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MY STORY
As a child growing up in the Bible Belt of Florida, I wasn't exposed to many different religions. However, even in my youth, I realized I would never be spiritually fulfilled if I simply accepted what everyone else believes to be the absolute truth. I questioned my beliefs and those of others, and after a few years attending Southern Baptist Church irregularly, I decided it was time to learn more. For a few years, I really didn't think much at all about religion. As I reached adolescence and discovered I actually had a mind of my own, capable of independent thought and free will, I realized…it was time…I began reading about different spiritual paths, and tried a few on for size. I continue my research still, and although I don't accept any one religion or denomination as my own, I feel more spiritually whole than ever. Following are some beliefs and disbeliefs I have developed over the years.
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MY BELIEFS & DISBELIEFS
I believe no one faith is "right." Each path is individual, hopefully
leading to the same divine goal. (Many paths, one mountain).
I believe in a higher power, whom I refer to as God, partly I assume because that is what the majority of my society refers to this higher power as, & partly because I do hold many Christian beliefs.
I am VERY uncomfortable with the male domination of Christianity. I'm still upset that God has taken on a masculine gender, when
everything I was taught as a child indicated that this God was
supposed to be neither male nor female, yet is constantly referred to as Him. I suppose that has to do with the general male
domination of society for thousands of years, but I don't like it.
Because of my aversion to male dominated spirituality, I enjoy
learning about Pagan paths, Nature paths, & so forth -- there is
MUCH emphasis on the feminine aspect of spirituality. I feel less
"left out." And I see NOTHING wrong with worshiping Mother Earth as a spiritual being, because I feel my God (let's just assume God IS male) created Earth as the feminine counterpart to his heavens.
I don't believe in raising a child in a specific faith. Young minds are sensitive & impressionable; religious hatred could be reduced a
thousandfold if children were not taught to blindly accept that their parents' faith is "right" & everyone else is going to Hell.
I don't take the Bible word for word. How many eons & translations
have passed since the words were first inscribed? How do we KNOW what has been added & deleted? We don't. Nor do I believe the
Bible (or any spiritual book) was meant to be taken 100% literally.
Each person interprets for themselves.
I don't feel that learning about other paths & questioning the
majority rule to be wrong. I feel that the power I worship would rather I discover what is most comfortable for me, follow that path, try to live the best life I can, & I will be rewarded in an "afterlife."
I believe in a semi-reincarnation. Certain souls are meant to be
together, meant to end together, & meant to accomplish certain things. When a person dies, if it wasn't that soul's "time," that soul will sort of rest...gather more energy, & be reborn to do it all over again until the time is right -- only then do heaven & hell come into play. I don't believe in eternal souls that reincarnate over & over…
I believe heaven & hell are what we make them;
One's greatest dreams being heaven & greatest fears being hell.
I believe in karma, luck, good & bad spirits, ghosts, aliens (don't even get me started on the alien as god theory!!!), witches (there is NO such thing as a bad witch!), astrology, evil, purity, Jesus, psychic ability, magick, supernatural forces, curses, etc.
I believe church is what you make it -- I once had "church" in a Taco Bell with a good friend over burritos & refried beans. Communing with another person or just yourself & your god of choice is what I feel church should be; it doesn't have to take place in a designated building one certain day of the week.
There's tons more...email me to discuss or debate!
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