Religion and Beliefs: It's Just Abstract Reality

Religion to me, personally, was a prison in which I was always made to feel guilty and afraid for things that I had done and things that were to come. On more than one occasion, and sometimes even now as an adult, I've been threatened with eternal suffering in lakes made of boiling sulfur and fire. Whether it be family members, pastors, or complete strangers religion has been a poison in my life, and there is no question as to the rationality behind my current views. However, I believe that religion is simply a form of abstract reality and I'd like to explore that concept.

It is worrying when you look at yourself, and others, and recognize how drawn to idealism we are; even more worrying is how gullible most individuals are in the face of someone else figuratively painting a beautiful image that in reality is hiding ugly truths. In my case I was able to observe and endure money-hungry, child-abusing, best equated to con-artists, shyster individuals creating an abstract reality that allowed them to get away with evil behavior. More often than not, organized religion goes out of its way to establish standards for others to follow that outside of the abstract reality of religion have no practical and fair application; that is to say, it does not have practical and fair application without some serious mental gymnastics to help explain away behavior looked down upon within religious texts.

Now I know I mentioned mental gymnastics used to explain away atrocious behavior, but we can't delude ourselves that the ones who wrote these ideals to begin with were, most commonly, individuals who practiced questionable ideals. These ideals were often along the lines of murder being okay, political assassination being fine, sexual assault being an option for punishment, and even sometimes human sacrifice for the greater good being rational every-day occurrences. Jesus Christ himself, correctly named Yeshua, often had spates of violence such as when he went into the temple and started flipping donations tables and whipping the shysters running them.

The tales of Yeshua are noble but I'd venture to say they cover ugly truths lost to time, just like in legend and myth surrounding politicians of the past. In this same vein you will see people break away from scripture in order to support their own disgusting actions. Let me tell you of the occurrences at my church to offer some examples of abstract reality being used as a tool of deception.

At my previous church, Calvary Chapel Rancho Santa Margarita, we had some very interesting occurrences; these occurrences led to the departure of numerous individuals from the church, including my own abusive family members. The funny part of it was that it wasn't just one head pastor, but also his replacement committing terrible acts against their flock. To this day I can't help but chuckle, with a hint of disgust peppered in, when I recall the events.

My church had a pastor who seemed to be a great man; he adopted his children from Africa, he went on missionary trips constantly, and when he wasn't preaching he was refining his preaching abilities and "love for God". One day, however, his wife's sister needed to stay in their home and the pastor found himself later sneaking into her room under the cover of night and engaging in adultery while his wife and children were fast asleep. Public discovery of this led to his stepping down and replacement.

The man our previous pastor was replaced with was well known to be surrounded by allegations of abusing kids verbally, and even using the church coffers to feed his own ego. The allegations turned out to be true when he screamed at and demeaned myself and other minors while doing community service under his guidance, and later on when he slept with the wife of one of his flock. He didn't step down when news of the adultery and lust spread, instead he doubled down on his own actions and continued to lead everyone astray of reality.

These experiences wouldn't be fair to apply to all abstract reality, though I hope it helps bring awareness to the many dishonest individuals out there, so let's explore when abstract reality is safe to consume.

The abstract realities that I find to be unarguably safe for consumption are pretty simple to recognize, and even simpler to follow in principle. These abstract realities are any that do not have one single set of principles or purveyor, do not follow deities or anything unproven by staunch sciences and evidences, do not allow anyone to contradict themselves and their practices to hide evil, and do not require you to subjugate yourself and your desires in any way. I'm sure I could add more to that list but I'm attempting to be concise and I've left out more details on the lack of rigidity this list adheres to.

Belief systems come in every shape and form, and it can be extremely difficult to find one that suits your needs and desires. Personally, I find that to be the beauty of abstract reality, the fact that you don't need to adhere to any one perspective, or any at all for that matter. In keeping a watchful eye over abstract reality, if you determine that something is uncomfortable or otherwise not in your best interest then you may discard it and needn't follow it any further.

Take for example myself, I have a very simple set of morals and principles that are ever-evolving and seek only to serve me. In serving only myself and my principles I am able to adapt and evolve as every situation demands. Yet, that is very vague and I need to expand upon what it is my principles actually are.

My principles put concisely: If it seeks to cause harm to, subjugate, invalidate, diminish, or extinguish the existence of others then it is best avoided. Every action I take, word I speak, and thought I think needs to take into account the existence of others and the effect it will have throughout the entire world. When I have done wrong, apologize, and when others do wrong to me, seek recourse from them. If a matter can't be resolved then return to it at a later date, or make sure it can never happen again.

One last thing to wrap up this cute little article here, please do not disparage others for their beliefs in their abstract reality. We all develop some form of realities outside of reality itself because it is necessary for us to live healthy lives both within our minds and in society as a whole. Just because something seems absolutely silly to you, that does not mean it isn't absolutely essential to someone else. Instead, turn your attentions to the liars and deceivers using abstract reality for selfish and damaging gain; the type to break you down so they may reshape you to their own desired image.

It is upon good people to end the evil of others, and we mustn't attack our brothers and sisters just because their "invisible sky daddy" doesn't agree with our "Jedi force-powers" if you can forgive my jest.