In the drama and organised chaos that was the final week of 2011 for my family, I forgot to fill everyone in on how my December mission panned out.
In a nutshell, I don't think I'll be becoming a nun or evangelist anytime soon. During my month of experiencing religion, I was welcomed into little communities, each with their own hierarchy and rules which govern how they live their lives. These people looked happy and were extremely social, content in theory beliefs that a higher power was looking out for them.
But the whole time I was among them I wondered whether there was anything else other than their faith which grouped them together?
Would members of the youth group still raise funds to help the less fortunate if the church didn't exist? Would the old women still have somewhere to go for morning tea in their Sunday best if their religion was abolished? Would the ageing veterans give the mo-hawked youths a chance if they didn't witness their charity work first hand?
I'd really like to say 'yes' to all of the above but I'm not sure that I can.
So I can understand the community aspect of religion, but I'm yet to be convinced of the basis for it: isn't being charitable, kind, forgiving and non-murderous simply part of being human? Why is it 'god's will' why can't it just be man-kind's decision to be all of the above?
And yes there are those people who are just generally evil and don't posess any of the above characteristics, but no one can tell me they're like that simply because they don't have god in their life: he/she isn't in mine and to the best of my recollection I've never killed anyone.
The second part of my mission was to give up alcohol, and I can honestly say the only time I missed it was when I was having lunch or dinner with friends. Didn't miss it Xmas day, boxing day or even New Year's Eve: just when I was catching up with the girls.
Actually I suspect my 'Turkey Bowl' injuries from Xmas day would've been significantly worse if I was under the influence!!
I'm also glad that I lasted the month as the first drop of alcohol I did have in January was brewed by my wonderful uncle who left this world far too soon: the 2007 Cherry Beer was great Uncle Pete xx
In a nutshell, I don't think I'll be becoming a nun or evangelist anytime soon. During my month of experiencing religion, I was welcomed into little communities, each with their own hierarchy and rules which govern how they live their lives. These people looked happy and were extremely social, content in theory beliefs that a higher power was looking out for them.
But the whole time I was among them I wondered whether there was anything else other than their faith which grouped them together?
Would members of the youth group still raise funds to help the less fortunate if the church didn't exist? Would the old women still have somewhere to go for morning tea in their Sunday best if their religion was abolished? Would the ageing veterans give the mo-hawked youths a chance if they didn't witness their charity work first hand?
I'd really like to say 'yes' to all of the above but I'm not sure that I can.
So I can understand the community aspect of religion, but I'm yet to be convinced of the basis for it: isn't being charitable, kind, forgiving and non-murderous simply part of being human? Why is it 'god's will' why can't it just be man-kind's decision to be all of the above?
And yes there are those people who are just generally evil and don't posess any of the above characteristics, but no one can tell me they're like that simply because they don't have god in their life: he/she isn't in mine and to the best of my recollection I've never killed anyone.
The second part of my mission was to give up alcohol, and I can honestly say the only time I missed it was when I was having lunch or dinner with friends. Didn't miss it Xmas day, boxing day or even New Year's Eve: just when I was catching up with the girls.
Actually I suspect my 'Turkey Bowl' injuries from Xmas day would've been significantly worse if I was under the influence!!
I'm also glad that I lasted the month as the first drop of alcohol I did have in January was brewed by my wonderful uncle who left this world far too soon: the 2007 Cherry Beer was great Uncle Pete xx
posted from Bloggeroid
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