Scientology

From my perspective, it is difficult to understand how anyone can honestly believe in religious doctrine. Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, anything. Of course the believers will throw out words like "faith" in order to prove why their religion is believable. [On a somewhat different note, I once had someone tell me that "Trees are proof that God exists."] 

The only religions I can understand are the ones that we now consider ancient myths. Long before modern science and technology, people were trying to assign meaning to the mysteries of the Earth. It was only natural that these ancient peoples assigned gods to any unknown force. [Sun god, god of fertility, etc.]

As for modern religions, Scientology really takes the cake when it comes to ridiculous doctrine. This post by Ebonmuse just served as a reminder of the senselessness that is Scientology. I believe the story can speak for itself. 

According to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Xenu was an alien overlord who, 75 million years ago, was in charge of a "Galactic Confederacy" consisting of 76 planets, including Earth (which, according to Hubbard, was then called "Teegeeack"). This planetary confederation was desperately overcrowded, and to solve this problem, Xenu devised a genocidal plan. Luring billions of citizens to government offices under the pretense of tax inspection, he dosed them with paralyzing drugs, flew them to Earth, then unloaded their bodies around the bases of volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs inside the volcanoes, killing them all.

The dead aliens' souls, which Hubbard referred to as "thetans", were then captured using an "electronic ribbon" and taken to "implant stations", where they were forced to watch a movie containing various misleading beliefs about the existence of God, the Devil, Jesus, and so on. After this process of brainwashing, the thetans were released and took up residence inside the bodies of living beings on Earth. According to Scientology, these "body thetans" still exist in each of us, causing all the physical and mental illnesses that human beings suffer from.

Oh! Now I see! It all makes sense now! 

...

A Homophobic Encounter

I have little tolerance for homophobes. In fact, I sometimes wish I could beat the ignorance and intolerance out of their minds. But of course I am not a violent person and would never really do that.

Anyway, I was in my barn the other day, cleaning stalls, like always. The barn is in progress so there were electricians in the barn doing what electricians do. One of the men started making fun of how our closest gay friend talks. And of course they laugh it off like its no big deal, but really it is. When me and my mum say something about it, the other man throws the religion card at us. I bite my tongue and keep on cleaning stalls, eying the shovel that is only a few feet away. I wondered if he would even notice what was coming before it hit him. Probably not. I kept cleaning stalls.

My mum and the electricians keep up a "friendly" banter about the subject while I work in the stall, glaring the whole time. The religion man says that he does not believe that a person can be born gay. [In addition to saying something about it being against the Bible. Go figure.]

"Oh really?" my mom says, "But why would they choose to be...?"
"Exactly".

Of course at this point, I have to say something.

"Do you realize that you just contradicted yourself in only one word?"

I don't clearly remember what happened after this, partially because his electrician partner was laughing so hard and partially because of the dialog going on in my head. If I had been given the time, I probably could have changed this man's mind. Or at least made him think about what he was saying.

If I had been given the chance, I probably would have said something like this:

"Why would a person choose to be gay? Do you realize what kind of discrimination they have to go through in order to be open about who they are? Most of all, they have to listen to men like you. Now please tell me, Why would anyone choose to be gay?"

I know that is not the best argument possible but when I am angry, it is difficult for me to think straight. I was so mad; someone was in my barn, bashing one of my best friends, pulling the religion card and getting away with it. If it was up to me, he would have been gone at that moment. There are plenty of electricians out there.

Uggh! The frustration runneth over. I just don't know what to say. I will be surprised if this ends up make much sense.

I guess I'll go calm myself now.

Previously on Morning Rise.

Last night, I posted a blog concerning the recent murders of two seperate sets of sisters by their fathers. [Eh, such a mouthfull] I got some interesting feedback that made me think about the issue and how my post was perceived by others.

First, I will adress the religious aspect of the post. It has come to my attention that honor killings are "pre-islamic" and not religious at all. The horrible acts are, supposidly, culturaly related. Although one could argue that many religions, such as Judaism and Hinduism, are cultures within themselves, I am not going to touch on that aspect. Is a culture that supports honor killings any better than a religion that does the same? I have a question for the man who killed his daughters because they began dating boys and wearing western clothing. If you are willing to murder because of your culture, why would you move to a country that promotes [or, at the least] accepts individuality? If you immerse your children in such a culture, they are most likely going to adopt it as their own.

This is something that blows my mind no matter where it occurs.

In the case of the man who killed his step daughters as a result of a "spell gone wong", this is obviously a case of a very sick man using a relitively unknown religious practice as an excuse for his crimes.

And, yes, I know that everyone religious is not a crazy person running around killing others. I also know that not all crazy people who run around killing others are religious. It just seems to me that religion, if you choose to practice it, should be peaceful and helpful rather than discriminatory and persecuting. Why would people want to worship a god who would condone murder?

I hope that, one day, people will see the light, so to speak, and practice peacfully.

Early Atheism

To set things straight from the beginning, I consider myself to be an open minded atheist. I do not believe in a god nor do I believe that religion is good. Although I am not a fan of the religious set, I don't mind them at all as long as they keep their lives outside of the church secular. This is a diverse and complex world we live in, no matter where you go. Carrying such a belief with you and pushing it on anyone [close friends included] is not the best way to make [and keep] friends. But thats beside the point.

Although I was not raised christian per-se, I still grew up around others who attended church regularly and insisted that I go when I was over on a Sunday morning. That being said, I had a vague knowledge of heaven and hell, god and the devil and the ever mysterious Jesus. From the time I was able to form my own opinions, I knew that I did not believe in christianity. 

My parents vaguely knew of my disbelief, as they shared them as well. My dad always told me to tell the kids at school I went to a certain church so I wouldn't be shunned and ridiculed. For a while, I played along but I got tired of lying to friend after friend. Why should you have to lie about your religious views in order to be accepted? It was ridiculous. Then one day, when asked, "What church do you go to?" I responded with the blunt and to the point reply, "I don't". That was that, enough said, the friend moved on; most likely too shocked for words.

And so, this long-winded yet brief story of my own childhood atheistic beliefs brings me to my point. I think children, when left to make their own decisions, are often the best at deciphering the truth. I don't think that I could explain it better than a 12 year old girl named Morgan. In an interview with the Black Sun Journal, this pre-teen girl openly explains her views and exhibits a firm grasp of atheism that I could have only dreamed about at such a vulnerable age. All in all, this blog post deserves to be read by atheists and christians alike in order to peer into the minds of our future.