I had a rather nice afternoon talking with a lesbian doing grad work in theology. She didn't press her opinions on me, instead, listened to me, commented on what I was saying about the Catholic church and taught me a thing or two.
That was nice. It's nice to consider religion in ways such as these.
I got a forward from Mom. I liked it. I like Andy Rooney. I like him a lot. What I didn't like was this: I was asked to send this on if I agree or delete if I don't. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God..[sic] Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having 'In God We Trust' on our money and having 'God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to BE QUIET!!!
After, it said pass it on if you agree. I deleted it.
Remember when women didn't have the right to vote? Should they have just been quiet? Just because somebody is the minority doesn't mean they shouldn't have a voice. Remember people with disabilities? The Americans with Disabilities Act speak for them. Should we have told them to just be quiet? The Civil Rights Movement? Nazi Germany? Oppression of all sorts?
Your religion is your choice, not your right. Why don't you just quietly thank your own G/god for what you've been given (including the right to freedom of religion)? It's separation of C/church and state, something I couldn't emphasize enough if I tried.
I'm sick of Christians trying to shove their beliefs down the throats of others. This isn't directed at anyone particularly that I know, but I'm still sick of hearing about it. I'm sick of the pledge of allegiance. I'm sick of "in God we trust" and the argument about it.
Let's work on trusting each other and then we can work on trusting God.
But enough of that.
Perhaps we should look at the basic tenets of the religions: peace and love. Let's practice those instead. Let's be a little nicer to everyone we meet. Even a smile is God in practice. Do that instead of sitting in Church for one hour a week.
Also, these Christians need to check their numbers. The number quoted in the email dates back to 1990 (86%). The current number is hovering around 75.5% (www.religioustolerance.org). Quoted: " 14.1% do not follow any organized religion. This is an unusually rapid increase -- almost a doubling -- from only 8% in 1990.
A USA Today/Gallup Poll in 2002-JAN showed that almost half of American adults appear to be alienated from organized religion. If current trends continue, most adults will not call themselves religious within a few years. Results include:
About 50% consider themselves religious (down from 54% in 1999-DEC)
About 33% consider themselves "spiritual but not religious" (up from 30%)
About 10% regard themselves as neither spiritual or religious.
Well. Alright. Let's all practice our own spirituality and leave the rest to everyone else.
I'm watching the Food Network talk about donuts in Colorado. I am dearly looking forward to getting back home. I'm thinking I'm going to go to a concert at Red Rocks with Katie, so that will make my summer dreams come true. (coloradans, night, music, what could get better than that?)
I took pictures the other day on a solo walk around downtown....I'll post them soon, maybe tonight.
I actually meant to blog about my week; it's been wild. Instead, I'm now emotionally and religiously exhausted.
So sorry. Expect something better soon.
Flowers. Out of focus.
My favorite
The city of Chicago as seen from Buckingham Fountain (I'm facing west)
The fountain. The fountain pictures didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. Dusk was coming, lighting was moderately mediocre and my battery was dying.
Bird.
My favorite Metra stop in Chicago. Metra are the trains that go to the suburbs.
This fountain is constantly changing faces. When they were building it, they got a bunch of pictures of Chicagoland people and put them up.
The state of Illinois in sidewalk ark. Yes, the Cardinal is the state bird.
The bean! The bean!
Me.
i love this
