Destiny

Well, people seem to talk about destiny a lot nowadays, and I wanted to get my opinion on the matter off my mind.

Destiny, in it's core, is a belief system that acts upon the thought of life having meaning. Of having some greater purpose. So when an atheist says he believes in destiny, it seems just a little weird.
Now, I am not God and I can't be the one to say that life DOES actually have some greater purpose. And even if it did, I do not see why would it be so. What can we little humans achieve that is so great?
During the time civilizations sprawled out of nowhere and then collapsed into themselves there has been nothing that the before mentioned achieved before they met their end. At least, nothing of value. Said subjectively of course.

Now I do not know where to go further with this, because I don't know what the great thing we can achieve could be. World peace? We can do that right now, and has nothing with the workings of a single man. Living on other planets? Still has no meaning for the little person of today.
The only thing I could think of is building to a greater consciousness, to an extension of the reality we see every day. Still, this will not begin with a single man. If it will, it already has.

Destiny is a powerful word. It's kind of a religion in its base form. Because people find hope in it. They feel like there's something greater waiting for them on the other side.
Hope will always be one of the most powerful emotions a person can feel. Because no matter how hard the times, if your hopes are high enough, you will not give up.
You will live to try to find the thing you promised yourself.

I understand this. But why make things up? Why set yourself up for something that is in the future when you should live today?
Why let yourself live in misery fueled by hope for a better tomorrow?
I have already talked about this, today is the day to act. Not to hope.
Hope is only worthwhile when you have set the wheels in motion of the thing you want to accomplish.
Think of it this way; ''I hope that the car I'm fixing will work when I'm done.'' instead of; ''I hope my car will work the next time I turn the key.''
Instead of hoping to be happy some time in the future, why not do the things that make you happy? Or why not try to find something that makes you happy?
Why waste time picturing how great the world can be, instead of trying to make it a better place yourself?

The cage of fear

Fear is a very powerful tool. And I'm not the only one that knows this. Fear is the foundation for the government, for law, for medical care, for hate...
Fear is a cage, and it's not only a cage we're put in by others, we're also put in that same cage by ourselves and ourselves alone.

Let's think about fear of death. This is the worst fear to have.
People close themselves off from the world because of this fear, some completely avoid going outside because they might be hit by a car or struck by lightning.
I don't fear death. Not because I think, no, I know that something is on the other side, but simply because of the fact that if I fear it, it has already thrown me into the abyss. For if I fear death I will never live fully.

If I want to go parachuting, what's stopping me other than the fear that the parachute won't work and I'll fall on the ground, and recoil from it lifeless?
Why do people even like parachuting? Because it's cool? Because it's trendy? No.
People like it because it's being so close to death for such a long time. A few minutes are a long time when you're staring into the void.
Let's face it, being near death is the only time we feel truly alive. That's why we try to reconstruct that feeling as much as we can with such things as extreme sports.
Maybe this is the reason some atheists hold an irrational fear against us Christians, they fear death more than we do. Because the only thing that awaits them is non-existence.

Not just the fear of death, but any fear is the only thing that's stopping us most of the time. What's stopping you from talking to that girl you like other than fear of rejection? What's stopping you from meeting new people other than the fear of being too awkward? What's stopping you to be the best that you can be other than the fear of failure?

I'm not saying that fear is bad though, because it can be a great motivational tool. Start fearing you'll never get that job you want because you won't try hard enough. Start fearing you'll grow fat and lonely because you don't put in the effort of meeting new people and exercising every day. Start fearing you'll never be the person you want to be because fear stops you.

See that mountain? You can climb it. See that tournament? You can win it. See that ocean? You can swim in it. See that empty canvas? You can paint it. See that fear? You can kill it.

Don't let fear feed off from you, you should feed off from your fear.

Nostalgia

Let's talk about nostalgia a bit here.
I hear a lot about this from older people: ''It was better when I was young.''
By what fact?
Yes, it was better. For you.
Just as I will probably think in 50 years about how the music of today sucks and there are no good movies that make you think.
But that is wrong. What I'll be doing is disregarding the details. Yes, due to the popularity of the internet, a lot of stupid things have surfaced as some great works of art. But that's just because of the accessibility of the internet. Let's take Justin Bieber for example. He's popular because of the internet, not because of his good music, but because of the people that hold high opinions of themselves.
If people who listen to metal or rock or whatever didn't start saying that Justin Bieber has no place in music, he wouldn't get so popular. Let's face it, criticism is reclamation, and inflated criticism is the best kind of reclamation. That's why you know so much about the stupid people, and don't hear anything about the smart people unless you intensively research it or have heard about it before accidentally.
In the masses of today, bad things are more represented than the good ones. What do you think what has more of a chance to end up on the news; a guy who saved 20 people in a car crash, or the 10 people that died?
So, details. If you only go after popularity, chances are you will not like what you see. However, if you try to research it a bit, I bet you'll find a lot of great things that have stood in the shade of more popular things.
Especially in music, there are so much bands unheard of, or at least not as popular as Justin Bieber, who have a lot of well-written and well-composed music.
It's not only like this now.
Think about 50 years ago, everyone knows about the Beatles. You however, have heard their songs but don't like them. From this it's foolish to assume that ALL music is bad. There are other bands of course, maybe some that suit your taste more. But you won't go after that because right at the start, you assume it's not worth the trouble, you've seen it all.
Not only is all this true, nostalgia also somehow represents a higher status. Like you're saying ''I've lived in a better world than the one you are living in right now.''
Another thing is, people often associate good things with their teenage years. Why? Because mostly, the best things happen when you're a teenager. And you associate all these small things with your great experiences.
The more you associate, the more you assume it's the best thing there is.
Let's say, you're listening to a certain song while you're with your loved one. That moment is perfect. And is in your memory for all the times to come. You immediately associate the music with the moment and in your memory this song remains perfect forever.
All of this would be fine and dandy, if people didn't go around criticizing the popular things.
How do you not get this simple fact.
The more you criticize it, the more people hear about it, the more people hear about it, there are more people that do and don't like it, the more people that don't like it, the more people that criticize it.
You see the circular pattern here?
It's OK not to like something, but to go to such great lengths to make people know you really, really, really don't like something is absurd.
That is all.

-K.

The power of now

I fail to understand why people bother with such small and petty things when you have this bigger, beautiful picture to look at.
It's like only focusing on a corner of a painting, or only trying the icing on the cake and saying the cake is bad.
When I look at the stars, I do not only see the star that shines the brightest, I see all of the stars, seemingly so close together, but light years apart. Every one of them brighter than the other, or at least it seems that way for a moment.
So why not take life as you go? Why worry about the little inconveniences that have long since past, or have yet to come?
What's wrong with now? Now seems a pretty good place to be in. The now opens up many possibilities and outcomes, so why not focus on that?
If you think about how great it would be to just put it all behind you and start living a new life, but worry about how it might intervene with your routine, why even think? Act.
The now is a great place to act, to start something. Something greater. Something beautiful.
What is so great about your routine anyways? You're obviously miserable doing it, as specified by the simple fact that you're fantasizing about something else. Maybe, something more exciting or simply something that will make you happier in the long run.
The now has no place for details and plans. It only has enough space to make you act on your thoughts, instead of just thinking them.
Do you know that moment, when you're looking into someone's eyes, but aren't sure if you should kiss them because of how they might react?
I can bet that no matter the outcome, if you kissed them, you wouldn't regret it. However, if you didn't, you'd spend a life time thinking of might could have been. If only you have acted on it.
This is a perfect example of what's wrong with people nowadays. They are too structured. Not enough spontaneity. Too much thinking.
Sometimes, it's good to go with your instincts instead of worrying about the consequences. If not all the time.
What do you think, how great people become great people? By being in a position of power? No. By being genetically predisposed to be one? No. An act of fate? Maybe.
I'm sure of one thing, most didn't get to that position by worrying about every detail. Instead, they seized the moment and took their lives by the neck, leading it into a brighter tomorrow.
So what are you waiting for?
The moment is here.
Seize it.

Why I am religious.

People ask me all the time why am I religious.
They instantly assume I'm religious because I've been brainwashed by my parents when I was little.
Well, to tell you the truth, that's wrong.

My parents are agnostic. They have waited until I was 9 when I was more or less able to make a rational decision on which religion to choose. They presented me with facts about every religion, and also atheism.
I have chose Christianity. Why? Because it had the most sense and the least cons than any other religion. I have considered Buddhism too during that time, but it was simply not the way I want to lead my life.

Contrary to popular belief, I have not chose Christianity because I live in misery, I have not chosen it because it's the only thing I know about, I have not chosen it because of the reasons many people choose it.
I have chosen it self-willingly because I like the idea behind it and I like the ideology it represents.
Though I am Christian, I'm not a fundamentalist. I do not take every word in the Bible literally. I read mostly between the lines. Most Christians would not accept me as their own because of this.
But honestly, I don't care. I live for myself, I live my own life.
Though I do not care for the thoughts of others, I still accept other people's beliefs and rationalize if I should integrate them into my own, but mostly this is not the case.

People, even if they have the rationale to prove me something, they still stand behind their opinions it as a child would. They do not keep an open mind.
I am fully aware of all of the ''plot holes'' my religion contains, and I do not avoid talking about them at all. Quite the contrary, actually, I like to talk about them. Because that makes me think. And I like thinking and coming to conclusions.

I like talking to atheists, I have a lot of friends who are atheist, but I usually don't talk to them about it because it just brings up a fight. Most atheists, not saying all atheists, but most atheists begin the conversation with insults and passive-aggressive comments.
I do have one atheist friend who's quite intelligent, and I like to talk with him about religion because he keeps an open mind, just as do I. He isn't arguing to convert me to atheism, and I am not arguing to convert him to Christianity.
It's a mutual debate, on which both sides have the same footing. Neither him or I think of themselves as the smarter representative of a smarter group. We are equal. And we both understand there are stupider, more influential people of power talking for us and putting words in our mouths we did not utter, but are considered our own.
And that's how it should be, which is why I like Christianity. No one is worth more than the other, everyone comes from God, and everyone is a part of him. Everything, to be exact.
Morally and ethically, Christianity is one of, if not the best religion. At least in my opinion. And that is what matters.
I never think of my opinion as fact, unless I have some proof to back it up.
You should too.

-K.

Losing faith?

In the last few years the number of believers has plummeted, as you can see here.
Ireland's share of Christians has fallen down from 69% in 2005, to 47% in 2012. As bad as it is, it's not the only country that has a problem with this.
During the last few years, there have been less and less believers. The cause is unknown. Nothing significant has changed in the past few years.
Well, not unless you count the numerous people losing jobs, the economy eating itself out, bigger taxes, more pollution, species dying off in the hundreds, bigger crime rates, smaller pay, etc.
I am all for Vatican, but it seems lately they have been avoiding the causes and were just trying to cure the symptoms. It's the same as it is with the government now.

Let's take Africa for example. Vatican has been sending help and food to Africa for years now. Why?
Why are you doing something that will just help them for a few weeks until they go back to the life of starvation and misery they've been in until now?
Instead of sending food and money, why not build schools? Factories? Why not let them build their own economy instead of trying to make them accept your own when they clearly do not have the resources to do so?

This is what has been bothering me with Vatican lately. It has grown more of a corporation than the high pillar of Christianity. They are acting like a salesman. Instead of showing people how to build the foundations to Christianity, they are selling it off. They are shipping God in the form of currency instead of words.

What you're doing with this is just making people believers for the short term. You're not giving them the word of God, you're giving them the money of banks. Banks that are a part of our economy collapsing.
Vatican has become human greed incarnate.

If you want to help, instead of money, tell the people about God; instead of short-term help, build them the foundations they can build their faith and lives on.
Then, they will be truly grateful. And only then may you expect them to be believers in the long run.

But even if you do this, you will still be only doing it for glory and more people to make money off from. You will not be doing it to tell people about God and his word.
This way, you are just buying their trust, you are not giving them the chance to come to their own conclusion of God.
And that is wrong.

Vatican, shame on you.

-K.

Atheism

I was on vacation so I haven't made a post in a week.
Well anyway, part 2.

ATHEISTS

Now, atheism is a whole different thing than theism. It does not propagate any kind of moral, message or meaning. It's basically ''We're here, and we are alone.'' Which is pretty depressing when you think about it. Being so alone in the universe.
They do not only propagate this kind of thinking, but they also propagate atheist propaganda. Which is, of course; take the Church down, take God down, take Christians down, take the government down. I might not be the person who has the right to say this, but I'm gonna say it anyway, it's typical teenager thinking.
Teenagers, including me, have turned against God because they want to find a place with the angrier group. Let's face it, all teenagers are angry. The only difference between me and them is that I found God who quieted my rage.
Atheism represents anarchy, teenagers want anarchy. Why? Because they are being told what to do their whole lives, and even if they do not agree with what the group they're joining is saying, they'll still join it, just to spite their elders and people of authority.
I've had this happen many times; older people keep telling me something that is obviously and objectively wrong so naturally, I tell them they are in the wrong and I correct they mistake. The moment I say something smarter than what they are saying, they tell me that I have no right to have a say in the matter because I'm still a child. Why does that matter? Being a child somehow makes you stupid?
No, defending yourself with an insult(yes, that is an insult) is the definition of ad hominem.
But it is still treated normal by members of the elder group.
Now, while we're at the subject of an older group, I'd like to recollect my thoughts and ask this: why do older people go after the same propaganda the atheists have on their billboards and signs of protest?
I understand people of my age, because of the things mentioned above, but why older people?
You're not angry, you're not furious, you're not rebellious. So why?
Is it because you really hold some kind of grudge towards Church? God? Christians?
Why? What has God done unto you? What has Church and what have the Christians done unto you?
 Nothing, that's what. First of all:

1. God
   God has done nothing to you. You may not believe in him, hell, it's even more absurd if you don't believe in him. It just shows how much you believe in your own propaganda. You're going against the words that are coming out of your mouth. You're arguing with an ''imaginary being''.
   
2. Church
   Church has also done nothing to you. You lose nothing by letting the Church talk about the foundations it has been built on. No one put an ultimatum where you have to listen to what the Church is saying. No one makes you give your money unwillingly to the Church. Is it because of the rumors going about of pedophiles in the Church? Even if there are pedophiles, I highly doubt they've gone trough without some kind of punishment for the things they did.
   
3. Christians
   Why are you attacking Christians for having their own beliefs. No one is saying you have no right of speech, so why are you saying that we don't have a right to speech? Has the world suddenly turned into some kind of dictatorship where you are the dictator? I realize there are people like Hitler, but those people are one of a kind. There are atheists who kill people and steal, yet we do not tell you about them. Why? Because they are not the people who represent you. You are the one who represents you as an individual, and no one else. You have the right to speech, but I don't need to like what you are saying.

Now the things that I don't like and the things you ''stand for'' are naturally, this hate against God, evolution and the age of the world.
I have already talked about the hate against God, so let's go for evolution and the age of the world. You argue that the world has been here for 14,6 billion years during which there have been species that formed into other species trough natural selection. Well, alright. But, think out of the box. What if God has put the world as it is, including the ''proof'' that evolution is fact to make us develop intellectually? I will not mention that the theory of evolution has a lot of holes in it's own foundation, because this is a fact for all theories.
Also, a side-point of all this is that there are probably other species in the universe that are as intellectual or even more intellectual than us. So what? There is no proof God did not make them. As there is no proof God did not start the Big Bang and then let the universe develop on it's own, just eventually sparking the thought of the true God who made it all into people's minds. And maybe the minds of other sentient species. There are many religions that correlate and prove that Christianity is right. What's to say there's no such religion as Christianity on ''other Earths''? Though maybe it's been forgotten, or has just been sparked.

Going deeper into the subject will just make this post big enough to make a book off of it, so I will not go further.
God be with you.

-K.