30 Things in 30 Days (#26: Popular Notion)

Day 26: What Popular Notion Do You Think the World Has Most Wrong?

This is a really tough question. There are so many "popular notions" that the world has incredibly wrong, and there are even more that Americans are way off on. I've considered writing about the ideals set for women's beauty (the idea that women have to be thin to be beautiful), or materialism (the idea that having more things will make us happy), or the notion that we must protect children's self-esteem at all costs (you know, giving trophies for merely participating or passing them when they really can't read). I've considered writing about the "breast is best" propaganda which often makes non-breastfeeding women feel like horrible mothers and may not even necessarily be true, especially for moms who aren't producing enough milk to sustain their babies.  I could have written about the notion that homosexuality is wrong or weird. Or, I could have written about the real reason our education system is failing - and it's NOT the teachers. Other topics that crossed my mind were health care, welfare, entitlement, wives taking husbands' last names, femininity being weak, that being "family" gives you a free pass to do as you please to other family members, that there is such a thing as a "bad word", or that we are evolving... I say we are now "devolving" as a human race. Any and all of these topics I could have written about and had a LOT to say!

But, many of these ideas are somewhat restricted to this (and other Western) culture(s). They are not "world" issues necessarily, so I'm going to go with something else: religion. I think the world has religion all wrong. Religion is not worth fighting for or over. I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to pray, believe, feel, worship, and observe the way he/she feels is best for him/her - and that is no one else's business as long as it's not hurting someone else. An all-loving, all-knowing God (or holy, superior power) would understand that humans are fallible. We are going to believe the wrong thing from time to time; we're going to pass judgment; we're going to change our beliefs and lose faith from time time to time; we're going to disagree with one another and have our own opinions. But more than any of that, an all-loving God/power would want only peace. God wouldn't want the people of the world to be fighting over God, to be at war, to be hurting each other over a belief. And, in my opinion, all of this is just a guess, blind faith that no one has any real evidence about. Why fight over something no one can prove? All that matters is that we accept any and all beliefs (as long as they don't hurt others). 

I cannot wrap my head around the idea that religious people believe other people are going to Hell, are not worthy of living, or need to "saved." What other people believe is not any of my business. I may think they are wrong, that they make no logical sense, that their faith is based on complete nonsense, that they can't think for themselves - or any other thing about them... but it matters not. It's not up to me to say who is "right" or "wrong." We need to stop fighting and just be accepting of any and all differences of opinions. Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Agnostic, Atheist - who cares!? Just be okay with what YOU believe and stop worrying about everybody else. It has to stop there - with you and your beliefs. Believe in God? Great, good for you. Don't believe in God? Fine, too. Jesus saves? Awesome. Jesus who? That's cool, too. Keeping Passover? Way to go. Never thought of keeping it? Big deal. 

Religion, pure and simple, should be a completely individual experience. For me, I am Jewish, and I am more of a cultural Jew than a religious Jew, and I'm more spiritual than religious. I celebrate holidays to connect with my roots, not necessarily with God. I question God, and I am not sure if the Bible was intended to be more than a literary work - or just a commentary on an incomplete history. It's all a guess for me, which is why it's so hard for me to understand why others get so angry or heated about this discussion when someone disagrees with them. If you have true faith, you wouldn't care what others think because all that really matters is that YOU are good with YOUR God/higher power. If we could all just focus on our own spirituality and beliefs and leave everyone else to figure that out for themselves, we'd all be much better off.

*Past posts in this series can be found here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20,Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25