Um....hello.
Just wanted to tell you a bit about me in this new blog. A blog, i truly doubt, many will read, but that's alright. i don't do many things for others anyway. This is mostly for my release, pleasure and enjoyment...and to relay to anyone who's bored enough surfing the internet at 2:23 in the morning the crazy details of the life i lead as a nearly 21 year-old college student/inspiring director/poet/grown ass kid. My name is Taylor. More commonly known among my friends as Theory. And i suppose i will take this time to let me readers (the invisible ones and the future ones i would like to have alike) a little bit about myself. *clears throat*
i write poetry
i love music
i love movies
i love tangents
i love cartoons like Chowder
i love philosophy
i love history
i talk a lot
i like the lower case letter "i" because you can never use it in proper grammar by itself and so i use it as often as possible when it is not an assignment
i like to be different
fitting in causes me to stand out further
i sometimes misspell
i love sarcasm
i love cultures
i love languages
i love art
i love religions
i love RuPaul's DragRace on Logo
i love the show "Dead Like Me"
i love coffee flavored ice cream
i like and love a lot more than i dislike and loath things
i am non-denominational although i was born and raised Baptist
not like those crazy white ppl who tried to kidnap those kids in Haiti
the sane, black, Floridian kind (i'm not sure how that's better but i don't recall us kidnapping ppl in the name of god...recently)
i like questions that aren't annoying
i loath Rhianna and will blog about said loathing at some point in time
i dont like the vast majority of reality tv that seems to have defined my generations...like we don't have enough problems
i like meeting new ppl and sharing thoughts and views
i like being spontaneous
i like making fun of stupid things (like the ppl who wanted to kill the Killer Whale...how fucking stupid)
oh yea, and i like to swear, ppl say that swearing is an ignorant mind trying to express itself...i say they can suck dick and kick rocks because i am perfectly capable of self expression. Just because your voice doesn't flow as pleasantly as mine when spouting obscenities doesn't mean you need to be a douche about it
and that's pretty much me in a nutshell physical attributes aside.
ok then...here we go
looking at you
pretty, right?
Sunday, April 10, 2011
On Organized Religion (moved from my other blog)
WARNING: In all likely hood, someone may be offended, and if so then you should probably go home and reflect on your personal beliefs because to be offended means you have doubts on the certainty of your faith and need to do reassurance exercises. Also, i sort of don't care about your feelings.
Reader discretion is advised.
Today I posed a question that sprang to life from a random conversation about faith and religion. That question being: Can organized religion stand without dogma? Let's explore this, shall we?
Well first things first, we need to go about defining things so here are several definitions for the word DOGMA
dog·ma [dawg-muh, dog-]
–noun, plural -mas, -ma·ta [-muh-tuh]
1.
a system of principles or tenets, as of a church.
2.
a specific tenet or doctrine authoritatively laid down, as by a church: the dogma of the Assumption.
3.
prescribed doctrine: political dogma.
4.
a settled or established opinion, belief, or principle.
Aaannd while i'm at it, i suppose i'll define RELIGION for the skeptics out there who think they have answered this question before reading the rest of my blog (you presumptuous jerks)
re·li·gion [ri-lij-uhn]
–noun
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
4.
the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
5.
the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
6.
something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice
Now add ORGANIZED and we are set.
A friend of mine tried to introduce me to a religion called UNITY which is Christian(ish)in faith yet does not believe in a traditional portrayal of heaven and hell and claims to be non dogmatic. Here are their basic teachings:
1) God is the source and creator of all. There is no other enduring power. God is good and present everywhere. 2) We are spiritual beings, created in God's image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good. 3) We create our life experiences through our way of thinking. 4) There is power in affirmative prayer, which we believe increases our connection to God. 5) Knowledge of these spiritual principles is not enough. We must live them.
Now, correct me if i'm wrong but none of those teachings suggest room for error or doubt do they? According to our 4th definition of dogma, these all qualify. Here is a little Q and A from the actual UNITY website. i did not alter them in anyway shape or form.
What does Unity teach about sin and salvation, heaven and hell?
Sin is our separation from God, the Good, in consciousness. Salvation is now—not something that occurs after death.
Last time i checked , Jesus only promised salvation would be there when you died, not that you couldn't get it in life, right?
Is Unity a denomination?
Some aspects of the Unity movement are denominational, and some are not. For example, there are more than 900 Unity churches and study groups affiliated with Unity's sister organization, the Association of Unity Churches International. This is a denominational aspect of Unity. In addition, the Unity Institute at Unity Village trains approximately 60 students every two years to be Unity ministers. This is also denominational. However, the majority of the work done by Unity involves prayer, publishing and education services to people of all faiths. These nondenominational aspects include the prayer ministry, Silent Unity
Question: How is a prayer ministry nondenominational in a church with specific teachings?
Well, those are all the points i can remember from my discussion with my friend but i'll repost if i can remember more.
Please feel free to comment, correct me, and just shared your views on your religion or some other religion
Til next time,
thnx for listening
Theory
Reader discretion is advised.
Today I posed a question that sprang to life from a random conversation about faith and religion. That question being: Can organized religion stand without dogma? Let's explore this, shall we?
Well first things first, we need to go about defining things so here are several definitions for the word DOGMA
dog·ma [dawg-muh, dog-]
–noun, plural -mas, -ma·ta [-muh-tuh]
1.
a system of principles or tenets, as of a church.
2.
a specific tenet or doctrine authoritatively laid down, as by a church: the dogma of the Assumption.
3.
prescribed doctrine: political dogma.
4.
a settled or established opinion, belief, or principle.
Aaannd while i'm at it, i suppose i'll define RELIGION for the skeptics out there who think they have answered this question before reading the rest of my blog (you presumptuous jerks)
re·li·gion [ri-lij-uhn]
–noun
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
4.
the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
5.
the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
6.
something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice
Now add ORGANIZED and we are set.
A friend of mine tried to introduce me to a religion called UNITY which is Christian(ish)in faith yet does not believe in a traditional portrayal of heaven and hell and claims to be non dogmatic. Here are their basic teachings:
1) God is the source and creator of all. There is no other enduring power. God is good and present everywhere. 2) We are spiritual beings, created in God's image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good. 3) We create our life experiences through our way of thinking. 4) There is power in affirmative prayer, which we believe increases our connection to God. 5) Knowledge of these spiritual principles is not enough. We must live them.
Now, correct me if i'm wrong but none of those teachings suggest room for error or doubt do they? According to our 4th definition of dogma, these all qualify. Here is a little Q and A from the actual UNITY website. i did not alter them in anyway shape or form.
What does Unity teach about sin and salvation, heaven and hell?
Sin is our separation from God, the Good, in consciousness. Salvation is now—not something that occurs after death.
Last time i checked , Jesus only promised salvation would be there when you died, not that you couldn't get it in life, right?
Is Unity a denomination?
Some aspects of the Unity movement are denominational, and some are not. For example, there are more than 900 Unity churches and study groups affiliated with Unity's sister organization, the Association of Unity Churches International. This is a denominational aspect of Unity. In addition, the Unity Institute at Unity Village trains approximately 60 students every two years to be Unity ministers. This is also denominational. However, the majority of the work done by Unity involves prayer, publishing and education services to people of all faiths. These nondenominational aspects include the prayer ministry, Silent Unity
Question: How is a prayer ministry nondenominational in a church with specific teachings?
Well, those are all the points i can remember from my discussion with my friend but i'll repost if i can remember more.
Please feel free to comment, correct me, and just shared your views on your religion or some other religion
Til next time,
thnx for listening
Theory
Planned Parenthood
Ok, so there seems to be a lot of talked about the government being shut down because of our country's economical situation. There is also the mention of the government taking the money from the Planned Parenthood funds. Here's how i feel about the situation.
Our country is in serious economic problems. Homelessness is on the rise, people can't afford to pay the mortgages on their homes, the gas in their cars, and in many places, for the groceries to support their families. Unemployment is still a huge problem.
And they want us to stop funding on something like Planned Parenthood? How foolish is that? We're not just talking about contraceptives and birth control here, folks. Regardless of how you feel about pre-marital sex or about the knowledge out there for people to protect themselves from diseases, but also procedures that help to prevent cancers. Pap smears are giving to women who are sexually active or over the age of 21 because of the risk of cervical cancer. It would be like cutting the funding for men to have prostate check ups.
Also if they are trying to create a more wholesome standard of living by thinking that if they stop the funding for Planned Parenthood people will stop having sex, then they are being seriously naive. It is in fact because of the lack of proper sexual education that more and more young adults are becoming more prone to teenage pregnancy and a laundry list of STIs (i was informed they are no longer STDs).
All that will come from this is more children being brought into a world where their parents and families cannot support them. Is there really nothing else they can take the money from? Or perhaps hold some fancy fund raiser. Here we are constantly walking 5K to fund raise for cancers and trying to cure diseases and we're planning on cutting some of the procedures that are in place to make sure they don't happen at all. In what other galaxy might this plan really work?
Your thoughts?
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