Good Denim, Bad Women

Zeus. In the flesh.

Why? Because I told him to get out of the road because there was a car about a half of a mile away. To be fair, I half sang my warning, but once the car was a’ rambling, I told him genuinely to get out of the road. Then I was told how God would judge me. Me, of this entire group, the only one who believes solidly in the existence of God and his role in the creation of everything (a post for another day…I believe He set creation into motion and let it roll, allowing for evolution etc.). The man then told my friends that I was an asshole and they should judge me as well. 

Friends that I have had for 4 years. Inclusive my roommate whom I consider to be one of my best friends.

The worst part is that I have such a fear of being an asshole that this guy got to me. I try my hardest not to be one…

Top 5 Favorite Songs

#2 - Bartender - DMB

It’s Dave Matthews. The build up is perfect. It examines religion, life, meaning, all in the context of a man sitting at a bar examining his life. What memory do we leave behind? The song looks at legacy, and ultimately just shaking off the bigger thoughts in life that can get you down in the name of enjoying life here and now. 

I spent 4 on a sofa on an outdoor porch at the beach (no real complaints here, still uncomfortable though), 1 on a couch at a friend’s in SC on the way to the beach and the other on an air mattress at that same person’s house on the way back from the beach. This is going to be like Christmas morning, if I slept through Christmas morning.

Disclaimer: The following is my own reaction to reading selections by Albert Camus. Of course I drew on sections of his philosophy, that was the point.It should also be pointed out that I believe in God as a creator, but am not of the belief that this necessitates an afterlife.

There is an absurdity to our existence. We will never understand this, nor this world around us through any means, scientific or philosophical. We cannot reason our way to immortality or meaning. The sooner we come to grips with this, the better. There is a disconnect between man and the world around him, with no bridge to be found except a lucid acceptance of this absurd truth. No explanation, scientific or philosophical, will give me absolute clarity about this life I am living. I will never know its meaning. I will never know if there is a God. You can explain to me the nature of “life” and the anatomical basis scientifically, but you have done nothing but use images to explain images. Like using the word itself in its own definition, you have proven nothing to me with lucid clarity.

So is life worth living if it is, to me at least, meaningless? Yes. Once you accept absurdity and embrace it, you have found a connection between yourself and the world. That connection is positively absurd. You can instill meaning into your life while you are here, but one day you will die. Everything you have done rendered meaningless. Even if you pass on some great invention or theory, the people you pass it on to will also die. Creation of meaning through religious belief alone, or any other philosophical jump is avoidance of a problem. You are seeking to cure your ills rather than live with them. But this is a disease with no cure, and youwilldie of it. Seeking a cure is pointless. Face your disease, this absurdity of meaningless life head on.

So, what do we do? Well, we never accept death and seek it out. This is avoidance as well. While the blind acceptance of faith or a philosophy is avoidance of the problem of absurdity, suicide of movement towards death willingly is avoidance of your own human condition, the other piece of that relationship. There is no more meaning to death than to life, but while you are alive you can still strive for happiness. This is a lot more than can be said of death, in which we cannot strive for anything; we have been reduced to nothing. So I entertain my own mortality and the notion that this mortal life is absurd, but I refuse to live by their terms. Every moment should be lived freely, with revolt against the pressing darkness. I will strive for meaning until my final day. I will live with freedom from the oppression of living by a set of codes, in search of eternal life I may not receive, because they would limit what may be my only conscious existence. I will live every day to the fullest, because the only certainty I have is that I am here, right now.

Stop Sugarcoating the Bible

A very fascinating opinion piece on CNN by Steven James.

I was stopped on my way home by a pair of stylishly dressed individuals who asked for a couple minutes of my time. I knew it was God stuff, and so I stopped as I always do. Not out of disapproval, or looking for an opportunity to make a joke, but out of pure curiosity. I find religion to be fascinating, and it’s continued evolution to be even more interesting. I think it stems from my love of History and understanding of the level of importance religion has played. 

This particular pair of prophets had a damn interesting take on the whole shebang. Their position was that God’s second coming, as hinted in the Book of Revelation and their careful highlighting of passages, was going to come in the form of a woman. That the Holy Trinity of God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus was actually a family of sorts, with God the Mother joining it. Pretty interesting little spin-off of the Mary as co-redemptrix of mankind. It got a bit more cultish, for lack of a better word, when they declared the second coming in the form of this God the Mother was already alive and living in South Korea, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful there and can understand that. 

I make jokes, but am in no way being condescending. I think all takes on religion deserve scrutiny and humor thrown their way just like anything else. I believe in God, but I also believe that central to religion and being a religious person are a small set of key values. Belief in God (or any other version of God/Gods) being the backbone, followed by a desire to do right morally, help others, live your life to the fullest in a manner that does not infringe on others’ ability to do so and finally (and probably most important and tragically overlooked) to have a respect for all differing points of view on the subject of God and religion. Jesus, in my belief, may not be the Son of God, but he was a philosopher and a theologian and an all around good person who would probably cry in outrage over our bickering about religion and who is right. I don’t think that God would be happy with the arguments either.

So when my friends on Main St pleaded with me to join their bible study and went so far as to hint that I was on the wrong path, I politely gave them a version of what I just typed above, told them to pack a jacket since I hear South Korea can get deceivingly cold in winter, and wished them a good day.

Courtney the Baptist, everyone.

Merry Christmas Eve!

How much do you want to bet that when Jesus’s first birthday rolled around, the two Wise Men that bought frankincense and myrrh amped their games up a bit just to piss off the guy that brought gold.

People who use religion as their reasoning for acting morally right are not on the same level of morality as those who act morally right in the name of being good people for the sake of themselves and others. To do something because someone told you, rather than do something because you believe it is intrinsically good is a lower rung of morality. I know I’m just spitting out Kohlberg right now, but this is something I find very important.

The desire to act morally good to avoid punishment, as many people within religious circles do, is the lowest rung of morality. It is a selfish approach, even when one is acting correctly. I strive to act morally in the name of some higher, universal authority. Not God, necessarily, but rather the idea that I can achieve a moral conscience that runs in the background and always inspire me to do the right thing. To me, having faith in true justice and true morality trumps the faith that people have in God.

Oh, and I do believe in God. Adamantly. I just don’t think of God as a moral authority, but rather as power that started us down this path and guided our creation. It’s now up to us to do right by what he has given us, not for him, but for each other.

(via weallfruit)