January 2nd, 2002 by Kevin God: The Basics

I recently had a sort of revelation, and it came to me while having some conversations with this devoutly religious girl (thanks Erica…) I started talking to. I had a revelation about God.

I was raised Catholic, and went to a Catholic school eight years, so I have plenty of religion instilled in me. It didn’t make me more faithful, or a better Christian like it may have done for some people. It only made me question the existence of God, the existence of religion itself, more. My dad always told me that if a religion is any good, you should be able to question it. So in that respect, I believe I am doing no wrong. I don’t know if what he said is exactly true. I’m not a theologian, and neither is he, so you have to take that into account. I’m almost sure of it that my new-found set of beliefs conflict with most mainstream religions. If they don’t, I’d guess that my thoughts would agree more with eastern religions and philosophies. But again, I don’t know, and I don’t care enough to find out. My ego tells me my beliefs are original, my brain tells me they are not. Either way, whatever religion you are (or aren’t) these may seem radical to you. They may seem contradictory, but then again, what religion doesn’t have contradictions?

I'm not going to attempt to make up my own religion; that is not my purpose. I don't want to explain or answer any of the questions that you might have as readers. Why? Because I don't have any answers. What I am about to say is how I understand God and what it is. I have no idea how to explain the little intricacies that might make up the Catholic faith, or the Lutheran, or the Buddhist, and they have no place in my explanation.

My idea of God is just that. An idea. A spirit. God is you, and God is me. God is everyone, whether they know it or not. God is not some little man in the sky that watches us and loves us. If that was so, I'd find life a cruel joke played by an arrogant supreme being. The idea of free will plays perfectly into this concept that we are God, that God is our soul. We are free to love, to hate, to kill, to bring to life. That is possible because we as people make that possible. We as people decide what is good, and what is evil. Killing is wrong be cause we agree it's wrong. Not because a book says it is. Besides, that book is the word of God, therefore the word of us. See where I'm going? On that same principle, killing living, breathing human beings could be right, if we as a people decide so. Or, even if people didn't agree with it, but you yourself believed that killing was right, it would be right in your own mind. Your preception is your reality, and no one can change that but yourself.

That brings me to my next point: heaven and hell. You might be thinking, "If you don't believe that God is up there, in heaven, and that it sounds like there is no set good and evil, is there a heaven and hell?" I believe in an afterlife. Without one, there would be no reason for our existence. Again, it's all about perception. If there are a group of serial killers, or rapists, that truely believe that they did no wrong, they would go to their heaven, and that heaven would be filled killers and rapists. In other words, that place is also most peoples' hell. Most people consider those things wrong. My perception of heaven might be different then yours. Maybe I don't believe in the Christian notion that sex before marraige and masturbation are sins. In that case, I'll be going to a heaven filled with fornicators and masturbators. That may be hell to some, but not for me. I mean, maybe Hitler likes it in hell. He's in good company, as far as we're concerned. I think my concept explains the religions (to me, anyways).

There are different religions because different people came up with different ways to get into heaven. Also, because they had different thoughts on God. None of them are really wrong. There isn't one true faith because I'm sure all of the different factions claim to be the faith. I think this is why life is so hard, morally speaking. If there was one true faith that we had to follow, life would be easy. We'd know exactly what we had to do and how to do it. But we don't. There is a conflict there, and our struggle begins. Honestly, I don't think we need religions. I think if people really tried, we could live good lives without the fear a God up in the sky instills in us. If people understood others as people, not as members of a different religion, I think peace really would have a chance. We are all here together, like it or not, and we are all the same on the inside. And we are all God. We are all in charge of what happens in this world.

I believe the purpose of the Bible and other religious texts is to explain other peoples' beliefs and ideas on God. They are not meant to be taken literally, and I think most people are intelligent to know that. A good example of that is what's going on in most arab countries: the treatment of women as second class citizens, and other atrocities. That's what could happen if we take these books too seriously. Some books mention Jesus Christ. I believe he did exist, and that he was the son of God, but in the same context that we are all sons and daughters of God. He was the first person that the writers of the time (the apostles) noticed teaching that we, in fact, are god's children, and we should love and care for each other. People listened to him, I think, because they wanted to listen to him. They liked what he said. They didn't do it because it had to be that way but because they wanted it that way.

I hope that if you come away with anything from this, is that we can shape God (each other), that we have choices. It's all about how we perceive things. I 'm sure there are contridicions, and I'm sure there are questions left unanswered. You know what? I don't care. This is how I understand the idea of God, and at this point in my life I am perfectly OK with it. The fact that it is an idea means it can change with time, which I think it would do some of today's religions some good to do.

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