I really understand that it is a nuanced issue, people are extremely intricate and surprising creatures. People have a way of taking the worst circumstances and making them wonderful. If a little God makes your life better, fucking go for it. My granddad, one of the sweetest most caring men I ever met, his final words were, “God in heaven…” And then He passed. At which point it doesn’t matter if heaven is a “real” place, it is real because it is real to people who believe in it. On the other hand, many atheists are insufferable and just as ignorant and entrenched in their negative belief as the worst religious people can be. I’ve studied religions and was deeply Catholic until I was about 30, so like 15 years ago. I love to discuss theology. Personally I read the Tao te Ching and it helps me connect with my spirit, and I want others to have that, whether it comes from religion or music or just other people.
But the parts that are a mechanism of control are just too ingrained into it. I believe in freedom and human self-creation. If religion helps you accomplish that, go for it: praise Jesus, God is Great. But if it doesn’t, then to the extent that it actively prohibits this then it is to that extent that I oppose it. Sometimes its a little, sometimes its a lot.
I really understand that it is a nuanced issue, people are extremely intricate and surprising creatures. People have a way of taking the worst circumstances and making them wonderful. If a little God makes your life better, fucking go for it. My granddad, one of the sweetest most caring men I ever met, his final words were, “God in heaven…” And then He passed. At which point it doesn’t matter if heaven is a “real” place, it is real because it is real to people who believe in it. On the other hand, many atheists are insufferable and just as ignorant and entrenched in their negative belief as the worst religious people can be. I’ve studied religions and was deeply Catholic until I was about 30, so like 15 years ago. I love to discuss theology. Personally I read the Tao te Ching and it helps me connect with my spirit, and I want others to have that, whether it comes from religion or music or just other people.
But the parts that are a mechanism of control are just too ingrained into it. I believe in freedom and human self-creation. If religion helps you accomplish that, go for it: praise Jesus, God is Great. But if it doesn’t, then to the extent that it actively prohibits this then it is to that extent that I oppose it. Sometimes its a little, sometimes its a lot.