"Different strokes for different folks"

I really enjoyed this NY Times article entitled "when God is your therapist"

Don't worry, I'm not slamming religion or prayer or anything like that. I just really liked how the author explained WHY and HOW religion works. . . for some people.

Personally, I've found myself in a place where leaving religion is what I need here and now. I'm open to changing my mind on the subject, but for now life is MUCH BETTER without it.

Many of you have seen my posts from recovering grace and probably think I gave up on religion because of the twisted teachings of Bill Gothard and having spent so much time in his awful program and in a independent fundamentalist baptist church that upheld very similar teachings. Maybe you're right, maybe this "ruined" my ability to effectively practice religion. . .

But again I want to fall back on something I truly believe: PEOPLE ARE NOT THE SAME.

As a result of NOT BEING THE SAME. . . the SAME THINGS are likely not to work for ALL OF US. I feel like it's not such a hard concept to comprehend, yet it seems a lot of humanity wants to force everyone into being (insert whatever religious/nonreligious mold you belong to).

But Sarah, where do you draw the line? What about morality? By your logic shouldn't we accept murderers and child molesters and all sorts of evil? After all "they just aren't the same, they're doing what works for them." ?

This is why I categorize myself (partly) as a humanist. Here's a definition that I like: "any system or mode of thought or action in which human interests, values, and dignity are taken to be of primary importance, as in moral judgments."

Harm to humanity is where I draw the line. Now of course we're all going to disagree on what actual "harm" is, whether or not that is harmful, so on and so forth. Well that's OK- I'm going to stick with my definitions and you can stick with yours (so long as they aren't harmful. . . ) ;)

I think physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual harm should be avoided at all costs. I think what consists of "harmful" is going to change the more we study ourselves and understand ourselves. I think this is why science is of vital importance and why we SHOULD be curious about how our mind and body function- the greater we understand these things the better we will be able to flourish.

Lets leave that subject alone for a while and move on to this article. . . Here's a few clips that I really liked (the full article can be read here.) Please note this is regarding Evangelical Christianity NOT fundamentalism/similar facets of Christianity. 

"I soon came to realize that one of the most important features of these churches is that they offer a powerful way to deal with anxiety and distress, not because of what people believe but because of what they do when they pray."

I think this is very true- religion can offer a way to deal with anxiety, stress, tragedy and it works really well for some people. Here's why:

"One way to see this is that the books teaching someone how to pray read a lot like cognitive behavior therapy manuals. For instance, the Rev. Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life,” one of the best-selling books of all time, teaches you to identify your self-critical, self-demeaning thoughts, to interrupt them and recognize them as mistaken, and to replace them with different thoughts. Cognitive-behavioral therapists often ask their patients to write down the critical, debilitating thoughts that make their lives so difficult, and to practice using different ones. That is more or less what Warren invites readers to do. He spells out thoughts he thinks his readers have but don’t want, and then asks them to consider themselves from God’s point of view: not as the inadequate people they feel themselves to be, but as loved, as relevant and as having purpose.Does it work? In my own research, the more people affirmed, “I feel God’s love for me, directly,” the less stressed and lonely they were and the fewer psychiatric symptoms they reported."

There's a reason WHY religion works for some people and I believe that reason can be explained scientifically. However notice that religion is not the only way to achieve these results in your life. 

"This approach to the age-old problem of theodicy is not really available to mainstream Protestants and Catholics, who do not imagine a God so intimate, so loving, so much like a person. That may help to explain why it is evangelical Christianity that has grown so much in the last 40 years.It can seem puzzling that evangelical Christians sidestep the apparent contradiction of why bad things happen to good people. But for them, God is a relationship, not an explanation."

I agree. Some forms of Christianity work better than others- most likely because they employ things that we need as humans to be psychologically and spiritually healthy. But again, it is my feeling that religion is simply not a requirement to achieve the same results.

I know this article is geared more towards prayer and it's benefits, but I feel like it kind of applies to the entire concept. Religion works for some people- again- THERE'S A REASON WHY. And again I repeat I believe these same benefits can be found outside religion. 

I believe one of the great things about humanity is our diversity- I think this should be celebrated, not condemned. We all need to find what works for us and what we need to fulfill our lives and I believe the answer will be different for each of us. What a relief it is for me to be in a place where I can truly just love and accept people for who they are- I don't need to "witness" to them. I don't need to "convince" them of anything. I don't need to be terribly afraid that they will end up in hell because I didn't do a good enough job witnessing and convincing them to change their beliefs to mine. . . it brings me a level of love and peace I was never able to feel before, I really cannot describe it. 

So that's the tip of the iceberg into my life of peace, love, and sunshine.

:)