I probably shouldn’t do this video today and may delete it tomorrow, but I want to talk a little about religion, God, and spirituality. I’ve never addressed them before because you should not discuss them. However, talking about these things feels right at this point because this channel has a new direction. I want to talk about important things and what could help people. This topic is up there in terms of importance.
Disclaimers
But I first have to put out disclaimers. You’ll probably not like this video if you’re super devout, religious, or hold a strong ideology. I appreciate that and want you to know that I am jealous. If you have such strong beliefs, it’s a lot easier because I have struggled with these topics. Also, part of the disclaimer is that I don’t know anything; I’m an idiot, and the bottom line is I’m just sharing my opinions and conclusions I have come to over many years of thinking.
My religious roots
I want to start from the beginning by saying that my family is Italian and super Catholic. My grandmother is the most Catholic woman you’ve ever met. She was always doing her rosaries and going to church. My mom did not want to instill that in me because she had a lot of questions and wanted me to form my own opinions, so I never went to Catholic Sunday School.
My dad is a Buddhist and has been since he was ten, so I was exposed to that. My best friend is Jewish. His father was a Lutheran minister, so I was also exposed to those as well. And then I moved to Georgia, which is in the Bible Belt, where I started dating a woman who is a Baptist. So, I was exposed to that, too.
I attended a non-denominational Christian black church for two years as the only white dude in the congregation. I have tons of friends who are Mormon and tons of friends who are Muslim. This has led me to ask many questions and go deep down the rabbit hole of world religions.
Research and study
I started studying and wanted to know what these religions have in common and why certain religions oppose others. Why do some religions think you’re going to hell if you’re not their religion? I wanted to know if there is hell. Is there a heaven? What does it look like? I’ve done my research.
One thing I can say is religion has a cornerstone of faith. It’s believing in something in the absence of proof. And for me, I want to believe, but unfortunately, when you see a lot of suffering or have friends that pass away or babies with cancer, the whole ‘God has a plan’ thing goes out the window. At least it did for me.
The other frame of thought that went out the window was my ex-girlfriend, who’s Baptist, telling me that if someone is gay, they’re going to hell. I told her that’s not reality, and she said it is. She said the Bible says so, and I said that it doesn’t matter if that’s what the Bible says; it’s wrong. This made me start to read the Bible from cover to cover, both the Old and New Testaments. She was saying things such as if you don’t accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you’re going to hell. That led me to think about all of the people and tribes that never were exposed to Christianity and questioned the notion that they were going to go to hell. And she said yes and that they had a choice. I said that they didn’t. I also mentioned Buddhists and Asians who have different religions, and she said they’ll all go to hell, too. I thought that was crazy.
Some of my conclusions
I started a deep dive into religion to understand and learn about these different things. That’s when a peace came over me because I realized all religions relay a similar message. They use different words for different things, whether referring to God, Allah, enlightenment, reincarnation, heaven, hell, and more. There are words for the same thing, and everybody preaches the same message: be good, do the best job possible, live a moral and righteous life, treat people kindly, and help people.
I don’t believe that there is a supreme being who picks winners and losers, that you’re blessed or not, or that you’ll get things because you believe or not. I think we control our lives and destiny. We control our faith and future. I do believe there’s a God because you can see it in beauty and kindness.
If it’s all black and white, why are there over ten thousand different religions? It doesn’t make sense or add up. Religion is such a challenging topic to discuss because so many different religions exist, and if you’re cerebral, you’ll start to question. Sometimes, people take issue with others questioning religion, which is a shame. I wish I could have more conversations about life and the universe with people. What else doesn’t make sense is people hating you because you believe in something different from them.
The more people I lose and the more suffering I see, the more I question things. It all boils down to being a good person—helping people. I just wanted to have a conversation and tell you my perspective because I feel there’s more than one of you out there that this video spoke to. I hope it helps and permits you to think outside the box.
