all that you can't leave behind
Over the past few years, I have had good and bad experiences. The bad always seemed to out number the good, however both built my character. I have tried, both consciously and un- to shake many aspects of my past; sort of to mold my character into something closer to my specifications. Some things have gone easy, and others still lie dormant, while others are a permanent part of my character. Habit prevails I guess.
One thing however, I repetitively realize, is that I will never shake the beliefs inherited from my family. I am a Christian (don't ask me what denomination, I can barely tell a Baptist from an Episcopalean?). I blame my lack of knowledge on my lack of interest. Every rational bone in me tells me that my belief is a constructed reality, historically defined and personally experienced. I've tried and continue to try to do like Mimi and "shake it off," but it keeps coming back to me no matter how many times I sink into a life of sin and hedonism.
What I wonder, is if I can't shake it off, how can a boy or girl raised as a Muslim, or a Sikh, or a Jew? I mean, there is no doubt that there are many angry Jews that hate their religion, but I believe if you really analyzed their behavior and their personal values, there are traces of jewishness. I guess it is for the same reason that many Christians switch into automatic denial -of-any-rationality mode when their belief is challenged. One seems to lose the capability to think rationally or objectively when the very core of what he/she bases her response on is under attack.
Of course, the smarter ones would go into a post-modern defense, attacking "rationality" and positivism. While these concepts do have their problems, attacking them only gets one so far. Many boil it down to intuition (or some call it spiritual guidance, etc). But man, that opens a whole new can of constructivist worms. Only those who have been raised as Christians, associate the physiological irregularities they perceive as guidance from above.
Jesus vibrations if you will. I guess it really comes down to whether Buddha, Vishnu, Tom Cruise can overcome the good vibrations of the Beach Boys.
I digress.
Coming back to the point, to reiterate, I am locked into the beliefs of my parents. Where young atheist boys go to their friends, tv, or a dirty magazines for help, I end up (after the friends tv and dirty magazines) going to God (of the Judeo-Christian variety).
Now I ain't no absolutist, but something about me worshiping my God, and a Sikh worshiping their god just seems a little unsettling. Is it all relative? Do we one day ahve to come to a crossroads where we have to make the decision, in absolute terms? Which religions are "right", if any? Or do we backstroke in the sea of relativism?
One thing however, I repetitively realize, is that I will never shake the beliefs inherited from my family. I am a Christian (don't ask me what denomination, I can barely tell a Baptist from an Episcopalean?). I blame my lack of knowledge on my lack of interest. Every rational bone in me tells me that my belief is a constructed reality, historically defined and personally experienced. I've tried and continue to try to do like Mimi and "shake it off," but it keeps coming back to me no matter how many times I sink into a life of sin and hedonism.
What I wonder, is if I can't shake it off, how can a boy or girl raised as a Muslim, or a Sikh, or a Jew? I mean, there is no doubt that there are many angry Jews that hate their religion, but I believe if you really analyzed their behavior and their personal values, there are traces of jewishness. I guess it is for the same reason that many Christians switch into automatic denial -of-any-rationality mode when their belief is challenged. One seems to lose the capability to think rationally or objectively when the very core of what he/she bases her response on is under attack.
Of course, the smarter ones would go into a post-modern defense, attacking "rationality" and positivism. While these concepts do have their problems, attacking them only gets one so far. Many boil it down to intuition (or some call it spiritual guidance, etc). But man, that opens a whole new can of constructivist worms. Only those who have been raised as Christians, associate the physiological irregularities they perceive as guidance from above.
Jesus vibrations if you will. I guess it really comes down to whether Buddha, Vishnu, Tom Cruise can overcome the good vibrations of the Beach Boys.
I digress.
Coming back to the point, to reiterate, I am locked into the beliefs of my parents. Where young atheist boys go to their friends, tv, or a dirty magazines for help, I end up (after the friends tv and dirty magazines) going to God (of the Judeo-Christian variety).
Now I ain't no absolutist, but something about me worshiping my God, and a Sikh worshiping their god just seems a little unsettling. Is it all relative? Do we one day ahve to come to a crossroads where we have to make the decision, in absolute terms? Which religions are "right", if any? Or do we backstroke in the sea of relativism?
