the future of religion

I just finished up din din. A spicy dry-rubbed beef steak cooked in a coconut sauce, topped with abacate (a less-sweet, amazonian cousin of the avacado), on the side, garlic and onion potatoes. It was good. Do you miss me now Apayo? If there are any independently wealthy females reading this, take note... sans pre-nup you could have dinner like this almost every night (Tuesday night is half-price burger night at Sonic, Sunday is the day we eat with your parents). Enough about business, on to the meat of the post.

No metaphors or creativity in today's title. I'm going to predict the future of religion. First I'd like to comment that I've never held much stock in new religions. If a religion is correct, it's been here since the beginning of time. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism have a chance (Buddhism?); LDS, Christian Science, and other modern inventions are right out. Seriously, if there is a God, she wouldn't wait until 1972 to reveal the truth, thus condemning thousands or millions of years of prior humanity to an eternity of gnashing. Then again, the condemnation of others seems to be an issue for many upstanding individuals in a score of religions. People just don't like the fact that a benevolent being could condemn an altruistic non-believer to a fiery eternity. For centuries, this has been a weapon of cub-scout level atheists and an obstacle for budding apologists. Theologian’s response to this, "well maybe the scripture can't be taken literally in all cases."

Good job there, Capitan Dumbass... way to add ambiguity to my quest for a favorable eternity. Why not just pave the way for cults where only the leader dude really knows what's up. You say you want more than that, well I'm not suprised. Maybe, if I'm lucky, the leader dude will send me the truth twice a month. Some people call this an effect of post-modernism on Christianity, others call it spineless. I call it both, and the future of religion.


Eventually we're all going to get along. Cue the brass section and Don LaFontaine... "the future is here... the future is now." As the major world religions become more accepting of each other the Bahá'í Faith is growing. The Bahá'í Faith is spineless, and I like it. The Bahá'í Faith in a nutshell is everybody's kind of right, okay? Bahá'í is monotheistic and more or less believes that all religion up until now is the progression of morality and should be viewed as history to learn from while we all move towards order and progress.


I personally know Jews, Christians, and Muslims that believe "all good people go to heaven." I was speaking with a self proclaimed catholic tonight who believes similarly. She has refused to change religions in the past, but only because she knows and is comfortable with Catholicism. Interesting... I was expecting her to remain catholic because, "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light." I sure missed the mark on that one, huh? She is aware of Bahá'í but is going to die catholic because she's comfortable. A Bahá'í might call her old school. I objectively call her a hypocrite (in her defense, she's a very nice, intelligent girl, who realizes the errors in her own logic and is also a self-proclaimed hypocrite). If you’re going to stand for something, fucking stand up for it. I have to give Muslims some credit for having a few more lumbar comparatively. They think you’re going to hell and they’ll tell you about it. They’ll be the last to convert to Bahá'í.

My biggest complaint with Bahá'í is that it taints the word religion. It’s too easy. Almost everybody is invited, even scientists. One of the 12 principals of Bahá'í faith is the harmony of religion and science. This is cool because I like Stephen Hawking. I suppose technically athiests, some agnostics, and polytheists aren't invited. I don't think the Bahá'í faith really require enough "faith." I'm drawing that fine line between moral standard and religion, but my opinion on this matter is moot. I think the values that most religions promote are fantastic, and the world needs more of them. Bahá'í intends to accept these and build on them. I'm not calling myself a Bahá'í just yet, but you won't see me shed a tear as the flocks cower at the mention of the wolf named "condemnation" and find solace in this haven. It's not too late to switch. Just remember, two minutes in heaven is better than one minute in heaven.


In other news: I've started getting the word of the day from dictionary.com last week... I've only received one word I didn't know, and I forgot what it was. They need to up the ante a bit.

Edit: Quite pertinent tidbits from E in the comments.
-The Qur'an technically states that all monotheistic religious persons are invited to the big eternal event. There is no "only way", just multiple names for Allah. Still, we shall see who folds last.
- The Baha'i Temple in Chicago burbs is the largest in the Western Hemisphere (I believe). They're quite accepting; pick God or a higher power, as long as you pick only one. Something like it is certainly the future of religion. Philanthropic, yet I agree spineless. And what about those who are not peace-loving, honest, chaste, and trustworthy? Are they accepted even though their lives do not reflect the teaching? Can the world really improve through our attempts at oneness, or is there too much hatred, hunger, and discrimination that we need something more drastic?Unfortunately, even those who claim a savior over a teacher are too busy bickering over how to spell condemnation.

Interesting about the Qur'an... I have the same questions about Bahá'í. While informative, the Wiki article doesn't answer questions on the finer points of the faith. Do they have heaven and hell? I don't think so... I think it's really just a moral standard.