I?m not sure exactly when it was that I lost my faith in Catholicism, but I?m guessing it was sometime after reading the story of Job. I also haven?t necessarily lost my faith, just got angry at God.
For those that don?t know, it?s about a guy named Job(surprised?) who had complete faith in God. One day the devil went up to God and made a bet with him that if God took away all the things Job had (his family, friends, money, animals, etc) then he would lose his faith in Him. God said Job wouldn?t and to prove his point he took away all that Job had. Like God predicted, Job kept his faith so the devil lost the bet. BUT it?s my opinion that the devil really won. It was a rigged bet. If Job lost his faith in God then the devil wins directly, but if Job kept his faith it would be the only thing he had left. And then someone would write a story about it x-years later and people would find out that God is an asshole! He never gave anything back to Job. He left him there, alone, with nothing. That?s what you get for having faith, everything else taken away from you. Frankly, I want no part of that(and yes I am expecting somebody to say something about this, but I don?t think there are any right-wing Catholics who read this because if there was they?d be saying something about every article here).
It took me quite sometime to realize that, though, so I then began a quest to find something new. At the beginning, Buddhism was my first choice. But it just wasn?t for me I guess, that?s the best way I can put it. Then I found something really interesting. Not so much the religion as the founder of it. Lao Tzu.
There are two quotes from him that I absolutely fell in love with:
The first, ?One should endeavour to do nothing.? I?m not so ignorant as to think it means to be lazy, but rather just don?t do anything. It?s hard to explain how I feel about this, and that was the best I could do.
The second, "The Taoist sage has no ambitions, therefore he can never fail. He who never fails always succeeds. And he who always succeeds is all- powerful.? This ties in a lot with the first quote. Plus it?s just really cool. And I really like the sound of that all-powerful thing.
I wish I could explain how I feel about these quotes better, it?d be easier to hear the tone of my voice but most of the people who read CoN aren?t stupid so I think you?ll all understand them on your own, most likely better than I.
So now I?m torn between 3 religions. The one I was born into, Buddhism and Taoism. I, unfortunately don?t know everything about these religions, and the Taoist gods are probably just as wrathful as God.
::Ok, I stopped there and thought about things for 2 days and finally came to a conclusion::
After 2 or so days of thinking I?ve come to realize something. That is that all religions suck.
There?s really no perfect religion. Well, not any which are real. There?s probably a cult or two (or 5) out there that seem cool, but I?m not really for castrating myself and I?m not sure the spaceship will ever come.
I think religion is sort of a destiny thing. You?re born into religions for a purpose, and I?m sure I have mine. Wither it be as the new messiah or arsonist who single-handedly brings down the Catholic Church, I?ve yet to learn. Maybe I won?t be either, but man wouldn?t that be cool.
Just because I?m sticking to Catholicism doesn?t mean I can?t respect and admire Buddha and Lao Tzu. Besides, I really think Lao had something with that ?one should endeavour to do nothing? thing. Kind of like that Buddhist monk holding up a flower as one of his Zen teachings. If I remember correctly, only one of his students understood. Speaking of which, I still rub my little Buddha statue?s belly for good luck and fear the almighty wrath of Cap?n Crunch... err... Karma.
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