My beliefs are probably closer to Buddhist beliefs than to anything else. I believe every living thing has something divine in them, call it God or whatever you wish. Live a good life and you not need go through rites or rituals, such as praying 5X daily, praying in a certain direction, or visiting a certain arbitrary place once in your lifetime. I hope the day will come when more people realize this, and also realize that the divine resides in them, not through some imam or priest or whatever.
But because of my beliefs I must take certain steps to change my behavior if I truly believe in them, such as not eating any meat or fish. As such, I have been a vegetarian for almost 7 years now. And I try to get my leather goods from places such as: ethicalwares.com
The one area where Buddhist thought and mine diverge is when facing evil. I have absolutely no problem if people are killed if they are going to kill others. I have learned that Absolute pacifism is not realistic in this world.....maybe in the next, but not in this one. If one has a cancer, one does not remain "pacifistic" towards that cancer. They excise it as soon as possible. I also believe animals, rather than being lower than man, are probably higher. For they have no anger, greed, or malice. So whenever I see dogs treated as devils, that is a hot-button issue for me.....there is probably no greater creature on the planet than our friends the dogs. |
