unnecessary mistruths

I've been neglecting this lately but tonight I do feel fairly compelled to write another entry. Tonight was a typical college drinking night, and on the walk home things got philosophical as they often do when alcohol is involved. Phil, Lauren, and I were all discussing the moral aspects of homosexuality. Phil stood behind the bible and I felt pretty divided.

It got me thinking about Gnosticism, and whose hands the world is truly in. The Bible has certain aspects in it that are poignant, but by and large my opinion is that the bible was a document written by a bunch of old, unsophisticated white men who were intolerant of most things accepted today as social norms. The bible (and Phil's argument) was that homosexuals were an aberrant mutation of the human standard, and that being attracted to members of the same sex was a complete choice. I disagree.

There is no choice involved in my attraction to women, and to suggest that people deviating from the norm do have a choice is ridiculous. Attraction and love isn't a choice, it's an emotion that overcomes people. Phil tried to claim that murder wasn't pre-disposed, murder was a choice the same as homosexuality was. This is incorrect. Serial killers have been found to have genetic and environmental similarities meaning that the choice is not entirely free.

This string of thought got me thinking about evil in the world, and the biggest, most fundamental question about morality I had even as a child. If God was in control of everthing, why did he create a system of morality at all? All the system does is evaluate which followers of his are worthy enough to join him in heaven, which seems ridiculous to me.

In a contrary viewpoint, I don't think God released his system of morality as a list of 10 doctrines set in stone. God is a reasonable, empathetic being which means that he understands people. I disbelieve that the concept of Satan has any power over the human race, since what could defy the will of God? If God wanted everyone to be in heaven with him, it would be so. I'm pretty sure God does want this, which has forced me to revise my religious thoughts.

I believe in a God or creator, but I won't limit him or her to a gender or simple role in a preestablished religions like Christianity or Islam. God is so much more than that. God is both existant everywhere and nowhere, since I think we are God's tools and appendages. We can easily find God in ourselves if we try.

I don't accept that a document riddled with loopholes, prejudice and hatred is an infallible, holy text. I do believe that myths and legends have emotional and moral weight, which means that most religions do have something to bring to the table. The fact of the matter is that nobody can know what lies after death, and pretending to have faith and be sure in a code of morality is absurd.

I believe the ideas that I've stated, that God exists both everywhere and nowhere as a singular creation, and that morality is a much more grey idea than any holy text states. I hope to educate people about this, but it's difficult to shake old systems of control. For a while, I thought the bible was a necessary evil to keep people in line, but now I realize that its completely unnecessary.