A Begining View On Religion

Now, the tender and oh so looked over subject upon religion. If you are sensitive to such topics, please look away now. I will only say this once, these are my views and do not pertain to religions as a whole. For instance, the one religion I shall be talking about the most in this case is Christianity, when I say "Christians" it means a large group of them not the majority or the whole. Keep this in mind.

"Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged"

That, my friends, is a direct qoute from the bible. Now. Tell me, how many people in general obey this? And how many Christians obey this? Even those who read the bible, cover to cover, over look this and hold there "Holier Than Thou" frame of mind. Just because I believe in something other than that that the Christians do, does that make me wrong? Does that make me less equal than them and give me less of a chance at forgiveness? Should I be pursecuted for my beliefs if they are not in the "Lord Savior, Jesus Christ"?

Before I continue, let me make a small fact known; I am not Christian but that does not mean that I do now know the religion. I am a confirmed Catholic and attended not only Catholicism Classes but also attended church for years. I may not believe in the things that are written in the bible but I have my reasons behind ever thing that I find wrong with it; however, I do own a bible and do tend to skim through it on occasion.

Now, I continue.

Look at the bible. A "Living Book", but can you not read any book over and get something new out of it? Compare it to a different part of your life? Other than this, have you ever wondered what has happened to that book since the date it had been written? or who had written it down in the first place? Men wrote down the words. Not a god. Men. Men who, if they claimed such things today, would be locked away in an insane asylum. The bible has been edited, revised and translated over the years and over a hundred times. Women were taken out, sections were burned and replaced, context was ruined and lost in translation.

I do believe that everyone should have something to believe in, weather it be that a great creator put us here or that we are just here to live and die, no higher being involved. It doesn't matter to me. However I do believe that if you have a religion that you should know where it comes from.

Which brings me to the trinity knot.

Many people see this simple and see it as a symbol for "Father, Son and Holy Spirit/Ghost". This is understandable as there are in fact three points and it was adopted by the Christian community; however it is a Celtic Knot. It is a symbol used long before Christianity and is used in many different context.

I was surprised to see such a knot on a christian shirt, as it is also used in Pagan and Wiccan beliefs as a symbol of protection and I, not understanding why, told the wearer (who shall remain nameless) in all do respect that there was a Celtic knot on his shirt. He looked surprised and asked me to point it out, when I did so he told me that it was not a Celtic knot but a symbol for the "Father, Son And Holy Ghost". I tilted my head, and told him that it was in fact a Celtic knot for protection and he denied it and seemed to shrug me away. Offended, I did my research and found that it was used in both manners of text. I just have problems with understanding why people must smite anything that they do not understand before they learn to understand it.

Is it so bad that the Christian Community stole bits and pieces of other religions? No. All religions do that. However they should learn where their beliefs originated and should not claim that all other religions are going to hell; which in fact was barely(if at all) in the bible untill after Dante had written it so.

"Seek To Understand, To Be Understood"
-Seven Habits Of A highly Effective Teen