Note: I don't have a degree in Theology. These are the explanations of each religion as best as I'm able to understand them. If you know something I do not, put it in the comment section and I'll look into it and change what I've written accordingly if necessary.
It's impossible to talk about something like religion without coming off as spiteful or devious, but a lot of that is in the eye of the beholder. I listen to friends and certain family members say that Muslims are all evil, but then tell you how offensive it is that you openly disagree with Christianity, so the game is rigged. If you speak openly, honestly, and without bad intentions, there are still those who demand special treatment and who will always see you as being offensive. Bottom line: I'm not trying to be. Just understand that.
I'm doing my best to understand the world's various viewpoints on the existence of man, nature, reality, etc. I'm no expert... but I'm gonna take a crack at breaking things down as best as possible. It's not just because I'm interested. It's also because I think people cling to their own belief and dismiss the others without really understanding them. This leads to way too many problems. So, regardless of what you think is true, let's all try to get a little wiser and a little less ignorant.
And finally, just to get it out of the way: I don't really believe any of these.
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Scientology
Scientology is the belief that billions of years ago, an all-powerful galactic overlord named Xenu froze all of his enemies and packed them into jet-shaped space ships, putting them in different places across the world in volcanoes and then hitting them with nukes. Xenu then gathered the "spirits" or essences of those he had killed and showed them violent and chaotic imagery in order to brain wash them into forgetting who they really were. They became lost essences called "Thetans". And "Thetans" are inside every human being. So, basically, mankind is a race of immortal beings who have forgotten the nature of their existence. They are unaware that they are made up of thetans, which are basically a materialized version of the source of all power in the cosmos. The world itself does not actually exist, but because the "thetan" agrees that it exists, the world we live on is simply "allowed" to survive for now. "Thetans" are actually believed to be miniature little spirits that live inside your body. They basically catch and accumulate all the negative things that happen to you. Then, when you face new experiences, the negative energy gathered by the thetans makes it harder for you to cope or manage yourself. When becoming a scientologist, you descend into various levels of commitment after you've been there awhile. The reason for this, they claim, is that any new recruit who was told the truth from the get-go would be driven insane by the awesome truth of reality.
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| Scientologists rally |
Christianity
Christianity is the belief that an all-powerful, all-eternal creator of the universe created the world in 6 and a half days. Wanting company, he then created a creature called "man" in his own image. Wanting to give the man company, he took one of the man's ribs and created a woman out of it. The God left a tree with magical fruit on it and told the man and woman never to eat from it. They did (thanks to an evil creature who took the form of a talking snake) and from that, innocence was lost. God would occasionally intervene in the lives of man, from sending his angels down to taking the form of a burning bush. He would also lay out strict rules that would, among other things, justify torture, justify slavery, justify the rape of your slaves (so long as you married them), justify violence against your slaves (so long as they got back up after), convict you of thought crime, and demand obedience. He would also demand strict, moral codes of ethics. He demanded his followers never steal, never commit adultery, and always honor they father and thy mother, on penalty of death. After a while, God became very disappointed in his creations, and decided to drown them all in an enormous flood, save for 2 of each animal and one human family to watch over the creatures on a boat. On his second go-around, man would be more impressive, and God decided to have a son in human form, who he would see tortured and sacrificed so that his followers could be forgiven for their sins. His son (Jesus Christ) would bring with him a much softer list of demands and would teach strong moral philosophies about giving everything one had for another, about non-violence, and about moral purity and kindness. His son brought with him, also, the introduction of the concept of Hell, and the first mention of a place where those who failed to accept both the son and the father into their lives would be tortured and burned for eternity. The son, returning from the grave, ascended into the heavens, vowing to return for a judgement day, where the devout followers would be rewarded and all others would be punished.
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| Christians rally |
Paganism
Paganism is hard to sum up because it can mean a number of things. Generally speaking, to be Pagan is to be seen as being "savage" or uncultured (not always a fair assessment), and to have more than one God (polytheism). These Gods varied depending on the geography of the religion, and so did the stories and rules that came with them. "Paganism" is a word that is used to describe anybody who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew... but that's not really a fair assessment, either. Paganism is almost entirely extinct in the world now, though at one time it thrived. Though it is irrelevant in the modern era, many Pagan beliefs and traditions have survived. The Christian religion celebrates Christ's birthday in December, but this is based solely on the pagan Winter Solstice and was chosen as a way to unite traditions. "Isthar", which was pronounced "Easter", was a Pagan holiday that celebrated the resurrection of the pagan God "Tammuz". This of course, laid the foundation for what would become "Easter" in the modern world.
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| Pagans (Wiccans) perform a prayer/ritual |
COMING SOON: PART 2: Norse Gods, Islam, Judaism
