Who's Right?

Who cares abou Who is right. It's about What is right.

First off I want to say -Thank you Past-Self for writing these blogs making it easier for me to copy/paste past points and perspectives i have clearly identified and written down.

That being said, Let's analyze: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.

Judaism -as suggested by a friend, this religion contains many many practices and customs that were important to be followed by a specific group of people during a specific time period. To Universalize Judaism however would have negative consequences on the world -not to mention be virtually impossible for all to follow. We can use Pig meat as an example because at the time it was a meat that would rot very quickly and make people sick (making it a practical law to ban it being eaten) but today we have refrigerators and pig meat no longer poses a threat to people's health. Ultimately the Teachings in Judaism are valuable to us and will always be -but not necessarily the Practices/Rituals/Customs.

Christianity can and has been used Universally. It's hard to imagine South Americans practicing Judaism instead of Catholicism or Christianity. Christianity can be followed anywhere by anyone. It focuses les on rituals and more on Spirituality and following a clear path to God. I removed the clutter to create a space for everyone to come together. It advocates Compassion and Forgiveness v. Judgement and Punishment. Faith over Matter.

Islam. I can appreciate things this religion brought to the table. Once a year Muslims give 1/3 of everything they own to charity. This relgion taught people to look after orphans, widows, and the destitute. It also brought morals to a desert landscape of waste and hopelessness. They also mandate acknowledgement and worship of God 5 times a day (although some people acknowledge Him more times a day than that just out of habit making this practice seem obligatory and overly redundant). But the one thing that alwys turned me away from this religion was the concept of Revenge. They justified killing people because someone's cousin killed someone's uncle who killed someone's great great grandfather 200 years ago... It's an endless cycle of violence that this religion deems justified. It cannot be Universalized then, because the Go-Ahead for violence would end humanity, compassion, and faith. In fact, it seems strange that some of the teachings in Isam directly contradict those of previous prophets and speakers of the Word such as Christ and Moses. But in this life you have to decide for yourself what is right. Take in the good and weed out the bad. Like a selectively permeable sponge. From this religion I would take the good and leave the violence.

Buddhism. I always say this religion is on equal par to Christianity. Someone told me that it was an unnecessary relgion to follow since that which can be appreciated in it can also be found in Christianity -which comes direcly from God. This is true, however Buddhism has more physical/secular/practical ways for people to get in touch with their actual Spirituality -not just philosophically. Meditation, yoga, Being Mindful... these are directly appliable lessons people can use.

Buddhism also mentions Reincarnation which Chrisitanity leaves out. Why does it leave it out? I think it was because, like Buddhism, Reincarnation is something to be avoided -like Hell. There is Heaven, Hell, and Reincarnation and the Bible focuses on keeping people out of Hell and getting them into Heaven. Reincarnation is something that bleeds through both states, but is not something to be striven for. As I said in a previous blog:

"Everything gets Reincarnated if you think about it. Nothing ever ceases to exist, it just changes form. Water drop becomes evaporated becomes cloud becomes rain becomes ocean becomes... People are the same. Soul becomes enfleshed becomes old becomes soul again becomes uplifted or weighted down or reincarnated becomes enfleshed again... Heaven is a temporary reward zone. How long is temporary? -No idea. Could be a couple centuries, could be a millenia... No Clue. But at some point, people can chose to become reincarnated. They then come from above down to earth and have more of a say in the next life they lead and are usually better off/ rewarded in that life with comforts and good living conditions. Hell is a temporary punishment zone. How long is temporary/ -same as Heaven. No Clue. But if souls from Hell become reincarnated they are coming up above from below, and have more suffering in their next life and less say in where they end up -making it more challenging for them to find happiness and serenity. They have to work harder for those things. Most people who ignore their spirituality or don't seek it out, but do good,  just end up being reincanrated right off the bat. Think about it, if you don't progress and you don't change, why do you think the afterlife will be any different? You get reborn over and over and over until you make that journey up. Then you get a reprieve. This is Karma."

Yesterday I talked to someone who said that she thought Buddhism was far better han Christianity. This woman was raised by Catholics. Being a Pisces she experienced spiritual activity (ghosts) and directly opened herself up to those experiences by communicating back. She tried to tell her parents about it but ,being Catholic and belieiving in demons but not ghosts, they said there was evil in the house instead of spirits. Not helpful. She also feels afraid to talk about and express her spirituality because growing up around Catholics, you were not allowed to express opinion of beliefs that fell outside of the realm of what you had been taught. She was essentially "over churched" like my grandfather was -making her agnostic and more Universalist in thought towards the realm of Christianity. Also, like many people today, she has heard false "Christians" preach about hate towards homosexuals and against certain people -making her associate the religion with bigots and self-serving ignorants. It sucks when you try to vouch for a religion but the person you are talking to has a negtively schewed pre-association with it thanks to losers who misrepresented it before you came along. The same goes for Buddhism (thanks hippies...)

After this conversation with her, I was reassured of my own Spirituality, but dismayed that 1. Christianity wasn't present in her life more and 2. she felt afraid to talk about Spirituality in general to people. I feel this myself sometimes. Not fear of talking about Spirituality/Religion, but dismay that so many others honestly don't give a f*ck about it.

She looked at me and said she was knew she was weird for wanting to be spiritual. It killed me. I told her she wasn't weird, other people are weird. It's weird as hell that so many people acknowledge they have souls and that there is a God and yet those two things have no relevance in their passing lives to the extent that they avoid the topic altogether and look down upon those who bring it up at all.