Jesus and Stuff

Warning: Serious Post Beginning…

Serious post, but not a serious photo...

This past May, North Carolina voted for Amendment 1, which constitutionally outlawed marriage between same-gender couples. Now keep in mind, this was already illegal to begin with, but now that it’s written in the constitution, it becomes much harder to abolish.

I’ve of course heard of other states doing the same thing, mostly in the South. But for some reason, having it here in NC and living here really pissed me off. I honestly believed that my neighbors around the state were a little more open-minded/progressive about the issue than their southern counterparts. The idea that same-sex marriage, acknowledged by the state (not churches) would lead us down some road to become a “cesspool of sin” (Haha! Inside joke!) is ridiculous. And the churches that plastered messages on their marquees about voting for the amendment made me even more pissed off. But some of the pissed-offedness has faded. Somewhat.

Over the past few months, I’ve thought about a few things considering religion and all that. Here in the mountains of western North Carolina, where we are considered the “buckle” of the Bible-belt, there’s always an undertone in religion. I look at some of my “friends” on facebook and their Jesus sayings and these prayers and all that, and I wonder, what’s the point? Why are people so crazy about Jesus (and other important historical figures-say, one rhymed with Gohammad). What does religion bring? What does it do?

Religion I bet, does something different for everyone. Certainly it can be a great tool to teach some important lessons, feelings and ideas about yourself and those around you. It can teach you morals. (Of course, whose morals ARE those?) But thinking about this, what does religion teach you that a loving family can not? Why do we have to have religion, or belong to a sect/denomination/congregation? Can many of the values that religion may (or may not) teach us be found elsewhere? I would say, Of course. Religion can  teach us a great deal about being good/moral and all that, but it’s not a requirement. If it was, there would be a LOT of bad stuff going on…more than what we have today.

Unfortunately, religion can also teach a lot of bad lessons-especially about intolerance. And lots of other stuff. But I don’t want to keep you here all day…

And another thing that disturbs me so much-not necessarily about religion per se, but by those who are espousing it. Look at the Catholic Church drama. Whoa! Or, if you’re going to say, “don’t be an adulterer”, then it would be in your best interest to not do that. Or, if you are  pro-life, then why don’t you support programs that help less-privileged mothers and families cope with the process of raising a child than to strip funding from said programs. (And no, there are not enough churches and organizations to help with this, especially when they get their  funding cut).

Obviously, religion and faith can help us in many aspects of our life, especially end-of-life situations. But a few months ago, I saw and read this article on CNN about end-of-life faith that for some reason really struck a nerve. Here’s the link:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/28/my-faith-what-people-talk-about-before-they-die/

I got to thinking about it…If I was relegated to my deathbed tomorrow, and had a couple of days to live, what would I want to do? Who would I want to see? What would I talk about? Would I talk about Jesus, God, the Apostles, Moses, Christianity, Catholicism, Protestants, Southern Baptists, Westboro Baptist Church, Islam, Buddhism…?

I don’t think I would. I think I would be similar to those people in the CNN article-I think I would want to talk about my memories and most importantly, my family. On my deathbed, I would like to see the video of my son taking his first few steps without any help or hitting his first homerun than talking about Jesus being crucified. I would want my parents telling me their favorite memories of me growing up or their proudest moment in my life rather than hearing about stories that are likely more anecdotal than based in fact. Yes, this is bad faith, but in all honesty, I think Jesus would understand. Don’t you?

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