I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

~Susan B. Anthony

I am amazed at how judgmental and cruel supposed Christian people can be.  I was raised Catholic.  My mother is Catholic, my father is agnostic, and they both are former hippies.  (when I say former, I mean that they do not dress like hippies, but retain the same beliefs and values)  so I was raised with religion and faith, but I was also taught to question authority, respect all and find the good in everyone I meet. 

I have been on a spiritual quest for a while now.  And when people ask about it I talk about it.  I have read books about Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, the Sacred Feminine, Mary Magdalene, Celtic lore and Goddess worship.  I have discovered that I never lost my way, I just needed a new perspective.  These ancient cultures/religions all believe that respecting nature and respecting each other should come above all else.  Basically, treat others as you wish to be treated.  And the three fold rule, anything you do will come back to you times three.  If you are nice your niceness will come back to three fold, if you are cruel, you will receive three times the amount of cruelty.  I have always lived this way, (again the hippie parents influence)  I don’t believe that reading the bible and preaching it will get me into heaven, but being a good person, being nice, helping my fellow humans, and always having a kind word will bring me more reward than anything else. 

I have seen that people have a tendency to ridicule any belief or value that does not mirror their own.  They tend to demonize the unfamiliar.  Because of this, the ancient cultures went into hiding because they were branded evil.  The amazing thing is that these cultures/religions survived even in the face of annihilation.  Why?  Because there is truth in them, there is an undeniable comfort in them.   The main focus of these pre-Christian religions/cultures is to respect nature and all of mankind.  Can Christians honestly say they follow this?

My sister in law and her husband call themselves Christian.  And they are wonderful people, they work with society’s cast offs and rehabilitate those that the world has given up on.  However, they also sit in judgment of their own family.  They have told my father in law that he will most likely end up in hell because he does not attend church and questions the existence of God.  I’m sorry, but I can not find a shred of respect there.  The kids once found a slug in the yard when they were playing and she showed them how the slug melts when you pour salt over it.  Even my 10 year old questioned her respect for nature and all living things (goddess bless her)

I am not saying Christians are bad people and I don’t want to stereo type; I know there are all kinds of people in all religions.  I believe most are good and caring.  What I am saying is that I seem to be practicing what they preach, yet according to them I am still destined for hell, but they go against their own teachings and judge and disrespect me, and they get to go to heaven because they read the bible? 

All I can do is continue to follow my destiny and help my love and my girls to follow theirs.   My hope is that one day my girls will live in a world where there is religious tolerance, not only for the mainstream religions, but for the forgotten religions and even the non-religions. 

The story that got me ranting about this today is here.