa accidentally creates a tiny civilization in a petri dish, who worship her as God and believe Bart to be the devil. She ends up "debiggified" and is in the petri dish, which is in Bart's possesion, by the way. What if there are many gods, most creating at least one universe? What if our planet is akin to a cell in an incredibly huge human being? It would explain why things are going wrong lately, almost like a dying cell. After all, some cells live longer than others. Or our planet could be like an organelle. Now that would be scary.
It's things like the above ranting that are the reason I'm Agnostic.
Symbols
During Jazz Band (after school band) I saw someone's binder. It had, written rather artfully, "FREAK," written on it. All the bad memories rushed back. And I began to wonder if the universe wanted us to reconcile.
For a while, a dragon-shaped music box she had given me has been looking oddly at me. Well, not exactly. But at any given moment, if I glance over, its eye is sparkling brightly. At one point, the dragon broke. A wing and a spike on the back broke off, as well as some small chips. My mom and I repaired it. Perhaps our friendship can be repaired as well. I really am beginning to wonder if Fate/God/the universe wants us to be friends again. Once I got home, there was something else. It'll take some explaining though.
So once, long ago, I decided to make some perler bead flowers, and I was planning to divvy them between me and my friends, and perhaps we could even use them as a sort of currency, although that was rather far-fetched. Well, I also made the first letter of each of our names, in our favorite colors. Well, probably because of a cat, hers was on the floor, a small letter "E" begging to be noticed. All the other letters seem to be missing.
Now I think of it, at church this weekend (I was forced to go) one of the readings was about how the Holy Spirit gives us each a gift, and we can't...uh...do something I forgot, alone, because no one has all of the gifts. Well, Emily (how strange it is to type her name these days) was always the caring one, the goofy, naive one who was blessed with a lot of friends and a loving family, even though her parents were divorced and remarried. But since she moved back to town, she's been cold. Crueler than she was. Too smart, too perfect to blend in at all. The sort of person you either love or resent. I don't know if I want to be her friend, or if she even has time for a friend who doesn't like to text, or be fasionable, or has wonderful social skills. But what I wanted to do this year was to befriend someone, and maybe I should start with forgetting what happened last year and trying to spend some time with her again.
I hate when I guilt myself into doing something.
For a while, a dragon-shaped music box she had given me has been looking oddly at me. Well, not exactly. But at any given moment, if I glance over, its eye is sparkling brightly. At one point, the dragon broke. A wing and a spike on the back broke off, as well as some small chips. My mom and I repaired it. Perhaps our friendship can be repaired as well. I really am beginning to wonder if Fate/God/the universe wants us to be friends again. Once I got home, there was something else. It'll take some explaining though.
So once, long ago, I decided to make some perler bead flowers, and I was planning to divvy them between me and my friends, and perhaps we could even use them as a sort of currency, although that was rather far-fetched. Well, I also made the first letter of each of our names, in our favorite colors. Well, probably because of a cat, hers was on the floor, a small letter "E" begging to be noticed. All the other letters seem to be missing.
Now I think of it, at church this weekend (I was forced to go) one of the readings was about how the Holy Spirit gives us each a gift, and we can't...uh...do something I forgot, alone, because no one has all of the gifts. Well, Emily (how strange it is to type her name these days) was always the caring one, the goofy, naive one who was blessed with a lot of friends and a loving family, even though her parents were divorced and remarried. But since she moved back to town, she's been cold. Crueler than she was. Too smart, too perfect to blend in at all. The sort of person you either love or resent. I don't know if I want to be her friend, or if she even has time for a friend who doesn't like to text, or be fasionable, or has wonderful social skills. But what I wanted to do this year was to befriend someone, and maybe I should start with forgetting what happened last year and trying to spend some time with her again.
I hate when I guilt myself into doing something.
The Value of Material Goods
The three most important things in my life, the things that have the most value to me, are my necklace and my two bracelets. All three were bought cheaply.
The necklace's story can be found here. As for the bracelets...
I have a new friend. I'll call her Macarra because she likes that name. Her family isn't exactly wealthy, but they're well off enough. The main thing we have in common is music. I was fairly lucky as far as music goes. I got to take piano lessons, I grew up on the piano... However, Macarra did not. She always wanted a piano, but only had a small, cheap keyboard. We met in band class; we're both flute players. We only met at the beginning of this year.
At some point, in band, she picked up my arm and slipped two bracelets onto my wrist: one silvery with a simple, repetitive design cut into it, and one black with glitter.
We had talked about her many bracelets before. There was one day at the library, she told me the story of her special one, and about how she got the rest in a set, but she refused to tell me how she got them. As for the special one, she saw it laying by a door as she was going to jazz band after school (before I joined). After band, it was still there, but she still left it there. The next morning, she woke up with it on her wrist.
One day, I went to Wal*Mart. I was looking for a keychain and I saw sets of bracelets in various colors, and some were the same as hers.
I can see why she was ashamed. She didn't want to look poor. But what I've never told her is that I know where she got the bracelets, and that I don't mind. One of my beliefs about material things is that if you care about it, it gains value seperate from monetary value. For instance, my laptop was good, but relatively cheap. It wouldn't sell for much. But it's precious. It holds my files, it's my portal to the rest of the world. It's the gateway to information. For me, it's priceless. For someone else, it's maybe $500.
My point is, monetary value is nowhere near as imporrtant as emotional significance. Once you care about something, it seems to come to life in your heart, and it matters to you, even if no one else gives a damn.
The necklace's story can be found here. As for the bracelets...
I have a new friend. I'll call her Macarra because she likes that name. Her family isn't exactly wealthy, but they're well off enough. The main thing we have in common is music. I was fairly lucky as far as music goes. I got to take piano lessons, I grew up on the piano... However, Macarra did not. She always wanted a piano, but only had a small, cheap keyboard. We met in band class; we're both flute players. We only met at the beginning of this year.
At some point, in band, she picked up my arm and slipped two bracelets onto my wrist: one silvery with a simple, repetitive design cut into it, and one black with glitter.
We had talked about her many bracelets before. There was one day at the library, she told me the story of her special one, and about how she got the rest in a set, but she refused to tell me how she got them. As for the special one, she saw it laying by a door as she was going to jazz band after school (before I joined). After band, it was still there, but she still left it there. The next morning, she woke up with it on her wrist.
One day, I went to Wal*Mart. I was looking for a keychain and I saw sets of bracelets in various colors, and some were the same as hers.
I can see why she was ashamed. She didn't want to look poor. But what I've never told her is that I know where she got the bracelets, and that I don't mind. One of my beliefs about material things is that if you care about it, it gains value seperate from monetary value. For instance, my laptop was good, but relatively cheap. It wouldn't sell for much. But it's precious. It holds my files, it's my portal to the rest of the world. It's the gateway to information. For me, it's priceless. For someone else, it's maybe $500.
My point is, monetary value is nowhere near as imporrtant as emotional significance. Once you care about something, it seems to come to life in your heart, and it matters to you, even if no one else gives a damn.
I don't wanna go to church...
My mom made me go to church this morning. It didn't help that she woke me up when we had like ten minutes left, and that because of her I didn't get to sleep until one in the morning, and that the first thing she did was open the curtains. You'd think by now she'd have figured out that I get up the fastest when it's dark.
Anyways, at church the homily was significant. It's the only thing I listen to anymore. The priest was talking about how people in cities think the world will end on December 21 2012, and freak out to the point where they want to take their lives and their family's lives. I agree with the church's viewpoint on 12/21/12, but for different reasons. They say that the world ends when it ends, and when it does they'll go to heaven. Well, I'm not living to try to go to heaven, I'm living for life on Earth, because whether or not heaven exists is debatable, but life on earth, whether real or not, does matter. My opinion on death is that it happens when it happens and there's nothing we can do about it, so why worry? When I die, I'll find out if life after death exists, but until then there's no way to know for sure. Yeah, I believe in ghosts, but what I'm talking about is heaven and hell. I don't believe in hell because if God loves us enough to send his son to save us, then why would he let a place like that even exist?
Another thing brought up in the homily is gay marriage. According to the church, it's wrong. However, all my life, despite what anyone said I've supported gay marriage, not openly, but at least I support it. If two people are in love, it doesn't matter if they're gay or straight, they have the right to be officially married. What if gays ruled the world and didn't let straight people get married?...Exactly. We would be trying to change the laws about it too.
Speaking of gays, I'm bi, and there's a girl I like but she's Catholic. I know even if she did like me there's no way she'd show it.
At church, there was a baptism. I didn't clap, because another child forced into a religion is not a good thing. I know if I have children, I sure ain't forcing them to believe one thing or another, aside from that all people are equal.
Another thing about the church is that they don't say anything about equality for all. What I see when I see the church is a sexist religion, one in which men have more choices, and most people are urged to marry within the church so that they will have children and add to the church. WHAT IS THEIR PROBLEM?!?!
I consider myself a monotheistic agnostic with similar beliefs to the Unitarian Universalists. I don't think there's a UU church in this small town but when I move out and have a choice in religion, I'm going to do a lot of research about churches like that. I like how they believe all people are equal, and let people figure out their own beliefs for themselves with only a few rules, and even include science! However, there are other interesting ones I've heard of...Freemasonry, Secular Humanism, Quaker, etc...chances are I'm not going to fit into any religion and just stay as a monotheistic agnostic.
Anyways, at church the homily was significant. It's the only thing I listen to anymore. The priest was talking about how people in cities think the world will end on December 21 2012, and freak out to the point where they want to take their lives and their family's lives. I agree with the church's viewpoint on 12/21/12, but for different reasons. They say that the world ends when it ends, and when it does they'll go to heaven. Well, I'm not living to try to go to heaven, I'm living for life on Earth, because whether or not heaven exists is debatable, but life on earth, whether real or not, does matter. My opinion on death is that it happens when it happens and there's nothing we can do about it, so why worry? When I die, I'll find out if life after death exists, but until then there's no way to know for sure. Yeah, I believe in ghosts, but what I'm talking about is heaven and hell. I don't believe in hell because if God loves us enough to send his son to save us, then why would he let a place like that even exist?
Another thing brought up in the homily is gay marriage. According to the church, it's wrong. However, all my life, despite what anyone said I've supported gay marriage, not openly, but at least I support it. If two people are in love, it doesn't matter if they're gay or straight, they have the right to be officially married. What if gays ruled the world and didn't let straight people get married?...Exactly. We would be trying to change the laws about it too.
Speaking of gays, I'm bi, and there's a girl I like but she's Catholic. I know even if she did like me there's no way she'd show it.
At church, there was a baptism. I didn't clap, because another child forced into a religion is not a good thing. I know if I have children, I sure ain't forcing them to believe one thing or another, aside from that all people are equal.
Another thing about the church is that they don't say anything about equality for all. What I see when I see the church is a sexist religion, one in which men have more choices, and most people are urged to marry within the church so that they will have children and add to the church. WHAT IS THEIR PROBLEM?!?!
I consider myself a monotheistic agnostic with similar beliefs to the Unitarian Universalists. I don't think there's a UU church in this small town but when I move out and have a choice in religion, I'm going to do a lot of research about churches like that. I like how they believe all people are equal, and let people figure out their own beliefs for themselves with only a few rules, and even include science! However, there are other interesting ones I've heard of...Freemasonry, Secular Humanism, Quaker, etc...chances are I'm not going to fit into any religion and just stay as a monotheistic agnostic.
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