On Religion
Jul. 30th, 2012 08:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neversremedy8Whatever I choose to call my spiritual path today or the next day, it does not allow for proselytization. I am not religious, because I find dogma to be counter-intuitive to spiritual experiences. As the daughter of an atheist and a Wiccan priestess, a person who attended Episcoplian schools through the age of 13, and who called herself Christian up until age 12, I may explore ideas and concepts from other religions, but am not religious. I don't even consider myself Wiccan because of inconsistencies, dogma, and a discordant sense I get whenever trying to fit myself into its precepts.
Though I most often give myself a blanket term: pagan, meaning one who doesn't worship your god(s) (see: Princeton definition), I believe whole-heartedly in the right of every being to find their spiritual truth and walk it, so long as it does not harm others. Often ended up ranting and railing against certain religions -- most prominently Christianity -- and their most fundamental fanatics, precisely because these individuals do harm and proselytize, often in a very hypocritical manner ("do what I say, not as I do").
Yet, I am equally troubled by those who mock people of any faith for having faith. I am troubled by devout atheists who proselytize as vehemently as the most frothing-at-the-mouth doom-sayer. Even if I disagree with or do not feel connected to another person's religion, it is a right to follow it in a personal and private way. Who am I to say your truth isn't true for you? Who are you to tell me what I ought to believe?
In almost every walk of spirit can be found elements of truth -- universal and personal truth -- so I do not disregard the teachings of a given path simply because the whole does not make sense to me or its inconsistencies grate on me. So, when I saw an image today on Facebook of a woman kneeling in a public spot next to a prayer booth, along with the caption: "We cannot complete your prayer at this time, because your god does not exist. Please check your god and try again," I wasn't pleased.
Not because I necessarily agree with the implied religion (not every faith requires a person to kneel and place their hands together for prayer), but because the caption and the subsequent comments that followed made numerous jibes at the religion in general, without addressing the real issues brought up by the image.
One of the best things I've seen public and private buildings provide for the people who visit them are private prayer rooms. A single private prayer room on a university campus can keep a Muslim woman from having to lay her prayer rug down in a busy bathroom to attempt to connect to Mecca (an uncomfortable experience I shared with just such a woman at my own university when I was in a stall trying to halt my natural processes to be respectful of her moment of prayer), it can give Christians a chance to celebrate their Lord in a place free of ridicule, a Buddhist a quiet place to find inner peace, and so much more.
Of all the practices of any religion, no matter the religion's historical crimes against other humans, prayer is the most acceptable and least threatening of any of them. Prayer is a form of meditation, and meditation has been show in neurological tests to shift mental processes to a different state, allowing the body to reach a state of calm relaxation, which is beneficial to health. Why, of all the practices of religions around the world, would someone ridicule prayer? Maybe it has something to do with an individual's discomfort with the religion as a whole, or their view that another's religion is downright insane, but either way, placing oneself as superior to another based on one's belief is wrong (i.e. being a shitty human being) whether you're religious or not.
Even if I don't agree with a religion, I will stand up for a person's right to practice it, and will speak out against those who would publicly mock and ridicule someone for, of all things, prayer. Come on! I meditate. I also sometimes listen to repetitive drumming, while laying down with an eye mask, and think I'm communicating with talking animals who tell me what choices will serve me best in my life.
The real issues with this image for me, are not that the woman is praying, or that she prays to an invisible man in the sky who judges her for everything she does, and will punish her if she doesn't follow his laws. Nope! My issues stem from the booth's placement. It makes this particular form of prayer (kneeling), a public event, and a preferred/privileged form of prayer. (If you're Christian, check your Bible, because you're supposed to pray in private. See: Matthew 6:6) Someone who uses this space becomes vulnerable to ridicule, and pray in a position that leaves them prone to physical assault. Also, I would question the motives of someone who chooses to use an openly public prayer space. Are they truly in need of counsel? Can achieve it in such a space? And are attempting real prayer or just showing off?
If instead of mocking people who desire a prayer space, we discussed what kind of prayer spaces are needed and what makes a good one, perhaps we'll achieve a better sense of social equality of faith, and open up real dialogue to creating better communities that embrace diversity.
Of course, there will always be extremists no matter the belief system who will deride others outside (and even inside) their faith, but for most people, this can be an achievable goal, and one which meshes well with other community building efforts.
Though I most often give myself a blanket term: pagan, meaning one who doesn't worship your god(s) (see: Princeton definition), I believe whole-heartedly in the right of every being to find their spiritual truth and walk it, so long as it does not harm others. Often ended up ranting and railing against certain religions -- most prominently Christianity -- and their most fundamental fanatics, precisely because these individuals do harm and proselytize, often in a very hypocritical manner ("do what I say, not as I do").
Yet, I am equally troubled by those who mock people of any faith for having faith. I am troubled by devout atheists who proselytize as vehemently as the most frothing-at-the-mouth doom-sayer. Even if I disagree with or do not feel connected to another person's religion, it is a right to follow it in a personal and private way. Who am I to say your truth isn't true for you? Who are you to tell me what I ought to believe?
In almost every walk of spirit can be found elements of truth -- universal and personal truth -- so I do not disregard the teachings of a given path simply because the whole does not make sense to me or its inconsistencies grate on me. So, when I saw an image today on Facebook of a woman kneeling in a public spot next to a prayer booth, along with the caption: "We cannot complete your prayer at this time, because your god does not exist. Please check your god and try again," I wasn't pleased.
Not because I necessarily agree with the implied religion (not every faith requires a person to kneel and place their hands together for prayer), but because the caption and the subsequent comments that followed made numerous jibes at the religion in general, without addressing the real issues brought up by the image.
One of the best things I've seen public and private buildings provide for the people who visit them are private prayer rooms. A single private prayer room on a university campus can keep a Muslim woman from having to lay her prayer rug down in a busy bathroom to attempt to connect to Mecca (an uncomfortable experience I shared with just such a woman at my own university when I was in a stall trying to halt my natural processes to be respectful of her moment of prayer), it can give Christians a chance to celebrate their Lord in a place free of ridicule, a Buddhist a quiet place to find inner peace, and so much more.
Of all the practices of any religion, no matter the religion's historical crimes against other humans, prayer is the most acceptable and least threatening of any of them. Prayer is a form of meditation, and meditation has been show in neurological tests to shift mental processes to a different state, allowing the body to reach a state of calm relaxation, which is beneficial to health. Why, of all the practices of religions around the world, would someone ridicule prayer? Maybe it has something to do with an individual's discomfort with the religion as a whole, or their view that another's religion is downright insane, but either way, placing oneself as superior to another based on one's belief is wrong (i.e. being a shitty human being) whether you're religious or not.
Even if I don't agree with a religion, I will stand up for a person's right to practice it, and will speak out against those who would publicly mock and ridicule someone for, of all things, prayer. Come on! I meditate. I also sometimes listen to repetitive drumming, while laying down with an eye mask, and think I'm communicating with talking animals who tell me what choices will serve me best in my life.
The real issues with this image for me, are not that the woman is praying, or that she prays to an invisible man in the sky who judges her for everything she does, and will punish her if she doesn't follow his laws. Nope! My issues stem from the booth's placement. It makes this particular form of prayer (kneeling), a public event, and a preferred/privileged form of prayer. (If you're Christian, check your Bible, because you're supposed to pray in private. See: Matthew 6:6) Someone who uses this space becomes vulnerable to ridicule, and pray in a position that leaves them prone to physical assault. Also, I would question the motives of someone who chooses to use an openly public prayer space. Are they truly in need of counsel? Can achieve it in such a space? And are attempting real prayer or just showing off?
If instead of mocking people who desire a prayer space, we discussed what kind of prayer spaces are needed and what makes a good one, perhaps we'll achieve a better sense of social equality of faith, and open up real dialogue to creating better communities that embrace diversity.
Of course, there will always be extremists no matter the belief system who will deride others outside (and even inside) their faith, but for most people, this can be an achievable goal, and one which meshes well with other community building efforts.
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Date: 2012-07-31 04:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-01 01:21 am (UTC)