|
I definitely shy away from the Big Three: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. And I feel a definite resonance with more...hmmm...pagan, I guess would be the word, religions. In that, I'm including Buddhism. I was taught in a religion class that paganism was merely not one of the Judeo-Christian religions (which Islam counts as, I believe?). I think one of the reasons I shy away from the Big Three is that they've become so organized. It's more about the specific beliefs of each group, and not the general idea behind them. They don't care anymore that someone sacrificed themselves for our sins, but are more concerned with whether gay people might get married and have families. It's more about the pope and the bishops than about God. pagan religions, as mentioned before, are much more open to an individual's beliefs and ideas about the truth of the universe. They're less concerned that everyone believe the same thing that they do.
The pagan religion that most sparked my interest was Gaianism, although I haven't been looking around for quite some time. After the Final Fantasy movie came out, I really liked that idea of a "soul" in the world, which we all return to and mesh with when we die. Then, a little bit of "us" is in everything that is born. Also, the idea of a "soul" for each world, and that each creature must be returned to it's own Mother Earth.
I believe in evolution, but I'm astounded by the astronomical probability against a certain creature (such as a human) actually evolving. So, I like to believe that this "soul" of Earth is somehow "guiding" the process of evolution, allowing helpful mutations to appear faster. Yet, I don't believe Nature is a self-aware creature, more like a sleeping giant. And if we damage her too much, she will bring great fury upon us. (To (mis?)quote Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction) I think diseases and parasites are one way Nature helps to regulate herself, and not allow one organism to gain too much of a stronghold. Unfortunately, we've sort of gotten out of control. And something will come along to fix that...
Just a side question/comment about Druidism:
I was under the belief that each tribe had a specific God/Goddess that they worship above all others, but they did believe in all of them. And that's how you get such a huge pantheon, since there were tons of tribes. But that probably came off a crappy website, or one of those books that came out at the height of the pagan trend a few years ago, so it may be suspect.
__________________
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."
"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."
-Voltaire
|