Religion.

              
               Oh sweet glorious religion... It sure has a way of sneakin up on ya. Like when you're in your third or fourth conversation with a person that you had no idea was religious at all and then BAM! The- "thank you Jesus" errupts, or the "God blah blah blah..." crap detours your casual interaction. I myself get very discouraged and suddenly the thought of any profound relationship developing is hardly a potential anymore. Godly people sometimes try to trick you by using bad language just to keep you intrigued, but really they're just trying to get a feel for when they can deliver the "word of God" as it is their devoted duty. Humbug! Humbug I say! Get out of my face with all that mumbo jumbo! No, I don't want to go to your church! And what the hell does "Christ is Lord" mean anyway? I'm happy for you that your cult gives you a chance to maintain some functional moral driven exsistance but, I do not wish to be dragged into it. It frustrates me when people think I am some new mission of theirs to convert. As if I have no morals or logical order to the life I'm living. "Sinning" is just way too much fun! It's not like I have no boundries or unrealistic measures of how to treat people. I'm a nice person willing to respect all things living but I don't feel the need to worship a God that derives from an old story book passed down from generation to generation to keep followers inline.

               Most of these awkward and distasteful experiences come from the Christian based believers. Luckily, Muslims and Jews are members to fairly exclusive clubs that I am never haggled by. There's just something about Christians that compels them to recruit others tenaciously into their special clan. Maybe it's something in the holy water. It's so hard to comprehend how grown people can invest so much of themselves into a religious practice that typically segrigates anyone who believes anything different. I started out as someone of a religion. My mother, as a pure-bred fillipino woman, insisted I partake in the Catholic denomination. So I willingly follow along, praying (reciting someone elses written request to God), kneeling (an annoying side effect to Catholicism), and spreading the word of God (embarrassing myself and warning all the sain people to stay away). After a while I started to notice some inconsistancies. I was in pre-mass catholic class with my peers when I realized that a lot of the answers that were being given in response to many of the questions asked by students were extremely open ended and inconclusive. I began to conjur up some questions myself. Ultimately I was kicked out of class and could no longer recieve communion (that weird moment during mass when everyone goes up to the alter to eat a dry cracker and take a sip of cheap wine). Honestly, I was kicked out of class for making some smart ass remark that had nothing to do with any of the topics being discussed. I was however expecting forgiveness and a free pass to return which I never got, bunch of fibbers. Anywho, I was on the brink of some serious personal growth. I am quite proud of the moment in my life when I realized that religion, in the presentation that was given to me, was essentially bullshit. I was 15 years old when I had this epiphany and man was it a breath of fresh air.

              There were some advantages to having religion in my life as a developing positive thinker. One- I truly believe that the type of person I am, took the best out of the paranoia that Catholocism instills in it's followers and linked it to a realistic view of right and wrong. Most of the stories I remember about the bible were examples of extreme consequences for breaking the rules of social expectancies. When you break everything down to a simple outline it sounds a lot like the golden rule, "treat others as you would like to be treated." So I took that and ran with it. Everything else that was played up and taken to a fundamentalist approach I reguarded as just plain nonsense. My mother to this day is still a hardcore Catholic, and what I mean by that is she is at church every sunday and if she can't make it to the chapel she will have service in her living room for the same grueling length of time. I remember making way to the living room on a Sunday morning and as soon as I caught a glimpse of her kneeling and praying, I tip-toed back in the other direction. She would even make me and my friends recite the "Our Father" and "Hail Mary" prayers in the car on the way to... anywhere! I guess once she had us heathens trapped she would force feed our dirty souls and feel a true sense of Catholic accomplishment. When I look back, I can see the value religion had given to my troublesome mother. She came from a fairly depressing childhood with poor education and an abusive upbringing. It for the most part, kept her glued together. Although I've deemed her as crazy at times I know that without her beliefs she may not have lasted as long as she has. I am very thankful that religion is there for my mother and others like her. I see it as a necessary evil in this life of balance.

             Millions of people hit their rock bottoms everyday and some choose religion as a crutch to stand on. I commend anyone who will in whatever fashion, dust themselves off and try again. If you're in a dark place in your life and the "light of God" keeps you from harming yourself or anyone else, by all means endulge. If your religious practice makes you a good person who inspires greatness in others alike then carry on with pride! Just please be mindful of how proud you become. I can totally understand the excitement and joy of great things happening in your life and the sudden urge to share this experience with others but, I don't want to join your cult. No offense but the reason your getting such great results is you live your life with positive energy attracting positive results. It's not because Jesus is literally sneaking into your room at night and sprinkling magic prayer dust all over your bed. It's just science. You create a positive vibe and therefore positive things happen, good for you! I have religious friends that are completely devoted to their practice and I am quite fond of them, even inspired.Those particular friends are supreme in respecting my beliefs and never place any kind of pressure on anyone around them to sign up. I can be as obnoxious of a "sinner" as possible and never do I feel judged by them. I have much respect for religion and I know 1st hand that it can even saves lives. Personally, I believe there is a possiblity that there is something bigger than can even be comprehended beyond our physical exsistance. I just don't think it's anything we have recently conjured it up to be. The fact is I have no idea what's out there and neither do you. I do know that in my heart I feel I have something to offer to the balance of life on earth. The people I know and love generally feel good about one another and my only legacy is the positive energy that I generate upon our interaction. As far as I know we have one shot to make a positive difference in the lives we live. Forget about the afterlife and make this one a great one!