I believe that the world is a very dangerous place today, due in large part to the “chosen people” attitude of religion. Everyone wants to belong to the private, exclusive club. We all want to believe that our lives are blessed, that our existence has a validating God. And we justify horrible deeds in the name of this God. We fly airplanes into buildings, killing thousands of innocent people. We argue endlessly trying to defend our positions on metaphorical musings. We add historicity into religion metaphors, and then spend too much of our valuable time defending our positions. Do any of us really know? Why and when did it become more important to say that we believe something, than it is to be a good person? Too often, we loose the importance of a message taught through metaphor as we argue the historicity of events taught in the metaphor. Is the beautiful message of renewal, spiritual rebirth and repentance less important than standing up and shouting that one believes in the actual resurrection of Christ?
–Kirk
Just felt like this comment deserved its own little blog post….
10 Jan
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I’m in love.
(Kidding aside… WORD!!!)
Thanks Natalie,
To merit my own little blog post on your site made my day. Pondering the relevance and benefits of sharing thoughts with you has made me appreciate most who take the time to write.
I just purchased Behind Closed Doors, and look forward to spending time reading more from Natalie Collins.
Take care, and thank you.
Kirk
Oh, and if I really like the book, I’ll invite you to our wedding. (Azteclady’s and mine)
Kirk, I guess I’ll respond to your “personal thread” Natalie gave you — cool!
Thanks for your kind comments, and for sharing your airplane story. I so relate; but for different reasons. I know many that have had “tragedy” in their lives, and it changes them forever.
We know of people that have what they call “near death experiences,” and they “return” with a different perspective on life priorities. Whether the “NDE” process is truly a journey to the next life, or an evolved physiological response that creates a dramatic emotional event, their perception and interpretation of life events are forever changed. I think this is similar to losing anything, or anyone, dear to us.
I had one of those. It would take a book to describe it, but as concisely as possible, there were many things that were to happen in my life that I came to awareness weren’t happening. My momentum was unstoppable by normal means — there were financial, religious, family and professional commitments that were all based on a paradigm that had taken an about face in my life.
Unconsciously (if there is such a thing) my life dealt me dramatic consequences including divorce, bankruptcy, prescription drug addiction, criminal convictions and loss of my medical license. In a day I lost more than a million dollars, my home, and faced the real possibility of hanging out at the point of the mountain for many years.
While waiting for my sentencing in a rehab center, I had amazing counselors that helped me focus on what was REAL and important to me. Like you, that came down to family and friends. When all else is lost, it is amazing how much gratitude you feel for good health and good relationships. I doubt I’ll ever lose that lesson again.
Eight years later, with the synchronistic help of so many people, I have been able to rebuild an amazing life. Most of my relationships changed — you learn who your real friends are when you go through what I did. My kids were stunningly resilient through it all, and I have a closer relationship with each of them than ever before.
I married a beautiful woman this past year, and our Brady bunch family gets along great. Not a day passes that I don’t get choked up about how good life is today.
The essence of my crash was a dramatic slap in the face about my religion. Mormonism entailed so much of my life — from daily events to the foundation of every thought about why I did everything. When that house of cards crashed for me, I didn’t know what to do or why to do anything. It took a few years of focused and intentional solitude. For me, that happened in the beauty of nature in southern Utah. In the end, I learned what was real, and what was an illusion — and most of my life had been an illusion.
But today I don’t “blame” anybody or any institution. They’re all doing the best they can with what they have been given. Like you, I wouldn’t change a thing about my journey. As I sit here in San Francisco airport, having just spent the day with my lovely wife at Fisherman’s Wharf and on the Cable cars, my gratitude for life is probably ten-fold what it would have been had I not had the challenges in my life that I had to work through. What previously caused me much stress and grief doesn’t affect me at all today. Today is amazing, and I’m not going to worry about things that did not happen, or may not happen tomorrow.
Anyway, yes…we could be great friends! Thanks for listening!
~Rick
Rick,
I would like to communicate with you outside of this public arena. Do you have an email address?
Kirk
Hi Kirk,
Sure, shoot me a message at DrRix2020@msn.com. Looking forward to chattin!
~Rick
IMHO, Perpetuating the myth that religion is the cause of war is as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than the religions that the intelligentsia believes need crushing.
Kirk’s very post is guilty of the crimes he projects onto religion. This evil is “We add historicity into religion metaphors, and then spend too much of our valuable time defending our positions. ”
Kirk is creating the metaphor “religion-war” then spending his time defending his position.
I penned a response to this post noting that desire for change is often the cause of war.
The Hegelian/Marxist view is one where the intelligentsia agitates for change, then raises people forth in a violent revolution. The Hegelian/Marxist view (a decidedly athesist position) put more people into gas chambers than the idea held by Hebrews that God gave them law in their covenant as a chosen people. historically, this covenant plays an important role in the evolution of the rule of law.