God?

I was raised in the Baptist Church, like most children in the south.  My mother saw that we attended Sunday School and the 2 services each week, one in the morning and one in the evening.  We also usually attended a Wednesday evening service, (just to keep us in check).  I never gave it much thought.  It was just the way it was, with everyone.  The few families who chose not to attend were looked down upon and sneered at, but we did "pray" for them that one day they would, like us, see the light.  There was a certain arrogance that went along with being one of the flock.  It was a very comfortable feeling.  We told ourselves that we were special, that God loved us more.

By contrast, many of us went to "private academies", which were basically schools established to keep us segragated from black people.  These schools taught love of God, love of country, and racism.  I went from first through twelfth grade, living in the blackest county in Mississippi, without ever attending school with a black person.  It didn't even seem odd to me.  I rememember wondering what was wrong with the white kids who attended public schools.

When we were children we followed what we were taught and didn't question much, at least I didn't.  We weren't bad people.  We just didn't know better.  We should know better now.

As an adult my views on the world have certainly solidified, like cement that had been mushy for the first half of my life and then seemed to come together and harden, and now are inpenetrable.  I don't believe in the church teachings of my youth and I don't take the Bible as the word of God.  I believe that human kind would be much better off if people were less concerned about the afterlife and more concerned about the here and now and the future on earth.  The "word" of God has led to warped beliefs and actions. Religion has corrupted more than it has saved.

I think about these things all the time, probably too much.  Like everyone else, I have no idea what the meaning of life is, but I know I am here to serve in some capacity, and not so that I'm assured eternal life.  To me that is an insincere quest.  It's very selfish.  Service is meant to be outside oneself, a purely selfless act, that should be done with or without believing one is scoring "brownie points" with the Almighty.

These are, of course, just my opinions.  I know a lot of very religious people who are truly wonderful and kind and do a lot of good.  But, that is who they are, with or without religion.  I also know atheists who possess the same qualities.  Whatever we believe, we should all leave a little bit of space in our minds to at least consider other possibilities, to crack the hardened cement, just a little.