Vortexia's Secret

religion is something that i very rarely discuss here. in fact, i probably have talked about it only once or twice. i am anything but typical when it comes to religious views, so i tend to keep that to myself. i am christian, but not the type that has become mainstream in our freak hyper-conservative fundamentalist brand of christianity that is served up in this country. that is probably why i rarely discuss religion, even outside the blog. i decided long ago that it was better to live your values rather than to preach them. i figure you can believe what you believe by yourself just as well as having somebody else validate them every sunday morning at 9. and i prefer to be tolerant and non-judgmental of just about any other viewpoint and value system. i impose my beliefs on myself alone. of course there are exceptions... you disregard another's life and i'm not cool with that, just for an example. so the religious right, which is so far beyond right, really bothers me. the vast majority of the ones i have encountered throughout my lifetime are anything but what i thought was christian. they talk the talk without walking the walk. they condemn others and then spend hours patting themselves on the back. they try to "save" others without listening to their beliefs. they put on a show for each other and develop a holier than thou attitude. they judge everyone. and they disregard lives practically every step of the way... they back a war that kills innocent people, they back policies that might as well be titled "fuck the homeless and fuck the poor and fuck anybody who isn't like us," the extremists are willing to kill those who have lived fulfilling lives in order to save fetuses that have yet to bond to another person, and even the non-extremists disregard the power of a woman over her sexuality and her own rights. just as a few examples. i know i give some line about being tolerant of other viewpoints and then i go off on these people. i'm not perfect. but like i said, i'm not cool with disregarding another human's life. and that seems to be the name of the game for them. the name of my game, and from what i could tell, the name of God's game was to care for everyone equally. treat your neighbor as you would like to be treated. i remember some story i was told as a child, one of those parables that they read to kids to make them turn out all nice and sweet... basically it was that Jesus could show up at your doorstep as a beggar and how you treated the least of your neighbors was the measure of what kind of person you were. i know since we have all be raised to think we live in a dangerous world that at least 98% of us wouldn't have the guts to take a leap of faith, bring the guy in, let him take a shower in your place, feed him a warm meal, and let him sleep on your couch for the night. i'll admit right now that i am way too cautious to even open the door of my apartment for that guy. but i don't condemn him and i won't vote for laws that fine him for loitering or using a shopping cart or any of that flack he gets. i think this religious right has become a bully and will justify any and every thing it does by thumping on that bible and pulling a scripture out of context. then they will say they won the debate because they had the line memorized and the rest of us didn't. but if you live a good life then you're already ahead of the game. and all the religions go back to the same God or life force or whatever. and if you're atheist then you're probably alright too... most atheists i knew set better examples than the bible thumpers who spent 4 nights a week patting each other on the back for a job well done. ok, this was a very late night structure-less rant. without an end point to drive it home. so that's it. ending it here. please don't hate on me if you're under the category that i just blasted. just lead a good life that backs your words and you're ok in my book. now back to the regular program of not discussing religion.