If You're Going to be Christian, Do it for a "Good" Reason

By Jazzybelle ~

I'm constantly reminded of how religion works with my family being the primary reason. However, the thing that had helped me see religion in a more positive light is the game known as Okami (if you like Japanese mythology or would like to play a game with an amazing story, this is the game for you). With the use of Okami, I was able to take one of my biggest pet peeves for religion and turn it into a moral lesson for myself as well as those who don't believe in "God".

Let's start with where religion primarily comes from. Religion was an explanation for why things were as they are back when science wasn't supplying answers for everything we used to ponder on (Ex: Why is the sky blue and what are the clouds made of? What's beyond the sun that "revolves" around us?"). As science began to answer more and more of the beliefs that were slowly becoming unpopular, the people of religion felt threatened and fought back either by silencing the outspoken, trying to update their religious text so the contradictions of the past are not heard of again, or more physical attacks. This has been a sort of tug-of-war between people who preferred to believe in "God" and those who'd rather believe in "logical pursuits".

Today, religion isn't really so much an explanation, but more so something to dictate how we should live our life.

I believe that the only reason most Christians even believe in Christianity [...] is simply because their close friends or family are Christians.In my idea, I believe that the only reason most Christians even believe in Christianity, a religion where they don't even go to church for or read the religious text of half the time, is simply because their close friends or family are Christians. The other reason is a crutch to fall back on. When all is lost or everything looks to be going a bad way, a religious person is more than likely to pray to whatever deity they have to make it better. They choose to let everything fall into the hands of some deity who may or may not exist.

And that is probably one of my biggest pet peeves. Thanks to my own stubborn nature, I refuse to let people do things for me because I'm positive I can do it the way I want by approaching the problem myself. Am I saying that falling back on another for help is bad? No, there are times when you should be able to rely on your friends and family as well as times when you should accept the fact that you can't help.

However, when you are doing nothing to help the situation and praying to that "God" will make everything better, I'll just have to shake my head and walk away from you for you are doing the opposite of what I've learned from Okami:

Those "deities" of yours (feel free to substitute that word with family or friends) shouldn't be those who you just "talk to" just because you're in a pinch, but rather because you actually chose and want to believe in that "deity" (feel free to substitute "love your friends/family and truly want to be with them" if you want).

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