Someone sent me a giant fucking e-mail that collects SIX Christian viral mails in ONE. With a preface containing stuff like 'For most of every one of the 3,471 people I have e-mailed, I do not know you, but Jesus knows each and every one of us.'
Shit. 'To' list a mile long, and I'm just part of the P's, S's, and T's. Lots of
@ccccd.edu addresses, too. I guess 'CHRISTIAN <christians@direcway.com>' is down in Georgia somewhere...
I dunno, proselytizing always rubs me the wrong way, especially when it's something this mawkish and sentimental. And the fact that all Christian propaganda, especially e-mail forward stuff, seems to be so mushy and weepy never helps either. Appeals to nothing but emotion
always makes me roll my eyes.
So. A decent time to go into a few things about me and my take on faith, I suppose...
I don't believe in any particular god or goddess; I like to call myself a 'polyagnostic' - there are many pantheons I've learned about, and I vaguely doubt
all of them. I distrust any religion (or
any organization) that seems to be built with a significant viral component to it - your soul is your concern, mine is my own, if you try to sell me your religion I reflexively think 'pyramid scheme'. The religions I
do see some value in are mostly ones that don't aggressively push themselves upon others. I respect other people's need for the divine in their life; I don't have that desire as far as I can tell. I don't really feel like pushing your religion on someone is at all seemly; it's like trying to tell everyone that
I like to hump plumbing supplies, and you should try it! Now! Really! You'll love it! It'll change your life!. Nobody wants to hear about it unless they're already interested. Lead by example, please, not coercion.
Mostly, I'm pretty materialistic and rationalist. I have no trouble ascribing consciousness to the complex, subtle interactions of a soup of cells. Sometimes I even think of myself as a gnostic who's never had a gnostic experience - if I see a divinity, sure, I'll believe in them, but I'm not going to take it on someone else's word. I want to see with my own senses. I take nothing on faith.
Lately, I've been getting a little more open to the idea of things beneath, above, and around the solid, obvious world, but I'm exploring my own personal spirituality, pulling metaphor from all over, trying to find the good and lose the bad, never taking it literally or too seriously. It's nothing quite coherent yet. Nothing necessarily that warm and comforting, either. And nothing simple and obvious. And I'll only tell you about it if you're curious and open and it's the right moment in a private conversation.
Also, anyone who thinks analogies about 'We are all pumpkins, and God scoops our brains out and carves a smile onto our face' are anything appealing is a
fucking creepy brainwashed drone. I work hard to be
myself, thank you. That's another element I hate about viral Christianity - the undercurrent of conform, cede your decisions to a Higher Authority, stop thinking for yourself. This is at the heart of what creeps me out about many religions, really. The drone thing.
Also, I think
my most recent self-portrait sketch proves that I'm charting my own route to Hell in the eyes of someone like christian@direcway.com. Rowr ♥.
Reflexive backlash: Someone needs to write some inspirational stories of how accepting the Goddess into their life has changed them, and spam their address book. Or praising Odin. Or quiet explanations of the ineffable mysteries of existance. Hail Discordia, all hail Eris; the Bob which can be described is not the true Bob. Cute little metaphors about Raven.
