Post by Erick Ganz on Oct 31, 2013 13:28:04 GMT -8
I am never one to proselytize; most people find such uninvited tirades boring at best, irritating at worst. I know I do. Yet I can never resist a good conversation on faith and belief with someone who is themselves passionate on the subject. Well…passionate and rational, at least. Though, admittedly, faith and rationale inherently do not get along with one another.
Religious persecution: I am a victim of it. Truly! The Kindred hear of the origins of my Blood, make an immediate assumption of what I believe and what I must be doing to practice said beliefs, and then form a judgment thereof…it is all very unjust. But, these are the misconceptions one has, I suppose, when your ‘family’ is named ‘The Followers of Set.’ Not that any of the other various Clans are venerating some mythical ‘founder’ by taking pride in their own named lineage. Oh, not at all. Completely different things.
So entertaining, that.
My apologies. I am detouring into the ease of bitterness, and that is no fun at all.
For myself, I have no ‘religion’ to speak of, merely an outlook; a philosophy. I was raised Roman Catholic, but my exposure to such ahead of the violent emancipation from my parentage was minimal, at best. Thereafter, while I was forced to attend church by the orphanages, it all seemed quite trite after my temporal experiences.
But later in life, I was shown the purifying effects of disruption, deprivation, and revelation.
If ‘Set’ existed, or still exists, I have no idea. Perhaps he-she-it was just a human, like I once was, and was only elevated to a ‘god’ through the haze of history and myth. Or perhaps he-she-it is an actual deity. But I do not put much time into thinking about it, honestly. I know only what I myself have witnessed and experienced in my life thus far, which is really the only valid ‘faith’ one can have, in my opinion.
So what have I witnessed and experienced to shape my ‘belief’? Utter loss and self-destruction; the determination to overcome it; and the realization that what society might tell you is important and/or correct, very often is not. These are things that I do not believe to be true, but know to have been transformational for me, and for many others.
And so I am inclined – not compelled mind you – to encourage others to question and challenge those boundaries that either culture, or society, or their own inhibitions and fears have placed upon them. Now, do the mind-forged manacles of social mores and certain laws tread into the less savory sides of human nature? Of course! But “less savory” is entirely relative.
For an example: to the Taliban, the education of young girls is an offense so great that assault, rape and death are the likely outcomes for any female caught attempting to violate this – culturally speaking – important law of conduct.
I am against this on two fronts: first, if I can cite anything in my life as the purest “sin,” it is being consciously prevented by outside forces from gaining and taking advantage of new knowledge; little girls, or anyone else, should not be disallowed from making discoveries for themselves, free of restraint. Secondly, the “rule” that causes these girls to be treated in such a way is based on nothing; made-up codes of conduct, the enforcement of which exist purely in the minds of men, and the feeble and questionable interpretation of words from an old book.
In my highest ideals, I would see these men freed of the notions that would cause them to withhold the evolution of the souls of the girls, and this in turn would free the girls.
Thus would I be, by my beliefs and if I were to have the opportunity to act on such, tempting little girls into evil and sin. Relatively speaking.
Perhaps that example illustrates more clearly what I mean by what I practice, rather than the stereotype of dealing cocaine to a pure-but-curious girl, and thereafter leading her into a life of excess and self-debasement.
“Evil” and “sin.”
Or exploration and self-discovery. Call it what you will, the results will speak for themselves; the “results” being free individuals finding out who they really are, and what their life can really mean for them, on their own terms and choices.
This is what I believe in, for this is what I know to be valid and true.