What Religion Am I?

By mugen shiyo · Sep 4, 2011 · 532 · 7
  1. After giving it some thought, I realized I am not agnostic. I'm not sure if they had a name for the Greek religion, but in general I am polytheistic. I believe what everyone believed back then. In the basic and complex forces that govern human nature and the world.

    Take the Hellenistic Gods for example. They may have represented actual kings, queens, notable persons or dynasties. But their myths and iconic personalities represent the fundamental forces both within and around us. Of wrath(Aries), passion (Aphrodite), power (Zeus), vengeance (Hera), our need to communicate (Hermes), dreams (Morpheus), our curiosity and aspiration to knowledge (Athena), or animosity towards one another (Aries), as well the sun (Apollo), the sea (Poseidon), the earth (Minerva) and the like. Not so much the forces around us, but the forces that governs us are indeed- so long as we are- immortal. Invincible. There is evidence of them all around. Truly patronize one, and you will get a tangible result.

    Oddly, I think it all comes full circle. Worship of one god or many is just a crude form of humanism- the belief and worship of the human race. The veneer is less than paper thin. The Gods/God are clearly us. We are trying to evolve ourselves through them. In the past, Gods represented who we were. Now, they are more a distillation. A purification of what we see as our faults and an embodiment of our ideals, virtues, and ambitions. If you had to chose your favorite God, it would be the one you respect the most. The one you respect the most is likely the one you wish you could emulate.

    So I am polytheistic. Because I believe in those forces within and without that affect me and the world around me. I believe in the Gods because they are reflections of me and us as a society. Perhaps even animals. (I've always thought that the study that says animals have no emotions was anywhere from laughable to scornful. there were similar studies made about African slaves and Jews during the Holocaust by noted scientists; things said for the benefit of a clear conscience or a spur to the radical) And rather than scorn, I guess I can understand a little. Despite the natural tendency to undermine and manipulate, a people who have gods may have ideals, ambitions, and dreams. They put a goal above them and try to reach it. Unfortunately, while everyone is religious, very, very few are pious. No one follows their religions teachings. Religion is not the problem. People are.

    In the end, I think religion is the long, long tale of people trying to come to grips with who they are and what they want to be. A story of personal acceptance and moral evolution and in time, likely long, long after I am dead, we will know. Or, even know, the result is plain as day.

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  1. AfterBroadway
    This was a little frustrating for me to read, as I have rather strong views on religion. I'm not going to argue this too much, just a few points I'd like to argue.

    What I don't understand is that you believe that emotions are gods. They are just emotions that don't need to be believed in, because they just simply exist, with the few exceptions of unstable people. Or are you saying that you actually do believe in the stories of the greek gods?

    One more thing...
    It always irks me when people say things like that because religion allows people to justify their 'evil' deeds. In fact, if people were pious, the world would be a much more violent place to be. So basically, when a christian bombs an abortion clinic, killing everyone inside, they are absolutely following what they've been taught in their religion. If god himself directs violence unto people who he thinks are unholy, which he clearly does several times in the bible, then they are defending him.

    Let's use gun control as an example as well. When guns are so easily put into a person's hands, it makes it so much easier to commit acts of violence against others, and yourself. This can be proven with just a simple google search. If you look at the statistics in America and other countries riddled with guns, and compare them to countries with strict gun laws, you will find the countries with stricter laws have a phenomenally lower rate of violence in comparison.

    Therefore, no guns equals less violence. It'd be hard to convince me that countries with stronger gun-control views coincidentally have less crazies.
    AfterBroadway, Sep 5, 2011
  2. mugen shiyo
    Are you having trouble accepting my beliefs then, lol? You seem rather upset. As if you found my beliefs...offensive.

    Take this article as one large abstract and non-literal piece of work. No, I do not really believe in emotions as Gods, but I believe in emotions more than I would gods. Emotions aren't just things. Neither are thoughts. They affect us. They are were we originate in all that we do. Unless there is some other reason behind your actions so far rather than thought and emotion. Your beliefs and your response are both thought and emotion.

    I didn't say religion justifies evil. I said religion is undermined and manipulated in order to authenticate it. Very big difference. If people truly followed there religious beliefs, we would not be in the world we are now, and I believe perhaps the world would not look like the world we have now. I think I said it clearly. 'Religion is not the problem. People are.'

    But you are right about the bombs. People shouldn't think a christian bombing a children's hospital is proof that Christianity is bad. More like the person is evidently not a true follower of Christianity. I hope people make the same parallel with Islam.

    Gun control? That is a sticky situation. I tend to agree with you there but there is much double-talk on that subject and plenty of opposing opinions. Depending on who you talk you, they will confront you with everything from rumors to pie charts. Truthfully, I find it ridiculous people could even entertain the thought that the amendment in the constitution talking about a militia bearing arms means common citizens are allowed to possess guns. Militia is a civilian force mobilized in times of war- armed for the purpose of or in preparation of war or civil disturbance. I believe the closest thing to that is the National Guard. Just because you own a gun doesn't make you part of a valid militia. And certainly, the people who want their guns so much have no intention of fending of foreign invaders with them.

    I think you misinterpreted my post, but I appreciate the reply and sorry for the confusion.
    mugen shiyo, Sep 5, 2011
  3. AfterBroadway
    Your beliefs don't offend me at all, I just wasn't understanding what you meant at all. I'm just arguing your points, not angrily.

    I think you misunderstood me as well. I was saying people who bomb and kill in the name of their religion are being good christians. Basically, a person who arrives at church once a week, and just generally is a good person is actually a bad christian and not following their own belief system. Relentless violence and genocide is what christians should be participating in. But they aren't, because their books are outdated manuscripts that have no place in society today. It's kind of like watching "Reefer Madness" and believing everything in it. Nope, pot doesn't make you a crazy insane psycho.

    And honestly I'm still not clear on what you believe as far as emotions go. You don't think that they are just a bunch of chemicals and evolutionary traits and reactions that occur in everyone's body? Do you think that they are something bigger, and more supernatural?

    Again, I'm not trying to offend or sound offended, I am just trying to understand, and argue some basic points you made.
    AfterBroadway, Sep 5, 2011
  4. AfterBroadway
    -Double Post-
    AfterBroadway, Sep 5, 2011
  5. mugen shiyo
    Actually, I do. I think that emotions and thoughts are all chemicals, electro-chemicals, or something of that nature in the body. Very much like a biosynthetic computer only as much more complicated as thousands of years of evolution could make it. Emotions are a complex thing to describe but it's my theory that emotions are an evaluation of physical status and stimuli. We feel a certain way when certain conditions are met but the complexity is difficult to map out. If you could draw a electrical map of the brain and body it would resemble a computers brain. Thoughts and emotions originate from the countless decisions that we make, as well the the recognition of the exponentially more possibilities that could come about from decisions we could have made. These unmade decisions branch of into something so numerous, complex, and seemingly random they give rise to the "ghost in the machine". Thoughts, imagination, and decision making. I am full of wild guesses. Take all that I say as my wild theories :)

    And I was just playing around with that first sentence. Halfway...Hard to tell if a person is upset or not.

    But I think I don't understand what you're saying about the Christians. In a way I do, since somewhere in the bible God commands the slaughter/destruction of those who do not recognize him as the God of Israel. Along those lines I guess they would be following their bible...if that is what you meant. It points to deeper contradictions, but I'll leave it there.

    And as far as outdated, I can only say a book is as outdated as a person thinks it. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are favorites of mine.
    mugen shiyo, Sep 5, 2011
  6. HorusEye
    I've always thought it plain as day that religion was a mirror of the human psyche. Polytheistic religions tend to paint it more colorfully, accepting all aspects of what makes us human, appearing like a rainbow, whereas the Abrahamic faiths have more the appearance of a bucket of rainwater. The former are inclusive in nature, and the latter exclusive.
    HorusEye, Sep 5, 2011
  7. mugen shiyo
    I think a lot of people have the same thoughts to some degree. But people believe what they want to believe. No stopping that.
    mugen shiyo, Sep 5, 2011
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