So here I am 10:48 pm Christmas night. All tucked into bed trying to get some sleep knowing that I will have to return to work early tomorrow. As I lay in bed trying to relax my mind and drift off to sleep I mull over the days activities and somehow I get started on religion….and all of the things I hate about it. Maybe it’s the time of year who knows, I mean today we were celebrating Jesus’ birthday right? Lol. Well not sure it’s a day that should be celebrated but I sure do enjoy the presents and chance to gorge myself on in any possible way so what the hell, I don’t care what we celebrate, I’m just glad we had a good celebration.
So on with my recent thoughts about religion….where to start. Well first off I had the chance to go see the movie the Golden Compass with my sister today. It was the second time I have seen it and it’s a great show. I think that is what got me started on religion today. You see last week we were invited to see this movie on opening day for a Christmas party for work. Leading up to the day of the movie the office was abuzz about the “controversy” surrounding this movie. A controversy I apparently missed, but hey I try to stay clear of the news and newspapers so I suppose I can only blame my self for the lack of information. From what I gathered from friends was that the author of the books of the Golden Compass series is an atheist and that many elements in the books and storyline reflect this. Of course living in Utah everyone seemed to be scared and without even giving the movie a chance started trying to convince others not to see it. Typical Mormon reaction to just about everything.
After seeing the Golden Compass movie I overheard some debate in the office about the symbolism in the movie. The overall theme was organized religion (shown as the majesterium in the movie) wanted to control the aspects of people’s daily lives and keep them in the dark “to protect them”. I was told by an acquaintance that this certainly represented the Catholic Church but the Mormon Church is exactly the opposite….in fact it’s biggest value is free agency. I almost shit myself laughing. Growing up a Mormon yes I did hear the term “free agency” thrown around quite a bit. However I assure you that this so called “free agency” in no way resembles actual free agency which would include being able to be free to think, act, and do as you choose. Mormons view agency as the right to choose right from wrong. Here’s my question….who decides what is right or wrong. God? Jesus? Joseph Smith? Brigham Young? I mean seriously I don’t see any credible sources in the lineup. The answer I usually get is that God says what is right and wrong and you can read it in the bible. Well we all know what a useless pile of paper that fictional hardbound piece of junk is. Let’s move onto the next source. Jesus. Well once again what we know of Jesus comes from the fairytale called the bible so we can automatically throw that source out as well. Ahhh Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, now really at least we know these men actually existed right? They must be credible sources. Well seeing as how they were both bigoted, scumbag, manipulative criminals I am going to have to say that I can’t really trust them to tell me right from wrong either. I suppose I have run out of sources…..no wait….I’m getting a prompting…..a warm feeling……a burning in my bosom……..damn, just a gas bubble. Lol. For a minute I thought it was the Holy Ghost, the last and most elusive bearer of truth and guider of right and wrong. Growing up I heard all the same explanations of the holy ghost, promptings, voices, warm feelings, feelings of joy, happiness etc etc etc. In fact when I first vocalized my lack of faith in religion I was told time and time again that surely I had felt a warm, cozy, welcoming peace and good feeling as I sat in church or did other “religious” duties. I’m sure there are times when I felt relaxed, maybe even good, and maybe just maybe happy. However, I can feel warm and fuzzy and peaceful and content doing a number of other things…for example….having sex, doing drugs, drinking. Certainly those things make me feel good so what the hell they must be the holy ghost right? Hopefully I have made my point. Holy Ghost sorry to break it to you bud but I just don’t think you fit into the picture either so I’ll just get this over with and deny you so I can secure my first class ticket to hell. And to think…some poor souls actually believe that.
Do I really need someone to tell me what is right or wrong for me? Are we not all individuals and what is right for me…just may be wrong for someone else. These cookie cutter rule books that organized religion so eagerly drape over their ignorant members is a joke. Can some people benefit from organized religion…certainly. Those people that need someone telling them what to do. I know many people that have become so brainwashed and dependent upon “rules” “guidelines” and “commandments” that I seriously doubt they would be able to function in daily life without these things. I find this situation to be extremely heart wrenching as I see people so chained to and controlled by and governed by forces that are completely %100 fabricated. They are completely in the minds of these people and nowhere else. The Mormon Church in particular does a superb job at brainwashing young people into these patterns or ways of thinking. I am unfamiliar with how intense this process may be in other religions but don’t doubt that it is very, very prevalent. These psychologically created feelings may include feelings of guilt, fear and obligation. Intense pressure also is created by family, ward members and society. So what can we do about this? Well if you have ever tried talking sense into a brainwashed Mormon it is pretty difficult. They have been trained to defend any position no matter how stupid or illogical it may be, and even when logic has been used to expose their weakness suddenly faith comes into play and cures everything. Faith….the cure all. The churches slogan should be “Faith, you need it because we admit…there’s some shit we can’t explain and some things that we just fucked up on and don’t have an excuse for”
Well it’s now 11:39 pm I’ve been typing for almost an hour. I think we should discuss religion more another day! Don’t worry I don’t think we will run out of information to cover. Until then, Cheers! Good Night, and Merry Christmas!
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