God and Terror in the Mountains

The following story is absolutely true.

A friend of mine once worked for private detective agency. She took the job on a temporary basis, just to make a little extra money on the side. She didn’t sign up for any of the dangerous work; mostly she would just watch houses to see when people left, check legal records, that kind of thing.

One time, however, the situation turned ugly. In a remote area in the Rocky Mountains, she was watching a driveway from a safe distance when she realized that her quarry and his friends were stalking her with rifles. These were desperate men, drug smugglers; and they were skilled veterans of the Vietnam War. Realizing that the way back to her car was blocked, she headed the other direction, up the mountain, into the forest as night was falling. Read the rest of this entry »

If you read the summary of this series available at Shift Your Spirits, you saw the list of ways you should not choose your religion:

DON’T choose your religion based on details like food.

A ritual is participatory drama. If the drama speaks to you, resonates with you, it’s a good ritual. If it provides yummy calories, that’s completely incidental.

DON’T choose your religion based on convenience.

Life isn’t supposed to be “convenient”, and a convenient religion is one that doesn’t challenge you enough.

DON’T choose your religion based soley on your community.

If you’re becoming a Christian (or Satanist, or Buddhist) to make your parents happy, you’re just doing it for them, not for you.

DON’T choose your religion based on spite.

If you are becoming a Satanist (or Christian, or Buddhist) to make your parents angry, you’re still doing it for them, not for you.

DON’T choose your religion based on fear.

“If you don’t believe in Jesus, you’re going to hell!”
“If you don’t believe in Santa Claus, you won’t get any presents!”
Grow up, people.

DON’T choose your religion based on guilt.

You can’t reach the kingdom of heaven if you’re standing there kicking yourself.

AND FINALLY:

Don’t choose your religion based on the search for “truth.”

It’s a noble purpose, but it’s a red herring.

In this post I’m going to look at a couple of these in a little more depth. Read the rest of this entry »

Why choose a religion?

This post is addressed to agnostics — those who haven’t decided what they believe, or who have decided not to decide. If you believe strongly that there is no God, or that science is the ultimate answer, then I count that as a religion too (see this post for why). But if you base your worldview on the scientific method (which requires a stance of permanent doubt), then you’re agnostic, and this post is for you.

Agnosticism is like riding a bicycle. Read the rest of this entry »