I Know Not What I Do…

Forgive me readers, for I have ranted…

It’s come to my attention that my last post might have possibly come across as anti-religious. I didn’t intend for it to take that tone, but sometimes it takes the eyes of a more critical reader to wake me up to what I’m actually saying, versus what I think I’m saying.

In this particular instance, it was the critical eyes of Brittany that shot mind lasers at me after reading my last entry. I’ve no wish to incur her wrath, although she wasn’t particularly angry. She just thought I was proclaiming everyone who believes in the Bible to be stupid, inbred morons. I can see how someone could arrive at that conclusion based on my tone, but I want to clear things up a little today.

I don’t think religious people are stupid. I don’t fault anyone for believing in anything they want to believe in. The only people I have a problem with – and this is what I was intending to get across in my last entry – are those who blindly accept anything as fact, whether it be Jesus or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, without doing their own explorations into the subject.

This should only be offensive if you worship Michelangelo.

I do admit that I’m pretty hard on Evangelicals, but that’s because so many Evangelical churches are founded by some random guy who just decided to start up a church one day. There’s no real governing authority that ordains these guys, beyond perhaps the theological equivalent of a diploma mill. Hell, I became an ordained Evangelical minister as a lark by visiting a freaking website and printing out my credentials.

Of course, this isn’t to say that I believe in the Church as a governing authority over the spiritual lives of people, either. I don’t think a bunch of old white guys in funny hats should be able to sit around and decide what God really thinks of stem cell research or gay marriage, and then force their mandates as dogmata upon the followers of their faith. To see the folly of this approach to worship, one need look no further than a few centuries ago, with an eye towards the Crusades or the Inquisition or even the Vatican’s omissive sins during the Holocaust.

In fact, the idea of the Church as an organized body that decides what is True and what is not is contradictory to the Christian faith to begin with. After all, the followers of Jesus broke with Jewish tradition to follow His new teachings, and if you believe Mel Gibson, the Jews had Him brutally tortured and murdered for what He said.

You wouldn’t trust this guy if he were yelling on a street corner, but give him $30 million bucks, Jim Caviezel, and a few cameras, and suddenly people start believing him!

You’d think that would send up big, flashing warning signs to people that man is fallible and therefore, a collective body of men, by extension, is as well. As such, how any thinking Christian could willingly submit to the rulings of any Church authority will always remain a mystery to me. Fortunately for church coffers everywhere though, thinking people are few and far between.

So yeah, I think one man can come along with a new view on religion and he should be able to teach others his insight, and they can choose to follow him. I just wish that there was some way to discern the Ted Haggards from the Hugh O’Flahertys, but there isn’t.

My point in all of this is that, if only people would think about what they’re being taught – if only they would not take their Faith on faith, as it were, then we’d all be a whole lot better off. If you don’t believe me, then I point you to any given cult as an example. The Branch Davidians under David Koresh, the Peoples Temple followers of Jim Jones, or the Heaven’s Gaters who stuck out their thumbs to hitchhike with Marshall Applewhite on board the spaceship hiding inside the Hale-Bopp comet are all examples of how wrong things can go when people let others do their thinking for them.

I can’t help but think that Ron Paul might have had a shot if he didn’t look so much like this guy…

Given that the difference between a cult and a religion is, more or less, the size of the congregation, I hope you can begin to see my point. It’s very important, I think, to not just trust that your Church leader knows what he’s talking about. You need to look into things on your own, and not be afraid if what you find conflicts with what you’re being taught every Sunday. Either find a way to incorporate your newfound knowledge into your worldview, or choose to ignore its ramifications – but do so by choice, not out of ignorance.

I wish today’s post could have had more humor in it, but I think it’s important that I clarify my position before I push my whole examination of Christmas traditions further. I’m not out to shatter anyone’s belief system, nor do I think I could even if I wanted to. I just want people to think. That’s all!

Ok, you can go ahead and get offended by this one…

Want some books? 'Course ya do!

NOTE:  I know times are hard and yeah, I need to make a living too, but if you want to read any of my books but can't afford to buy them right now, hit me up.

I'll take care of it.

Humor | Nonfiction
Available now from the following retailers

Have you ever lived through an experience that was so humiliating that you wanted to die, but when you tell it to all your friends, they can't stop laughing?

Have you ever made a decision that seemed like a good idea at the time, but you're still living with the hilarious consequences years later?

If so, then grab a snack, get comfortable, and prepare to have all of your own poor life choices seem just a little bit more bearable.

You're welcome.

Short Stories
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The nine stories of rage and sadness collected here range from the most intimate of human experiences to the wildest realms of magic and fantasy. The first story is a violent gut-punch to the soul, and the rest of them just hit harder from there.

Those who tough it out will find a book filled with as much hope as despair, a constant contradiction pulling you from one extreme to another.

Life might knock us down, over and over, and will the beat the ever-loving snot out of us from the time we're old enough to give it attitude until the day we finally let it win and stop getting up.

Always get back up.

Gaming | Nonfiction
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This isn't just a book. It's a portal to other worlds where there be magic and dragons and hilarious pirates. Okay, not really. But this book is about those portals, except they're called video games.

The Life Bytes series of books take a deep dive into one man's personal journey through childhood into kinda/sorta being a responsible, competent adult as told through the magical lens of whatever video games he was playing at the time.

Part One starts way back in 1975 and meanders down various digital pathways until, oh, around about 1993 or so.

If you're feeling nostalgic for the early days of gaming or if you just want to understand why the gamer in your life loves this hobby so much, take a seat in your favorite comfy chair and crack this bad boy open.

I'll try to not be boring.

Horror
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What you are about to read is not a story. There is no beginning, middle, or end.

What follows is nothing more than a series of journal entries involving shadow people, sleep paralysis, and crippling fear. It’s not pretty, it doesn’t follow story logic, and nothing works out well in the end.

You've been warned.