Sam, I have no objection to emailing you, but I look at this thread as educational, and so would prefer to write publicly about my religious background and that of my immediate family. I have nothing to lose, in any event, because the really conservative people here think I am some sort of Satanic black witch!!!
I was baptized as a Methodist, although many of the services I attended as a small child were Southern Baptist, because my grandmother also took me to church. My step-grandfather was fascinated by American Indians, and taught me a lot about their spiritual beliefs, especially concerning the sacred nature of the earth and the sky, and being respectful of the spirits of the animals one hunted, and not wasting any part of them, because that was disrespectful. Indian spirituality made a lot more sense to me than anything I learned in the Bible as a child, which frankly didn't stick very well.
As a young adult I attended all sorts of Christian churches, searching for the truth, but didn't find it. In college and later, however, I started learning more about the history of Christianity, and how so many millions of people died during the Inquisition because of Christians trying to convert pagans. I learned later about how much of the Holocaust was because of long-time hatred of the Jews by European Christians, including Martin Luther, who was quoted as saying that pig shit should be thrown on them.
I was very mixed up about Jesus, but suspected for a very long time that it was his followers who had perverted his original message of love and tolerance. I believe he was basically a forward thinking, leftist rabble rouser, a very compassionate man who had the courage of his convictions and was willing to die for them. I suspected that the passages in the Bible which were negative towards women were not really his ideas at all, and this was borne out by what contemporary theologians are discovering about the early Christian women.
Essentially, I believe there were several wise men who have come to earth who we can learn from, Jesus being one of them. Mohammed, the Buddha, and the founders of all the great religions would be among them. I believe that there is an essential truth among them on how people should conduct themselves. I believe the Golden Rule is very important.
In studying the Inquisition, I discovered that the women were the doctors in pagan Europe, and that the Christians made this against the law. I also found out that pagan societies were much more egalitarian than Christianity--that women tended to have more rights and freedoms. It also hurt me that so very many women were burned at the stake. Here is a poem about that, anonymous from the sixteenth century:
16th Century
For all those who died-
stripped naked, shaved, shorn
For all those who screamed in vain to the great Goddess
only to have their tounges ripped out by the root.
For all those who were pricked, racked, broken on the wheel,
for the sins of their inquisitors.
For all those whose beauty stired their tortoures to fury
and for those whose uglyness did the same.
For all those who were neither ugly nor beautiful but only women
who would not submit.
For all those quick fingers broken in the vice.
For all those soft arms pulled from the sockets.
For all those budding breasts ripped with hot pinchers.
For all those midwives killed mearly for the sin of delivering
men to an inperfect world.
For all those witch-women, my sisters, who breathed freer as the flames
took their female bodies, the seared flesh falling like fruit in the
flames, that death alone would cleanse them of the sin of being born a woman
who was more than the sum of her parts.
Anon. 16th century
My discoveries about the Inquisition led me to a more thorough study of the modern pagan movement. Although the conservative Christians here would have everyone believe that modern pagans are evil witches, my own readings reveal that they are mostly monogamous, vegetarian environmentalists. Their love of the earth as the Mother cause them to want to save it. And even though historically it is true that many societies practiced animal and human sacrifice, there was nothing inherently evil about it. These early humans also believed that the earth had edges they could fall off, didn't know what made darkness or light, and were simply afraid of the power of nature, and wanted to please the gods.
Here is part of the basic political/spiritual platform of the modern pagans. As you can see, it is respectful of everyone, and very peaceful of man and nature. I think this is a very evolved belief system, and holds no evil at all:
dreamroads.com
I also want to find out more about the Baha'i faith, which is ecumenical in its approach. Are you familiar with it at all?
fp-www.wwnet.net
And there is something about the Atheists for Jesus web page that rings true:
atheists-for-jesus.com
My problem with Christianity as it is practiced by fundamentalists has to do with their belief system hurting people like homosexuals, and dominating women, and trying to inflict their morality on everyone around them. I think homosexuality is genetic and developmental, and I see a lot of Christian ignorance really damaging people, leading to pain and violence and hate crimes. Any belief system with this kind of result is wrong to me.
As far as spirituality which is helpful and moves gently through the universe, Buddhism is very attractive. My husband and I have become interested in studying it, and have bought some books to explore the teachings. My husband was reared as a Catholic in Northern Ireland, but was beaten and molested by priests at school. He has kept the part of his religion which is about the positive aspects of Jesus himself, but does not attend church. He had no interest in our daughter being reared as a Catholic, either. When she was a baby I bought her a beautifully illustrated children's book on prayers in all the religions, and read it to her, but she showed no interest in it. Nor was she interested in attending church with her friends, even though it was the local Unitarian church, which offered a lot of art and singing in Sunday school. She is fourteen now, and says that she does not believe in God. I suspect that as she is exposed to different belief systems some of them may appeal to her, however. She is a gentle soul who loves babies, animals, and the planet generally, so certainly she has a lot of reverence for life and what is really important. She wrote a scathing report on the Salem witch trials for social studies this year, and in doing so also discovered a lot about the injustices towards women by Christians during the Holocaust, as well.
When I go to church, it is to Glide Memorial Methodist Church. The Reverend Cecil Williams is the pastor. He is retiring soon, which is too bad, because it is a wonderful place which feeds the hungry, teaches computer skills to the long-term unemployed, and ministers generally in a very compassionate and inclusive way. He is admittedly a little radical--he took the sanctuary's cross down many, many years ago, and believes that God is love, as I do. Thank goodness there is going to be a major movie on his life and his church, so that more people learn about how religion can be positive and constructive:
sfgate.com
Does this help address your essential question, Sam? Please let me know if you need more. |
