Daydreaming

I like to imagine I'm laying on a simple, low sitting black couch, perfectly rectangular. In front of it is a black glass coffee table on simple brushed chrome legs, a bottle of rum and a glass on it. On the wall is a huge holograph TV turned to some trade channel, muted. Outside the massive glass panels making up one wall, snow falls on a park twenty stories below. People stroll around under the street lamps, bundled up in coats, hustling from one place to another or just holding hands and strolling. Music flows softly from speakers hidden about the room, barely audible, soft and melancholy. The lights of the TV reflect off a black marble floor. I think about the next haul I should make; amassing wealth for the sake of wealth. Sliding my legs off the couch, I stand, ice clinking in the glass I hold as I make my way to one of the panes of glass and breath against it, condensation forming a small cloud as I watch people leave tracks in the snow. Everything is quiet, clean, just the way it should be. There are no worries about money or health, what lies in the future or where my life will lead those I care about. There is just simple enjoyment in the way things are, and my power to change them or to leave them be, but there is no need for change. Everything is as it should be, but not stagnant and boring.

The fear of evil.

Why do people fear evil? Within all of us is the capacity for evil. Sometimes there is even a desire to do evil. Whether we we curb that desire as a result of some divine presence or biological evolution is irrelevant. For every individual there is an individual definition of what exactly evil is, but regardless, we all have a darkness inside that forces the choice; give in or resist. Many people fear that darkness. They may even fear the choice; perhaps they are afraid that they will make the 'wrong' choice. Certainly we fear evil in others above all else, though. That's what I'm speaking of here; the fear of evil in others. I don't understand that fear, not anymore. Perhaps I once did. Regardless, I don't see the point to it, and it's certainly a very common fear. A fear that envelops our society, our history, our culture. Why? We should fight evil, or what we perceive as evil. We should strive to conquer it in others and in ourselves (Although we can no more eliminate evil than we can eliminate our thoughts and emotions). But fear? What place does fear have in this fight? It's not fear of failure, for it's not really a fight that can be won or lost. The tides can be turned, yes, but ultimate victory can never be achieved for either side. Is it fear of pain, then? No... it's deeper even than that primal instinct. Fear of evil is fear of the night, the unknown shadows that catch the corner of our eyes and cause us to huddle closer around the fire. The only way to conquer that fear is to accept the evil inside yourself, to recognize it's presence and either willfully choose to deny it or to embrace it. I do not think that embracing evil will lead anyone to happiness, but I do think that accepting it and saying "No" allows us to conquer it; for evil's greatest tool is fear. When we learn there is no cause for fear, evil ceases to be anything more than an arbitrary adversary.

Thoughts on Faith.

Religion is often cited as a selfless thing, giving yourself over to god, helping the less fortunate, being an instrument of god (whichever you choose to believe in).

I believe the truth is quite the opposite. I believe that at it's core, religious belief is a very selfish thing. I also believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Selfishness has become this evil thing, taboo. Like so many other sociological fallacies, the very idea of selflessness goes against our very nature. I would even go so far as to say it's impossible for a human being to be selfless.

Why do people believe? It provides us with guidance outside of ourselves. Faith allows us to let something else take the reigns of our fate. It allows us to have the cards fall as they may; this can be a source of great relief. It can also be a very dangerous thing.
The problem is that if one puts too much of their life in the hands of 'fate', it can lead to powerlessness. Prayer has it's place, but it never has, and never will, be as effective as action.
An unfortunate side effect of the idea that 'everything is gods will' is that it completely removes the power of the individual.

But I think that this powerlessness, this succumbing to fate, is not an inherent flaw in religion. More likely, it seems to me, that it is the rhetoric of priests and clergy who desire to consolidate power, who want to take the choices away from their flock... the preachers force their faithful to look to them for guidance, and not to themselves, or to their personal relationship with a higher being.

And really, organized religion is the problem. Turning a persons relationship with their god into a social thing, taking something that is individually tailored and turning it into a one-size-fits-all event. Personal belief is a beautiful thing, but organized religion is often merely a tool for the manipulation of others.

Faith is an extremely personal and individualized thing, with each person having a person relationship with their god or gods. To take that unique and special individual relationship and turn it into a social-wide phenomena is a very sad thing.

One of the problems with monotheism is that it can be detrimental to the idea of an individual, tailored faith. In polytheism, the gods are very like humans. They have stories, backgrounds, character flaws. They have families and feuds. For all intents and purposes they are very easy to relate to, to reach.
It's easy to pick one (Or more) god to identify with, to choose to invest your faith in. Monotheism is quite difference; it often features a grand, greater-than-human figure who looks upon us with a mixture of indifference and disdain from on-high. Polytheistic gods walk among us, clad in disguises and testing us, teasing us, learning from us as we learn from them.

The one true god, however, is beyond all of this. He is very difficult to identify with because he is aggrandized. Unapproachable. He is perfect and he will not hesitate to smite you down, into an eternal hellfire, for the littlest of slights. It's very grand and impersonal, frightening even. What it is not, is identifiable.

In the end, however, I encourage everyone to find their own system of faith. Or none at all, if that suits you. I believe that faith should empower you; not the opposite. I believe that faith is best looked at as a business arrangement; in return for your belief, your god offers you guidance and strength. Last and most importantly, I believe your relationship with your god should be a deeply personal and individual thing.
Anyone who presumes to intervene in that personal relationship is trying nothing less than to take the place of your god. To ensure that you come to them for answers, rather than seeking the answers yourself.