So a lot has been going on in our little weirdie world. I mean a lot. Friends have come and gone, the world has turned round, and eyes, hearts and minds have been opened. Now when this blog was first started it was not supposed to be about religion, but with the state of the world today, it always seems to keep going back there. Whether through fear, or hate, or just misconception or miscommunication, religion is a serious hot-topic button right now in the US. As a Christian myself I still find all this turmoil a bit disconcerting.
This country was established in 1776 by a group of deists looking for religious freedom. Deists are people that believe in a God. The founding fathers wanted simply to worship the God of their choosing in their own chosen manner. They weren't necessarily Christians. Some of them were, some of them weren't, some of them were atheists. The point was, they wanted a country where they were free to be who they were, not a country where everyone had to be the same. So off to the new world they went. The United States as it is today, is a VERY Christian society. For me and my family, I'm comfortable with that. We're Christian, its what we know, what we grew up with, what we believe. BUT, what if we weren't. What if we were Buddhist, or Muslim, or even Pagan? How would we feel then? How would we feel if we were a young, Buddhist, going through puberty and being bullied everyday by people that called themselves Christians and were raised to "love their neighbors" and being allowed to bully under the guise of "religious freedom"?
Well that is what has gotten me started on this little campaign of religion. Most people bully out of fear and fear the unknown. After talking with a good friend of mine who is a Pagan, I discovered EVERYTHING I thought I knew is wrong. That's right. Everything I was taught about other religions growing up is a big fat falsehood of a lie shrouded in foggy misunderstandings wrapped up in rumors. I intended to get to the bottom of those lies and expose these religions for what they really are. To bring the truth to the forefront and learn the traditions and experiences that make up the core of each individual sect. I will be doing my own research both through real books and online, as well as talking to real people, hopefully in the area, that are active members in their particular communities.
About 70-74% on the US identifies as Christian. That leaves me 26-30% of the US to get to know and understand. I'm not trying to like everyone or convert myself to every single religion. This project is about truth and dispelling rumors, like all pagans worship the devil. This is one false mainly because most pagans don't believe in a concept of a devil and its hard to worship something that you don't believe in. So wish me luck, or wish me patience as i weed through everything and get down to the truth of the matter. As Christians we are taught not to study other religions, but I always asked myself why. If our religion is so infallible and Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light; then what harm can come from looking at other religions?
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