would you just listen to yourselves?

tell me something about your religion, or lack thereof:

what do you believe in?

Now tell me why..why do you believe any of it?

is it because you've been spoon fed the 'right' answers, and never dared question the teachers who handed you these answers? or maybe you believe what you read--or what you think you read.

you ought to have picked up on a keyword. doesn't mean you did, of course ... but you should have. i called it 'your religion'. you and i may have little in common. you and i may never have met..face to face, heart to heart, soul to soul ...we may not know each other yet, but i know one thing about you..you have religion--

on religion... the fundamental basis of religion is personal belief. each person has his beliefs--however misled, misinterpreted, misconstrued those beliefs may be, they are his (or hers...to be politically correct, for the feminists). now--we're all categorized. all thrown to these nice little piles. each has a stake hammered deep into the soft earth nearby. one stake reads 'Hindu', and one 'Jewish'. a stake to the left reads 'agnostic'. beyond that 'Christian'. then 'Muslim'... and so on. from birth we grow up aligning ourselves with one set of beliefs or another. unfortunately few know the difference between one and the next.

ever.

and instead of taking the time to consider what's been forced down his throat, the man sitting next to you criticizes anything that wouldn't be spoken in his place of worship (or lack thereof, as the case may be). well, i will criticize, because i have taken the time. i criticize everyone for their 'holier than thou' attitudes, as if they are the ones holding the key to the gates of heaven. and i criticize this vision of God as some santa claus, bringing gifts and joy and whatever else, because he can. because he's magic. because he's a loving God. i criticize all the people who blame Satan, the serpent, the devil...whatever you may name it...for their mistakes. for their blindness to the world. for their lack of responsibililty and accountability. and i'm sick--i literally cringe at the sounds of 'those people are so generous, and peaceful. but these--these people are hostile...it's all because of their religion. it's taught in their religion.' maybe it is. but what about yours? for all of you peaceful Christians (and anyone interested in the religion) read this:

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The Lord 's Anger Against Nineveh

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;

the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.

The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies.

The LORD is slow to anger and great in power;

the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.

His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,

and clouds are the dust of his feet.

(Nahum 1:1-3, NIV)

Vengeance on the Midianites

The Lord said to Moses, "Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people." So Moses said to the people, "Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the LORD's vengeance on them. Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel."

They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. ...The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder. They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps. They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

"Have you allowed all the women to live?" [Moses] asked them. "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord's people. Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man."

(Numbers 31)

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...that's right. straight from the Bible. the Holy Book. that book of answers, that so many of you keep insisting doesn't hold violence, and is so much better than other books of faith. granted--the new testament holds letters from christian men imploring peaceful relations. but you can't discount what is there. i have more, if you want it. and that's just the scripture for those who are Christian or Hebrew. but i won't bore you with it now. but have you ever thought that you just might happen to be the one who's wrong?

but are you going to argue with me on this one? of course you are ... 'but in context it's not nearly so threatening. our God is a great god ... my god is the god, God of love and compassion and goodwill.' right. keep telling yourself that, love..and you'll remain as blind as the rest of them. and what makes it your god?? do you have a collar with a name tag, a deed to show ownership, and a nice little bowl-and-spoon set for him to eat off of? it's our god ..'we' being everyone. He belongs to no one, you understand. if anything, we belong to him.

moving on ... to heaven, then. some say you have no questions once you reach heaven. i'm not sure i can handle that. never having anything to wonder about--no mysteries in people. no curiosities left about the skies. no wishing you knew how it felt to be whisked away with the clouds. would all questions be answered? or would we just stop caring altogether. ..and what would happiness be? really...think about it. if heaven is so perfect, if there is no sorrow in heaven, then what is joy? you have nothing to compare it to. i should imagine it would be just another day, if all is the same. and it would have to be the same, or we would notice the difference between one day and the next. and that would somehow curve emotion. but to have one emotion and appreciate it, you have to have the opposite emotion...sorrow to know true joy, abandonment to know loyalty, conflict to know resolution. but they say there's no sorrow in heaven. no tears. no time. some call it 'perfect'

...no emotion. no feeling. or not knowing what feeling is. funny, i've been there. and i don't care to go back. if that's heaven, perhaps i don't belong afterall.

...

'If I were in heaven, Nelly, I should be extremely miserable.'

'Because you are not fit to go there,' I answered. 'All sinners would be miserable in heaven.'

'But it is not for that. I dreamt once that I was there.'

'I tell you I won't hearken to your dreams, Miss Catherine! I'll go to bed,' I interrupted again.

She laughed, and held me down; for I made a motion to leave my chair.

'This is nothing,' cried she: 'I was only going to say that heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy. ...'

...

if you can't belong in heaven, where can you belong?

just hold on to my hand.