The last thing I figured I’d do is get into any kind of religious discussion. But I can’t seem to help myself.  This may be taken the wrong way by some, or may give people the wrong impression about my beliefs. If you’ve got questions – just ask.

A while back, I was reading Behind The Collar (incidentally, great blog)… And this blog was mentioned. So I moseyed on over. And saw posts like this.

I’m really… Quite confused.

I am a Christian… I guess? I was baptized an Episcopalian (that’s like Catholic Light – all the religion, half the guilt.) I celebrate the Christian holidays, so if asked to identify with a religion – Christianity is it. And, while it has nothing to do with religion, I do want to lead a good life.

But the only way I feel I can lead a truly good life in this world is by being intelligent and intuitive. And, were I deeply religious, that would mean with the Bible too – I could not take it literally without thinking of myself as ignorant.

I long ago decided that if George Orwell can write a book that speaks on two levels, and the one we need to listen to, in order to understand fully and gain the TRUE insight, is the deeper, non-literal level… Then I’m pretty comfortable thinking if there is an all-powerful deity, it can too. To me, taking the Bible literally is like thinking Animal Farm is JUST a story about animals on a farm. It’s the route of the simplest-minded of all humans, the blind ones destined to get things wrong… All of this is in my opinion, of course.

So… Reading that one post I linked to… Well, yikes. I guess this post of mine is more addressed to the writers of that blog, even if they’ll never see it…  Or to anyone who is religious, actually.  I’m CURIOUS.

If you’re taking the Bible literally in those instances, how do you reconcile with some of the OTHER rules in the Bible? I mean, I understand wanting to use some of them to say “God says this is not okay!” but do you follow all of them? What about Leviticus 19:19 (no mixing of fibers). Or Leviticus 15:19-20 (women, and everything they touch during their menstrual cycle are unclean) or (and I can’t remember what passage it is exactly) the idea that people should be stoned to death over concepts like astrology. And… Do all husbands HAVE to grow a beard or suffer being immoral?

Do you consider yourself any more or less moral for WHICH rules you follow? Who decided it was okay to ignore the Bible and to mix fibers, but NOT okay to sleep with someone of the same sex? Who made that judgment call? You? Your priest/reverend/minister? If you made that judgment call, or ANY other HUMAN made it, doesn’t it inherently carry the potential for flaws? Isn’t that what humanity is all about? Humans are not perfect creatures. So doesn’t it mean ANYONE else should be able to make that judgment call about which rules actually matter, in a direction opposite to your own, without persecution and with the full love of God, just as you think you are receiving? What human can make those calls and think "I’m more right than HE is"?

I don’t know… I have had to find my own path to interpret the right way to lead a good, moral life. And for me, taking a book that was transcribed and edited by humans literally is just not the way – it leads me down a path of confusion, bigotry, hate, segregation, and unfounded boastful pride.

I guess some would try to strip me of my baptism, say I am not truly Christian, but I know if I face a day of judgment, I will have a clean soul. I will have worked to find the glistening divine threads in life, threads that are so badly faded by the need and greed for power that fueled the humans who wrote, edited, selected and spread the word of their God…

I guess I just try to have faith that IF there is a divine afterlife waiting for me (and I am not secure enough in my intelligence to assert there is OR that there isn’t) my efforts to dig deeper and to not be dull-minded will be rewarded.

But it doesn’t stop me from being curious how other people do it… How they take some of the Bible literally, and some of it not, and then… Act as if their judgment of what is and isn’t included in morality is the final word and somehow defines a good Christian path.

I don’t get it. You say that homosexuality is wrong, no matter what, ever, no, omg, no. Bible says so, so NO. But then, from this post… “The Bible does say to watch your language, but I think God understands I’m just doing it in the bedroom for a thrill.”

You “think God understands”? So, what if I think God “understands” that love is a beautiful thing, and it is not to be condemned among consenting adults, regardless of gender? Based on your logic, is that fine then? Yes, I guess it is.

Holy hell, I just solved the religious vs. gay issue! GOOOOOO ME!  (Sarcasm optional.)

I think this came off a LOT harsher than I meant it. I think it’s actually a cool blog, I really do… But it can be hard for me to swallow personally-abbreviated morality (even if I agree wholeheartedly with some of it. And I do! I am (personally) firmly against things like bestiality, obviously.)

So, if you’re religious – how do you do it? How do you pick and choose what rules to follow, which ones are worthy of your condemnation and which ones are just an "oops, I cursed!" or "oops, I wasn’t entirely honest with someone!" but no big deal and not worthy of your condemnation? Also, how do you do that and then summon the incredible sense of superiority necessary to think someone who decides differently from you is somehow damned?