when religion first started to spread through european culture in like the 1000's, it was conceived just so that people would have something to live for. that is what i got from my european history class. if i am wrong, remember, please correct me. well the peasants who had no rights nor property had nothing to live for, why should i work for my lord? why should i not commit adultery? why dont i just do whatever i want all the time, even if it is a crime? the code of rules by the bible told them what to do. it offered a place to end up after they died. it offered them something to work for and look forward to go. otherwise, they had no purpose in life. i guess thats what carries on today
religion in todays life is about the same i think. but we have different values than the people then. but soon people began to discover new areas in science. [hmmm these strawberries are sour. eck!] like how the earth was round and that the earth was NOT the center of the universe. the church denied all of this and said it was sacrilege. they were wrong in the 1500s and they are repeating their mistakes again in the latter part of the century. i mean evolution. evolution is almosty scientifically proven. to deny evolution is like saying that there is no gravity in the universe. like Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe in Friends 'I dont believe in gravity'. its crazy!!!
if you have any ideas about how evolution can not be true, please tell me. because i know the 'monkey' aspect makes human beings look primitive, but we are. i can believe until death that we came from monkeys. i mean, look at some people today. LOTS of people in the 90s look like monkeys. example: Liam Gallagher with long hair and a beard. he should be in a zoo! [actually when he is clean shaven he is an okay guy] and the darwin thing about the survival of the fittest and how we change to our surroundings. i believe all of that.
hmmm what else? oh yeah. the 'god made the universe' thing. i cant believe that one supreme being created the world in seven days. the evolution thing about how the world started out as a few atoms that changed over time is more believable. i mean, who created god? [also who created the atoms?] but anyway, i guess god could have created the atoms and thats okay. but praying to him? i think it is deism that says that god created the world, but is not continuously changing it. the world is like a clock. he made it, and is letting it run. [woohoo! blurs on the radio! even though i am sick of this song, it still makes me happy because i hear the great guys enjoy themselves] most philosophers of the 1700s and others were deists. they knew about science and the proof that it had.
oh and i will tell you of an experience i had
at a church. i think it was one day at a summer bible study camp thing.
we were learning about adam and eve and noahs ark and all that, but one
day, they gave us a test. i didnt get one of the answers right, so one
of the volunteers there called me up and took me aside. it was very freaky.
the question i got wrong was 'what does it mean to pray?' and i didnt know
the answer, so i faked it. i guess it didnt work. so the volunteer took
me to this room. she asked me again what it means to pray, and i still
didnt know the answer, so she said something like 'then you are going to
pray with me NOW!!!' i was very very frightened. i didnt want to pray.
i didnt know how to pray. i didnt know what to do. argh!! i was so confused
and frustrated. i have rights you know !! i am an american citizen. i dont have
to pray if i dont want to! i have a freedom for and against religion. i dont
have to pray if i dont want to. well she made me pray with her anyway.
i was very angry angry ANGRY!!! i guess that is why i beg to differ about
some parts of christianity. i mean, i didnt want to pray, but i was too
young to stand up for my rights. i was a goody goody and did what the volunteer
told me to do. i was angry, though. so i dont like to go to that church
anymore. it scares me to go there, and i am forever scarred for the rest
of my life because of that damn volunteer. i dont hate you, i just am abhorred
by your religious practices. BA HUMBUG!!!!
25 May 98
another addition to my collection of writings... another excerpt about religion from Inherit the Wind. i dont feel like giving a summary. just look.
[Lawrence, 85-86]
Drummond: Look, Mr. Brady. These are the fossil remians of a pre-historic marine creature, which was found in this very county -- and ehich lived here millions of years ago, when these very mountain ranges were submerged in water.
Brady: I know. The Bible gives a fine account of the flood. But your professor is a little mixed up on his dates. That rock is not more than six thousand years old.
D: How do you know?
B: A fine Biblical scholar, Bishop Usher, has determined for us the date and hour of the Creation. It occured in the year 4004 B.C.
D: That's Bishop Usher's opinion.
B: It is not an opinion. It is literal fact, which the good Bishop arrived at through careful computation of the ages of the prophets as setdown in the Old Testament. In fact, he determined that the Lord began the Creation on he 23rd of October in the year 4004 B.C. at -- uh,at 9 a.m.!
D: That Eastern Standard Time? (laughter) Or Rocky Mountain Time? (more laughter) It wasn't daylight-saving time, was it? Because the Lord didnt make the sun until the fourth day!
B: (fidgeting) That is correct
D: (sharply) The first day. Was it a twenty-four-hour day?
B: The Bible says it was a day.
D: There wasnt any sun. How do you know how long it was?
B: (determined) The Bible says it was a day.
D: A normal day, a literal day, a twenty-four-hour day? (pause, Brady is unsure)
B: I do not know.
D: What do you think?
B: (floundering) I do not think about things that ... i do not think about!
D: Do you ever think about things that you do think about? ... Isn't it possible that first day was rwenty-five hours long? There was no way to measure it, no way to tell! Could it have been twenty-five hours?
B: It is ... possible ...
... okay you see .... what you want to see. im not in the mood to explain. i realise the books not written against god, maybe its written to point people towards believing. but im not too intelligent now. good bye.
okay heres another topic: the purpose
of life.
