There are three things that I hate to discuss in public the first of which is religion followed closely by sex and politics. With this being a season of religious holidays it is so in your face at this time. Today as I bid the customers a good day as they left my line I wished them a joyous holiday season or Merry Christmas to the ones that wished me a Merry Christmas. With the P.C .driven society today it is hard to know what to say to whom. I myself am not a religious type person because I do not believe in organized religion. I have spent most of my life following one religion or another until I decided to study the subject of religion. I say that I am not religious but I do believe in a higher power so I am what I call a spiritual person. I find it hard to follow a belief system that has set forth rules to live by when there is just one simple rule that should be followed by all; The Golden Rule.
When I was a young girl at the impressionable age of 8 my brother convinced my mother to let me go to church with him. The church was a little Methodist Church down the road. I remember either walking to Sunday school or walking home because my father worked shift work so we did not have a way there when he was at work. That is where I received my first bible which I still own and I was introduced to the Golden Rule. I learned stories from the bible and other tales that are still a part of my thought process today.
My mother was and still claims to be of the Pentecostal persuasion. I remember going to church with my Grandmother (maternal) and the people scaring me half to death with their over zealous display of religion. I remember crying begging my mother to not make me attend again especially after one zealot shoved me back and proclaimed that I must be saved as he tapped me on my forehead and screamed in the name of Jeeessssuuuuusss.
After seeing elderly couples being wheeled in or creeping in on walkers and canes then watching them jump up and dance around as the preacher screamed his sermon I was afraid that the people were possessed but by what I was unsure.
I was happy attending Sunday School, singing in the choir and later attending teen night at Reid Memorial Methodist Church where the people were loving and talked to you in a soft tone. I never questioned what I was told as a child and was what my kids would have called a goody two shoes because I never talked back to my parents , I respected authority and I firmly believed everything my parents told me. Maybe I was just brainwashed at an earl age.
As I approach 50 I see how children behave in public. I watch as parents try to make deals with their children and plead with them or reason with them to get the child to do the simplest task. I never questioned my parents when they gave me an order I complied. I never plead or reasoned with my children because as I was raised they were raised to listen and follow orders from the adults that were in charge. I have watched friends children whom were raised in church challenge their parents and authority. What happened to following rules because they are rules and they are to be followed? I can understand as an adult having questions about laws and rules but children should be taught to follow rules period. This is when they learn right from wrong and develop their morals that take them through their life.
I have been a member of several churches throughout my adult life and I have even been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints or more better known as Mormons. No I do not know Donny and Marie and yes the church does believe that Jesus was our saviour and he died for our sins so that we may be forgiven and go to heaven when we die. I do not understand why people ask me if Mormons believe in Jesus. Why in the world would the church be called the church of Jesus Christ if they did not believe in him.
That is another reason I believe organized religion hurts us. Each religion feels that their way is the right way each denomination feels they are right. For Pete's sake you all have the same God just because there isn't a cross out side the Mormon churches doesn't mean they don't believe in Christ. They just choose to remember the living Christ and not dwell on his death and Resurrection. All religions have a similar belief system and like it or not they all have Pagan roots.
The one thing I enjoyed as a child going to Vacation Bible School was the year that we learned about other religions and visited the Jewish Community Center to learn about Judaism. I was intrigued and loved seeing the Jewish Temple and the scrolls or what ever they were called. Hey that was nearly 40 years ago not every thing I learned stuck.
Okay now that I am fully up on my soap box maybe I should conclude this sermon with the one thing that I learned as a child that has formed me as the respectful, caring, responsible adult that I have became. (I did not say I was perfect I am just an open minded individual)
The Golden Rule; Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or what ever your belief may your December be one filled with the warmth of love and the Joy of Life.
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