So yeah, the other day I was accosted by this guy on campus. It started out innocent, there I was returning from Tesco with my shopping and as usual there were a few people on campus handing stuff out. Freebies! The joy of being a student! Well this guy – I don’t recollect what he looked like actually – motioned to give me a card of some sort so I automatically reached for it.
My usually crap powers of perception were spot on at the time and I was able to read the word “Jesus” so, being an atheist or atleast undecided, I respectfully declined and proceeded to head back to my flat. The guy wasn’t going to give up and followed me all the way back to my flat. He asked me why I refused the card and I told him – I’m not religious, nothing against people who are, but I’m not.
He then proceeded to tell me I “should beleive in God” and didn’t I “appreciate all the things God created” – I replied that I was raised as a Catholic but, became disillusioned (and like most teenagers, didn’t consider religion that important!) and so now I do not beleive in a God (or Gods). I am now older, and despite deciding as a teenager I didn’t want to go to church anymore, I have kept an eye on religion but so far found have no reason to return. I also still don’t agree with some catholic beleifs such as original sin, anti-homosexuality, eternity in the afterlife etc.
Anyway, my response wasn’t actually that well versed: Strangely enough, I find it difficult to talk when being talked over! All I managed to say was I’d been raised Catholic, changed my mind and yes I appreciate all the beauty in the world but I don’t feel the need to beleive it was created by God.
I was then told that I was “lost” and “could I not see all the love God has for me?” My pursuer explained the reason the Bible is so thick is because of all the love God has for us(!).
Now before I start some flame war here, let me clarify. I do not beleive in God, I do not beleive in Heaven, there may have been a Jesus but again, I do not beleive he was the son of God, and finally I’m undecided on what happens when we die – i would like to think we just stop: black, void, empty, etc – but I also beleive in ghosts and the two don’t fit together. one theory that could work is that ghosts have unfinished business or, in the case of poltergiests, die in a highly emotional state and still leave an imprint, like a shadow, on the world.
But that’s going a bit off topic – what I do beleive is that the world, with all its beauty and faults, is a wonderful, fantastical miracle. So many finely balanced and chaotic forces keeping us on this living, breathing ball of dirt. I appreciate nature and, while I still need to reconcile my diet (omnivorous), I like to show respect to the animal kingdom and the planet.
I beleive in my own set of morals, I beleive values like trust, friendship, respect and kindness to one another should be upheld where possible – but we are “only human” as Agent Smith said. I personally don’t need religion to try to be a nice person, I think it is my upbringing – parents, society, whatever – that has shaped me. I’m not perfect, I have offended people and will most likely offend more people in future, but I try to be a nice person.
What I beleive is most important is that everyone has the right to choose their own beleifs. I’m saying here that I don’t beleive in God, but in five, maybe ten years time I might welcome him (or her!). I’m open to the possibility that there might be a God, I don’t dismiss it, but I’ll become the stubborn bull that I am (Taurus) if people try to force me to beleive in something. I think it’s a journey everyone has to make themselves. Sure, persuasion helps, give me a valid point of view and I’ll listen, but simply telling me i’m wrong (like our friend the campus preacher) is not going to work. (I think I handled the situation very calmy, it would have been easy to have an argument but I listened intently and responded when I could!)
To this end, i’ve resolved to read the Bible to better educate my understanding of Christianity. I don’t claim to know all the facts – I haven’t read the Bible since Religious Education class in High School – and as such I prefer to bite my tongue before trying to pursue a discussion I don’t know enough about.
It turns out there are lots of versions of the Bible depending on what Church you follow – the Protestant Bible has 66 Books, while the Catholic version has a further 27 ‘contested’ ones – and then there’s all the translations, revisions, plus the different languages (English of course not being the original language of the Bible). I’m wary of just going for the most recent edition as alot of revisions have different takes on the original’s meaning. After a good couple of hours browsing tonight I’ve decided to go with the King James Version – authorised by King James in 1604 and first published in 1611, as its one of the main versions on which revisions are based. Again, because of the difference between the Catholic and Protestant versions, I’ve gone with the one with “Apocrypha” – the additional 27 Books.
The Bible is huge in case you didn’t know – Genesis is a good thirty pages long alone – so this will take awhile. My friend once told me he has read the entire Bible (an advantage he holds over our Roman Catholic friend during their heated arguments!) and it’s no mean feat. But i’ll read it eventually and make my own conclusions from there.
Bite little fishes…
