Tomorrow..!

The following is a direct response to what was written here...

http://www.nicolavincent-abnett.com/2015/10/krysztof-charamsa-gay-monseigneur-and.html

Hey I've been really likin' what you're throwin' out there Nik..!
I too have been too far away from my keyboard for a while now so I think you've given me some courage (and some much needed topics) and the drive to want to share so again, thanks huh.

I think in today's day and age, organized religion is a complete mess.  Where I live, in the USA, religion has become a business and it's not really doing "well", much like our auto industry...
So to me at least, it seems like a money scheme, a lot like our government's lottery system.  They sell hope, pure and simple.
You buy a lottery ticket, you have a small amount of hope that you might "win" (even if you have to give about forty percent back in the form of taxes.  Seems fair eh..?)
You go to church, you put money in their coffers and presto, you get to feel a little bit of hope, mabes that you will die and go to some magical heaven, mabes that you and yours will be "blessed" (whatever that entails...)

I should mention that I am neither a gambler nor an organized religion supporter but that indeed, is a topic for another day (just some background right).
My son went to school with a child from a Muslim family.  He became rather close to his classmate, they went through five or six years together, becoming almost best friends.
His mom soon became friends with my son's mother (my wife) and one day, we were invited to an Eid celebration.  I reacted rather negatively at first because I'm halfway familiar with some of the Islamic teachings.
And there's no denying the middle east news that is constantly casting a shadow over the Islamic religion.
So I said no and no way jose you know, I'm the man of the house and I make the rules here and wait a minute, one of the bigger problems I have with the Islamic religion is the way they treat their females.  In case you're not familiar, the Muslims treat women as "slightly" better than you would your house dog or praps your goat out in the backyard.
The women at their celebrations aren't allowed to "party" with the men, they're forbidden to read their own holy book and are basically considered "greatly" inferior to men.

So my wife's response after my pause, was to say that "they" (my son's classmate's family), don't believe in some of the Islamic teachings.  As in, they're "Americanized" Muslims.
Or, that they attend their church (or whatever it's called), they contribute with their pocket books, but when it comes time to actually observe the rituals, they pick and choose.
The women in their household still wear the head covering when they're out and about but their daughters get to attend school (something "true" Islamics don't allow).

So I sorta snort laughed through my nose and said what-what..?  They label themselves Muslim, they attend the ceremonies but they don't really believe some of the stuff that would qualify them as Muslim..?
In the end I submitted and "allowed" my son and his mother to attend with the warning of "hey don't let 'em try to convert you guys eh".  And they went, and hung out and returned home without any holy books or vestments so I was satisfied.

My lengthy way around the point is this, if you're going to label yourself "something", should there be an asterisk at the end to symbolize that you've created your own amendments?
And really, with the way we humans are constantly changing our minds and contradicting ourselves (I'm a champion contradictator)...
Can we really believe that any two people anywhere believe the same thing at the same time for any real length of time?
Or, is my hamburger the same as your lasagna simply because both contain some amount of ground beef?

A simple Google search informs me that there are "many" sects or types of Muslim.
Shouldn't they mabes, sort it all out so that the first one gets to be Muslim number one, the second becomes Muslim number two and so on..?
Or are they all so insistent that their version is "the right", that all the fighting is really just so the winner can claim that they were the best all along and now can hoist the flag Muslim Number One for the rest of eternity..?
Here in the USA, we have some "divisions" of Christianity.  Some call themselves Methodist or Presbyterian or, for the non-creatives, Christian "Reformed".
Why can't the Muslims re-label themselves so we know who's who and what they believe in..?
Is it because there's simply so many different aspects that we'd all have to take a college course called Understanding the Thirty Seven Different Interpretations of Islam before we could pretend to know anything?
Is it because the beliefs are ever changing as people learn and grow and move about the globe, that even if you were a Muslim type Seventeen yesterday, today you're no longer?

Or is it just that we pile so much freakin' importance on ritual and "tradition"..?
Just because it was done like this a thousand years ago, we have to do it the same or we won't be as cool as they were.
And yeps, that seems to be "it" now doesn't it...

We hold our history, our "tradition" up on the highest pedestal because if we didn't, where would the significance be?
If we have a holiday called Christmas that is to be celebrated with a prickly tree and lights, is it "wrong" for someone else to celebrate the same holiday with a palm tree..?
If we are to have a Nativity scene complete with little baby Jesus in his manger, is it okay to have two Josephs instead of a Joseph and a Mary?
If the core belief of a holiday is giving and caring about our fellow men (and women), is it against the rules to have the wrong tree, the wrong figurine.  The wrong lover..?

It seems to me that all the importance is placed in the least important spot possible.
The history of the Catholic church is what matters, not the "day to day" stuff.  Remember that this is a group that slaughtered bazillions of people in the name of their god (I think it was called the Crusades, it even got a special name huh...)
If I am an important member of the Catholic church and I want to announce that I am gay and that it's okay with god, should I understand that the church doesn't care one bit about me and my lover?  That the only thing they hold precious is the stuff that happened centuries ago?

I think it's completely backwards to hold such traditions above living, breathing, loving people who are here with us right now.
I think that modern organized religions of today view people as worms sneaking out the bottom of the colander while they keep trying to duct tape the holes shut.
I might have some really good ideas about how we can finally shed these ignorant beliefs, how we can make all the holy wars end and how we can finally hold people accountable for their sins.
But you might have to check back in a thousand years or so, because until then, well my words don't count for much huh.