Religious Thoughts and An Orgasm At The End.

Yeah. It's really, really gray outside. But I soldier on! Trudge, trudge trudge.

So, About Religion.

Father's Day went well, in spite of (or maybe because of) our discussion of politics and religion. I didn't mention that I had started reading about Wicca, but I did break the news that I no longer considered myself a Christian. My dad, bless his heart, took it well, although to him it was like telling him that I planned to kill myself the next day. (If I'm not a Christian, he won't see me in heaven, and I'll be doomed to hell forever, unless I repent. Which is, I'm sure what he's hoping for.)

Yes, I'm reading about Wicca. Do I feel like every "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual" freak I've ever rolled my eyes at? Yes. Do I still believe in Christianity? No. Why? I don't understand a religion that views this life as a preparation for "eternal" life. Christianity believes that it's not the kind of person you are--all you have to do is believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and ask him to take them away, and you're saved. This sort of thinking is what leads to people thinking that it's okay to lie, cheat, and steal, because hey, I'm going to heaven anyway. This makes NO SENSE--not only does it fly in the face of scientific cause and effect, but it doesn't demand Christians to be good people, therefore ensuring a terrible life on Earth. "Look at the results," I said to my father. "Christianity does not demand results! It makes this life on Earth meaningless!"

"That doesn't matter," said my father. "The only thing that matters is the Eternal consequences."

Yeah. I just can't believe that that's a good way to live your life. Especially when I look at time travel and quantum physics, and then I try to jive those concepts with idea of a Person, one who killed everyone except the Jews in the Old Testament and then preached love in the New Testament. I can't believe.

On the other hand, my dad is a relatively good representative for Christianity. He's a nice guy, he accepts everyone--especially homosexuals--and he believes The Church is DEEPLY flawed, so at least we agree on most things. We differ on what you might call exclusivity: Wicca believes that any path towards enlightenment, as long as you're not hurting anyone or yourself, is valid, and Christianity that they have a lock on salvation and no one else has the right idea.

If my dad has one flaw, it's that he's rather...patriarchal. Not about ME--his only child and daughter, the light of his life, is allowed to do anything she wants--but his views towards women like Hillary Clinton, teenaged mothers, women's rights, etc, etc--are awfully tough for me to not rail against. We survived our political discussion anyway.

Moving on.

Odds and Ends.

I've started travel journals here.

I'm trying to go vegetarian. Maybe even vegan. I've been partly inspired by this girl's post, which centers around this book. Try. Read. Fascinating.

I'm still too much of a chicken to actually detox. Besides, I detoxed while sick--four days without coffee, alcohol, or cigarettes! If that's not detoxing, I don't know what is. (Okay, so I drank tea. Whatever.)

Making Mix CDs for every mood helps with the June Gloom. So does coffee. MMMMMM, COFFEE.

I'm making dinner for the LT tonight and it has to be vegetarian because I am! He seems okay with that. Hope he's okay with mushrooms.

And last but certainly not least: Happy Orgasm Day!