Ok, I titled this blog post after "The Shining" in part because I watched that movie last night, but also partly because I want to rant about something that's been driving me nuts lately.
I seem to see/meet/hear about a lot of people who seem to think that ignorance makes them better Christian. Anyone who believes in such things as logic and science is deemed not as good a Christian, because naturally you have to reject some parts of the Bible if you're logical and science-minded. And you know what? I don't care. Willful ignorance DOES NOT equal better faith. My faith is strong enough that I CAN reject some of the Bible without it undermining my faith in God. It is through science and my better understanding of how the world works that I deepen my faith in God. Beginning to understand the universe means understanding a bit more about God.
God gave me a thinking, reasoning, intelligent brain and free will for a reason. And yet there are many, many people who see an understanding of the world and the universe as an "attack" on their faith. Why should this be so? Are you so insecure in your faith that the Bible HAS to be true, or none of it is? These people reject facts of all kinds because they don't "believe" them to be true. Whether you believe it or not doesn't change that it's fact. Get over it.
What I find even more insulting than this is that these people, if you disagree with them, will tell you that they'll "pray for you to find the way", or something to that effect. Do they not hear how pompous and conceited that is? The implicit and arrogant idea that their faith in God is somehow better than mine because I actually think about these things, rather than having my faith come from outside of myself, is irritating beyond belief. I want to tell these people to pray for those who actually need it, like the sick and the poor. You know, those people that Jesus urged us to look after, take care of, and pray for. The ones many of these "Christians" look down upon.
So many of these religious people become totally confused when I say that I believe in God, not religion. I've rejected having any major religion in my life not because I think they don't do some good and not because I don't think they perform some services that are necessary in society, but because I don't think they have anything for me. My faith won't be made any stronger if I go to church every Sunday or not. In fact, in many ways I pray more now than I did when I was a regular church-goer, because I don't confine it to Sundays.
I also don't believe in the Bible. At least not totally. I believe in the things Jesus said. Not to judge, but to love. I believe that's what I need to do to lead a good life, and that's what I strive for every day. It's incredible to me how many people who claim to be Christian don't understand that THAT is what it means to be Christian. The Bible is inconsistent, but Jesus never was. And I'll take His word over the rest of the Bible any day.
