If one has ever viewed the movie "Dogma," perhaps you can understand this "play on words:" I am less interested in what I, or another "stand for" as much as what they will stand for… "ideas are fine… you can change an idea… beliefs are trickier… people die for beliefs…." Let's see, there were the "Crusades," the Iconoclastic wars, the wars between Protestants and Catholics, and that's just "Christianity."
I'm just saying that perhaps TOLERANCE is best achieved when we DO NOT take our religious or cultural conditionings as the "be all and end all" of our short "itty-bitty" existence on this earth. I mean, WHY does any religious fanatic/ or extremist believe that his/her religion has "cornered the market" on the "mind of God" or some eternal wisdom??? I once had a friend, now deceased, who said that any person who has not found their religion to be decidedly "incomplete," and also seen attractive elements/practices in another, is either blind, or simply brainwashed… I tend to agree. I'm decidedly Christian in how I relate to God, but love the Islamic sense of God's perfected symmetries. I like the eightfold path practiced by Buddhist monks. The Hindi facets of the "GODHEAD" hold intrigue for me. Perhaps we could all stand to be a bit more eclectic in our personal decisions on what makes sense to us… rather than spouting off "dogma" or entrenched 'canonized' thought that often had its beginnings in early control of the masses. Think hard on the aspects of your religion that don't set well with you, on a "gut level," then trust your gut/ instinct and don't be swayed by circular logic, or illegitimate fear mongering. That's what I stand for… and WHAT I'll stand for is ONLY freedom to question and be as esoteric in your cultural-religious ideation as you choose to be.
If one has ever viewed the movie “Dogma,” perhaps you can understand this “play on words:” I am less interested in what I, or another “stand for” as much as what they will stand for… “ideas are fine… you can change an idea… beliefs are trickier… people die for beliefs….” Let’s see, there were the “Crusades,” the Iconoclastic wars, the wars between Protestants and Catholics, and that’s just “Christianity.” I’m just saying that perhaps TOLERANCE is best achieved when we DO NOT take our religious or cultural conditionings as the “be all and end all” of our short “itty-bitty” existence on this earth. I mean, WHY does any religious fanatic/ or extremist believe that his/her religion has “cornered the market” on the “mind of God” or some eternal wisdom??? I once had a friend, now deceased, who said that any person who has not found their religion to be decidedly “incomplete,” and also seen attractive elements/practices in another, is either blind, or simply brainwashed… I tend to agree. I’m decidedly Christian in how I relate to God, but love the Islamic sense of God’s perfected symmetries. I like the eightfold path practiced by Buddhist monks. The Hindi facets of the “GODHEAD” hold intrigue for me. Perhaps we could all stand to be a bit more eclectic in our personal decisions on what makes sense to us… rather than spouting off “dogma” or entrenched ‘canonized’ thought that often had its beginnings in early control of the masses. Think hard on the aspects of your religion that don’t set well with you, on a “gut level,” then trust your gut/ instinct and don’t be swayed by circular logic, or illegitimate fear mongering. That’s what I stand for… and WHAT I’ll stand for is ONLY freedom to question and be as esoteric in your cultural-religious ideation as you choose to be.
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Timothy Monicken on January 18, 2008, 7:30 PM
If one has ever viewed the movie "Dogma," perhaps you can understand this "play on words:" I am less interested in what I, or another "stand for" as much as what they will stand for… "ideas are fine… you can change an idea… beliefs are trickier… people die for beliefs…." Let's see, there were the "Crusades," the Iconoclastic wars, the wars between Protestants and Catholics, and that's just "Christianity."
I'm just saying that perhaps TOLERANCE is best achieved when we DO NOT take our religious or cultural conditionings as the "be all and end all" of our short "itty-bitty" existence on this earth. I mean, WHY does any religious fanatic/ or extremist believe that his/her religion has "cornered the market" on the "mind of God" or some eternal wisdom??? I once had a friend, now deceased, who said that any person who has not found their religion to be decidedly "incomplete," and also seen attractive elements/practices in another, is either blind, or simply brainwashed… I tend to agree. I'm decidedly Christian in how I relate to God, but love the Islamic sense of God's perfected symmetries. I like the eightfold path practiced by Buddhist monks. The Hindi facets of the "GODHEAD" hold intrigue for me. Perhaps we could all stand to be a bit more eclectic in our personal decisions on what makes sense to us… rather than spouting off "dogma" or entrenched 'canonized' thought that often had its beginnings in early control of the masses. Think hard on the aspects of your religion that don't set well with you, on a "gut level," then trust your gut/ instinct and don't be swayed by circular logic, or illegitimate fear mongering. That's what I stand for… and WHAT I'll stand for is ONLY freedom to question and be as esoteric in your cultural-religious ideation as you choose to be.
Timothy Monicken on January 19, 2008, 12:30 AM
If one has ever viewed the movie “Dogma,” perhaps you can understand this “play on words:” I am less interested in what I, or another “stand for” as much as what they will stand for… “ideas are fine… you can change an idea… beliefs are trickier… people die for beliefs….” Let’s see, there were the “Crusades,” the Iconoclastic wars, the wars between Protestants and Catholics, and that’s just “Christianity.”
I’m just saying that perhaps TOLERANCE is best achieved when we DO NOT take our religious or cultural conditionings as the “be all and end all” of our short “itty-bitty” existence on this earth. I mean, WHY does any religious fanatic/ or extremist believe that his/her religion has “cornered the market” on the “mind of God” or some eternal wisdom??? I once had a friend, now deceased, who said that any person who has not found their religion to be decidedly “incomplete,” and also seen attractive elements/practices in another, is either blind, or simply brainwashed… I tend to agree. I’m decidedly Christian in how I relate to God, but love the Islamic sense of God’s perfected symmetries. I like the eightfold path practiced by Buddhist monks. The Hindi facets of the “GODHEAD” hold intrigue for me. Perhaps we could all stand to be a bit more eclectic in our personal decisions on what makes sense to us… rather than spouting off “dogma” or entrenched ‘canonized’ thought that often had its beginnings in early control of the masses. Think hard on the aspects of your religion that don’t set well with you, on a “gut level,” then trust your gut/ instinct and don’t be swayed by circular logic, or illegitimate fear mongering. That’s what I stand for… and WHAT I’ll stand for is ONLY freedom to question and be as esoteric in your cultural-religious ideation as you choose to be.
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