Altered Boy

Today, I consider myself fortunate that my parents weren't terribly religious. As to their beliefs today, I can't exactly say...that's between them and their god(s). That's how it ought to be, frankly, and I'm very happy that I was never an alter altered boy, subjected to the vagrancies of some priest or bishop.

This whole abuse issue in the Catholic church will come to pass, most certainly, but it only further cements my conviction against religion. This was only furthered today by the Hutaree clan, the Christian militia group in Michigan. Religion is the ultimate form of intolerance, which has no place in any civilized society in my opinion, and the only reason I bring it up on the Franklin Monologues is because belief in an afterlife has a direct bearing on the lives we live here today. Our living arrangements today are borne from the beliefs of individuals who think of their arrangements beyond this earth. The reason I have to lose my bicycle tool kit while boarding a plane and the reason our natural environments are ignored-- these are directly related to these beliefs.

Besides, I'm a product of an lifetime's exposure to multi-culturalism. If I were to suddenly ask for God today, which God would/should I choose? That's a tough question, because without blindly having been told which God to follow since childhood, I have the whole pantheon to choose from, and that only makes it that much more impossible for me to choose. Would I choose wisely? Incorrectly? Correctly? And how, exactly could I know? I'd spend the remainder of my life with persistent doubt, wondering if I really, really did make the correct choice.

Which one, huh?

I ask. I question. I have no clue as to what to believe, so I reserve judgement for the time being. Someday something might spur me one way, but for the time being I'm as happy as the next fellow. I don't need much, other than perhaps to live amongst tolerant neighbors, to ask that they behave as citizens rather than consumers; as people. This is up to them, and the more religious they become, the less likely they will behave as citizens, which is really an unfortunate thing.