Well, I drove up the driveway after a long day at work. Lo and behold... My house had grass. I left this morning and had trees, shrubs, and curbing, but lots of empty dirt. I damn near teared up. Instead I jumped out of my car and approached my landscaper with a non-chalantness that would give GW (king of stupid swagger) a woody.
I told him it looked great and was pleased with his work. He was doing a few final things with the sprinkling systems and hung around for about 15 more minutes. As he drove away I rushed out the back door and danced a silly jig on my newly sodded backyard. The new house is done. I will post some pix later (must share joy).
Now, why should I bother you with this little personal disclosure of simple pleasure? Here is why... I love nature. I did not have this love and curiosity as a religious person. It seemed that, for me at least, religion dulled my senses and stole my joi de vivre. AS my moniker suggests, I am very much a heretic. I have no respect for authority of any kind. My motto is put up or shut up. If your point of view has merit, it will support itself with reason.
I grew up on the LDS faith. I was taught, from birth, that once the bishop, stake president, seventy, general authority, or Prophet spoke the thinking was done. For the damage that this one insidious and disease-ridden idea has wrought, I will, forever, detest that ridiculous cult. IT is a virus that poisons the mind and saps the soul of the joy of existence and curiosity. Repugnant.
Now, don't let it be said that I discriminate against only the LDS faith. All religions are just poorly articulated pyramid schemes. All faiths sell you the invisible/non-existent fear of judgment, hell and damnation. Then, they sell you the cure for the disease which they heaped upon you, faith in god. Both are anathema to humanity and truth.
So, how does one reconcile that family and others close adhere to this system of destruction? Simple, life allows us choices. One can courageously ask the questions, or fearfully accept the bullshit shoveled into our empty heads by others. I don't have to like the BS itself to respect one's right to choose that path. It is only the children who are victims. A child's tabula rasa (blank mind) has not developed the tools required to reason, think, and doubt. Therefore everything religious poured into their minds is disgusting to me. I will challenge the brainwashing of a child at every opportunity. It is understood, in the end, that all the efforts on my part may have no lasting effect, but it is the right thing to do. Something of a Sisyphean task I am finding out.
In the meantime I will sit amid the wondrous smells, sights, sounds, and textures of nature around me and thank those who took time to give me the gift of doubt, question, and reason.
HH
