Yeah, and I mean, there’s even lines in the Bible about figuring things out for yourself, which fit with my general philosophy, and there’s also a caution that just because one thing is okay for one person, it doesn’t mean it’s automatically okay for everyone, and so my mentality has to be careful.
This means that just because I believe something is not a sin doesn’t mean that someone else does, and everyone’s judged for themselves.
I’m sure if there is an intermediary point between now and the end of time where the majority rest waiting for the final judgment, there are many people tormenting themselves with guilt for eating meat on a Friday.
Going into the weeds a bit I believe that at the very end of things, that eternal piece of ourselves will be examined, and if it’s found to be good enough, it gets a pass on to the next realm, and if it’s found to not be good enough, well, hopefully it gets tossed back for a second try.
But worst case, it just ceases to be, because there’s no way that the God that invented love would punish someone eternally for temporary things, unless somehow they figured out the exact truth of everything and then used that truth to destroy as many eternal things as possible on purpose, with knowledge aforethought, fully cognizant of the consequences of their actions.
Even in Revelations the fire of hell that everyone talks about is called the “Second Death”. It’s not eternal hellfire and burning while all the joyous beautiful people clothed in white with wings play forever in paradise.
They just poof. They’re gone.
They cease to be.
So my walk, from what I understand, is not about finding the single exact right way out of all of the ways that are presented in the entire universe to meet the one specific set of requirements that is just good enough to let me through.
Mine is to learn what is out there, and to do my best to experience, and to figure out what is right for my soul, and then present that to my Creator, and take the gamble on whether or not He agrees.
I respect that a lot and have somewhat similar beliefs. I follow Marcus Aurelius’s beliefs on the morality of the divine: I will live a life striving for morality, thinking for myself, judging for myself, and struggling against the difficulty of putting beliefs into practice, and if the divine and I find ourselves in disharmony of right and wrong then it will have to convince me that I’m the one who’s wrong.
I will note that I think a lot of people really miss the point of meat on Fridays. It’s supposed to be a mild fast, and back in the day Catholics were supposed to fully fast on Fridays in lent. But yeah I feel like a lot of people get the rituals and morality mixed up. Yeah you’re supposed to fast when you’re supposed to fast, it should be an act of humility and self control, but the real sin isn’t when you eat when you’re not supposed to, but when you don’t feed your neighbor when you are supposed to. The rituals and lesser rules are supposed to keep your mind focused on the parts of the religion that make you a better person.
I simply hope that the face divinity shows me in the end is that of my patron goddess. Not because I cannot explain my actions to other deities, even the Christian god, but because she’s the aspect of divinity I most resonate with and understand.
Yeah, and I mean, there’s even lines in the Bible about figuring things out for yourself, which fit with my general philosophy, and there’s also a caution that just because one thing is okay for one person, it doesn’t mean it’s automatically okay for everyone, and so my mentality has to be careful.
This means that just because I believe something is not a sin doesn’t mean that someone else does, and everyone’s judged for themselves.
I’m sure if there is an intermediary point between now and the end of time where the majority rest waiting for the final judgment, there are many people tormenting themselves with guilt for eating meat on a Friday.
Going into the weeds a bit I believe that at the very end of things, that eternal piece of ourselves will be examined, and if it’s found to be good enough, it gets a pass on to the next realm, and if it’s found to not be good enough, well, hopefully it gets tossed back for a second try.
But worst case, it just ceases to be, because there’s no way that the God that invented love would punish someone eternally for temporary things, unless somehow they figured out the exact truth of everything and then used that truth to destroy as many eternal things as possible on purpose, with knowledge aforethought, fully cognizant of the consequences of their actions.
Even in Revelations the fire of hell that everyone talks about is called the “Second Death”. It’s not eternal hellfire and burning while all the joyous beautiful people clothed in white with wings play forever in paradise.
They just poof. They’re gone.
They cease to be.
So my walk, from what I understand, is not about finding the single exact right way out of all of the ways that are presented in the entire universe to meet the one specific set of requirements that is just good enough to let me through.
Mine is to learn what is out there, and to do my best to experience, and to figure out what is right for my soul, and then present that to my Creator, and take the gamble on whether or not He agrees.
I respect that a lot and have somewhat similar beliefs. I follow Marcus Aurelius’s beliefs on the morality of the divine: I will live a life striving for morality, thinking for myself, judging for myself, and struggling against the difficulty of putting beliefs into practice, and if the divine and I find ourselves in disharmony of right and wrong then it will have to convince me that I’m the one who’s wrong.
I will note that I think a lot of people really miss the point of meat on Fridays. It’s supposed to be a mild fast, and back in the day Catholics were supposed to fully fast on Fridays in lent. But yeah I feel like a lot of people get the rituals and morality mixed up. Yeah you’re supposed to fast when you’re supposed to fast, it should be an act of humility and self control, but the real sin isn’t when you eat when you’re not supposed to, but when you don’t feed your neighbor when you are supposed to. The rituals and lesser rules are supposed to keep your mind focused on the parts of the religion that make you a better person.
I simply hope that the face divinity shows me in the end is that of my patron goddess. Not because I cannot explain my actions to other deities, even the Christian god, but because she’s the aspect of divinity I most resonate with and understand.