Easter

Today was Easter. I am currently writing this in a word document because my internet is down, which reminded me there are other things in this world with which to occupy my time.

Soon I will round up these thoughts of mine and read some before I get to sleep, as I am already lying in bed right now. I think the whole reason why I am writing this is because I initially had the urge to read because I had some free time before retiring to bed prior to my 8 am class. But I suppose what I would say is the generator of this reading idea would be the concept of Easter. Well, perhaps less the concept of Easter and more about people’s reactions to the holiday.

Like any other holiday, the scheme no longer seems to be to project the true nature of the day; it is as we all have noticed by now, for commercial profit. So if this is the case, it bothers me to no extent how everyone uses these holidays as platforms for their preaching. Today, of course was ridden with status updates and tweets about our Lord & Savior, even though he actually only happens to be the “Lord and Savior” for some of us. It is not that I am opposed to folks expressing faith via their social networking or media sites, because as I write this I realize that by claiming the antithesis of faith I am also expressing my credo. What I am constantly faced with that frustrates me to no end and that escalated to an unbearable crescendo today is people getting preachy about their faith. I do not try to push my lack of belief on you, kiddo so do not get all “to the depths of hell with thee” with me because you find yourself to be more righteous than I.

So when I casually browse the updates which are to undoubtedly contain something about the resurrection of Jesus on the supposed anniversary of such an occurrence, the last thing I want to see is someone pretending they are better than me because it is some Sunday in April. I respect your beliefs, yes, so I am not going to go around commenting “hail satan” and “f*@# this jesus guy” to stir the ever-boiling religious pot (granted, I am sure some did exactly that). So why exactly do these religious folk find it suitable to assume themselves better than me because on Easter they (actual quote from an update today) “remember that today isn’t about bunny and eggs, it’s about our Savior Jesus Christ dying for our sins and resurrecting!” In response I merely thought to myself that today basically is only about bunny and eggs to me, a non-believer.

I know that religious zealots have always been forthright and very outgoing with their message of God, but when it invades my realm of thought I am apt to feel a little offended. This is what led me to post the status “Don’t use this holiday to shove religion down my throat, I need to save room for peeps.”

Sure, call it sacrilegious, whatever but that was not my attempt. What I said was simply a statement out of frustration for people who cannot appreciate a day such as Easter as simply an excuse for any type of person to celebrate, no matter their belief system. Do not try to make me feel bad because I am celebrating this holiday with the exact same intentions as you—yes, that is right, do not try to mask it, you and your kids and your whole goddamn family loves the shit out of the candy and the food. Stop forcing your beliefs on me, especially in casually situations, and quit it with the guilt tactics, it’s not going to make me believe the miracle of immaculate conception, resurrection or the number of your other supposed infallible fantasies. Do it in your own space and your own time, do not be ignorant and at least be respectful to those who are not in alignment with your own faith.

After discussing the topic with my boyfriend further, bless his soul (meant as an idiom here, of course) we agreed completely with one another. What our discussion made me realize is how this kind of speech is aimed at a believer-non believer polarity, but actually offends a very wide spectrum of individuals. For those who are religious, but not in the vein of Christian belief, how are they not to feel at least a little indifferent to such advances? Not only are these kinds of statements rude, but they are ignorant to the whole populace who does not share the same belief  system as them.

Let me just narrow this discussion down a bit and depart from my rant to just say that people take religion very seriously and I am beginning to understand why. My lack of faith in any religion has begun to make me feel the same sense of passion that these religious folk do, and I understand why. If they feel as strongly as I do about their belief as I do my disbelief, then any statement to the contrary can be extremely offensive. Stating anything to the contrary is basically telling a person that something is false, something that an individual centers a large part of their life around believing is fact. In doing so, you disrupt the very foundations of their life as it is built upon their belief. Having just begun to really embrace atheism, I am beginning to understand the essence of religiosity (or lack thereof) and the powers it contains.

On that note, I wanted to conclude that I am going to end this day with some reading, and am going to get back to where I last stopped in Richard Dawkins The God Delusion. Although I have heard bad reviews from some intellectual friends of mine on this book, I will be the first to admit that I am essentially ignorant and need a stepping-stone to greater things in my atheism. Allow me to have some evidence to think this book is anything less than genius before it gets tossed. What a terribly long day. Siighhh.