Not Without My Faith

To Whom This May Concern (chapter 2/5)

Foreword

Continuing from the last piece, I will keep on laying forth certain things I find crucial and vital to the topic of religion. Ones I honestly believe (no pun intended) should be considered taken seriously and I hope (once again, no pun intended) that my friends and loved ones will understand; not just my choice of conviction but also the points I'm trying to get through and that they too will grow a consciousness to this, if they haven't had it already.
These chapters are written and partly dedicated to EVERYBODY in the community (CFC-FFL... and whatever it's called and divided into nowadays). I would like this to come out to the leaders and heads of all units in the community and to as far as possible; not just here in Sweden but everywhere... even, and most especially, the Philippines).
And to my muslim brothers and sisters, what will concern you in this piece is only my humble understanding of what I know so far... please do not blow things out of proportion if you find anything I write "wrong" in according to what you know and understand of your faith. Let me know what things I should know, shed light into my growing knowledge and understanding of your faith... I will be most glad to do so. The more we know and learn from each other, the better we can get along.

Press PAUSE

i. Pause it now!
If Religion were a CD record on play, it would've definitely been set on Repeat or Loop all this time. Always the same sound; to some ears it's harmless, to some it's purely inspirational, to some it's non-sense but amusing, to some it's looked upon with an alarming frown and a waving finger sensing the potential damages and dangers this can bring, and to some it's instantly thrown into the garbage or returned to the seller and demand a refund.
From the beginning I found it to be harmless; coming from my earlier years and growing up in a family and culture that has religion and its ethics as standing point and common ground. I never questioned it for I just took it in as fact.
Then later on in my adolescent years I went and spent a chunk of my so-far life devoted to the cause of an organization and community trying to inspire youths and others in my age to keep hands clean off drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, adolescent misdemeanours and things like that. I found it a great cause and activity, I found immensely great friends and got to see different places and met with youths like me. The only hitch was that it was doing so through religion. At first I didn't mind it. I even got inspired and motivated by it at times and wanted to share it with others, which I did. I was moved, so to speak, at times when the only reasonal answers to the questions I needed and on how things fit in life was found through religion.
At this point in life I was deeply active within the CFC community and was also altar servant at church on Sundays, even from time to time serving at masses held by bishops and arch-bishops. People grew more aware of me and the kind person that I was. I met my first love through this community. I found balance in life through this way of living, I was in harmony and wondered how come more cannot have this experience... this drove me even more to keep doing missions and serving.

But in the middle of it I grew more and more in questioning the foundations and beliefs that religion was based upon and what the followers are boasting about. I tried to go back to the source of it and dug through books and history, I didn't quite find anything to fall back upon for support after digging through history. The only fall-back I had was what the scriptures and bible wrote... and so I got down and went through the bible with a critical mind of reason. I left the old testament unfinished for it was unpleasant to read and had a lot of holes left open. I read it for what it was, a fictional book of lores and myths, but didn't feel spiritually enhanced by it... I was rather fearful of the supposed Creator it proposed and found it a waste of time trying to look for answers from there (but I will keep on reading through it). And so the answers to life I was looking for wasn't answered by the old testament, so I tried the new testament which I've read quite fondly of when I was in my pre-adolescent years and had received a children's bible.
But re-reading the new testament in a new light (and in a more mature version) was a great improvement compared to the old testament, with its questionably mythical figures. I like Jesus, I believe he was a real guy that did exist.
I found the morals and teachings of Jesus to be pleasant and really worth taking into consideration, his messages and philosophies were beyond his time and I would've believed him in an instant. There's only one unpleasant disconcertion about him that I cannot avoid to lash about: his supposed miracles, the supernatural abilities he supposedly possessed and all other miscellaneous extraordinary events that supposedly occurred in his life. The mythical Jesus.

This is the part where I crossed to looking at the Religion CD as non-sense but amusing to gradually sensing the potential damages and dangers the CD can bring while I hold the album and check for the label of warning of context, and this was just after listening to the Christianity-track...
And then I came down to the realization that the gospels are still an argument of chronology; when they were written down and by whom. To find the mythical Jesus to be non-fiction it would've at least been anticipated to have reliable and viable sources, the gospels have yet to determine its accuracy. The earliest theoretical proof from the Christian apologists of any of the gospels been written was circa 40 years after the death of Jesus. And even that's a very long time to remember information, it even exceeds the life-time of Jesus himself.
In theoretical realization it is highly likely that the gospels were results of hearsays after hearsays, that the stories spread around about Jesus were mashed with other stories added on by others... rumours, in other words, taking in other stories of other religious ideologies and beliefs of ancient times and pre-christian figures and adding it on to make Jesus a grander person; in my considered opinion, to raise his status among the theists having more miracles than the other prophets who were seeking audiences at the same time. Popularity in audience back then can be looked at like TV-ratings in our time. It is also believed that Jesus was one of many prophets and public speakers during his later years, he wasn't the only one.
And I still haven't mentioned yet the impact of Constantine the Great and the Council of Nicaea had on Christendom, Christianity and history...
(for more insights on Christian history, search and read more into the pair of aforementioned bolded nouns.)

CHALLENGE: Social Experiment

Here's my challenge on this particular topic.
1. Gather twelve (12) friends or just people who'd like to try out a social experiment (anyone will be interested as long as you mention the words social experiment). Alternatively, you could also do this with just 9 participators. But don't mention to them what it's about, just guide them through the points. Sort them into 3 groups.
2. First just take the first group of 4 (alt.3) people and seclude them from the rest. To the first group you'll tell them a short story with details of a protagonist of your choice, you can add names and places as well to add more information.
3. Once you're done, instruct group 1 to share with the people in group 2, not as a group but person per person, every person shares the story to another person and once the people in group 2 has finished hearing from group 1, they then do the same with the people in group 3 as in step 2.
4. At the end give all participants each a pen and a piece of paper to write down what they remember of the story; either the entire story as they told it or what points they remembered.
5. Finally have them go play around while you collect and analyze the results. Check if some had uncertainty in their sharing of stories (the "I think it was..."-uncertainties)
[alternatively: after each group gets to hear the story have them walk around and do some activities for 10 minutes and then return to share the story they remember to the next group]

It was never intended to make the experiment model look like a cross, humorous though. But all fun aside, mind that this is just starting with a handfull of people over an experimental time of an hour, if not less than that; imagine what the model and results would look like after weeks, months, years, decades and centuries.


Without the miracles and extraordinary events in Jesus' life he'd be considered in the same ranks and in our perceptions as just another great and insightful influential such as Plato, Socrates and Aristotle.... just a mere human with great humane insights and philosophies; a free-thinker, liberator and moralist.
To me, that is the true Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less.

ii. Obsession, Control and Double Standards
To continue from chapter 1, where I left gaps on certain issues.
Why we choose to believe, has been already covered by one of my dearest treasures in life, Nicole, on her well-put reply to the previous chapter when she simply put; "...we are, at an early age, not given the "choice" to choose... not only one's religion but if we WANT to believe in God. "
This is simply how we are as beings, with this special conscience and ability to take in everything that we possibly can and also that we are highly proactive beings we have more privilege than all the other creatures and beings on this planet. Even with our closest evolutionary cousins, the chimpanzees, highly advanced would be an understatement; it would take at least hundreds of centuries for chimpanzees to even come up with the idea of building a copy of a simple house that we've put on display for them next to the full set and added extra materials we've provided for them needed to build the replica. Having them build an actual replica will take at least tenfold the first hundreds of centuries afterwards. But this is just pure virtual theory in its humblest form, it'd probably take way way longer than that.
We are highly fortunate to be where and how we are. But we also have with this the responsibility to be what we are.
And this is where I'll put a bookmark on the understanding of people's motives, for this is the point where people will bring forth their philosophies. Everyone has their own version, everyone. And this is where the obsession of god comes in.
We would like to believe that there is, some go to greater lengths to find it than others. Some would claim that they feel it.
And it is entirely respectable that they do, but it should just end there... entirely with and to themselves. Not shared delusions to others or as a collective delusion. With and to themselves. If feeling is what makes a person believe in religion, then it's not a viable reason that religion is correct; for feelings can go out of control and we still yet cannot distinguish the differences in our feelings.

I won't breathe so much air about control because it's already widely known that religion has been used to control people; if this hasn't come yet to revelation then please go and read history books and get a broader understanding on the situation from other places on this world who sadly don't have equal rights as we fortunates do; certain of these places are sadly backed up by religious foundations and ideals. Take for instance the muslim world, I'll have my say on Saudi Arabia because I have lived there for some time. They are not evil people, they are one of the kindest and smartest I've crossed paths with. Ever since the tragic events during September 11, 2001 the picture of muslims and arabs have sadly grayed off to grotesque anti-western trolls. I know fully well that not every person of this or that culture is evil/good. But my picture of arabs are still the same as I remember them. Though it's true that they've set laws based upon their religious documents; limiting certain things that seem bad or filthy or even deeper... anything that might bring filthy thoughts.
The islamic belief urges that to be truly worthy you must understand the qur'an and believe it, and for those that don't understand the qur'an due to language barriers can try to understand it through the translated version of the qur'an... but then again it is proclaimed still unworthy to think one has understood the qur'an through the translated version, therefor the truly worthy way is by learning arabic.
Of course it is understandable that to understand something you must have understood it from its true shape, but this example and use of excuse in effort to convert more people is an example of practicing arrogance by religious excuses. In other words it's a practice of religious exclusivity (the "we'll get to heaven, not you... unless you're willing to change/sacrifice"-tactic).
Even in the small speck of religious community that is CFC, they too have done some minor but unpleasant tactics.

Where and When CFC went too far

When the new batch of Mission Volunteers were to pass MV-training and their last requirement was to sacrifice their current relationships. This was four-five years back, fortunately I wasn't part of it... but my former girlfriend was. I knew of other youths who went MV and were in relationships which they broke for this requirement.
Now, I have not much knowledge about the requirement and as to why it was proclaimed as one. But no one needs any knowledge whatsoever to sacrifice relationships for that cause (which was, so that other youth members won't get "influenced wrongly by their elder leaders").
This infuriated me, it still does, not just the requirement itself but also the lack of common sense and arguments that weren't put forward by the MV's.
The heads of YFC-CFC that came up with this idea and other unit heads/leaders that supported this should be ashamed of themselves for making youths go through this torment... and for what cause, on a grand scale? Who are they to require this requirement from these innocent youths who have already devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the community? The youths can decide for themselves what things are appropriate or not! I understand that they need guidance, but this is over the edge of what is not just reasonably allowed but also irrational for them to go through. It is downright wrong playing god, and this is a practical example of just that. Progress is limited by preventing people from thinking for themselves.
I am not on a witch-hunt here, I am only demanding more reason taught to the youths.
Those who were involved with this requirement might have arguments covering the requirement, I'll be ready to listen... but I sure hope they'll listen, take in and understand completely what those arguments are themselves.

Then again, it is not the religion or people to blame... it is the people's understanding that needs to be tweaked to make sure that everyone is comfortable with the rules and laws, religion aside. The only ones that can change our minds are ourselves.
I wish for the islamic leaders to finally come to a realization that women get equal rights and that one cannot forbid anyone from thinking bad thoughts; doing so with the use of religious foundations as psychological fear-tactic is, frankly, inhumane. It is not about pointing fingers to who is most faithful or who's most immoral, but it's about how much you can do and help out in the progress of mankind during the fortunate life-time you're on this planet. (either chapter 4 or 5 will be dedicated to this delicate topic).
And for all the other religious leaders, however big or small in responsibilities... you still have a responsibility to guide people and provide a better outcome for the coming generations. Though I say the religious practices and methods need to be revised and updated to make it understandable for the people that live in the now. Split moral teachings and facts from fictional jargon.
Spirituality is something that we all won't understand, just feel, and it's best left at that. All attempts to trying to answer it have resulted in social division and, worst of all, deaths and wars in the name of it. Enough should've been enough a long time ago. But mankind has still been persistent to relying on each of their own convictions, fighting for it. This is not just unhealthy, it is slowing down mankind's progress in discovering more about what's at hand.

Just a little humorous "what if" I found on the internet

Try to read reports from Amnesty International, it might not be the easiest information to swallow but it sadly reports the world we currently live in... don't turn a blind eye, help out in the best way you possibly can! (Me bringing awareness of these topics is the least of my efforts to help out.)
Now, this last sentence about not turning a blind eye and helping out is also what the ideologies of certain religious missionaries have in mind and motivation when they travel to places to try to give help the best way that they can. It is courageous of them and they deserve all the encouragement and respect they deserve to go on their missions.
But is it really neccessary to bring religion with you to those missions when all they need is just education, food, shelter and compassion? Let me rephrase that: is being motivated by spreading the word of selected god to others weighed more as motivation for those missions than just simply helping the needy and providing comfort, shelter and etc?
In the simplest way I can lay forward about double-standards obtained by religious practitioners or just simple naive believers (I meant naive in the politest way possible), people get whiffs of righteousness with the help of religion; they search to be righteous and try to reflect that on themselves and show it to others, in the worst case it's used as superior power.
This part is my aim of critic against church heads and churchgoers everywhere that run their business in the manner to be exampled. An example would be from the Philippines where I went to visit a church with friends who wanted to walk around and sightsee. At the entrance of the church was a sign and notice showing that visitors are forbidden to wear slippers (tsinelas), shorts, skirts and revealing attires. I'd find it understandable at first but then I started to think about the less fortunate people who don't have the proper attire to get into the church but seek solace at the church in hopes of that they'll get closer to god and in hopes of being saved from their destitution.
It's truly a sad thought to be in their position and still be neglected from the very place that teaches people to help one another. Where else can they turn to? I am aware that churchgoers might feel intimidated or uneasy when they see destituted people there, but then it is the churches' responsibility to show the compassion needed and not to shut them out. Do as you preach.
And take for another example the Sunday masses or just church on any given day, many would attest to going there to hear the word of god and also to find god. It's supposed to be a place for everyone but it fosters subconscious prejudice with the help of this whiff of righteousness from people who have, for instance, been a part of that church for a long time (and i'm not talking about the priests). I will not go more into this because this differs from person to person. But a humorous insight I'll share is a quote from the late but great insightful comedian George Carlin, in one of his stand-ups he talked about religion and when he tried sun-worshipping for a change he perfectly put it to words:

"Sun-worship is fairly simple; there's no mystery, no miracles, no one asks for money, there are no songs to learn and we don't have a special building where we all gather once a week to compare clothing."

Quite frankly, morality can also exist without the fear of selected-god's wrath.
So stop being nice because it's what your religion tells you to, just be nice because you are a nice person.
And for those that are thinking of asking deeply philosophical questions to me such as "where does morality come from?" or "who then created morality if not god?" please refrain from doing so, questions like that will not just be left unanswered by me but it also won't make any difference if I did answer because it is a question that even the highest religious leaders are unable to answer without refering to their back-up foundations.
(There will be a continuation on chapter 3 about critical thinking and relying on wishful thinking)

iii. In the hands of irrational people:
I wouldn't want to be called a radical or fundamental, in others' eyes I might be, but that's their perception. But for this matter if I'll be considered one of those adjectives, then so be it. But let me get this perfectly clear: I am motivated to enlighten in the name of life and our existence' sake!
Some would raise their hands after the last statement saying that they're doing the exact same thing, and doing so in the name-/with the help- of Jesus, Allah and so forth so forth.
Of course it's respectable that you are doing so and you probably have goodness in mind whenever you spread the teachings and words of your prophets/lords. But keep in mind that certain people may have warped mentalities and understanding when it comes to trying to understand what it is they're reading in their precious books, without taken into considerations the circumstances those books were written in (i.e. time they wrote those stories, who wrote them and aimed for which public), like what I mentioned in chapter 1: To Believe Or Not To Believe.
Now, when you have those people with the warped mentalities and misunderstandings teaching to others it'll foster more people with warped mentalities and misunderstandings. In religion over time, this has sadly been the case and it still is.
Due to this mankind has had more deaths in the name of something holy than anything else except, perhaps, natural and accidental deaths. This is counting not just the modern times with our three largest monotheistic religions but also the past eras and epochs with religious ideals that seem ancient to us.
If we say religion is the cause of 2/5 of the deaths and killings in the world and history, even without religion people would still kill people; but at least without irrational and illogical religious motives it'd be one less motivation to kill and you'd be left with the 3/5 of the cake in which the only deaths are accidental and natural but also not ruling out killings just because of the motive of killing.
In the words of the Nobel laureate in Physics, Steven Weinberg:

"With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil—that takes religion. "

Knowledge is a responsibility to share around, but it is also a responsibility what kind of knowledge you choose to share and for the receivers of knowledge the responsibility to be critical of what knowledge you take in.
I am not going to discuss here whether or not the events in, for example, the bible, are historically accurate for that will take away the time discussing what's really important about the subject. All I'm going to insert on this is that everyone, especially believers, should distinguish their beliefs between the moral teachings from the biblical* attempts on responding to questions regarding spirituality through fables.

(*selected "sacred" book)



If Religion were a CD record on play, it should be Paused at the moment while we focus on doing our homeworks and doing something progressive with our time.

To Believe Or Not To Believe

To Whom This May Concern (part 1/5)

Foreword

In my last piece (F for Fear), I wrote that I would go on to continue on the subject of religion. I apologize for having people wait far too long for this time to come. I've been delayed by certain projects but also because I've been arguing with myself whether or not I should do this. This is by far one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, not because I'm afraid of the subject but because of my personal relation with friends and loved ones who might get offended or decide to avoid me after this.
I'm also aware that for my friends who are still in the CFC-community, this is the period of conferences. It might seem ill-timed of me to put these writings out just in this period of conferences, but something I didn't plan out. I'm also writing these pieces so that those who know me from the CFC-community can get an understanding as to why I left the community, but I am hoping to start a new kind of community with you all... I will explain more on that in the next chapters.
This subject is ineffably deep that my writings about it will have to be split in several chapters, in consideration of you the readers (be in mind that these chapters are just the condensed versions of what I can talk about, there's so much more to know and share about).
To not make so much fuss of the countless points I have of this subject, I've condensed the writing to five simple chapters, all based from my observations and individual studies for several years. I've done my homeworks, and I urge others to do the same. Not for yourselves, but for the rest of the world that we affect more or less every day of our lives.

Before I begin, I want to get one thing crystal clear: I am not trying to bash anyone's beliefs or offend anyone, I am only trying to bring awareness to this subject... in an attempt for all of us to move on, together.


1. To Believe Or Not To Believe
That is the question... but what is the answer?

All my life I have, like every single person on this planet that lives or ever lived, been questioning and obsessed about the meaning of it. In my opinion, we will never know, but we do possess the advanced underestimated characteristic of understanding. And through this we're on our way to getting the right grip of life's meaning.
But there has been a specific force that has pulled mankind back from this understanding, although ironical that this specific force is teaching us to find this understanding.
At first may seem innocent and humble, but digging deeper into it will only show that it's got its own double-standards; double-standards that are kept subliminal. What makes it even more shocking is that the people who claim they believe in this or that religion have little awareness of the double-standards it has.
I know many would question me instantly on this last point, and without much bickering around I would like those, who think of questioning me to lay forth my arguments or evidence, to go and question themselves and the book(s) they read.
And when I mean read, I mean read. Reading something, anyone who's fortunately capable can do that. But reading and understanding with a conscious mind on all perspectives and circumstances with critical thinking is, what I would testify as, the proper way of reading.
Anything you take in everyday should be met with critical thinking; for example, the news you read everyday... do you believe what the news is saying about a certain person who allegedly killed somebody and believe that person's evil without hesitation or do you think that there are two sides, or even more to that story?


Booking

Here's my challenge for you:
1) Nod your head if you've read the book*
2) Now nod your head once again if you've read the book* in its entirety, from start to finish (no cheating!)
3) And nod your head yet again if you've read the book* in its entirety and understood it.
4) Once again, nod your head if you've read the book* in its entirety, understood everything written and had in awareness the Time and Places the contents' been written in.
5) Nod again if you've read it in its entirety, understood it with cultural and historical awareness of its contents and had in mind that those writings and preachings had the people back then in their time in mind.
6) Nod if you've done at least points 1, 2 or 3 but had a critical mind while reading the book*.
7) And finally, nod your head if you've done point 6 and just shrugged after reading the book* and thought it's not important.

How many nods did you do and to which ones?

*religious book of choice

I find it a profoundly arrogant, ignorant and nonchalant statement if somebody says they've read the bible and believe it is true and that it is the word of god. I would like them to then tell me what's so good about it and that's when they start to cherry-pick their favorite bits and pieces until I let them cross-reference with the other not-so-good parts in and about the book they so fondly like and use as a tool of living and being better people.
Question: Who has read the bibles (from start to finish) and still feel it's a guidance to become better people?
And no, it's not a typo... I did write bibles because it's not just one. Everyone's got different versions of their lord, and still within a same group of believers of the same supposed god. And over time in history it's grown like branches on a tree, separated from each other by differences in opinions and beliefs... but still coming from the same root or seed. This division, be it still ever growing, is and will cause more confusion to the ones who would like to learn about it (if it hasn't already confused the ones trying to teach it).
Now some would rather argue and ask if I myself have read the bible in its entirety. My answer is, and I would like to point out unashamedly, NO. I haven't, but I will continue to do so until I'm finished from start to finish. But I've already read enough to be certainly convinced that it is not a proper tool to teach people how to be better and how to live better lives.
If somebody points out to me that I should read it before I judge, then that just means that they've read it and if they will attest that the cruel things that (I've so far) read in the book show how great their god is, then I'm sorry... READ IT AGAIN!

I am blatantly shocked and profoundly dismayed as a human being that people resolve to self-proclaimed sacred books such as the bible, koran, torah to learn how to become a better person when in practical fact all you have to do is BE ONE.
(I will continue on about the last sentence in chapter two)


Location, location, location
How did we get this religion to begin with?

A big thing to keep in mind is cultural and anthropological heritage. Where we started off in the world and the historical events that took place plays a big role on how we perceive certain realities and ideals now.
I'll take the Philippines as example for that is the one I know best, since I am from there.
Born and baptised as christian, or catholic... or both, I have no clue what it was first or that I had been christened at all because I was still a little kid without the right amount of understanding to think and decide for myself and even had no idea who this Jesus-dude was.
That area where my family was from has been affiliated with that particular religion ever since the Spaniards brought it with them when they had colonized us. Hadn't we been colonized by the Spaniards for nearly four centuries then the probability would've been that I, along with everybody else in the country would've been muslims.
Now on a broader scale; had I been born in, let's say, India I would most likely have been a hindu. Or a certain type of buddhist if I were born in a buddhistic country like Thailand. And if I put Time-factors, then had I been born during the Mesoamerican civilization I would've been a Mayan and worshipped a sun-god or perhaps Zeus if I were born during the Ancient Greek era.

Way back in time, settlers moved around without any or little knowledge about where they were going. All they knew was what they knew, they might've had one deity or so but that was what they brought with them to the new settlements. If they happened to cross paths with another group of people it would've been very likely that those groups fought against each other due to differences and miscommunications, and the winning tribe would either eliminate the rivals or take them with as captives and slaves; and then inflict on them the ideals that they had. Over time it would've been very likely that had the captives been, and in normal cases been, women they would've been impregnated by the ones from the winning tribe and so their children would be born and raised to keep the tribe existing. This cycle has occurred in all civilizations and it still is happening to this date.
For certain groups such as the Filipinos, it is nearly impossible to know the exact amount of cultures each one of us comes from since the Philippines is a melting-pot of many ranging from the starting settlers from Indonesia and Malaysia to the later add-ons of visitors/rulers from China, Japan, Spain, America and Great Britain.
One Filipino could have a mixed blood with Indonesian and Spanish while their neighbor could have Chinese and American blood running through their veins. There's also the probability of having one of every; this makes each Filipino, if I should say it, unique.

I'm aware that the essential things about how we got religion, such as feelings, chemistry and such have been left out. But that will be on the next chapter.

I'll end this chapter here, but this is just the beginning. I hope many will read this and my coming chapters... there are four more that complete what I'm trying to get through.