Oh God, Book Two...

So to sum up...I was raised in a very conservative Christian family. I was a full believer for years and years and left the Church when I was a teenager. My family still practices the same religion.

As most of you know Brent and I were married as mere infants and then set out to see the world. Or at least he saw the world and I saw where ever we were stationed. Or at least he saw the inside of a Nuclear Engine room in a lot of different places around the world. If he made it out on deck, he definitely saw the world. So what does this mean to the God talk? It means I have been privileged enough to live in some very distinct parts of the country.

Growing up in New Mexico the predominate religion is Catholic. I was raised in the Christian church and attended a Baptist middle school. So as far as those three religious bases go, I was pretty well covered. And yes, I know they all fall under the big umbrella of Christian but if you are speaking to a Baptist he will let you know he is most certainly not Catholic and if you are talking to a Catholic they will tell you the same about Baptists. Same umbrella different storm. But by living around the country I have been able to see a lot of different storm fronts, if you will, and have my opinions on all of them. The Baptists, Southern Baptists, Catholics, Focus on the Family, Promise Keepers, LDS, Unitarian, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc. you name it, I know someone who practices it!

But here is the other religion that people don't mention, though it's really the same in my book. Atheism. I truly believe there are people out there that take their lack of belief in God and turn it into as much of a religion as someone who is a strong believer in God. Penn Gillette being a famous example of this. It's as if they have decided that they don't believe in God and it's their job to make sure others don't as well. Now don't get me wrong, I think Penn is a fabulous entertainer, I think Bullshit by Penn and Teller is a great show for those of us who tend to be skeptics. But having been raised in a church where you were told what to think about God, I am just as leery of someone trying to insist that I don't. A friend of mine calls this Devout Atheism.

A branch of Devout Atheism is the Mock the Christians branch. My mother-in-law is part of the Mocking branch, though I am not sure if she is a true atheist, or possibly an agnostic, anyway...About 5 years ago standing in line to see a movie my Mother-in-law, Father-in-law and Christopher are behind Brent and I and they were discussing the Harry Potter books. The discussion turned towards a girl who rode the bus with Christopher who wasn't allowed to read the books because they dealt with witchcraft which was against her family's religious beliefs. My mother-in-law announces to Christopher that that is because people who are religious aren't as bright as the rest of us and can't tell the difference between fact and fiction. Now, normally I will let a lot slide in their discussions, I want Christopher exposed to a lot of ideas, but I do feel there is a right and a wrong way to do it, so this time I couldn't. I turned around looking only at Christopher and said, before you let that sink in too much remember, fully half of your family is religious and do you really believe they are dumb? My mother-in-law had the good grace to apologize later, but it is attitudes like that among the devoutly atheistic that drive me crazy.

On the flip side of that, of course, are the devoutly Christian who feel they must convert you to save your soul. I tend to have a little more sympathy for this side of the argument, only because of motivation. If an atheist is busy trying to point out to me that my belief in God shows I am stupid I am not going to take that too well. But on the other hand, I know my mother is genuinely concerned that because I have not raised Christopher in the church and that because he and Brent aren't baptized they will go to hell when they die, I tend to cut her some slack when she tries to get me to go back to church. BUT I don't cut any slack when she tries to tell me I am not living a good life because I don't go to church. I would put my son's moral code up against any one else in my family without a moment of hesitation. He is one of the best, kindest people I know. And Brent and I did that without putting the literal fear of God in him. Living in Colorado Springs, the home of Focus on the Family and in Idaho Falls, bed of conservative LDS beliefs, I had my fill of people trying to convince me through ways big and small that as a non-Christian I wasn't a good person. I also have no patience what so ever for politicians who try to legislate religion. But that is, again, another blog for another day. Oh yes, we will talk politics too!

So before you think I am anti-everything I want to tell you about someone in my life. Megan (I warned you, you were going to show up in a blog soon!) is a dear friend of mine. She is a creative force to be reckoned with. (check out her blog to see her work http://www.studiompdx.blogspot.com) But she is also the person that I think of first when I think of a Christian. She walks her walk and talks her talk. Her father was a minister and she went the good daughter route instead of the rebel route that minister's kids often take. Megan knows that I don't believe what she believes but we are still dear friends. It's not an issue. We talk about what she is doing in her church, she is one of the young up and coming leaders there. We talk about her path and her faith. I love that she believes so strongly in her faith. And I love that she accepts that I don't. Now I have to say, if I were meeting Meg as a clean slate, not a grown woman with years of opinion forming about religion behind me I would want what she has. I would have been going to her church, I would have been meeting with her for Bible study, I would be trying my best to emulate her lifestyle. Megan makes you feel good about yourself and the world around you just by spending time with her. And her faith is so strongly a part of her that it's just natural to associate that good feeling with her faith. If all Christians could harness part of what she has going on, which I believe is true honest belief, they could convert the world much quicker than they ever will accomplish by trying to force themselves on everyone.

So what do I believe now? I am the bane of the Extremely Religious and the Atheists alike. I am...you know it's coming...Spiritual but not Religious. One of the smartest people I know once told me that Agnostic was really the only logical choice to make, you can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God, or a godlike presence. (that very smart person being my son) I am more to the side of there being some sort of godlike energy, than there being a man in flowing white robes, but I do believe there is more to us than just a collection of randomly firing electrical bits. When I see the beauty in a sunset, the magic that is in math (look at a seashell to understand that), hear the laughter of a small child I believe there is something out there tying us all together. But I don't believe in Heaven or Hell as places you go after you die. I don't believe in God and the Devil as separate entities vying for your soul. I don't believe that the Bible is a book of hard and fast rules, but more a collection of stories with a moral.

I have Atheist, Agnostic, Wiccan, Christian (all branches Catholics to LDS), Muslim, Jewish, Flying Spaghetti Monster and I don't know get back to me later friends. And I have learned something from each of them. I have cherry picked my way through the world's major religions as well as many of the Spiritual flavor of the week trends and I have cobbled together what I believe. It's a discussion best held over drinks, amongst friends who can discuss and disagree without taking it personally, but it's always a fun topic for me. Understanding what you believe and understanding what others believe is the beginning of realizing that we are all really very much alike and that our differences aren't as important as our similarities.