On Religion

 

I have always had a bit of an issue with people placing one religion over another.  Seems to me this is what sparks much of the evil and hate in this world, especially when the followers of a particular religion are so very righteous that their path is the chosen one and that all others are going to Hell or at the very least some sort of limbo, that’s not Heaven.

I was reminded of these thoughts yesterday, when the Jehovah Witnesses showed up at my door and refused to leave when I politely told them I already had a religion that I was happy with. Since they tried to engage me further, I decided to make this on my terms and to debate with them what it means to be a Global Citizen and an advocate for peace.  How can one truly respect others’ views and embrace other cultures, if they feel they are the chosen ones (Harper?) and their role is to meld others into their way of thinking.  Such attitudes just precipitate anger and misunderstanding.

The Jehovah Witnesses went on to explain to me that to be true to your faith and your morals, one needed to marry within their faith.  Thinking the concept of Global Citizen was lost on them.  Reflecting on how this would pertain to my life, my friends come from many different faiths, yet none of us would push ours on another, respecting what we can learn from each other from our different perspectives.

 

 

Personally, I don’t know if there’s a Heaven and a Hell or rather energies that recycle themselves, but I do think we are all capable of good and evil, depending on the path we choose, just as I believe that religion can be a thing of beauty and a thing of hate, corruption, and evil.  It seems to me that if there truly is a God, wouldn’t he or she be there to love and protect all living things (not simply the chosen few)?  Which makes me think that the development of different religions is similar to how different cultures, foods, clothing, arts … etc. have formed as the human species has spread across the planet.  Just as our clothes may differ from place to place, why should it matter if our religions differ, as long as we treat one another with care, love and respect?  At the end of the day, we all have the same needs, for food, water, shelter, and love. It may be a wild concept, but why can’t we all just treat other living things and our planet with care, love and respect, no matter their religious believes and not push our ideals down the throat of another (as long, of course, as they are not doing harm to others)?

Curious (and admittedly somewhat scared) to hear others thoughts on this philosophy. Am proud to say that yesterday it resulted in the Jehovah Witnesses excusing themselves from my presence, which was a pleasant change from the norm.

Love and Light,

Emme xoxo