OK, so I'm watching "The Buddha" on KCPT despite having to tolerate Richard Gerbil's narration.
There is all of this bullshit about Siddhārtha living for years eating nothing more than a single grain of rice a day. Some nonsense about him walking a jewelled walkway while he shot out fire and water from his body and filling the sky with clones of himself while sitting on a lotus blossom.
Oh please!
Here is the thing.
Buddha had some good ideas for living a good life.
Live in the moment. Love everything. Want nothing.
The only catch is that you can't get there by wanting to get there. Because that's wanting something. But putting that aside for the moment...
The Jewish people had some good ideas. The 10 Comandments. Good rules to live by.
Don't steal shit from other people.
Don't fuck other people's significant other's (unless it's a mutual, freaky-fun thing, which is always cool...CALL ME!).
Don't be greedy.
Don't kill people.
Be nice to your mom and dad.
Simple shit.
Don't get me started on Leviticus and the shellfish/homosexual/mixed fibers bullshit. That was Jewish beaurocracy gone mad with power.
Lighten the fuck up Jews.
Jesus had some great ideas.
Don't be a dick.
Love your neighbor.
Be nice to poor people.
Even if you don't have anything, be generous.
Don't use religion to rip people off.
Do good things for people and people will do good things for you.
Allah.
OK, I don't know of any good ideas Allah had. Most of Allah's rules seem to revolve around restricting behavior and freedom to a much greater degree than any of the other Abrahamic faiths.
But here's the thing.
I think most of these codes for living a Good Life stand up on their own without surrounding them with a bunch of supernatural clap-trap and hocus-pocus suggesting some Divine Mandate or penalty of Eternal Damnation or Salvation.
"Don't steal shit from people and they probably won't steal shit from you".
OK. I get that without believing in a God. Makes sense.
"Be nice to your parents".
They brought you into the world because they wanted you, tolerated your ungrateful whiney bullshit for decades without smothering you in your sleep (which they individually considered without discussing) and you owe them some simple courtesy for your existence. That's a good rule. Doesn't require the existence of a Divine Being to grasp.
Why can't we accept the fact that folks like Buddha, Hannibal, Moses, Jesus, Allah all had good ideas which intelligent people can incorporate into civilized societies without invoking all of this supernatural bullshit that inspires Holy Crusades and suicide bombers trading the depths of hopelessness for martyrdom?
I don't understand why people can't adopt and adhere to simple rules of human interaction without invoking Divine Supernatural Enities to throw down Rewards or Punishment.
It all seems so childish.
Grow up.
"Don't steal shit from people and they probably won't steal shit from you".
ReplyDeleteFalse.
We never met, nor did we ever steal from the guy who broke the door on our house, relieved us of our electronics, cameras and jewelry.
He also relieved us of our sense of dignity and security.
He gave us a few things, though: a sense of violation; a paranoid outlook toward our neighborhood and a few other emotional scars.
If it has never happened to you, count your lucky stars (or whatever you count). There is no more basic devastation of one's understanding of what it is to be civilized than to be the victim of one who says, "You have what I want, I don't have it, but I want it so I'll just take it."
I like having a heavenly Father who loves me as I am, and a Jesus who died for me. I've always been fond of the Buddha, too. And I really admire father Abraham.
ReplyDeleteI don't try forcing any of those down anybody's throat, so just leave me here in my happy little bubble.
And by the way? I don't think any religious organization should try to pry money out of my pocket with threats and bribes.
First you bad mouth all religions and how stupid they are, now your endorsing the 10 Commandments?
ReplyDeleteMake up your mind.
What what religion worships Hannibal Lector? He's a serial KILLER!
Joe - I'm over half a century old.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was born there were only 48 states and the only thing orbiting the Earth was the moon.
A republican, Eisenhower was President.
I've lived in small towns full of crack and meth heads and I've lived in metropolitan cores full of all sorts of derelicts, probationers and registered sex offenders.
I've benefitted from government programs that sent me to school in the most dangerous and poverty stricken sections of Kansas City and allowed me to earn a G.E.D.
I've never, ever, been robbed, threatened or in any way made to feel unsafe.
I've made friends, learned life experiences, added diversity to my relationships with other human beings and generally enriched my life.
Doesn't the Golden Rule read something like "treat other people as you want to be treated"?
Are you saying The Golden Rule is a lie? The Bible is wrong?
Because I have found, without invoking any supernatural Biblical rules, that "The Golden Rule" is a pretty good Common Sense way of dealing with people.
I'm not scared of my fellow humans.
Why are you?
Donna - That's fine for you.
ReplyDeleteNo judgement.
I love me as I am.
I don't require anyone else's love or judgement. I don't need anyone to die for me.
I take complete responsibility for my life and the consequences of my actions.
I expect everyone else to do the same thing.
I just don't get the supernatural thing.
oooh!
ReplyDeleteyou're gonna piss off the papacy and they'll send around a pedophile er...i mean a priest to "correct" you...
wait.
you're not a helpless kid; never mind.
Living by these principles is a good thing with or without religion. I choose to believe in Jesus and God and try to live by these principles too. It's my choice, and thankfully I live in a country where that is allowed. There are frictions that exist between religion and law in this country too, but for the most part, we're pretty lucky compared to lots of other countries where if you are or are not of a particular religion can get you killed. The Jews know what that means.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'll stay childish and you can be all grown up and while you're at it, will you please pay my taxes?
I don't believe in god and never did,but I don't have a need to put down religion as childish or stupid (no matter how much I think it's true),or find like-minded people to share my superiority and all-around scientificness (and talent for inventing words),or try to open someone else's eyes and show them the right way. that sounds too much like a religion of no religion. Instead I just don't care as long as they don't knock on my door or ask for money. I won't marry a person who needs to pray and say blessings,etc. but short of that it doesn't make any difference to me.
ReplyDeleteNope. I'm saying we were robbed. That's the honest truth.
ReplyDelete'Course, I'm older than you.
XO, I am not near an expert on religion, but I am a Christian because I like to believe in a higher power. I like the sense of community I've found in my church. I subscribe to the kind of Christianity that teaches tolerance, respect and dignity, social justice, etc, not the hate-filled pseudo-christians that are getting all the attention these days. I also believe that if someone wants to know about my religion, i will tell them, but I will not proselytize or try to force my beliefs on others. To me, it's not supernatural bullshit, but at the same time I would never criticize or make fun of my several Atheist friends. I've always enjoyed your blog but you struck a nerve with this one.
ReplyDeletesuzanne - All evidence to the contrary, it wasn't my intent to offend anyone.
ReplyDeleteI really don't care what anyone else believes as long as they don't try to impose their beliefs on me.
In the words of Thomas Jefferson (paraphrased), "...it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
I actually respect the deeply held belifs of my friends even though they are beliefs I don't share.
My friends are good people and to the extent that their faith makes them the people they are, I'm all good with that.
But sometimes I get in a mood and need to rant. If I can't do that on my own blog, where else can I do it?
Don't take it personally because it wan't meant that way.
Interesting swipe at the JEWS "gone mad with power", displaying not only your ignorance of the law but your anti semitism.
ReplyDeleteIts always amusing when atheists let their bigotry slip out.
From the Bunker in Raytown.
I am part of the adding diversity thing? is that XO's affirmative action?
ReplyDeleteLOL
Dude... I think you miss the point here and the true punchline of this excellent post.
IT IS SIMPLE TO LIVE THIS WAY... but most people cannot do it without religion because people don't learn lessons.
If your house is burglarized, or a building around you blows up, the first reaction is who do we kill or who do we blow up, not why are those people hungry or pissed off?
Most people don't learn from bad experiences, they are jaded. Warriors used to wear scars with pride, today people change how their nose looks to be more like the flavor of the month celebrity. Religion is what curves some of that and keeps societies going.
If people could simply be good and not let animalistic impulses rule their lives without a moral code and exercise ethics, your post would be possible. Without the clear picture show of HELL, most people become self indulgent bastages.