#Religion and Beliefs

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[spacehead1127]

The mysteries of the world

Nobody will ever see my blog about random rambles lmao it’s as if it’s set to private but it’s out in the open waiting for someone to find it. Nice B) I like talking to a wall. 

Read or not, I’m still gonna put my thoughts out anyway. If anyone ever sees this, enjoy! :D Or if you don’t like reading, just ignore this. Or if you disagree with anything I say, feel free to point out your views if you want. I like discussing with people and attempting to understand different perspectives. I’m open to any criticism as long as it’s constructive. Thank you! 

Without further ado, for today’s topic it’s gonna involve my philosophical ass heh. If that’s what you would call it. 

This is a PART 2 of my text-podcast thing: go to my blog to see more!

As humans we have always been questioning the world: why and how it came to be. Thus, many millennia ago, humans started creating answers to the world that our human brains can comprehend and so, we would just follow it. And this is what we call, religion, to this day. We may or may not ever know the true secrets of the world, and I have a feeling it’s best to leave some questions unanswered for the sake of our sanity. 

Disclaimer before I continue: if what I am about to say may offend or hurt you in any way, I truly do not intend to do that and I apologise beforehand if I have. I am trying to come from a neutral perspective about the topics of religion and I genuinely do not mean any harm to anyone for their beliefs. Though I will admit, I may seem biassed because of my experiences that shaped my perspectives, but once again, I do not mean any harm. 

1. Being neutral

Personally, I grew up in a Buddhist background but I consider myself an atheist. I will get to that in a moment. The general definition of atheists is that they do not believe in any gods. There are some definitions out there that mean “atheism is a denial of gods”. For me, I don’t reject the thought about it but rather I just don’t have the belief, in a neutral way. No negativity about it at all. In fact, I find religions interesting and I’m grateful there are so many people out there who can learn moral values from their religions to be the best version of themselves, and I’m happy for them for that. I’m happy for the society as a whole to have a positive upbringing for their children. 

There’s this argument out there that people say you can’t be neutral and you have to “pick a side” if not you don’t know what’s “right” and what’s “wrong”. I have to respectfully disagree with that. Personally, I don’t think you have to believe in anything to be a good person. I don’t think your beliefs have to be permanent, either. Because I think as humans we should thrive for growth and change. Of course not all the time for the sake of it, but in healthy ways. “Healthy” as in not hurting others, and not hurting yourself. 

I don’t believe in “good” and “bad” or “right” and “wrong”. I think humans can be complex and that’s what makes us beautiful. But of course I do believe in positivity and negativity in the world. There are definitely ups and downs in everything, and that’s okay. I accept that. Nothing in the world is perfect after all, and life is a journey. But if you ask me what is the one thing I believe in? The Sun. I believe in Science. I believe in Life. I am forever curious about the whys and the hows of the world. I think it is great to question and learn. I love learning! It is such a beautiful process. 

I’ll get to why I consider myself an atheist. Of course I do have my own values in life and opinions about things. And it’s all shaped by my experiences I’ve had. As much as humans can build, we can also destroy. For me, I lost my beliefs in any religion mostly because of the people in it which includes my family. I have no issue with any religion itself at all, and I believe religions would never teach humans to bring harm to anyone for any reason whatsoever. But sadly where I’m from, there are so many people who bring intentional harm and claim that it’s because of their religion. And I really do not believe in that. I may be wrong. I think it’s the people who ruin it. It’s usually the people who alter the “words of god” just to make them their own. I know that I am touching sensitive topics here, forgive me. If there really are religions out there who teach us to do harm to anyone at all, then I apologise, because I am against that idea. I’m not against you who believe in it, but the idea itself. I may sound pessimistic for focusing on that part of religions but personally I am happier having my own beliefs and values as myself. The other thing I disagree about most religions is how they force their religion onto you. There were even wars that began just because of the differences in our beliefs. I may sound rude and hypocritical; but why can't we respect each other’s beliefs and mind our own business? (I’m aware I’m not minding my own business, just saying this for the sake of this topic lol) Is it necessary to promote religions in such a way that brings violence and war? Isn’t religion supposed to give humans hope in life? Have we lost all meaning for life? 

Though I do have several things I agree with certain religions and things I admire about them. Like for Buddhism, I agree with how desire and dissatisfaction can really screw up our lives. And how by practising gratitude can bring us happiness. It’s just for my family, they seem to be a more… toxic positivity (?) kind of vibe with Buddhism. They would be so close minded sometimes and strictly stereotype people as “bad” and “good”: “good is good” so we must always reward “the good” and “bad is bad” so we’ll continue kicking them into the dirt and let them rot in hell. Bro. What. Aren’t you going to help them? They also seem so hypocritical all the time because of how they say they are kind and all-giving and full of gratitude but they really are not aware of things like how mental illnesses are a real problem. If you have social anxiety and depression, they’d think you are a “bad” person for your, let’s say, pessimistic and needy behaviour but wouldn’t consider helping you. Asian parents. Amirite. Anyway. Another thing I absolutely admire about monotheistic religions is how disciplined they are. I admire how Muslims pray 5 times a day and how they dress so modestly and value cleanliness. Not just for their God but indirectly I love that they are also doing it for themselves. It is truly admirable. And I’m saying this as an atheist, their faith in Allah is beautiful, really. I’m happy for them. I’m from southeast Asia, so where I’m from there are a lot of races and religions mixed together. Although not everything is perfect and it doesn’t mean there is absolutely no racism and prejudice around here, I can still say that among us civilians, we’re pretty comfortable around each other and it’s a nice experience having friends of different races and cultures.

2. War and peace

Consider me a pacifist, because I really do not believe in war. Hatred and negativity will honestly get us nowhere. Why hate on things when you can respect and love? Isn’t it tiring to hate? I have been on the hating end and trust me it is very exhausting. In the end, I was only bringing myself down and affecting my own life. But for war, I can understand how messy it can be and the pain and suffering that came from it. Although war can be so immature. Sometimes things just happen and there isn't really anyone to blame it for. What’s happened, happened. Passing on blame to anyone for all our miseries isn't really going to solve anything, we’re just gonna continue dividing society even more than it already is. 

Which brings me back to the topic about being neutral. I hate how people force us to “pick a side” and if you don’t, you’re an enemy to them. (I am using the word “hate” lightly. It’s to the situation as a whole, not the people themselves) And apparently you’re also an oppressor by just letting it happen. I agree with that but only to a certain extent. Since war can be so immature, picking a side at all is gross. Why are you even trying to divide yourselves further? Let go of your ego and take a big step back and see the full picture. In the end I don’t think it’s even about winning or losing anymore, because war is a loss for everyone. Nobody can leave the battleground unscathed one way or another. War always brings destruction. Having a mindset that you can only destroy to create is just… screwed up. I’m sorry. I am being as nice as possible about this and this is where I stand my ground if you want to disagree with me on that one. 

In light of recent news and happenings, the Israel-Hamas situation. If you ask me, I’ve seen plenty of both sides. Overall? It’s exhausting. I think it’s so heartbreaking to see people tear each other apart. And it’s even more heartbreaking to see the ones who never asked for this war to get hurt. Ironic how an atheist is saying this, but I do pray for the situation to get better for them.

Unpopular opinion, but: I think some things in the world are meant to be divided forever. It is near impossible to ever get all humans to come together and not start conflict because of our differences in race, culture, religion, gender, ideologies, opinions, preferences, status, age, it will just go on and on. Even if we one day come to an understanding of each other enough to give each other respect and equality, I don’t think we can ever see each other the same because of how different we are. Humans want to be unique. And that’s okay. I don’t believe there is a real solution to peace. I am not being pessimistic about it, I am speaking realistically. The world is too divided to be ever brought back together; it is very complicated. But maybe that’s just the way things are meant to be. It’s just human nature. And of course I’m not being miserable about it, I am accepting it and living with it. Through my past experiences, I’ve learnt to shove down my ego whenever necessary and I’ve learnt to show people respect no matter who they are. The world is never perfect, but that’s okay. It’s all the more that makes the world interesting. Even if we ever have world peace, wouldn’t life be boring? There wouldn’t be a journey and lessons to learn from opposing point of views. Life would be too perfect and empty. Just like without light, there wouldn’t be darkness. But that’s just my opinion about it, and I’d like to hear yours :) 

3. Conclusion

My personal philosophies are,

We are all the same as a human species. We all have experiences, feelings, memories and opinions of our own—we all need to shit, eat and sleep everyday with a roof over our heads. And with that, there’s nothing else that should divide us anymore. Be grateful life is even a gift to us all. 

Love whoever you want to love, love whatever you want to love. As long as you’re not hurting anyone in the process including yourself, and as long as you’re truly happy. 

I believe the best way to live life is going with the flow of it with an open heart. Life may bring so many surprises, and there are so many things in this world that are temporary. Nothing is permanent, so be open to changes and live in the moment while learning from your past and embracing the future.

Everything needs balance. There is no in between. Don't do too much of one thing and too little of another. Stay in the middle or anywhere just right for you and you might just find peace.

This is getting long haha. I didn’t really plan out what I wanted to write, but I had some ideas in mind. I just went with the flow of my thoughts. I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading till the end. And once again, I sincerely apologise if my words have hurt or offended you in any way. 

Have a great rest of the day ahead!  ♡ฅ(ᐤˊ꒳ฅˋᐤ♪)

[love-others-despite-differences]

[uncanny-tranny]

Please intentionally attempt to see the magic in everything. Everything is magic, even if you understand the "boring" reasons why things happen. Look at the magic in growing plants, the magic of your muscles flexing and retracting, the magic of your eyes and skull, the magic of a cat's purr.

It's all magic. Understanding the "why" is just understanding what makes things magical, it doesn't change that it's all significant and magic.

[palatinewolfsblog]

"Religion is at its best when it makes us ask hard questions about ourselves. It is at its worst when it deludes us into thinking we have all the answers for everybody else." Archibald McLeish.

[fant-asm4]

rewatching orym’s visit with the wildmother and i’ve just gotta say that some of y’all really let your personal christian trauma get in the way of a beautiful, heartbreaking, terrifying scene

[aeshnacyanea2000]

This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian philosopher Ventre, who said, 'Possibly the gods exist, and possibly they do not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've lost nothing, right?' When he died he woke up in a circle of gods holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, 'We're going to show you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts . . . '

-- Terry Pratchett - Hogfather

[justaz]

merlin slipping up early on around arthur and trying to assuage his fears by assuring that the gods would look out for them and arthur pauses before asking “the gods?” and they have a awkward lil conversation where merlin is like “yeah i worship the gods of the old religion” and arthurs like “why?” and merlin goes “well why do you worship the god of the new religion? we just believe in them” and arthur takes in this new information and is eventually like “yeah. sure. i guess its not illegal in essetir is it?” anyways thats it. it doesnt get brought up again until later on

when arthur + the knights and merlin and in that shrine and the knights aren’t taking it seriously and merlin goes “in the time of the old religion, they built shrines like this to appease restless spirits. we shouldn’t be here” and the knights brush it off but arthur knows merlin truly believes in it all so he redirects the knights away and later on its him and merlin at the well and arthur is there to calm merlin after he sees the visions from the raid. merlin’s crying and pleading with arthur to leave, that they shouldn’t be here. arthur agrees and goes to leave when merlin calls out to him. arthur stops but doesn’t turn. merlin wraps his arms around his middle.

“you were here”

arthur doesn’t say anything more and walks away

[ironinkpen]

Thinking about how Kipperlilly is so much of a minmaxer that she tried to get Lucy, who we know from Yolanda Badgood had a "profound conviction" in her faith and would never have willingly changed deities, to switch religions just to be better than some kids who didn't even know they existed. Tried to pressure her friend into making a life-changing, deeply personal decision for the sake of a petty, one-sided rivalry. Thinking about "Lucy was very supportive, 'cause it mattered a lot to Kipperlilly," about "Lucy is the only one who sort of gets it" and how that might have actually just meant "Lucy is the only one who doesn't argue with me." Thinking about afternoons spent quietly resurrecting dead rats in the woods, clearly unhappy but unwilling to vocalize it and hurt Kipperlilly's feelings. Thinking about Lucy finally putting her foot down for what might have been the first time ever and getting murdered for it.

[thesilicontribesman]

Eassie Pictish Symbol Stone, Eassie, Scotland

[lesbians4armand]

once again i really do think armand’s morality and view of his own morality is summed up by “i tried to be good, am i no good?” because he KNOWS he’s not, but he so desperately wants to be good in any way he can be, so that he can be desired. and this in turn means he is deep in denial about any bad he has done other than the deep seated feeling that he is simply “bad” as a vague concept and not the sum of his actions. anyway who’s up thinking normal thoughts about characters.

[incognitopolls]

Feel free to elaborate on which religion in the tags if you answer yes.

–

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[maslows-pyramid-scheme]

The audacity of religious people to come up with the most unhinged, outlandish, harmful possible beliefs and then claim that everyone should 'respect their beliefs.'

[love-others-despite-differences]

[joshuamj]

In Stars And Time? More like In Ace And Gender

+ some alts

[learn-religion]